September 7th
2008
11:23 PM
I promised to write on this board & get the message out in the event that they figured out what was wrong with me after
approximately 4 months of progressive shortness of breath. In April/May 2008, I felt a very slight pain in my chest/lung
area. At first I thought I may have stretched a muscle during basketball, working out or painting a house. I went to my
primary care physician who ordered an X-Ray & a CT Scan. The CT scan showed some consolidation. At this time I had no
shortness of breath and played basketball for hours a day. I merely had a very slight feeling of pain in my chest area when
breathing deep. My primary care physician based on the xray/ct scan results and my concerns, sent me to a lung specialist.
The lung specialist gave me a pulmonary function test, one with and without a bronchiodilater. The specialist indicated that
I have Asthma. I refuted & said that I have never been diagnosed with Asthma and how would that be possible? I ran the 2 mile
in JR High school, played basketball all the time & am extremely athletic. At the age of 32 I've been working out on the
bench with 225 lbs and been playing basketball in leagues forever. In any case, the doctor said that I had exercise induced
asthma and stated that I likely had asthma but never caught it. ----- I did not believe it or agree. I was put on Proventil.
For whatever reason, I got very sick the next day after visiting with the lung specialist for several days & recovered about
10 days after my visit. I believed it was from taking the bronchiodilater or being on their machine or around all the sick
people - who knows to this day.
I failed to mention that my specialist did not view my CT Scan or XRay while diagnosing my problem, he relied solely on my
Pulmonary test. He said he'd get the CT Scan/XRays, review & give me a follow up call. He never called. I started calling a
couple weeks after my visit to see if he had seen my reports, but no response and my condition was not getting better. I
tried taking proventil twice a day, then just 20 minutes prior to my basketball game and even during my basketball game. I
tried everything, but nothing improved.
I dropped off the CT Scan cd for the lung specialist to review, since they stated they never received it from the hospital.
--- I had no problem getting it, why would a doctors office have problems getting it & if they couldn't get it, then why
weren't they calling me?????
Finally in late July, I was able to schedule an appointment with the lung specialist again. The lung specialist did another
CT Scan & Pulmonary Test. The verdict after reviewing these tests - the specialist states that I don't have Asthma. I refuted
again & pleaded with the doctor that I had a serious problem & could not play basketball like I use to. I could no longer jog
50 yards before short of breath. He then suggested I try their bike test with EKGs and measurements of my breathing. I got on
the bike & in approximately 4 minutes I was short of breath and my oxygen levels went from 95 to below 90!!!! I could barely
bike anymore.
The verdict after the bike test, my lung specialist indicated that the results looked odd, but more than likely it's
exercise induced asthma yet again. He prescribed me ADVAIR.
I took ADVAIR as prescribed 2x a day. My condition got progressively worse....shortness of breath even worse... it got to a
point that I could not walk 100 feet with my briefcase without being short of breath. I was starting to get very irritable &
stressed as a result. I read all the online side effects about ADVAIR leading me to this website & was disturbed by the
readings like all the others. I scheduled another appointment with the lung specialist to tell him my feelings & that Advair
was not helping after a month.
He indicated that the report received from my CT SCAN A MONTH AGO showed some calcification in one of my lower left arteries
& that I should visit a cardiologist to take a look. He prescribed 2 months more of ADVAIR to see if I'd improve, because it
takes time apparently.
I met with the cardiologist the next day, they did a Stress Test & Echo cardiogram. The stress test showed up normal & the
echo came back ABNORMAL. It indicated that I had pressure on one side of my heart due to the lungs not receiving or
exchanging enough oxygen for some unexplained reason!!
The cardiologist stated that we'd have to do a Cardiac Cath to determine the cause & treatment. This seemed very major & can
be a risky procedure although done frequently I was told.
Another CT Scan was performed. AND FORTUNATELY, now listen up..... A VQ SCAN was ordered up to be performed before the
Cardiac Cath. During a VQ Scan they inject radio iodine and have you breath-in a radio active substance. THE VQ SCAN SHOWED
BLOOD CLOTTING ON BOTH SIDES OF MY LUNGS!!!!
I am literally now in the Hospital being treated CORRECTLY for blood clotting and on blood thinners. The moral of the story
on this message board for ME is THAT ADVAIR WAS NOT HELPING, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT TREATMENT. I was MISDIAGNOSED and
there was not enough follow up from the doctors in my perception, because it took approximately 4 MONTHS to determine.
If I had stayed on ADVAIR, supposedly treating "exercise induced asthma", then I may have DIED due to LUNG FAILURE or HEART
FAILURE!
DISCLAIMER - I am not a doctor & this is only a synopsis of my personal experience. Again, I promised to share this
information, so others could hopefully benefit.
My recommendation - If you never had asthma are athletic over the age of 30 and the doctor prescribes ADVAIR for ASTHMA, then
I would highly recommend you have a VQ(Perfusion) scan performed. I hope this saves someones misery or life.
I'm still in the hospital, they are treating my blood clots and continue to try to determine the cause of my blood clots. If
anyone has any theories as to where my small blood clots may have come from, then please oblige.
-- By preferanonymous | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
April 11th
2008
7:43 PM
has anyone took their child off of singular for more than 2 weeks and has the child had any breathing issues since being off?
-- By henrymel | Reply | (5) replies | Private Message me
August 17th
2005
9:59 AM
I have been praying for God to reveal to me what exactly is wrong with my son. He has been on Singulair every day for about a year and a half. He used to be a happy, energetic boy with a great sense of humor. For about a year, he has been lethargic, depressed, unmotivated, and grumpy. He doesn't want friends over, doesn't want to go anywhere, has no energy for anything. I thought it may be his sinuses or his ears, since he has had severe allergies, asthma, and ear infections in the past. I even had his sinuses cat-scanned. Nothing. He has commented that he has really weird dreams, and I had NO idea that may correlate to Singulair. He has also indicated pain in his upper right side, as some others have. My son has never been a behavior problem, even on singulair, but I thought maybe his personality was changing for the worse, or that maybe he just needs more sleep than other kids. After a process of elimination, I thought, let's try eliminating Singulair. Within 2 days, my son was joking, playing basketball with his dad, and back to his normal silly self. I am SOO relieved. Even though I just refilled Singulair, it's going in the garbage. Weird how a "harmless" drug could cause so many problems.
-- By chantalize | Reply | Private Message me
July 14th
2005
3:59 PM
I had a stubborn sinus infection and received a prescription for Levaquin after two other antibiotics failed. In my doctor's defense, she used it as a 3rd line defense.
Still, after taking 7 days of a a 10-day, 500 mg course, I woke up with severe pain in my left ankle, as if I had turned it and sprained it playing basketball or soccer or something. The topside of my foot just under the ankle was swollen. I could hardly walk from the pain. I also had a duller, non-specific pain in my lower back. I had not been particularly active for about a week, so I could not imagine what was wrong.
Because of the lingering sinus infection, I decided to see the doctor, who identified the possibility that Levaquin might have caused the pain. He recommended I stop taking the Levaquin and treat the ankle like a sprain. He also said that if the pain continued for more than a few days, I should get an MRI to investigate the possibility of tendon or ligament damage.
This is the most bizarre medical thing that has ever happened to me. I usually investigate the drugs I am prescribed, but I could not have imagined the prevalence of side effects to Levaquin. The main web sites just include "joint pain" as a possible side effect, but that doesn't come close to describing what has happened to me. I just hope the symptoms do not linger as they have for so many others.
-- By jdubbleu | Reply | Private Message me
April 12th
2005
4:49 PM
I was prescribed with levquin for 10 days due to sinus infection. Infection went away quickly, but I noticed I was slower and more off balanced. I tripped a few times playing basketball because my legs gave away. Ever since the first pill I took which was a few weeks ago, I've been dizzy. I thought it was from overwork, but I just realized after reading some comments...it's the levaquin. And, after reading all these horror stories, I feel more dizzy. DIzzy dizzy dinosaur.
-- By soyoho | Reply | Private Message me
April 26th
2004
4:58 PM
used for 4 weeks
- thrush
- joint pain that i never knew was attributed to this until reading this board
- back spasms from playing basketball after playing for years with no problem
- weight gain ~7lbs
- muscle cramps in calves, hamstrings that were not exercise related
- jaw tightening up
- stomach aches
Singulair (2) Levaquin (2) Advair HFA (1) Advair Diskus (1) Bactrim (1)
February 10th
2009
9:31 PM
My 17 year old son was diagnosed with MRSA after getting an injury on his knee from playing basketball.After the first does he had a loss of appetite, fatigue, nauseous and severe headache. By the third day he got a fever, chills, neck stiffness and a feeling of doom. We went to the ER because his blood had not been cultured and we were afraid of sepsis in the blood. The ER doctor said it was most likely viral and sent him home. The next night he had a fever of 103, sore throat, trouble swallowing, sun burnt look, swollen eyes and cracked swollen lips.The next day we went to the urgent care and they tested him for mono, strep and the flu...(all negative). He felt awful and was so tired and feverish. The next morning he woke up with a severe rash and itching all over his body and his skin looked like it was scalded. His blood culture came back negative for bacteria and his wound has healed. I have taken him off of this drug Bactrim. This is his first day. His rash is better and his fever was down for a little while. It is 101 tonight and he just feel so tired and achy. I know it will take time for this to get out of his system. Meanwhile he is missing school and is getting depressed because he feels like he will never get better. If someone told me that fever and chills were a side effect from this drug I would not have been so worried that he could die of a blood infection. Ask lots of questions or google this site before taking a new drug.
-- By sattledl | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me