Pituitary gland symptoms and conditions

I've been on levothyroxine 150mcg for about 3 months before that it was 100mcg and so on. I have gain lots of weight and tired all the time. depression also, headaches. I hate this gaining weight, sleepy all the time and depression is from gaining weight. I thought this med is to up boost my thryiode but it doesn't seem to be working. my dr. said I'm on the highest dose there is. I don't know what to do any more. I was thinking about taking myself off this but not sure what will happen if i do. I hope there is someone out there that might be able to let me know if they are going through the same things what they are doing and how they feel now.

Hello, I have been on synthroid since 1999. I am hypothyroid with hashimotos. Endr. docs couldn't seem to get any levels right so I went to my Intergretted doctor . and he put me on 1/4 grain armour so I took anywhere from 50mcg to 100mcg of synthroid in the AM and 1 armour at night. It worked but after a short while I felt terrible. Then I had to start taking high blood pressure presc., it was about 170/116 after I had some shots in my back for pain, never had hp. before these shots. In Sept. of this year I stopped the Topralxl because I felt my heart was pounding out of my chest which I was in hospital for they said I was having a heart attack, had anigram, but I didn't have a heart attack and and angigram came out good. Then this summer they put me on 2 Topralxl. My heart was pounding with 4 extra beats so with a ultra sound{echo]of my heart and 24 hour halter it was all good, so I figured it had to be something I am taking. So that lead up to the stop of Topralxl which I researched and took a few things from Health Food store and got my pressure down to 140/80. My heart quit racing and beating so hard, but still felt depressed, puffed up, confused, teeth felt loose, urinated a lot, gained weight, rashy on my neck, tired all day, did not sleep good, eyes were always red and watery, skin and hair dry, blemishes on my face{ I am'56 yrs. old] just didn't feel good and the list goes on. Came across this site and read them all. Realized so much from you all. Sythroid only has T4 which your cells should be able to covert T3 out of that. T4 stores in your body and T3 is used up as the day goes on. But some peoples bodies don't convert the T3. Several people have talked about TSH which is your thyroid stimulating hormone which comes from your Pituitary Gland. When you thyroid or your meds. don't give you enough thyroid of what you need the Pituitary kicks in there to tell your thyroid gland to to produce more. It's not good for your TSH to be high so Docs. put you on a higher dose of Sythroid or whatever you take for the pituitary to stop producing TSH. So I want to say I am not a doc. but have felt so terrible and researching what I could I quit my Synthroid on the 29 of Dec. and started taking my armour thyroid 1 AM, 1 late afternoon and 1 PM on my own cause I figured I am still getting my T4 and T3. I went to my Endr. Doc. yesterday and told him I went off my Synthroid and just taking Armour. and told him I felt so terrible, after stopping the Topral heart felt great but the rest of me felt drugged, I just felt desperate and horrible. So again it had to be something I was taking. Well I have to say that I feel 100% better than I was. I am much more alert with my surroundings and whatever i am doing, sleep so good, teeth feel good, no rash, urinate normal, not confused, face cleared up, eyes not red or watery, pretty much I already feel normal again. Working at my job is not exhausting, my neck, which I didn't mention before quit hurting. In a whole it was the right thing for me but maybe not for everyone. I just felt that it was slowing taking me out. Blood Pressure, Thyroid issues are to be concerned about but seems like a person should feel better not worse with the meds. So this is the information I have learned and I'm sure there is much more. So good luck to you all and listen to your body and talk to your doc.about how you feel. It can be very scary when you are diagnosed with something but we are all different in what our body needs and our side effects.

Only on it for 1 month so far and already having issues. I apparently have the worst case of endometriosis all my doctors have seen, including a cancer specialist that had to do all my surgeries because of the severity. Granted, I am only 31 years old and have had a full hysterectomy. So, after 3 surgeries I am still having severe abdominal pain and bleeding (don't know where that is coming from since I don't have a uterus anymore) so they said try Lupron and I finally gave in. Now I started getting such severe pain in my lower back that I can't stand for longer than 15 minutes and terrible side aches. I started getting headaches (which I already take pills for for years now),and have gotten the hot flashes as well. What are we to do ladies? I am so sick of complaining to the doctors about pain. You feel as if you are a big cry baby. What are my options here and does this ever stop?

I had 2 lupron shots back in April and May and it was the worst decision of my life. I now have SEVERE panic attacks, depression and loss of appetite. I was a very healty 33 year old woman and very active and now all I want to do is stay in bed. I was NEVER informed by my doctor of any side effects other than I MIGHT get a little moodier (angry) easier. That never happened. For 2 months straight all I did was cry. I would wake up crying and go to bed crying. I have never had any past experience with depression and I have already seen a psychiatrist and 4 other doctors. I finally saw a new OBGYN and she informed me that the 2nd shot that I received went straight to my head and it messed with the chemicals in my brain. I am a wreck. I have no energy and it's all I can do to just get out of bed and go to work. Had I known about ANY of these side effects, I would have NEVER taken this drug. This drug needs to be banned completely and thrown in the trash can before any other woman goes thru this. I was on the verge of being suicidal. I am a Christian woman and would never harm myself but the thoughts were always there. I would wake up with a severe panic attack and they would come all during the day. The doctor that originally gave me the shots told me I had psychological issues and HE HIMSELF called and got me an appointment with a psychiatrist. Ladies, we are not crazy. These are real symptoms and it is all because of these shots. It messes with the chemicals in your brain. And had I know that, I would have said HECK NO to them. My endometriosis is much more tolerable than these stupid, insane shots. Please do not take them if at all possible. I do not want one more woman to go thru what I have been through and still going through. I now am on anti depressants to try to get the chemicals in my brain back to where they should be. I just hope and trust in the Lord that I will eventually get through this.

Risperdal increases production of prolactin. That would explain lactation and reduced sex drive. So if you read that it doesn't affect sex drive, it may not but in some cases it very well my since increased prolactin decreases sex drive.

I'm almost 25 years old and just had my 2nd child in February. I'm diabetic and also have heart problems and my doctor HIGHLY recommended Mirena. I got it in April 2008. For awhile, I didn't realize how tired and moody I was. Then my husband started commenting on how I never get up in the middle of the night anymore when the baby wakes up, and it's always him doing it. I told him that I was always completely exhausted, and thought maybe it was from all the bleeding I was experiencing. Since I had it put it, I bled for over 2 months. I also started experiencing migraine headaches, severe cramping, and hair loss. I could shower and wash my hair and look at my hands and see large amounts of hair tangled around my fingers. I called my doctor about the excessive bleeding, and they said it's "normal" and will get better. I kept telling myself that... "this can only get better". I also haven't been able to lose a single pound since I started the Mirena. I stay at a consistent 167 pounds (LITERALLY). No matter what I did, or how I ate, I wouldn't gain or lose weight! So, I'd finally had enough with the headaches, the extreme fatigue, and inability to lose weight. I went to my primary care physician and they did blood work to check my thyroid, my liver, kidneys, blood sugars, everything that would typically cause these symptoms. Everything came back normal. So my doctor said it could be that my pituitary gland is enlarged. So I had to do a CT scan and a sinus scan. They told me that I have a sinus infection and gave me amoxicillin. Well, obviously that didn't make most of my problems go away. I'd also been getting into a lot of fights with my husband over the stupidest things, and I didn't even know why! So I decided to take the Mirena out. When I called my dr's office to request to have it removed, my nurse's exact words were "I speak from experience..it gets better" I told her I don't care, I want it out. And that was that. The SAME night after I had it removed my husband commented on my behavior...that I seemed happier and more energetic. And today is even better! I feel like a whole new person! Ladies... if you are experiencing these effects, get it out. It's not worth changing your life around. Good luck to everyone.

Hello! I'm 27 and I've been taking Yasmin for probably 7 years and never had a single problem. My weight stayed the same, my periods got VERY regular, to the DAY, and things were ok.

Starting about 3 months ago I was on my honeymoon and decided to skip my period that month which I do a few times a year and Yasmin never let me down! Anyways my period came anyways and not only that, but I spotted an extra week after! It was most noticable in the mornings after having sex. It was just brown and yucky. Then I didn't have a period the next month, only 24 hours of brown and this month I had a regular one. On top of that I've suddenly gained 5 pounds without changing ANYTHING. I wonder, can Yasmin suddenly screw me up so many years after I started taking it? I hear horror stories about Yasmin but I only see it from women taking it for a few months or maybe a year? It was always so good to me. What's going on? The weight gain terrifies me too because I so easily gain weight and I've been trying so hard to eat well and I feel like it's been pointless. It ticks me off more because I have to pay $50 a month for Yasmin even AFTER insurance pays 15, and now I think it's messing my body up too.

I have a OBGYN appointment in a few weeks and I'm going to talk to her about it and see about getting on a new pill anyways for price reasons, but do you think all these weird sudden symptoms are from Yasmin? Can you recommend a pill? I can't afford to gain anymore weight. I just can't...

Wow. I can't even express how blown away I am by all of this.My son is 7 and has been on singulair since he was 2. He was moved to the 5 mg last year in March. The only difference between my son and all of your stories is that when he was in kindergarten we discovered a rather large arachnoid cyst in his brain that had to be drained. It was easy to blame some if not all of his behavioral problems on the location of the cyst. It is in the left temperol lobe. Having something in that region of the brain can cause behavior problems. His cyst was also big enough to push on his pituitary gland making him think he needed to use the bathroom all the time. He had a slight case of diabetes insipidus. During all of this he was complaining of headaches, fatigue, leg pain, the boy could not walk from one end of the mall to the other, he would melt down at the slightest provocation and turn into an angry little monster at around diner time. We attributed it to low sodium levels messing with his head, but his blood work never reflected someone who was THAT bad. After his surgery he had some normal depression, but in March, four months after, he became a different person. He was full of rage and anger and almost got kicked out of school. He broke things at home and lashed out at people, he said awful things. He was put on Tegretol, (that made him very sick) and Wellbutrin. Since he couldn't tolerate the tegretol they switched him to abilify. He still takes this. The one time we tried to take him off he went completely nuts again. Same kind of aggressive behavior, lashing out, no self control, crying all the time, very moody, saying things like "nobody loves me." My son is the sweetest person you will ever know. Before all of this, he would melt your heart with his kind words. Now he has been diagnosed with ADD, Aspergers, and has all of one friend at school. I go every day to eat lunch with him so he doesn't have to sit alone. I completely understand that my son will continue to have problems once this medicine is out of his system, because he does have other issues, but this morning the first thing he said to me was, "Mom it's weird, I don't know why but I feel so happy."
He has been off the Singulair for 6 days now. I called his allergist and he was VERY interested in all of this and wants to meet with me. He has always been so heartbroken by how my son has struggled. Don't think all doctors are bad. This one isn't. He is going to help me report all of this. He is really upset too. Of course he is older, been around for ever. I don't know. He cares about his patients. His receptionist said she thought they would be getting a ton of calls about this and I was the only one. Hang in there everyone. Alone we are quite together we are LOUD.

I think that Effexor XR is a poison. I would highly suggest anyone who is considering taking this medication not to. I have been off this medication for a total of five days. I took it for 3 years. Only by the grace of GOD am I totally off of it. I hope this will maybe help someone else make their decision on whether to take this or discontinue taking this medication. They best remedy for my side effects. I literally got on my hands on knees and begged the lord for mercy and strength. I have been walking/running three miles everyday. My suggestion: Pray and exercise. You don't need this medication. God is so much greater than anything you are feeling.

God Bless and Hang in there!

Hello EveryOne out there...OK OK....

Now Why have I been out of touch since Sept 14th.... 2007???

I have been VERY VERY ill.....

Y'See, I went to see this new Doctor (Quack) for continued pain in my chest (sternum) area....that I have been having trouble with all Summer. (Severe Costochondritis/Fibromyalgia) By Sept 14th, this Quack who claims to be a Doctor had given me this prescription for Prednisone pills (20 mg each)....with orders to take mega doses of this toxic poison in order to combat the pain I was suffering. I was so desperate to get out of pain that I went ahead and filled the prescription and started taking the pills that eventful Friday night. I made the fatal mistake of trusting this Doctor!!!

If I had any sense God gave green apples I would have researched this a little before taking this medicine!! I would have run like all heck in the opposite direction!

I had been taking these reccomended large doses for approx two weeks back then per Doctor 'Quack's' order.... I have been hooked after the first week....and now currently desperately trying to get off of it with only marginal success!!

I have been on this Prednisone crap for some 49 days, currently and desperately trying to get off of it....with terrible side effects!! I have experienced every side effect known to the Devil himself and even discovered some new ones that I never knew was possible!? Case in point! I can't sleep night after night without terrible withdrawals all night long!!! I am forced to contend with them every night here. Not to mention I fight the withdrawals all days long too. I have this inept doctor and I am sorry I even went to him in the first place...!

The withdrawals I am now getting are harder to deal with than the original chest pain itself!!! Not to mention even eating the so-called 'wrong' foods sets off even more withdrawals almost immediately. I am now extremely sensitive to light and the sun~ not to mention.....noise....and stress....

I am much sicker from this Quack Doctor's so-called "HELP" than I ever was before....

I don't mind saying his name and trying to steer everyone away from this jerk Doctor here in Las Vegas who takes advantage of people in pain when they are desperate by feeding them toxic poisons and passing the poison off as something harmless thats gonna help them??? Just ask me who he is and I will tell you. I have no qualms about it....

Bottom line is I have spent this last month trying to get off this crap and I just found out that the withdrawals may bother me up to a YEAR after I take my last dose of this crap poison!! I have been going thru H***!!! A nightmare I would LOVE to pass onto this Quack who pretends to be a doctor!

I am down to about 7.5 mg per day now from about 180 mg that he gave me originally Sept 14 2007. Believe me this was not easy thing for me to do. I went "Toxic" on this drug weeks ago and it has affected my ability to process, think and reason properly. I feel like part of my mind is now missing or went on permanent vacation!! Dizziness,feeling like I'm gonna pass out, Brain Fog and Mass Confusion is the order for the day~depending on the time of day???

"The side effects of prednisone include adrenal suppression, which can occur with periods of prednisone use to surpass seven days. Adrenal suppression refers to the body’s inability to synthesize natural corticosteroids, resulting in a dependency on the prednisone taken by the patient. This is why doctors do not recommend the cessation of prednisone when the patient has taken it for longer than seven days. They reduce the dose gradually over a few days in the case of short-term prednisone use, and over weeks or months in the case of long-term treatment. Stopping prednisone treatment abruptly can cause the life-threatening Addison’s disease, in which in the body no longer produces sufficient amounts of adrenal steroid hormones"

I want to SUE this Doctor for making me this sick!!!!!

SDR

GRRRRRRRRRrrrrr!!!!!!!

When a class action lawsuit is filed, let me know....this drug should be taken of off the market immediately. We started all of this with an OB/GYN that prescribed this “miracle pill” and now have had to go not only to our primary doctor, but also a psychiatrist, gastrenologist, college campus counselors, psychologists, psychiatrist, and the campus medical doctors; All the while, accumulating enormous doctor bills. All the doctors say, "No, Yasmin won't cause those problems" (except the college campus doctors..wonder why? Hmm.. could it be that they are not in private practice?)....well, I beg to differ. Everyone needs to give this website to their doctor so the doctors can hear from the patients that have taken this drug, and not listen to the pharmaceutical companies that are pushing this drug to be the "miracle pill". Maybe if enough people complain and go to the media, we can get rid of this drug!
My daughter who is 18 was put on Yasmin because of irregular periods, hormonal imbalance, etc. We were told it was the new “miracle pill”. It will make you loose weight, regulate your periods, clear up acne, you name it, it will fix it. Yeah, right.
She started taking this pill in March 2007. She was off at college but called to tell me she was experiencing horrible headaches, behind the eyes. She complained about her stomach hurting, but we just figured it was the stress of freshman year at college. Then she said she got where she couldn’t eat when she went to a restaurant. When she came home in May for the summer, I noticed a total personality change. For example, she was always a neat freak, and now she wouldn’t clean her room. The first day when she drove home, she started crying she was so mad about the traffic. Yes, she has always had a little road rage, but this was ridiculous.
By June, not only could she not be in crowds, like at a restaurant, but now she is having full blown panic attacks and IBS. We called the OBGYN and they said, “Yasmin won’t cause this, go see your primary doctor”. I knew that the only thing that had changed with her was taking the YASMINE. I knew it had something to do with all of this so I “Googled Yasmin” and this website (http://www.medications.com/se/yasmin) was the first one I looked at. All of her symptoms matched everyone else’s! I am so glad we found this website, it explained everything and I had her to stop Yasmin immediately.
So we went to the primary doctor, explained about the Yasmin and how we thought it was the culprit of everything. Of course this doctor also says, “Yasmin won’t cause that”. We told him to look it up on the internet and see how there are over 3000 complaints on this drug, more than any of the other drugs on the market.
Besides the emotional problems she starting having, her pulse and blood pressure was sky high, so he puts her on medicine for that, and puts her on an anxiety medicine and sends her to a psychiatrist. She is very thirsty all the time, and develops IBS. She can’t eat without having pains in her stomach. So, now we’ve have gone from having just irregular periods, to all of the above, plus a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist doubles her medicine (and puts her Pamine for the IBS) because the panic attacks are gone, but she still is having a lot of nervousness, anxiety, can’t sleep at night, crazy thoughts, worrying all the time, etc. A month later he changes her medicine again, to Effexor. The first 2 weeks, she does okay, but the packet doubles the strength after 2 weeks. It takes 4 weeks for it to take full effect. Right after she doubles this medicine, it is like her senses are on hyper-mode. She can taste everything that is in her food (chili powder, seasonings, etc…), taste the metal in water, and she can hear someone’s phone vibrating, in another room.
Then she goes back to college at the end of August 2007, and it’s horrible. The Effexor is having bad, bad side effects. We called the psychiatrist that she was using at home and he doubled the dose. That was the worse thing they could’ve done. The side effects were worse than ever. I had her to immediately go to a psychiatrist on campus. She told him the whole story and he believed her! Needless to say we switched doctors. He then lowered her dose back down to ½ a dose and hopefully can slowly get her off of all this medicine.
The newest thing she has developed is being hypoglycemic. The campus psychiatrist sent her to a campus medical doctor and he told her that they would get to the bottom of this. He tested her for everything under the sun. Low blood sugar is the only thing they found. But, she hasn’t taken the Yasmin since May. No telling what the results would have came back like if it was done at the time she was taking Yasmin.
Thank goodness she has counselors and doctors there at the campus that believes that Yasmin can cause all of these problems, and are working with her. From what I have read from the people that have used this medicine, although most doctors do not agree, Yasmin takes like 6 months to get out of your system. I think I am going to believe the testimonials of the people who take this medicine, over a doctor who prescribes it.
If everyone goes to the media, their doctors, the FDA, congressmen, and make them aware of these horrible effects, surely we can get this drug off of the market! Does anyone know a class action lawyer that would pursue this? For my child to have to go through all of this is ridiculous, not to mention costly. What do we know of the long term effects this drug will have if it is doing all of this when you first start taking it?
If you have the same concerns as me about this drug, and would be interested in looking into a class action lawsuit, please email: ****** I would be interested to see how many would want to pursue this.

Been on Methadone tabs for 9 yrs. I gained 130 lbs, have edema in my ankles and feet for the past 8 yrs, I have an endocrine problem (pituitary gland doesn't produce testosterone anymore), I'm itchy all over, I get drowsy, and I have hot flashes. I think I should get off this drug and deal with my chronic pain. At least I'll lose wieght, stop itching, lose the edema and aching feet, maybe restore my endocrine system balance, etc....
Whata ya think?

I am a 50 year old post menopausal woman with osteoporosis. I had 3 injections over a 3 month period for degenerative disc disease (cervical). Last injection was done 1/12/07. I was not warned about increasing osteoporosis as a side effect of this medicine even though they knew I had it and was taking medication for it.
I experienced the following side effects:
extreme sweating around head, neck, and torso
extreme mood swings where I actually became violent (I'm really a passive person), hitting loved ones, throwing and breaking things (completely out of character for me, in fact I've never behaved in this manner)
extreme depression where I tried but failed to commit suicide (I was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for 9 days)
huge face
huge hump on my back
I now have extremely high blood pressure (was normal before)
I experience confusion and memory loss (sometimes I'm in the middle of a sentence and forget what I'm talking about and I am normally a pretty sharp person.)
I now have adrenal insufficiency and am currently scheduled for an MRI of my pituitary gland next week so they can figure out why my adrenal glands are no longer producing natural cortisol.

Went to see the doctor who gave me the injections about these side effects (before the suicide attempt) and was told these side effect would go away in 3 or 4 days! He gave me a prescription for 5mg valium and told me not to eat so much!

After my stay at the psych facility I again called the doctor who gave me the injections to try to find out if the injections had caused all of this. This doctor would not order any tests but thankfully his nurse (behind the doctor's back) told me to call my primary doctor and explain the situation and ask for a cortisol level test. My cortisol level was so low that I got an appointment with the best endrocrinologist in town the next day.

I am currently on a prednisone taper to try to stimulate my adrenals to produce the correct amount of cortisol.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else? I am so angry with the doctor I want to sue him but I'm sure I signed something protecting him.

Interesting reading. I have not had the sore throat. I have not had weight gain, but neither have i been able to lose weight. I haven't had joint pain, but a defintie sensitivity to it.

I've been taking advair for a year. The thing i noticed was a sensitivity to existing allergies. So for instance, i've always been allergic to mold but the symptoms have been minor and they have reduced over time. Now i have a constant pulmanary response where i cough up yellow phlegm. I've decided to go back to the flovent inhaler and see if this solves my problems. i don't know if it will but the symptoms started when i started using the advair. I've also suffered from fatigue and my pituitary gland is being overworked. Right now, my theory is that my body is being stressed trying to handle the overreactions to allergens in my environment.
As for joint pain, for me it seems to be a digestive thing, but that doesn't mean the advair is not contributing to a digestive problem, that is then causing my joints to hurt.

I've been sick for many years. One thing i've learned is if your doctor isn't listening to you, then you need to find one who will. In our culture we place drs in a place of high authority and we are taught not to question that authority. It's your body, your health and your life. It is the drs responsibility to know the products they recommend and to listen to their patients. It's the patient's responsibility to question when things don't feel right and to help figure out the solutions. Some times they tell me what is wrong; some times i tell them what is wrong.

I had a series of 3 kenalog injections for pain in my neck at c-4 and c-5. Immediately after the last injection i noticed re blotches under my skin and went to my dr. She said it was blood under the skin from a hit or scratch, which would normally be a regular bruise, blue ot such. I had blood tests and was found to be anemic and have to take iron to rebuild. This was a result of the kenalog. I also have night sweats and terrible mood swings which I am trying to work out without any more drugs. The effect of kenolag on my pituitary gland has stopped hair growth on my arms and head.
The last injection was a month ago and no sign of any regrowth yet. This drug should definitely be taken OFF THE MARKET. It seems no drs. tell us of the horrible side effects and if they know what they are, why are they using this drug on us the patient. Remember, First Do No Harm??? I will never take this drug again and will certainly tell others the same.
L. Boss

Hello,

From my research, Vitex Agnus Castus is a herbal extract that contains a number of constituents (flavonoids, iridoid glycosides and terpenoids), but does NOT contain hormones. The benefits of Agnus Castus is that it acts upon the pituitary gland affecting the luteinizing hormone (LH) which indirectly increases progesterone production (its the low progesterone that appears to be the major cause of the anxiety).

It comes in tablet or liquid form and is made by a number of manufacturers. I was prescribed it by a GP who has given it to me in tablet form from a swiss company who has done alot of research into it's production, use and side effects.

It takes a number of months to take effect, and can be monitored with regular blood tests to look at your hormone levels.

It seems to be well researched and trialled. I was wanting to take something that didnt have hormones in it after the hell of Yasmin, so found this a comfortable and safe alternative.

Basically I'd see a doctor with an interest or specialty in womens health and holistic medicine.

Good luck! Great to hear you have a very supportive family. Trust that you will get better :)

To the person that said weight gain is an excuse...have you ever heard of Cushing's syndrome or disease..well I've had both. The disease is an over production of steriods that your adrenal glands produce and is usually caused by a tumoron the adrenals or pituitary gland. In my case it was on the pituitary gland. I've always weighed around 125. The tumor caused me to have a moon face and gain so much weight that people didn't recognize me. I also had to have a hip replacement because the high amounts of steriods in my system caused avascular necrosis of the hip. I was 33 at the time. Now, two years later and cured from the Cushing's disease because of surgery to remove the tumor, I am on prednisone for colitis. I had lost all of my weight from the Cushing's until I started taking pred. again. I've only been on them for 3 months and am down to 5mg. I am depressed and very anxious, and Xanax is NOT helping.