Persistent cough symptoms and conditions

My mother took lisinopril and she developed the persistent cough many experience. It was so severe that she went to the ER. While she was there, they told her she had fluid retention in both lungs and didn't link this drug to the fluid retention. Instead, they told her to get a biopsy for the possibility of lung cancer. More money in their pockets for tests and biopsies? Definitely!
I definitely see the link between the drug and the cough and the fluids in her lungs. Now,she's not on that medication but she is still dealing with side effects and I feel that all these medications they tell her to take are just making her worse. Has anyone just stopped all the conventional medications of high blood pressure and perused alternative treatments with success? I'm hopeful to find out what options i have that can cure her situation instead of leaving her at the same hopeless stage of dealing with terrible side effects.

My eight year old son was diagnosed with mild asthma by our GP and was taking Ventolin for a persistent cough. When this didn't relieve the cough the doctor prescribed Singulair. He started the Singulair in March 2009 and within 2 months we realized that his personality had dramatically changed. It has taken us a while to figure out what was going on because eight year old boys are starting to assert themselves more and I think the side effects have been escalating over the last month. He was angry most of the time, very hateful towards his siblings, saying very dark, nasty, hurtful things. He argued every time we asked him to do something and would snap into a screaming inconsolable emotional wreck at the drop of a hat many times a day over trivial or imagined problems. He was having nightmares and bursts of hyperactivity that were overwhelming. He told us he felt frustrated all the time and hated everything. When we tried to calm him he was unreachable. Just yesterday he had his fist clenched and pulled back ready to punch me when I was trying to help him with a computer problem. He was shaking and his face was contorted with rage and he just wasn't my little boy anymore.
It has been devastating for our family and we were ready to take him to a psychologist. He is normally an incredibly considerate, perceptive, loving child, highly intelligent, helpful and fun loving with a great sense of humor.
He has also complained of leg pains and has been wetting the bed again. It was only yesterday that I began reading about other people's side effects and have taken him off Singulair as of last night. Whilst he has still been argumentative today already the aggressive intensity seems to be easing.
I am absolutely mortified that I allowed this to happen to my son and my family and I am so grateful to others for sharing their experiences.
We still need to address his asthma and will make an appointment with a specialist next week, but given his asthma is so mild he should not have ever had to suffer these side effects.
I only hope now that he has not sustained any long term effects and that his younger brother has not been scarred by the truly horrible things that my son has said to him.

Persistent cough again this winter...last winter I coughed for 8 weeks straight.
antibiotics don't help either. --B.P.

Bleeding Gums, Severe Leg Cramping, Yeast Rashes, Sleeplessness, Blurred Vision:

I am a 49 year old woman who was recently prescribed Advair for asthma control. I also have severe allergies. My gums began bleeding almost immediately so I worried that I wasn't rinsing my mouth well enough. I stopped the Advair for a several days since in my mind, that was the culprit. Then my breathing/wheezing/persistent cough came back. So, I started back on my Advair and then started almost immediately having the worst leg cramps of my life. After figuring out that this new symptom correlated to my Advair use, I stopped it again cold turkey. I also am not sleeping over about an hour at a time despite my taking Ambien as well as anti-anxiety meds (I have Bipolar Disorder (Depression alternating with Manic Episodes) as well as Anxiety Disorder). Oh yes, and I developed weird yeast rashes underneath my breasts, on my inner thighs and behind my ears....despite if not being hot at all. I have never had this type of rash before or even been troubled with yeast infections. I also just noticed today that my vision is more blurred when trying to read the guide on my TV (42"). I have had no weight gain...in fact am losing weight..but have been watching what I eat. I don't feel more depressed...in fact, I feel the opposite...kinda euphoric at times..which feels good but can be a step towards mania for me. I decided to do a bit of research on Advair as a cause of the leg cramps...my persistent cough is back but I am afraid to take it now. I guess I need to talk to my allergist tomorrow.

I have had a persistent cough, so have been sucking on a lot of menthol cough drops. Now I have erosion of my stomach lining. Just wondering if the cough drops may have caused that?

My husband started on Lisinopril - 6/11/08. He also takes Coreg generic. He also takes Crestor. However, before taking Lisinopril, he had a persistent cough dating back to March. He was placed in prednisone for five days - 6/14/08. He has had chest pain, numbing of different sections of his legs, arm numbness. But, today, he threatened to attack me with a remote control and wished a tv to fall on my head.
This is psychotic behavior. Has anyone else experienced violent eposides and incoherant moments?

I took simvastatin about a year ago and took myself off it because I had really agonizing night cramps in my legs. A different doctor recently persuaded me to take the drug again because my cholesterol was high, but after only two weeks this time I have a swollen throat and tongue and a persistent cough. Last night I had a breathing problem and thought I was going to die - I just couldn't get any breath into my lungs. I woke up every half hour or so in the night, unable to breathe. I'm thinking I shouldn't be taking these things into my body if they have such dreadful effects. Are they common> Does anybody else have these effects?

I am a 49 year old woman in good health. My blood pressure has always been low, but in January it was up a bit, yet still within the normal range. I was seeing a new doctor, who suggested I start Lisinopril just as a precaution to keep it from going higher. I started having side effects right away. Inability to sleep well, bad dreams, achy joints, fatigue, and paranoia, but the worst was the persistent cough, which worsened the longer I was on the medicine. I sincerely thought I was being poisoned, either intentionally or accidentally. Little did I know at the time I was poisoning myself with a medication I did not really need. I called my doctor several times to report the cough, which was keeping me up at nights and was generally bringing my quality of life down to a intolerable level. We changed my allergy medicine several times and he even ordered a chest x-ray to eliminate any really ugly problems like lung cancer, etc. After 5 1/2 months, the doctor says, almost as an afterthought, that perhaps I should quit taking the Lisinopril. I asked why that would have any effect on my coughing and he said it was rare, but it had been known to cause some coughing in a small number of patients. After doing research on this drug, I do not believe these side effects are rare at all, and I can not understand why I had to suffer for so long before my doctor considered the fact it could be medication related. The drug companies responsible for manufacturing this medication, and all similar ones, both formulary and generics, should educate the physicians prescribing them of these detrimental side effects. I have only been off Lisinopril for six days, and the cough has gotten worse, even to the point where my family members sincerely thought they should call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I realize it can take a number of days to get the drug out of my system, so I am pushing fluids and have myself on a cleansing diet to speed up the process. I am so miserable. I hope I only have a couple more days of this. I really need some sleep to function during the day, and I am just not getting it yet. Any suggestions?

My son is 5 years old. He was put on Singulair in August following a case of pnemonia. He has asthma. I found it worked well since I was barely using inhalers anymore. His eczema was even getting better. So I was happy with the medication. He also seemed to be getting more agitated with us. At least three times a day he would have an outburst towards his brother or us, like he was going to punch or hit us. Then I would say "why are you mad at me" and he would say "I'm not mad, I'm frustrated" and then burst in tears. He was getting a lot of time outs. Then two months ago he started saying "this is not a good day" or "this is a sad day". I was wondering if singulair was to blame, but it wasn't until I heard concerns from other moms. I took him off it as an experiment and noticed the next day was without his outbursts. Then I just never gave him anymore...and I am relieved to say he is as "normal" as I remember him before Singulair!!! He also was unable to get to sleep easily on Singulair, sometimes 1, 2 and even three hours to get to sleep. Now he is out in 20 minutes if not less. I haven't talked to the Doctor yet. I have noticed his eczema is flaring up again and he has used his inhaler this week (although he has a cold). I think I can deal with that without Singulair and the problems I am suspicious come from it's use.

I started the NuvaRing in October of 2007 and I have had some very interesting side effects. While I can't say for sure that all of my side effects are directly related to the NuvaRing after reading all the comments on this website I took it out last night. In November I started having trouble breathing and it felt like I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I called my doctor and although I have never had a history of Asthma he felt I was having an acute Asthma attack. He gave me an inhaler to use three times a day until I felt better. But I never got better. I went back to the doctor and he started me on Spiriva and sent me for a chest x-ray. My chest x-ray showed walking pneumonia so antibiotics were the course of action now. I felt better for a bit but about three weeks later I was right back where I started. I was very weak and tired all the time. I would become winded just by walking up the stairs. Nothing I did seemed to work. A few weeks later I went back to the doctor for the forth time with a cough I could not control. It was hard to breath but I didn't feel sick. No cold or flu symptoms just a nonproductive cough. So now this is late January and I finally get a diagnosis from my doctor - full blown pneumonia but he did not do a second chest x-ray. So I take the antibiotics and for a few weeks I'm feeling pretty good. But last week I started up again with the shortness of breath and coughing but this time it's accompanied with headaches and a fever of at least 102.5. I went to the emergency room and found out that my heart is working harder than it should and I may have been throwing blood clots from my legs. The ER doctor did a chest x-ray which was normal although all my symptoms were exactly the same as a few weeks before when I was diagnosed with pneumonia. My lab work showed that my white blood cell count was normal so I don't think I had pneumonia at all. Signs of blood clots can present themselves like signs of pneumonia. I was told to look for pain or swelling in my legs and so far so good. I have a follow-up appointment in two weeks so it will be interesting to see if my heart is back to normal. I'll post back to let you all know but please ladies think twice before taking this BC. For me it was not worth the risk.

I have read a ton of the posts in this category. I have been taking Lisinopril as an addition to my regular blood pressure medication for approximately 3 years, with absolutely no problems. My 10mg was increased to 20mg a week ago. Still no problems. It has only helped me. If there are any changes, I will definitely post it. I believe that symptoms can arise from reading an article. I actually know a couple people who read things, and suddenly they are convinced they have the problem or disease referenced. I call it an Epidemic of Diagnoses. Always seek a doctors advice before stopping medications. Stopping suddenly on certain drugs, can be more dangerous than taking them.

I've only been on Advair for two weeks. I was diagnosed with asthma only about a month ago, but it's so slight. I had a little persistent cough and that's about it. In fact, the ten days after I was diagnosed with asthma and before I started Advair I actually felt better than I had in a long time.

I started Advair and about a dozen times a day my heart starts to race and I feel like my insides are trembling from head to foot. These feelings only last a minute or two, but they're very scary.

Also, I feel like something is caught in my windpipe. I feel really phlegmy which I never did before.

The really odd thing is that I've had a sore hip for many months, and the last two weeks it's gotten so bad that I keep waking up with the pain each night and can't find a comfortable position.

I finally made an appt. with my doctor, even though she didn't want to see me for two months. I decided to look to see what the side effects might be for Advair, and after looking at the first 20 comments (out of 752 of them), I was amazed and horrified. I think everything I have is caused by the Advair. Having asthma to the extent I have it is nothing compared to what I am going through.

All you are Hypochondriacs. If one person says this medicine is causing this, then of course; you all have the same problem "some how." Isn't this weird? It is called the "placebo effect." Normally all the people involved in the testing are given "Lisinopril" (or some other drug), then the placebo group is given a vitamin supplement, the group receving the vitamin supplement is being told they are receving "Lisinopril." Mysteriously?, the "placebo group" is all feeling better and their symptoms are gone. This is due to the fact that all these people in the "placebo group" have interacted with eachother and have told eachother "I feel better" than of course everybody feels better. So WEIRD!! So, my point is this forum is all your peoples "placebo group." If you guys never heard of these side effects from this forum you would have never experinced them. Hypochondriacs all of you are. This is a very good medicine that is helping all of you make up for your peoples lack of self-disipline to control your diet or exercise enough to lower your blood pressure naturally. So be thankful. Lets not complain about false side effects because John has them. I wonder what the side-effects of that cheese burger are that caused high blood pressure. It is funny, I don't see a forum for that. So deal with your so called "side-effects" that are associsted with "Lisinopril" or go on a diet people. Get over it!!

I was prescribed Levaquin for a persistent cough and sinus condition I have had for six weeks. I am on day two and I can tell you if I have the same side effects tonight as I had this past night I am calling my Doctor. After taking Levaquin my symptons became worse, I could not stop coughing (it seems to have exacerbated the cough) all night and when I did fall asleep the nightmares I had were, to say the least, horrible. I would urge caution on taking this drug.

I, too am having itchy skin and not sleeping at night. I have been taking the Advair for a persistent cough for about 3 weeks. I am going to try and only take it in the mornings and see if that will help the sleep problem. Because it is really frustrating. I had my suspicions that it could be the Advair but wasn't sure. Now I know it must be. Thanks for the posting.

I am so happy to have found this site! I thought I was losing it!

I had taken Prednisone two years ago when I had pneumonia that would not go away, and realize now that a lot of the problems I had during my two months of sickness were due to this drug. I do not remember how long I had taken it back then. I could not do any work and what little I attempted, I kept making mistakes that seemed right to me. For example, I had started to address Christmas cards and put all the stamps on the wrong side where the return address goes. When my husband came home, he pointed out what I had done. I had finished a big batch of them and it had never occurred to me that the stamps were on the wrong side. I cried for no reason and had weird mood swings constantly - don't remember how I slept. I was taking so many medications and it was a busy time of year for me that I thought my problems were due to the combination of all. I now know differently, which brings me to today.

I am on my 5th day of a 7 day dose (30mg first 2 days, 20mg thereafter) to relieve inflammation from a persistent cough due to sinusitis that started Dec. 27th. I have numerous symptoms! The worst being the mood swings, confusion & lack of sleep (averaging 3 hours a night). I thought I was going crazy. The side-effects surfaced pretty quickly. I had a rush project due today that I had started last Sunday. I am usually pretty good working under pressure and deadlines - not perfect, but pretty good, and there was enough time to finish all assigned to me. It took me forever to finish simple tasks and I made some mistakes that I never would have. This was a first time working with some colleagues who all must think I am a nut who cannot produce. I had a weird meltdown in front of the team leader and was totally not myself. My husband has been so worried about my erratic behavior that he refuses to let me drive. He dropped me off at an appointment and upon his return home found our front door wide open. I had walked out the door without closing or locking it. Now, granted I have been sick and am under stress, but I have never had the mood swings or lack of focus that I have experienced in the past few days except for the time I had taken the drug earlier. I was prompted to do a search on prednisone when I realized the similarity in symptoms. When I found this site, all the symptoms I had been experiencing and discussing with my husband were right here - I cried twice while watching Top Chef on TV Wednesday. Along with symptoms mentioned, I have a strange feeling in my stomach, numbness and I have a loss of appetite rather than hunger. Anyone else find that? I just looked at the clock and found that it took me over an hour to write this post. Thank God for spell-check!

All the posts are extremely helpful! I really feel for those of you who need to take it for long periods of time. I hope they find alternatives for you soon.

I have been on 5 mg of Lisinopril and 10 mg of Lipitor for over a year and just last week I convinced my doctor to take me off Lipitor to see if my symptoms would go away. I am 60 years old, but over the last year progressively feel much older. My legs are constantly hurting, both knees in particular. The pain at night is so bad that I have to get up for hours at a time. I also have a persistent cough which never goes away. I am now considering dumping Lisinopril in the same trash can as Lipitor. My wife is concerned about the future effect on my health but I am at a point where
I'm more concerned with the quality of my life today. My students at the High School I teach at constantly ask me what happened to me to cause
such a change? I am going to find out.

My 5 year old has been taking this for 2 months. He was having trouble with a persistent cough/runny nose, which the dr. diagnosed as allergies. Since starting Singulair, he has had a marked changed in his personality. He has become aggressive, angry, and depressed, and started hitting himself. It is as if he doesn't know how to deal with his emotions. This is very unusual behavior for him, he is normally a very happy, laid back, loving child. I am relieved to find this website & see that other parents have gone through this same experience, it has been helpful information. I have a call into the dr. office now to get a different medication, or else take him off it completely. Thank you for the help.

I begun taking Lisinopril about 2 months ago. Was lightheaded at first for about 2 or 3 weeks but that side effect seemed to disappear. My blood pressure has never been better (from 170/105 to 98/65) but just as soon as my lightheadedness went away, I started developing a dry cough. I didn't think much of it at first as I have summer allergies and my husband had just gotten over a cold with a bad cough that lasted almost 4 weeks. I just figured I had caught his cold. But after 4 weeks passed and my cough just kept getting worse instead of better. Just like everyone else on this site, I have a horrible persistent cough that brings me to the point of tears and dry heaves many times during the day and night. I haven't had a good night sleep in I don't know how long and my poor husband suffers right along with me too.

I finally went to the doctor 2 weeks ago and was prescribed an antibotic for what she described as sinusitis. Well, after finishing my 2 weeks supply of antiboitic and Mucinex, my cough is worse than ever. Since my husband and ex-husband are both smokers, I started fearing the thought of lung cancer until I found this site. I was so relieved to find out that what I'm experiencing is like a carbon-copy of so many other unfortunate people on this drug. I called my doctor today and told her the antibiotics did nothing and that I was sure it was the Lisinopril. She advised me to stop taking it immediately and monitor my cough for 2 weeks and then go in to see her. I was relieved but also scared after reading other people who have been off this drug for up to a year and still have a horrible cough. I don't know what I'll do if this doesn't go away! It's having a terrible affect on my sleep and my job as I'm constantly having to put customers on hold while I hack my brains out.

I'll post any updates on my hopeful improvement after going off this horrible stuff!! Good luck and thanks very much to everyone out there who has shared their experiences! It really helps to know that it's not just you who is going through this misery!

I was waking up with numb hands every morning for about two weeks recently; one of my friends said I should get off the Lisonopril. I found this forum and wept for relief when I read through all the postings. I had no idea that so many things I had experienced were from the drug! Sure, it lowered my BP, but I was very tired, persistent cough especially at night, depressed, blurry vision, and many other ailments. I went off the Lisinopril cold turkey the very next day and that was a month ago. I have only had one bad blood pressure headache since then and I have to say, I feel so much better. I still have the drainage and cough, but would rather fight high BP by other means that fight all those other ailments all the time.

I started taking Lisinopril about three months ago. I already have been taking Metroprolol, HCTZ, Paxil and Avandia. The Lisinopril gave me swollen, red, watery eyes; a persistent cough that gets so bad I puke; tightness in the chest and shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. My doctor keeps telling me it's all in my head, but I know it's not, I feel a lot worse than I did so I'm changing doctors. There has to be a better alternative.

In reading through everyone's posts, I feel better about my side effects, but it's really SAD that the doctors all think it's in our heads!

Thank goodness I found this site...I couldn't understand where my persistent cough was coming from till I received a pamphlet from my drug provider and saw coughing from Lisinopril.

I have been taking the pill for five months and over the last two months I started with a slight cough which I thought was an allergy...never had allergies, but thought it was Spring..by now in July I have a choking cough and from the remarks I have read I can relate to the choking tightening feeling in my throat and when I go to talk..my throat closes and it hurts to cough..feels like a bronchitis cough..I never smoked either..
My doctor is on vacation and I have an appt in two weeks..
Does this cough cause further harm to you...Why does it make us cough..It has helped my pressure also I take Hydrochlodrate (probably didn't spell it correctly)...I have to carry water with me even when I go to church..because out of nowwhere I began this choking cough..

Again, great to be able to relate to someone els with same issues..

I experienced a hike in b/p after taking benedryl. I was placed on Lisonpril. After two weeks, I experienced extreme difficulty walking, weakness and fatigue, vertigo, persistent cough, panic attacks and anxiety. My skin felt like I was bathed in menthol or vicks vapor rub. I am not sure if it is the same "tingling" or "burning" that has been reported by others. E/r visits, ekg, cat scans, blood tests came back normal. I received inconsistent medical advice from e/r docs, cardiologist and internist (i.e. stay on the med, but change it, take it only if your b/p is high, get off of it completely- you dont have high b/p and dont need it). I decided to get off of it. Its been three weeks off the Lisinopril. I have improved daily; however, I am not back to normal. Anxiety and "menthol-like" skin sensations still remain. This web site has helped tremendously with jsut knowing that I am not crazy or alone. Thanks.

Thanks for this web site, I have found that the health problems I had were just side effects of the Lisinopril drug I started to treat my blood pressure. I have changed drug now, but it took me 3 to 4 weeks to get rid of the side effects such as persistent cough, and swelling in my throat.
Thanks again for having such web site

Hello:

I too had been prescribed Yasmin from my ob/gyn and immediately stopped taking them after 21/2 weeks. All of the following side effects I had personally experienced every day: break through bleeding, abdominal cramping, back aches, headaches, fatigue, anxiety episodes, crying spells, insecurity feelings, feelings like my body just wanted to have it's period. So after 21/2 weeks of this I let it and boy do I feel great! It was like I was holding back my body from doing what it naturally wanted to do, and I was suffering for it! The only thing is, I have this persistent cough that seems like it just doesn't want to go away. I'm going to go to my doctor in another week if it doensn't, I'm not sure if it is a related side effect. As far as birth control, I haven't had a need to use any lately as my boyfriend and I have just recently broken up, however, my friend tells me that she has been on the patch for 6 months and loves it, I might just try that.