Peace of mind symptoms and conditions

wow! I have been on NuvaRing since it was introduced in 2001. Previous to that I had only taken the pill (Ortho Tri Cyclen). I have been continually on birth control since 1998 at the age of 14 for acne/cancer prevention and eventually birth control. Because of that I don't really know if I have any side effects like loss of libido or mood swings since it's been 12 years! I am totally disturbed by all that I have read here but I have to say that the Nuvaring has been a completely positive experience for me. It is expensive and getting worse but for my husband and I it is worth the peace of mind of not having to worry about remembering a pill. I also like that it is better for the environment than a pill since it's not introducing hormones into our water supplies!
I'm so sorry to hear of the horrible side effects but it does work for some, our bodies are all very different.

I have been taking 40mg lipitor for over 9 years now.

I have had back issues since an injury to one disc (L4?), and had microdiscectomy in 2001? Took about two years to actually get close to normal.

The last few years, I have had multiple issues with shoulder pain, wrist pain, elbow pain, lower back pain, Upper rump muscle pain , and now both hips are killing me (the shoulder, upper rump muscles and hips are by far the worst). And I am now so weak in my lower back muscles, that it feels like I will (and do) pull out my back.

I have seen NO many doctors I can't even name them all. I have had operations, multiple injections (cortisone) taken pain meds, etc. Nothing has helped and in the last year and a half, I have gotten steadily worse. To the point where I can't really do much of any activity. Sleeping at night is painful. Can't lie on left shoulder, and can't lie on either hip for more than a few minutes. If I fall asleep on my side, the pain wakes me up. When I try to walk, 80% of the time, I end up with a pain in my upper right rump (sacroiliac area), that I MUST sit down to get the intense pain to go away, which it does. But comes right back when I walk again.

I have had x-rays, MRIs etc, and never reveals all that much. Disc issues, yes. NOt much else.

Recently, I have begun to get a nasty clicking (catching) on my left jaw (joint?). Not really painful, but something definitely wrong. My dentist sent me to his Chiro. I went and liked him right away. I had gone to another chiro for years and I believe in them. But this one is the best I have seen.

Anyway, one of the FIRST things he suggested, was that it was POSSIBLE that the Lipitor is causing all of my problems. Put me on COQ10, and doing multiple adjustments and treatments. I will be seeing my regular doctor 5/26, and my chiro wants me to see if he will take me off lipitor and put me on Niaspan instead.

I guess my question is: Can Lipitor be fine with me for so long, and then in such a short period of time, turn me into a compete wreck from the pain and wasting away of my body/muscles? I've told doctors for over a year now that there is SOME connection as to all these issues and pain. One Doctor, of course, gave me the "you are getting old" bull. Yes, I am 56 yrs old. But I understand the process of getting old, vs the complete failing of ones body.

Also, IF it is the Lipitor, can it possible all go away? Or should I expect some damage forever?

One more thing, the last ortho I went to the other day for a second opinion, wants me to do a EMG, to see if there is muscle damage. I was not planning on doing it, but wonder now, should I? He was not doing it because of lipitor, as he never even talked about that to me. I had shoulder operation and have not had the results I feel I should have had.

I was going to have mirena placed today with the intention of stopping my period and in turn hope to shrink the existing fibroid I have in my uterus. I had removed them once four years ago and now they returned and have been giving me some bad days in between periods. This is one of the possible method I can try that is recommended by my gynae so I won't have to go through another surgery again. However, after reading all your reports and experiences, I surfed the internet for more information and found this site.

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Please read it. I find it extremely useful. Now I know (saved myself some money and possible hell) that I am not a candidate for mirena. For those who are thinking of opting this method of contraceptive, read carefully before deciding and for those who already have it, now you know why you are experiencing what you are experiencing.

I hope this will help some of you if not give you peace of mind that we are NOT crazy when we tell the doctors and our partners that we are not ourselves sometimes. God bless.

Well-to say the least....I'm starting to become VERY doubtful about Mirena...I just got mine put in last month & I have my follow-up on May 1st...so far, so good-just moderate spotting.......but it seems that the major side effects aren't kicking in until 2-3 years down the road for most of you one here.......my biggest concern is the weight gain......OH MY GOSH!!! The thought of b.c. for at least 5 yrs. was peace of mind....but now, I'm worried........

I was so glad to find this website. I was feeling terrible after having the Mirena in for around a year. I started looking online when I woke up several days in a row feeling so bad and nauseous that I was worried I was pregnant!

I was very fatigued, achy, having trouble sleeping, having strange acne breakouts on weird parts of my body, terrible abdominal cramps - yet no period, bowel problems, VERY slow to heal my sports strains/sprains, nauseous, random headaches (and I have NEVER been prone to headaches), odor, crotch drop, hair loss, forgetfulness, BAD mood swings/depression, dehydration. I looked and felt like I had aged 10 years...All this time I was blaming it on having a two kids, getting older, stress, etc.

Well, thanks to this site, I had my Mirena removed last week. I had no ill side effects from the removal and had a normal period for the first time in about 6 months. I felt incredibly better in a few days! I have more energy, I have slept much more soundly - the dark circles around my eyes are diminishing and I look much better. My routine bumps and bruises from soccer and taekwondo are healing at a normal pace and I don't feel achy all the time. Basically I feel great, and I hadn't for a long time. I feel like myself again.

If you have ANY of these symptoms that everyone is talking about...don't write it off to anything else, and don't let your doctor tell you it's due to other things. You know your body and what is normal. If you are wondering at all why you feel bad - get the thing OUT and do it NOW! (My GYN was very understanding and compliant to my request, but still insisted that my symptoms were most likely due to stress than anything else). At least you will have peace-of-mind knowing that you eliminated the IUD as a cause of your symptoms. You can always have a new one put in if you find that not to be the case.

I hope this site is correct regarding the class action lawsuit, because I am seriously considering joining it. Mom's have it hard enough without this IUD complicating their lives further!

I was the one who decided to be all crazy and remove my Mirena myself a couple days ago. I think I went into SHOCK!!! I was nauseous, dizzy, light headed, and then I got super shaky all over (teeth chattering, the works) and then my back started to hurt, then my neck, then a shooting headache....then miraculously it was GONE!! I had no pain! Just knowing it's gone gives me a peace of mind. Plus, I haven't had headaches or any of the strange mood swings I was experiencing!!! Take it out if it's making you miserable!!! It's so easy, and I'm already experiencing such a change!! It's only been about 44 hours!!!! I threw away about $600 but I'd do it again to have my body back!!

I started taking this pill 3 months ago...I hate it. 1st and 2nd month I had a period, this month nothing. Am I the only person experiencing this? It has me paranoid like crazy. I am 32 years old, and the only time I have ever missed a period was when I was pregnant with my daughter who is now 7 years old.
If anyone else is experiencing this, please give me a little peace of mind and let me know!

Friends,
I've posted on this twice before. I was on the ring for nearly 2 years before I got off this past February when I discovered this site. I have to say I feel sooooo much better. Currently, I'm not on any birth control (we use condoms and spermicide) and I love being myself and being normal. While I gave up convenience and a relative peace of mind, I also gave up a decreased loss in sex, dryness, mood swings, fogginess, and putting my health at risk etc.

I still have numbness in my legs especially at night (RLS was ruled out) but it's much better than months ago. I never had this before I started the Ring.

I worry about others because I didn't know my side effects were caused by the Ring. And my obgyn made me feel like an idiot when I suggested it. But getting off the Ring was the best choice. I have my health, my sex drive, and natural lubrication not to mention a great relationship with my boyfriend (when you lose interest in sex obviously your partner is going to take it personally).

If you have NO side effects and are confident the Ring will not affect you then by all means go for it. But if you have doubts look into it. Trust your instinct and take care of your health. There's no point in taking birth control if it's going to kill you (figuratively or literally).

I'm looking forward to being healthy again and I hope that you all are safe.

I have posted several times. My 16 year old daughter took singulair for 4.5 years starting 11-17-03 and ending 3-28-08. She was the dancer,cheerleader who starting cutting her legs with razors and completely changed. Lost friends, depressed, withdrawn,anxiey attacks,headaches,stomach aches on and on and on..... I took her to a Psychiatrist who gave her Fluoxetine which did not help. She is doing much better now that she is off Singulair but will never be the same. She found a lump in the back of her neck and a lump in the groin area. I remember Concerned citizen mentioning Lymphoma(cancer) discovered in some of the Singulair Children because of the reduced immune system connection. I have also found some info on this on line. We are going to the Doctor Thursday and I will have tests run. Concerned citizen are you still out there? Have you found out anything else? Sue

Hi All, For some peace of mind... I went to my Doctor yesterday to discuss having the IUD removed. I'm not doing it yet to give my husband time to get through his vasectomy. Anyway, You are not crazy! My Doctor admitted to me that she has had a handful of patience that have experienced all of these same side effects (depression, fatigue, weight gain, etc...) She was all for getting it out. To give the Docs some credit... If you check the Mirena site they don't mention these side effects, only the stuff like "possible" cyst and no period. What a horrible way to do business.

Hello!

I just wanted to give a different perspective on the Mirena. Mine has been in since July 2007. I can not lie and say that the following weeks were not full of the most pain I have ever felt. However I had never been pregnant, so I was expecting it.

I can tell you that after the cramping went away, I have had no adverse side effects. My periods are lighter, I don't have any health issues, my sex drive is as high as it has always been, and best of all I am 99.9% protected against getting pregnant. The cramping was very worth the peace of mind that I have had and will continue to have.

I hate that there have been some out there who have had horrible experiences, and I am not trying to disprove them... just letting you in on the less documented positive experiences.

Take care.

I have been on the NuvaRing for 3 weeks now.... It is convenient but the entire time I was extremely queasy and nauseous with a little cramping almost every day. I just took the ring out three days ago for the "off week" and i am having extremely severe symptoms, such as nausea without vomiting, i cant smell some foods or i want to throw up, and cramping. i should have had my period today (it says 2-3 days) but i haven't yet. i am extremely anxious (more so than I've ever been) and my boyfriend is really worried about me right now. i feel pregnant, but i shouldn't be! it seems impossible because we've ALWAYS been safe.

i might not put it back in!!! it seems like this convenience isn't worth the suffering and panicking every month!

I've been on the Loestrin 24 for about 9 months now. For awhile, I didn't have any concerns, but the past 3-4 months my periods have gotten lighter and lighter. And this month I didn't get my period at all. My mood swings are terrible, the cramps are unbearable at times, I've lost quite a bit of my sex drive. I never had these problems on Desogen. So, I talked to my OB and she told me to take a pregnancy test for "peace of mind" and they will give me a new prescription for the pills that I used to be on before. These pills just don't seem worth it at all.

I'm so glad that I found this site and know that I'm not going through this alone. I started the NuvaRing after not being on birth control for 2 years. Previously I've been on the pill and the patch. I'd heard great things about the ring and thought I'd give it a try. The first three months I loved it. Around month four, I started having pain during sex. It felt like I wasn't getting lubricated enough. Then on top of the pain during sex, I would have a burning sensation after sex when I went to the bathroom. I've also been experiencing a lot of hunger and weight gain around my stomach, which hasn't ever been an issue before. The past month I've had little to no sex drive, and have to wait at least a day after sex before I can attempt to do it again. I'm only 27 and know this isn't normal. Last week I had my period for only 2 days. I thought there was something psychologically wrong with me, especially having no sex drive when I'm with someone that I'm incredibly attracted to. After reading everyone else's similar experiences, I'm taking this ring today and voicing my concern to my doctor first thing tomorrow. Best of luck to everyone in getting back to how we were before the ring.

I'm a woman, about to turn 50.....and have been experimenting with the statins for about two months(not by choice either). I tried Zocor and had a stop that after 10 days because of massive hair loss. Once stopped....the hair loss stopped immediately. Just a ill more than a month later I started on Lipitor. All seemed to be going ok. NO hair loss. BUT.......mannnnn I don't sleep hardly at all. I'm tired beyond all belief......and its that bone deep OMG I'm sooooo exhausted type tired. I often times don't eat an evening meal after work because I seriously don't think I cant stand long enough to make anything. My legs feel as though they cannot move another inch. I have horrible cramps in my fingers.....the calf of both legs and now in my rib area. Ive had horrible horrible blurred vision.....my attention span is about as long as a gnat!!!!! I seem to have an all over bone deep body ache. It gets to the point that if MOVING A MUSCLE would save my life........Id have to die sitting still....I cant do it. The every day you wake up in the morning headache is way beyond OLD. I also notice I'm nauseous and or have a gut ache almost all the time. Its effectively killing my appetite so maybe I'll lose weight, but damn..is this the way to do it?

WHY wont the doctors believe that this damn drug is responsible?

Hey ladies I am so glad I found this site I thought I was losing my mind! I just had a miscarriage and have been emotional anyway but I felt like I did not have a grip on myself. I had never felt this way before and was really starting to scare myself. I just didn't know how to explain what was going on with me. I started the NuvaRing December 12, 2007 and took it out on the 19th when I saw this site the first time and I feel better already. I can only image the things the rest of you have gone through but through your testimonies I saw myself heading down the same road. I am usually a fun loving, energetic, funny person. In the 7 days the ring was in I was becoming a mess.I was very withdrawn to the point that family and friends were starting to worry about me and everyone else noticed the change before I did.I was depressed before I put the ring in and it just intensified as the days went on. My mate and I were constantly getting into it and we usually are able to communicate very well. I have a friend also on NuvaRing and was wondering why she had been doing a lot of crying and seemed to be depressed. She even went to the point of seeking professional help thinking some thing was wrong with her. I immediately told her as well. Unfortunately she has been on it longer than me and wants an alternative before her nightmare of NuvaRing is over. I couldn't help it I had to take it out I don't like feeling like I have no control over myself. Condoms for right now will be my best friend and I have a peace of mind.

I started taking Toprol XL seven years ago to control palpitations. Side effects I have experienced include loss of hair, coldness in my hands and feet, probably due to the lower blood pressure, and, believe it or not, palpitations. I am somewhat, but not entirely, certain that the palpitations that I originally suffered from were from poor exercise, stress and a bad diet. The new palpitations I get are from squatting, reclining in certain positions, raising my legs up in a certain way which I attribute to side effects from this drug. I am trying to cut down on this drug, but it is hard. My heart has grown accustomed to it and it acts up whenever the dosage is reduced, no matter how slowly I do it. I want to get it down to 12.5 mg. I take about 18-19 mg now (I cut the 25mg in half and take one of the halves and cut it in half again). Some things about this drug: take it consistently, e.g., same time with same amount of food. It will give you some harmless, but scary, palps if you do not keep a regular pattern. Indeed, I can usually tell when a palp is Toprol-induced. Another thing is to be wary of doctors who have you double or quadruple a dosage at one time. Years ago my doctor told me to go from 12.5 to 50 mg after I complained of some palps that I now know were Toprol related. I thought he was nuts because my pulse was already way down due to this drug. I envisioned myself fainting. being a bad patient, I upped it to 25 instead. Later, after looking at a Holter monitor readout, the doctor calls me and says lower my dose to 25 because my overnight pulse was getting to a point that if I took anymore Toprol the pulse would be dangerously low. I never told him I did not listen to him. But I have to say I have not suffered all of the side effects listed on this site such as depression. The drug was and has been effective in controlling the palps that were driving me crazy. My palps were very bothersome and this drug gave me peace of mind. But, looking back, I think I could have brought about the same results with a healthier lifestyle. I am very cautious about taking myself completely off of it entirely and will do that with the guidance of a doctor, not the one mentioned above of course. But they are hard to find. Most of them will tell you beta blockers are the greatest and if you take dosages as low as mine there are no problems whatsoever.

I've been on Yasmin for about a year now and over the last 6 months I noticed small brown patches forming on my face. I though they were age spots cause I'll be 30 in a few weeks. I always wear makeup and it has SPF in it so I know it's not from the sun. I just spent a week at the shore and though maybe when I get tan the spots will belnd in. To my suprise my face is destroyed. I look as if I had a very dark tan and now my face haswhere the spots are and nothing on the rest of my face. I am so upset cause I take really good care of my skin and Yasmin has stopped my face from breaking out completely. I do have 4 children that are 10 years, 8 years (twins) and 5 my mom though my hormones were messed up from having them so close at a young age. I also have experience severe headaches but they have been something I had before the Yasmin. I just don't know what to do or what to change to.

I was given topamax to treat headaches and cyclical mood disorder. I was not given any info about side effects or that, at the time(April of 2006), the drug was not FDA approved for treating mood disorders. I took about 3 25mg tablets a day for 6 weeks and started noticing pain in my chest, stomach, back, and neck, my heart felt irregular as well. Towards the end of the 6 weeks, I felt so bad that at times that I had to crawl to the bathroom at home because my body and heart felt so weak. I weighed 135 pounds before starting the drug and 117 after, lot of weight to lose for me in such a short period of time(my weight very rarely fluctuates at all). I started noticing that when I would eat a large meal, I would then be hungry with an empty stomach an hour later, and about 15-20 minutes after taking my 2nd pill for the day I would feel shooting chest pains and become slightly dizzy, I would take my third pill at home a couple before bed and the symptoms were even worse. I called the on-line nurse late at night a few times and they would say it was just anxiety, my friends and family that knew about all this would also say that I was just worrying too much. I decided to take matters in my own hands and started doing research on the drug. I found all the information I needed, that was not given to me, decided I was experiencing some of the specific side effects people had noticed. I finally decided on my own to stop taking the drug after my doctor told me that all this was because I wasn't taking a high enough dosage, I still can't believe that she said that!!

Now that I've had some time to look back and gather myself a little, I know that I also experienced side effects such as dizziness, loss of taste, decreased sex-drive, Loss of wittiness, feeling like being in slow-motion, slurring speech, heartbeat going from 64bpm sitting on the couch to 128bpm after walking to the bathroom to pea, difficulty breathing, basically felt like crap but was too drugged up to really notice.

It did stop my headaches and stabalized my mood but I think the improvements in mood were primarily due to the fact that I wasn't all there. DEFINETLY NOT WORTH ALL THE SIDE EFFECTS!!!

As soon as I stopped taking this, I felt much better in the head, noticing that I was probably running on about 70% for the past few weeks. Also gained back all the weight very quicky. I felt like myself again and was rejuvanized in my life!! Primarily all the side effects disappeared and I moved on with my life. Unfortunately the chest pains slowed down but did not disappear. I felt like, and still feel like, I had a broken Sternum. I went to the same clinic and had numerous tests done(EKG, blood tests, X-rays), everything came up clear. I have had to tell some of my friends, numerous times in the past year, not to restle with me or hug me too hard because it hurts.

I have not been taking any perscription drugs for the past 14 months because of all of this and now have recently started feeling increased pain in my chest(the chest pains never completely went away) . I do not have health insurance but am going to get this all checked out ASAP, I will post again once I find out what's going on.

My experience with Prozac has been for a period of 7 months . It took at least a month to feel the effects. It has helped me tremendously I had obsessive compulsive thoughts before and I was diagnosed as clinically depressed. As my therapist once told me people confuse sadness for depression for example "I broke up with my boyfriend I am depressed" This is not so you are sad yes but depressed no. Depression seems to be an overused word and in that case people who think they should be on this drug don't really need to be on it and thats why it has no effect on them at all. Those people need to let time do its work on you.
As for those of us who really do have depression in a very serious way a chemical imbalance yes it does help. And for those of you debating will I gain weight or won't I this should not really be an issue of why you shouldn't take Prozac. Is peace of mind not the best choice. I am very happy with Prozac yes I do have the side effect of less sex drive but I am willing to continue with this path because I feel great emotionally and the Obsessive compulsive thoughts have disappeared. And before I couldn't sleep much with everything running through my head all the time. Now I sleep like a baby.

my 9yr old daughter received a shot of kenalog in sept. of 05 after a sever case of posion sumac. on night she showed me a dent in her butt about a 1 cm in diameter. i thought nothing of it as she said it did not hurt.. she is very active in gymnasitcs 4-5 days a week -- so i assumed it was a demple. last week she was getting in the tub and i noticed the dent it was now about 4 cm. my husband and i were so upset wondering what could this be (not thinking anything about the shot she received a couple of months ago) and trying not to upset her. as soon as the dr saw it he knew what it was. we should have been told of the side effect! it is now peace of mind knowing she's is not alone and will be ok. but, now wondering how scared will she be.

Yasmin has worked fine for me. My side effects have been trivial, and I've experienced no spotting or breakthrough bleeding whatsoever, even when taking the pill was thrown off by an hour or two. (Or six, in one case, due to vacation travel!) For the record, I'm 25, just started my second active month of Yasmin, and have no pre-existing medical conditions.

Birthcontrol pills affect each woman differently. If you are having massive problems, by all means go off it. Personally, peace of mind for an effective birth control is worth a few minimal side-effects to me.

I just had a baby 5 months ago. In the beginning I was breast feeding and therefore on a pill called Errin. After a while I started spotting all the time. Since this was a pill without a week break I did not have my period. I changed to Yasmin because I have heard that there is less weight gain and I was tired of the constant spotting. I had also stopped the reast feeding. From day 1 I had terrible side effects. I felt pregnant again!!! All the symptoms from sore breast to morning sickness to cramps to running to the bathroom all the time. And the mood swings!!! I thought I was pregnant for sure! It jsut felt exactly like when I was pregnant not so long ago. I took 2 home pregnancy tests - both negative. I really don't think I am pregnant. I have been on a pill for many years before my baby, but I have never experienced anything like it. I stopped Ysmin yesterday even though I am not at the end of my pack. I won't accept and live with these side effects! What good is the pill when you constantly think you are pregnant? This is not peace of mind - this is torture! And I do not even want to think about what these side effects are doing to my body. I will be looking into another birth control method. Anybody has any experience with the patch?

I was put on Effexor xr 75mg for depression, didnt help much, doctor upped my dose to 150mg per day & all I can say is it has saved my life, I think I must have been depressed my whole life cause I feel so great on this drug, the only side effects I have noticed are that I sweat alot & am generally hotter than everyone around me (but who cares, small price), and I also bruise very easily,but if you gave me a choice between these and the complete state of mental breakdown I was in before this drug, I know I would choose Effexor every time, to all those who swear against this drug I say to you, don't frighten others off it cause everybody is different and I am sure there are plenty of people out there who have been helped dramatically like me, I wake up every day now & love life, love my husband & my baby & I thank my god for this second chance. Sure I will probably go through withdrawal symptoms when I feel ready to come off this drug, but I am just so grateful now for how I feel, & that I live in a country(Australia) where I have access to such wonderful medical care, imagine the depression experienced by those living in third world countries,where they cant just slip down to the pharmacy & pick up their perscription of Effexor , I am sorry for those of you who have not been well matched to this drug, may you all find the peace of mind that I have,but Dont bag Effexor just cause it wasn't right for you.