Please be careful symptoms and conditions

PLEASE READ BEFORE TAKING LUPRON DEPOT:
Hey there, I just thought I would add my experiences with the drug for everyone. I am a 25 year old with stage IV endo. I have already done a Laparoscopy and removed some of my endo. Started the Lupron on a six month treatment. My doctor said I would probably lose my period in a couple of months... well, I was due for my period two weeks after first shot and I didn't get it. I didn't have a period from then on.

This drug is great for only one thing: pain removal. It's been great for this aspect. I was in SO much pain that it was unbearable, but the Lupron Depot shots REALLY helped with this. No pain whatsoever.

HOWEVER:
Side effects: Wow...these are extreme!

WEIGHT GAIN:
Now, I am a very healthy person. I was a college cheerleader and in shape. I eat well and exercise very regularly. This did not help one bit after taking the shots! Within six months I have put on 30 pounds!!! And this is even though I am still exercising more than ever and eating amazingly! It just doesn't seem to matter.

HOT FLASHES:
My hot flashes are severe. I carry a fan with me everywhere I go--and use it all the time. They can come on me so sudden. Sometimes they are based on emotions (e.g. if I get nervous or excited or sad...they come on really strong).

NIGHT SWEATS:
Um, yeah...it's gross. I keep a fan on my face, the window open, barely any clothes on, no covers...and I still sweat!!!!!

INSOMNIA:
I have not had too many good night sleeps since I started the shots. I will say though that as long as I am kept cool through the night then I have a better chance of sleeping well

NAUSEA:
It's strange, but I never get nauseous...not even from motion sickness, but I have been starting on the last shot of the treatment. It was so bad that I would throw up!

One last thing, I tend to have a messed up equilibrium a bit. Seriously, I find myself walking crooked all the time!

On a whole the best I can say is that this drug makes you feel like it's not really your body. I kind of feel like my body has the flu or something.....it just feels weird and strange all the time. You can tell your body is all screwed up.

Other than that I haven't had anything else.

This drug is GREAT for pain removal and it's also nice to not deal with a period for a while, but the other side effects are so horrible that I would rather deal with the pain.

I just pray that the weight I gained will come off after the estrogen returns to my body....

Hello, I was put on Prednisone for 12 days and made it through 11. It's been about 11 days since I've taken it and I'm still having symptoms. I have such bad anxiety and depression, mostly after dinner. My heart rate and blood pressure shoot up, and I have to pee every 15 mins. I had gone to the ER on the last day I was on it because I was having evil thoughts and crying uncontrollably. They told me it was probably steroidal psychosis and sent me to a shrink who now has me on Ativan until the Paxil she also prescribed me kicks in. Does ANYONE know how long this drug will be in my system? I took a tappered 12-day dose starting at 60mg. This drug may save lives, but it's really put hard times in mine. Any response is*****

I had a chronic cough which got worse and developped into bronchitis. My doctor gave me 10 days of 500 mg levaquin. Ten days later I went back, still coughing, even though the bronchitis was a bit better. He gave me another prescription for 7 days of levaquin with a refill.
A week or so into this routine, my legs started to hurt a lot. I thought I was just out of shape and needed to get back to the gym and do some stretching exercises. I could barely climb the stairs to the gym, but I must say that after working with the trainer and stretching a lot (and it hurt a lot) I was able to walk easier and the pain lifted quite a bit. . . for a while.
I also have developped total diarrhea, which made sense to me; because I was trying to kill bad bacteria in my system which I thought was causing the bronchitis.
Fortunately, last week I decided to go to another doctor because I wasn't getting better and I felt my old doctor was just overwhelmed by the health care system and was just going through the motions. This doctor, an ENT doctor, immediately diagnosed me with LPRD (acid reflux which goes all the way to the vocal chords, resulting in cough, tightness in the throat, etc.) I know he's right because I have felt the acid reflux thing at night when I have eaten late and had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner.
Tomorrow I'm heading to a gastro doc to attack the diarrhea, but I wondered if the leg pain had anything to do with the levaquin, since it came about after a week or so on the stuff. and lo and behold found all these postings which have now scared whatever shit I have left out of me!
I'm off to get some magnesium, as someone suggested and would appreciate any other tips anyone might have. My only tip is that stretching out your legs and butt muscles, does temporarily help a bit.

I have been on 50 mg. of prednisone for about 6 weeks. After 2 weeks, I became very dizzy, weak and have blurred vision. I am now tapering off by 5 mg. every 3 days. I am still experiencing dizziness, weakness and blurred vision. My doctor said by the time I'm down to 15mg. per day, I should start to feel better - not soon enough for me. It is one of the worst experiences I have every had. I have IBD and the prednisone did not help one bit.

I just started taking Topamax about 2 1/2 months ago -- am up to 50 mg now, and had hit 75 when the side effects became so bad that I went online and discovered that my neurologists had been pretty lax with their advice. They told me that Top. was "a great drug for migraines" and that I might "lose a few pounds," and have "some memory issues at first" but that was it. I believed them and so didn't research further.

20 pounds later (I HAD been on a diet, and thought I lost the weight myself) I started experiencing sore throat in the morning and stomach pain (acid from Topamax). I thought I had appendicitus. So I hit the boards. Weight loss was from theTopamax (and my diet coup goes out the window) Appendicitus --probably not. Oh, also I can't be relied on to remember words or sentences or thought structure; or how to move thoughts into words. And it's not like the words are on the tip of my tongue, etiher. They are gone, as if they never existed. The oddest thing! Professional hell. Hair has yet to fall out. I'm going to have to wean myself off, I suppose, and get ready to ream out the neurologists. If I can remember their names or where they practice....

I have been having chest pains every afternoon since July 13th, which was right after the doc prescribed me Toprol-XL. I have had SOOO many tests and they can't figure out what the problem is. The chest pains happen in the afternoon while I'm walking, I don't mean walking for exercise I'm talking about walking to the bathroom or just to the other room and my chest feels like it is about to explode. I accidentally quite taking the Toprol for about 5 days. My husband had knocked my pill bottle off the cabinet and out of sight out of mind. Well, Saturday was the first day in over 2 months that I didn't have a chest pain. I didn't have any problems for the 5 days, then I realized that I had been forgetting to take the Toprol and started it back up and the chest pains have come back. Has anyone ever had this same problem?

My dad was prescribed Levaquin for bronchitis. After three days he could hardly walk the pain in the achilles in both legs hurt so bad. He was walking outside and his right foot gave out. The achilles tendon ruptured, it is totally separated. He is awaiting an MRI today and options for repair. This medication is dangerous and has serious side effects, please be careful....better yet do not take it.

Hi there... I have just found this site and I'm very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to sit down and tell us their story mine is very similar. BELIEAVE me I feel like I am pushing my family away and I'm losing my relationship with the one person who used to make me feel like I was the most beautiful woman in the world.
I'm a 40 yr female have or maybe had a great job that I loved... On April 12 I noticed a small red rash on my lower right leg no big deal went to the Dr. gave me some cream and sent me home well I went to work and by the afternoon things just seem to get bad my legs began to swell and little blisters started to pop up so I went to the E.R. they had no Idea what was wrong with me got me an appointment to see a skin DR. so I went home but the pain from the swelling was so bad I could not walk any longer went back to the E.R. they gave me some pain meds and called in some other DR. things had gone from bad to worse my feet had gotten to big I could not put on shoes and I had bruised completely across the bottoms of my feet they put me on 30mg of PRED. and it seem to be under control sent me home after 3 day in the hospital things were good for about a day or so I thought I would go back to work well that was not a very good idea.... My sister had to come and take me back to the ER where they did 2 biopsies and still have no idea what is wrong with me. so now they put me on 60mg of PRED the rash has gone, lots of scaring on my feet because of the blisters once they broke and dried out but I can live with that....
It's the side effects that they don’t tell you about,
MOON FACE I can't look at myself cause really that’s not me anymore,
WEIGHT GAIN I have always been thick but I can't handle the extra 30lbs I've gained,
MOOD SWINGS are unbearable,
PAINFUL JOINTS, CAMEL HUMP, BLOODY NOSE, BRUSING, SORE TEETH/GUMS, DRY EYES, FAITIGE, and worsted of all
I don’t have a support systems in my life so I'm fighting this by myself everyday, I have 3 kids that I have tried to explain all this to but they don't get it and well my boyfriend he tells me he understands that its the meds pushing him away but if I can't figure away to control this I will lose every thing including my job. I cant even get the energy together half the time to make it up and down the stairs which also comes with the pain of just trying to lift each leg up to climb the stairs, I also have the camel hump which I find very painful, The acne and the hair growth that I have to get wax off once a month cause I feel like a man I feel like a loser and as of the last couple of days I just want to give up I am now down to 20mg per day but I find that I am feeling so sick I cant think straight I hope and pray for each and every person out there that has to take this MED that you get better and I do hope that my symptoms wont come back. Thanks for being here and I’m glad I found this site. I know now that I’m not losing my mind completely. Elizabeth.

This is an update. I have stopped Lisinopril 4 days ago. By the way I forgot to mention that I did experience hair loss after being on 20 mg since February, Hairloss started end of May, which of course made me anxious to the point I did not want to take a shower anymore or wash my hair!! So this is when I started on Zoloft, which I have taken for the past five years, but only 25 mg every other day. This was keeping my worrying in check and was all I needed. But since February after starting Lisinopril my friend mentioned that I seemed to start worrying about every little thing and she does not even recognize my usual upbeat self. So then when the hair loss started I thought it was all in my head and went to the counselor and upped my Zoloft to 100 mg a day. Then in June my doctor said 10 mg of Lisinopril would be enough and sure enough, my hair loss stopped after about two weeks. I thought it was due to the Zoloft, that I just did not count my hair anymore, but now reading all the side effects I realize that I was not crazy at all! What a relief! So since Monday no more Lisinopril and Zoloft down to 25 mg for the past week. Last night was the first night I only woke up once really short, noticed a rapid heart beat, but only in my heart area, not all over my body, and went back to sleep. I also experienced on Lisinopril those vivid dreams which I woke up from and felt emotianally drained. I do take a Multivitamin, garlic pills and twice a day a table spoon of apple cider vinegar. So far my blood pressure is about 125 over 80 and instead of waking up with a pulse of 95, it went down this morning to about 84. I feel more energetic and in general way more upbeat. I hope I will keep feeling better and I am glad I did research on all those medications. It made me want to come off all meds and try natural approach, diet and more exercise.
I will keep you updated.

I have been on toprol-XL for aprox. 1 + years. I chose to take this medication at night because of massive headache's. I also have most of the symptoms that everyone on this site has. I am going to stop this medication immediately. Have no clue how I am going to feel or what the concenquences are going to be. Hopefully no more massive headache's, and rapid weight loss. those are my two complaints regarding this medication. Thank you for this space to speak my peace. Patricia age 61

I have been taking Levall G off and on when needed, and it is an excellent nasal and respitoary decongestant. I accidentally took more than the prescribed dose one day and felt as if I were on Vicodin. I experienced a spurt of nausea but I drank some water and ate some crackers and then I was fine. After that, the Vicodin feeling started kicking in. I also felt very floaty. But it's hard with your coodination, so please, be careful. Just lie down!

I am a 47 year old female. I had superficial blood clots in my left leg in Dec 05 and Nov 06. Developed a DVT in left leg and a superficial clot in right leg in June 07. Now taking 9 mg of warfarin (coumadin) a day. Suffering from extreme fatigue, heavy periods and I just discovered the hard way that warfarin makes you sensitive to the sun (got a severe sunburn on my face, forearms, hands and the top of my head, all places that I do not normally burn). Called the pharmacist and she said sun sensitivity is not a side effect. Went to several websites before I finally it upon one that did say that sun sensitivity is a side effect. My doctor did not tell me this and it is not a warning on the prescription label. Please be careful in the sun. Also, if you are a cranberry lover, I found several websites that said no cranberries in any form, juice, dried, herbal supplements, etc.

This medication is dangerous and causes serious neurological complications. After taking a prescribed dose for 3 days, I have experienced numbness in most parts of my body including face, muscle stiffness, muscle jerking and intensive weakness. I have also experienced uncontrollable anxiety attacks marked with depression and anger. This is the worst medication I have ever taken and after having stopped taking the pilss for three weeks now, my life hasn't been the same. I've been in the emergency room 4 times and two out of the four times I had an ambulance ride there. It feels like your having a stroke and then the body function comes back after a few minutes of HELL. Please be careful with this medication...very dangerous. I lived a normal healthy life prior to taking this medication.

My doctor prescribed me Prednisone on May 3. I'm on 10 mg. I start out on 3 tabs 2x a day for 4 days, then 2 tabs 2x a day for 3 days, then 1 tab 1x a day for 2 days. I was put on this for a sudden attack of joint pain/stiffness/swelling of my elbows, wrists, hands, knees, ankles and feet. I was in extreme pain. So far this drug has given me no side effects other than needing to urinate a little more often than usual. My pain is gone, as is the swelling. I'm almost scared to go off this b/c of the fear of the pain coming back. My blood tests came back on Friday and my doctor told me that I had Rheumitic (sorry, I know that's spelled wrong) inflammation and if the pain did come back after I stopped the Prednisone that I'd have to do more blood tests. I just turned 30 and I'm scared to death what else might be wrong with me.

Hey,
My name is Krysten im 14 and im in the 8th grade. I'v been taking adderal for almost 4 months now. Before taking adderal I wasent doing good in school, I would always get into fights. My life was miserable. So I asked my doctor if I could try adderal agian. Before when I took adderall my stomach hurt and I wasent feeling the same. Then I wanted to give it a try. A week after I started to feel my self agian, my family and my teachers noticed a huge diffrence in my academics and my ADD. I went from getting E's and D's to getting on the honor role last quarter. I got the most improved in my grade and I was very happy. Now its the final quarter and now im feeling that adderal isant helping as much as it use to I'm worring about if I'm going to do as well as last quorter and im feeling a little anxiety. I went from taking 30 - 40mg in less than a month, Since I take 10mg after school. I also have been exeirencing weird things. When I get up from sitting down, I sometimes get a huge headach, I cant breath for about 30 seconds, I sometimes see stars and Its like a black out also, I get up then I cant see anything its all black, then slowy I can see agian. I would really like to know if i should raise my Mg higher for me to focus more and be happyer over time. I think adderal was a life changer for me. Please answer my question as soon as poosible!

to the last poster:

You may be right, everyone reacts different on medications and other things.

But let me just mention this:

This would have been exactly the post I could have written after only about 6 months on this stuff..... I LOVED my Yasmin and wouldn't have heard on anyone who told me any negative about it!!!!

About 2 years later I had my first breakdown, after another 2 years the second, very severe breakdown and since then my life has never been the same as before!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a total hormonal wreck, still not knowing if I'll ever be healthy and fit again in my life (and I'm only 32!!!).

So I think it's absolutely worth thinking twice about taking this special bcp. It definitely seems to be causing more and espcially more serious side effects than other bcp's with other hormones in it!!!

Please be careful with that stuff!! There's so many other bcp's on the market, perhaps with less side effects (I've been on bcp for 5 years before Yasmin and never had any problems like that!!!) And I wouldn't wish my experience to my worst enemy....... :´(

Since about 4 years I'm only "existing", not really "living" because of severe hormonal problems caused by Yasmin (BEFORE taking that stuff I was a happy outgoing positive person, and I turned into an anxious, weak, unsure and hormonal affected wreck)!!!!!!

Please be careful when using this drug!!!!! My daughter is 4 years old and was on Singulair for a 1 1/2 years to control allergies and Asthma. She was also on 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Zyrtec. She lost the last year and 1/2 of social and emotional growth. She became angry, aggressive, hyperactive, disconnected from reality, uncommunicative. She was deliberately hitting, scratching, etc. unprovoked. She retreated into a fantasy world where there was alot of "killing" and other scary things. The other kids were scared of her. Her teacher, who has over twenty years of teaching in a University Laboratory school (she knows what she is doing) said that her behavior was the most extreme she had ever seen. I took her to the Pediatrician, to a child Psychologist, and to a Physiciatrist. They were thinking ADHD and maybe Bi-Polar or ODD or worse...we were very scared. The Pediatrician said, no the drug could not be causing this. This site helped me to realize that maybe it was the Singulair. Psychologist, physiciatrist and allergist all said, yes it could be the drugs. We got her allergy tested and she was extremely allergic and started allergy shots. We took her off the Singulair and Zrytec and starting seeing changes in her behavior within a week. It has now been 5 weeks and our little girl is back...she is smiling again, happy!! and communicating! We can have a conversation with her now! It is amazing. Everyone has noticed the difference..her teachers, Dr.'s, etc. She has had a few outbursts and some hyperactivity since but they are diminishing as time goes by. I just wonder how long it will take for all the effects to be gone and how much work we have to do to teach her all the things she missed developmentally over the last year and 1/2 while her mind my blocked by this drug. They should take it off the market. It is frightening. Please beware!!!!!!!!

First off, it is NOT smart to come of high doses of prednisone as some people here are doing. If you come off from a high dose, you can develope something called adrenal insufficency--which can put you in serious danger, and the side effects will double.

I'm on prednisone, 80mg a day (and i'm only 110 pounds), and the side effects are awful. However, if you don't like the side effects of prednisone, or how you're doctor is handling it--change doctors. Prednisone is not a drug to play around with. Please be careful.

My 3 year old son was prescribed Singulair two weeks ago. He has an unexplained bout of diarrhea, he has been having regular screaming melt downs, irrational fears of random things such as bathtub water, the cat, the doorknob etc.

He became very aggressive and inconsolable at pre-school the other day and I had to come remove him. The teachers were astounded because he has never had that type of behavior and were very concerned. I called the doctor immediately and had my husband do an internet search on Singulair side affects as I drove to the doctor's office.

He will not take this medication ever again. The doctor said she had never seen side affects to this medication. But she said that since his new behavior coincided with taking the medication she switched him to albuteral.

Please be careful with all medication. I have found that many doctors have absolutely no clue about alot of things.

Hi Emily!

If that's a side effect of Yasmin you perhaps only can find out by getting off this pill and see, if you feel better in a few weeks / months.

Just a word about Mirena:

Mirena is made by the same company as Yasmin (Schering in Germany, I think "Berlex" in US). And it has nearly the same hormones in it. I read about Mirena the same horrible stories, as I did about Yasmin. The side effects seem to be very similar. And even if your docs might tell you, that the hormones of Mirena only stay in your uterus: Well, who tells the hormones to do so and stay there?? I think the uterus is as well connected to our blood circulation as every other organ in our body. And so I think everything that reacts in the uterus also reacts in our whole metabolism over the blood circulation.

So please do a little research about the side effects of Mirena, I fear you'll find the same stories, as you find about Yasmin...

Please be careful!!

Best wishes
Silke

hi ljcole63,
i also sufered terribly with migraines while on yasmin. I never had them before yasmin and do not have them anymore since stopping yasmin. Mine were usually worse from the 16th day until my period came. Sometimes they were so bad i could not do anything except lie down. No medication would get rid of them. On the leaflet that accompanies yasmin it does warn that any unusual headaches should be reported to your doctor. Please be careful and you should consider stopping or switching as it is affecting you like this. Speak to your doctor and tell him/her how long you have had this migraine for. In my own situation the migraines did not improve, but then i had so many other problems with yasmin i was totally confused and messed up. Go see your doctor as soon as possible. Best of luck.
murph70

All you ladies, and expecially femalepara:

You shouldn't tell ANYTHING about this pill, as long as you haven't been taking it AT LEAST over a few months!!

Reading such a post like "I just started taking it TWO WEEKS ago and this is so much better than..." feel like a slap in a face of someone who had suffered and is still suffering because of this nightmare pill!!

Surely everyone reacts different on medicine, but you always should be careful and very sensitive about ANY symptoms you experience while taking Yasmin!!

In my case the worst symptoms started after 2 YEARS on it!!! Then another 2 very bad years (always tired and dizzy) without noticing, what this chemical was already doing to my body and then the total breakdown after 4 years on this stuff!! The first 2 years I thought it was the best pill I ever had taken and then in 2004 my life nearly was about to end because of that sh....!!!!

So please ladies, don't tell anything about a medicine as long as you weren't on it at least for one year!! Believe me, before that point you don't know ANYTHING about it!!!

I wish you best of luck, that everything stays that good as it does at "2 weeks" on it. In my case the diuretic effect changed into the opposite!! After about 3 years on it I got such bad water retention I've never had before in my life and cellulitis all over my body (not only legs or so!!), even at my arms!!! After about 4 years on it I looked as if I was pumped up with tons of water, my face looked like a big balloon (I ALWAYS was a very fit and slim person BEFORE!!! I swear!!), my belly wobbled with every move I made.... It was terrible!!! And still, even after one year WITHOUT Yasmin all the water I had retained is not gone completely. I'm just so thankful that it gets less every month; already I lost about 10 pounds during the last 4 months and my body and face finally starts looking like my old self!!

So again: Please be careful with that medicine and don't praise it to the skies since this is a bit hasty at such a short time on it!

All the best to everyone out there, who's still suffering or recovering of their personal "Yasmin nightmare"!! God bless you!!

Silke

Hello everyone!

I am so glad I found all of you! Now I know that I'm not going insane. I am currently on Yasmin and I have concluded that it's the WORST birth control ever and it's side effects, detremental. I started taking Yasmin in December and began to get ridiculously over-emotional over the stupidest things! For instance, if my boyfriend didn't call me at a certain time I thought the world was over! In Februrary it got to the point where I was so frustrated at my reactions that I began seeing a therapist. That still didn't help though. Before taking the pill I was a completely strong and happy person and I know my reactions to things just aren't normal right now. I'm the type of woman who NEVER cried before but now I literally cry my eyes out over nothing! In fact, last night I cried so hard that my eyes started to hurt! I've also been experiencing anxiety, especially around my period. This has gotten progressively worse. I think the severe moodswings are the worst though because they just don't go away...it's like the tiniest thing sets me off and I can't control myself. Then I get even more frustrated and guilty because I KNOW this isn't me!! I called my doctor and I have decided to get off of Yasmin...I may try something else but it seems like these damn pills just aren't agreeing with me! Please be careful if you are on this! Much love!

@ Guest 20952:

Well, after only 1 1/2 years ON Yasmin I would surely have said the same things as you do now! I never expected to go through that hell I went through after 4 (!) YEARS on it. And after my first fainting spell and really severe panic attack it still took about 4 months for me to realize WHAT really was causing me such pain and torture (well, I never expected MY Yasmin to do such things to me!! I swear!!)!!

So please be careful and watch your body!!!! If I would have done that and would have found this site earlier I'd surely gone off that pill much earlier and perhaps wouldn't have gone through all this agony I did for the last 2 years!!!

It seems as if in some woman the side effects occur slightly over the years because Yasmin has this diuretic in it which slightly causes an imbalance of electrolytes and vitamines in your body. So it may help, to always drink enough water and perhaps take some supplements like magnesium and so on during times, you are sweating more than usual (a hot summer's day, during workouts, during illness with fever (like the flu or a cold, etc.)).

Everyone out there: Please be extremely careful with that drug, even if you seem to be ok at the moment!!!

Remember I was very well on that pill for over 3 years until everything hit me at once!!!

Greetings
Silke

Hey guys,

I just got out of the hospital after suffering a near fatal pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lung). It has taken me two months to feel normal and I am permenantly off the BC pills and am on an antidepressant to combat the fear and anxiety that wont let up.

If you choose to be on Yasmin, or any BC for that matter, please be careful. Clots are no joke and I am one of the lucky ones who survived to tell the story.

Sarah