Pounding heart symptoms and conditions

Do any of you take Lisinopril by itself without a diuretic like HCTZ (hydrocortothiazide)? I got dehydrated 2 days ago & doctor has cut my HCTZ in half-- I felt light-headed, dizzy, pounding heartbeat like I was having a panic attack. I've been on this lisinopril/hctz combo for 3 months. I don't have any of the adverse allergic reactions (rash, itchiness, swelling) at all; nor do I have the cough thing at all. But weakness, chest-pounding heart, dizziness, fatigue all coming now daily. I wonder if our problem is the HCTZ, so is anybody on lisinopril WITHOUT HCTZ?

Yasmin is a steroid so when coming off it you can suffer all the same symptoms as someone stopping a steroid drug... and by the way, when people are taken off steroids it's done in a controlled way - they cut down on them very slowly by reducing the dosage. It's a real shock to the body to just stop a steroid. This could explain why a lot of us feel so terrible when we stop taking it. I know I had a real increase in severity of symptoms followed by months and months of exhaustion and fatigue.

Hello all Yasmin Survivors.
I stopped taking Yasmin in July 2005 and three years on I am still re-building my life! I feel this pill and its side-effect stole some of my best years, I am 33.
My main side effects were extreme anxiety, agoraphobia, pounding heart, panic attacks, fear of doing anything (even going 10 minutes away from my own home). I was on it for 12 months and the side-effects started very gradually at about 5-6 months, I barely noticed them creeping up on me. It took me another 6 months of taking it to start to question whether Yasmin could be causing the extreme change in my personality. I think if I hadn't stopped I'd have had a major breakdown. I had lots of weird physical symptoms too including, bloating, passing urine all the time, leg cramps, dizziness, hair loss.
Anyway, all the extreme anxiety and stress caused by Yasmin left me with exhausted adrenal glands - which I'm now trying to re-build. Anyone feeling fatigue, nervousness, anxiety, inability to handle stress in the same way as you used to, PMS several months after stopping Yasmin should look into Adrenal Fatigue as a possible cause of their symptoms. It's hard to treat and can take a long time to recover - but there are lots of things you can do to help your body re-build. Visit ******(doctor Andrew W. website on Adrenal Fatigue) as a start to find out more about the condition and how to find out whether you are suffering from it.
It would be good to hear from more people re-building their lives after the impact of taking Yasmin on this site. Also, is anyone out there trying to put together a class action?
Sarah

I have taken toprol for seven years. I never had any bad side effects and it controlled my blood pressure most of the time. However, I suffer from anxiety and depression and was recently put on Lexapro. My heart rate dropped into the 40's and I was exhausted all the time. Turns out Lexapro interacts with Toprol in that the drug (Toprol) does not break down in your system and keeps building up! Because the Lexapro was helping my anxiety I decided to lower the Toprol dosage. Down to 12.5 mg and still extremely low heart rate and fatigue. Decided to go off the Toprol and monitor my blood pressure, which has been amazingly good so far. Went off completely six days ago and it has been rough. Anxiety, insomnia, pounding heart, heart palpitations. This stuff is a real B*tch to get off from. Have talked to both the pharmacist and my doctor and both said to NOT start taking it again. There are plenty of newer medications out there. I also experienced weight gain when I first started taking it...I think because it slows your metabolism down. So now I am on xanax to counteract the Toprol until the Lexapro kicks in more. It it isn't one thing, it's another.

Am I the only one who has gained a lot of weight while on Lisinopril? I have gained over 40lbs in 3 years. I have also experienced odd muscle cramping and have never made a connection to this and Lisinopril. The pain in my ear, side of my head, and my jaw was unbelievable. ENT dr thought it was TMJ or nerve damage. He was not able to really pin down the exact cause. One month later I was bed ridden with severe back pain, which I have never had before. MRI showed nothing. Headaches are daily, cough, leg cramps, chest pain, decreased sex drive, and definitely have feelings of depression. I have never made the connection between the changes in my personality, health, and lifestyle to this medicine; but now I have. I will be immediately contacting my doctor to discuss alternatives. My BP when I started was 150/90 and now is 112/70. Please let me know if anyone has also had the weight gain like I have experienced. I know I am going to have to have hard facts to show to my doctor. Thank you.

Hello folks - thought I would post here as well.........I am on 20MG of LISINOPRIL 1 time daily. I notice during regimented times of the day I get the side effects. I take it when I wake up in the morning. I have been on this for about a year now...........it has lowered by HBP from 150's/80's to about 130/80..............regular........I am a 37 year old Male

Problem is the multiple side affects:

1. Tiredness - comes and goes all throughout the day - almost like I could just close my eyes and go to sleep anywhere.........feels like someone threw sand in my eyes.......
2. Shortness of breath
3. Sore Muscles - everywhere - it doesn't discriminate!!!!
4. Pain in the chest mostly the left side but sometimes the right
5. Headache in one spot in the head - doesn't last long
6. Wake up often in the middle of the night with dead hands or legs
7. Sometimes I just have a total memory blank on things I should know right away - usually only occurs when I'm getting tired.
8 Of course the panic from thinking something is wrong with me!!!

Anyone else with these set of symptoms????

Drop me a note!!!!

I was on a Prednisone taper for 7 days (bronchitis). I have been off for 16 days now. I am still suffering from BAD headaches, head pressure and dizziness (also racing heart) - off and on??? Does anyone know how long it takes to get this stuff out of your system? My first day after finishing it my headache and dizziness got so severe that I threw up 7 times over the next 24 hours?

Is it something that I am eating or drinking that is 'reactiviting' the side effects of the Prednisone? I hate this.

Thank you.

Vanessa

I was prescribed Synthroid for Hypothyroidism about 6-months ago. I was told my thyroid is covered w/ nodules caused by Hoshimotos(?) Thyroiditis. Prior to that I suffered with severe anxiety attacks. Since my first dose of Synthroid I have felt much calmer. I realize Synthroid isn't prescribed for that, but I definitely feel much better. However, now it is early spring, and I ventured out for some light gardening and thought I was going to die from heat stroke and a pounding heart - it is only 68 degrees! Could this be a side effect or perimenopause?

I have been taking Advair 500/50 for about two years ( I am now 60 years old,) to help control my allergy related asthma (that only presented itself when I had to take steroid eye drops for glaucoma.) While I had the hoarseness, dry mouth and occasional mouth sores, they seemed livable compared to uncontrolled asthma.

One morning about a month ago, when I was taking my normal AM puff, I suddenly felt as though a giant sledge hammer banged down on my head - pounding me into the floor - almost losing consciousness. Then, I experienced pounding, racing heart that felt as though it might jump out of my chest. I turned white and gray - my family and I thought I was having a heart attack.

I was terrified to take another puff - thinking it might be my last. Two days went by, when, I decided to experiment by taking a very light puff, barely taking any into my lungs. (I had been further scared by warning about suddenly going off steroids.) My doctor was out of the country and no one wanted the liability of advising me.

One hesitant puff of Advair caused the exact same pounding - heart jumping and racing reaction. I decided right then that I did not need further evidence to "pound into my head" that Advair was now toxic for me.

The odd thing is that my doctor seems to discount my experience by saying I am the only person this has ever happened to (implying there must be something wrong with me!) When I asked about the dangers and appropriate process for suddenly stopping steroids, she pooh-poohed my concern saying there are no side effects from inhalers with steroids. (Several nurses recently told me that was not necessarily true. Who knows what to believe!)

I have stopped Spiriva and Advair and have scheduled an appointment with a doctor and nurse practitioner who use diet, exercise and nutritional supplements to help treat asthma. A friend has gone to them for several years and is now off all asthma medication, has lost about 50 pounds, has improved health and looks 10 years younger! I can only hope this works for me!

I am also writing Advair manufacturer with my experience;copies to FDA. I can only wonder if there are others as 'rare' as me? If so, let it be known. thanks

I

MADE MY POUNDING HEART TURN FLUTTERY, SWOLLEN LEGS WHICH DR SAID NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT,CRAMPS, DIARRHEA, ANXIETY, BAD DREAMS, DISTURBED SLEEP, SCARED TO COME OF THEM NOW AFTER READING REVIEWS THAT COMING OF THEM MAKES IT ALL WORSE

UPDATE!!
I was lucky enough to have found this site on October 10th. I am glad to say that I have been off of Lisinopril for 2 weeks now and I feel great!!
I just went to the doctor and TOLD him I was not taking this med and he suprisingly said OK.
I went back to a generic derivative of Tarka I was on before. The Lisinopril cost $4 and the Tarka costs $30 but that is no price to pay for my sanity!!
I now have no more side effects. My BP is lower now than I can ever remember and my head is out of the clouds and back at home where it belongs. I have no more heart palputations, asleep hands, dry cough, racing and pounding heart or vivid dreams.
Dont be afraid people to go and get off of this terrible for some drug.
Also I have been taking 2 tbls of pure unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. I am not sure if it is helping but it does seem to give me a lot of energy. Reasearch it. I hope and pray for all the folks posting on this site that your recovery can be as dramatic as mine.
Good luck to all!!!!!!!!

I am a 27 year old female and have had high blood pressure since I was 15. I have been on beta blockers my whole life like (Labatalol and Toprol XL100mg/day). I have never noticed any side effects with those, but my doctor just switched me to Lisinopril because my blood pressure on Toprol is 135/90 and when I am off it is 160/105 so she said the Toprol really isn't working. So, I have been on this medicine for a week and a half now and I think I would rather take my risk of a stroke and have high blood pressure than to continue to take this. I have nausea each day, upset stomach, my appetite is gone and then when I do eat I feel very full and bloated, I am shaky on the inside, foggy headed, I cough in the morning, I have been waking up with a sore throat that goes away within a few hours, but I am not sick, I get a weird dull headache in the afternoon, pounding heart, and I feel crazy like a crackhead. I have been crying for the past three days and feel depressed, confused and my mind won't stop racing about stuff.
AND my BP has been 130/80 so nothing has changed. I am having a hard time focusing at work and I just want to go take a nap because I am so worn out from fighting with the racing thoughts and shakiness. I am going to a new Dr. today to see if I can take something else, but as of today I will no longer take Lisinopril.

I have been on 150 mg of Wellbutrin XL for a little more than 3 weeks. I am also taking 100 mg of Lamictal a day just upped that dose yesterday from 50 mg both to treat bipolar disorder (which I am not thoroughly convinced I have!) I can't tell which drug is causing which side effect, they both cause a lot of the same things. I have experienced strange dreams and horrible nightmares, itchy skin, hair loss (which I believe is from the Lamictal), acne on my face, back and shoulders, extreme mood swings and irritability, extreme fatigue, difficulty with hand-eye coordination, difficulty with words (speaking and writing), generally fuzzy headed, dizziness, waking at night with a pounding heart, joint and muscle soreness, heavy period that has lasted a lot longer than normal, stuffy nose, hacking cough and that about does it.

Basically, it sucks and I want to go off at least the Lamictal and see if the Wellbutrin is kinder on it's own. I just don't think this is going to work for me. It's been pretty rough the last few weeks, I hope I can come up with something I can tolerate.

good luck all!
~A

I had been on lisinopril for 3 yrs until a couple of weeks ago. I was taking 10mg in addition to 25mg atenolol(which I have been on for 10yrs). Although I did not notice any serious side effects when I first started on it, it ended up seriously affecting my quality of life. My energy level, which has always been very high, was gradually reduced over the course of the last 3 yrs to a level so low that it was exhausting just to get through the day. I had undergone extensive lab workups to try to figure out what was wrong. I would also have episodes of severe muscle weakness and aches that kept me confined to bed. I was tested for every disease known to man. All came back negative. On top of this, for the first time in my life, I was becoming very depressed and unable to cope with the least little thing to the point where my family became concerned. I also suffered several serious anaphylactic allergic reactions involving serious stomach pains, plummeting blood pressure, pounding heart rate, faintness, swelling of my extremities and shock. I was referred to a specialist and after 4 wks of bloodwork and skin testing, I was incredibly allergic to NOTHING. But I have to carry an epi pen at all times since I don't know when or why a reaction will reoccur. All of this time, I never ever suspected lisinopril as a problem. It was not until one day I was particularly tired and lightheaded and found out that my BP and pulse were way too low (90/50), so I did not take my lisinopril that night (or since then) but only my atenolol. The next day I felt better and within a couple of days incredibly better. My doc has agreed that lisinopril is a problem for me and increased my dose of atenolol to 50mg, which takes care of my BP just fine. Now my energy is returning, my depression has lifted, and I can actually look forward to each day instead of just trying to get through it. I feel like my spark for life is coming back. Like others, I was in a downward spiral and wondered if this is what happens when you turn 50 and if I would ever feel good again. I knew nothing of this website during all of this and wish I had found it long ago. Maybe, just maybe, I would not feel like I missed the last 3yrs of my life.

On my third day of Levaquin 500, I woke up with my heart pounding, thinking I was having an anxiety attack. But it was my pounding heart that woke me up. Same this THIS MORNING, my heart was beating so hard that my clothese were moving from my pounding chest. After reading about others I finally realized it was the Levaquin. Today is Easter. I sat in the front row of church and it happened AGAIN! I just prayed that I wouldn't faint or have a heart attack, and I made it. I'm not even sure if it has had ANY affect on my sinus infection. This is BAD NEWS.

leg pain, muscular weakness, especially in the thigh muscle, pounding heart, light headedness, persistent for weeks, all disappeared within 2 days of quitting lisinopril

I had some signs of a chlamydia infection and tested positive for chlamydia antibodies, so my doctor prescribed a 7 day course with 2 refills (total 21 days) of 100 mg twice a day. Almost immediately (like within a day or two) of beginning the doxy, my testicles swelled up, became painful, my joints began to ache (even though they had already done that to some extent before I started, they got a LOT worse on the doxy). By the time I finished the 21 day course I was a lot sicker than I had been before, I was weak, had a pounding heart, and even though it has now been a month since I stopped, I feel only slightly better, if at all. If someone could email me and give me some hope that this will go away and I will feel better, I will be very grateful.
Thanks.

I was given 750 mg of Levaquin for sinus/ear infections, along with a prescription cough syrup. The first night, I had difficulty sleeping, along with racing heartbeat. I thought it was from the codene in the cough syrup, so I left it off the second night, but continued with the Levaquin. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY! I had racing thoughts, pounding heart, leg cramps, terrible acid reflux and nausea, but worse than that, was CONSTANT thoughts of someone close to me dying. It was the next morning that I read in the 'packaging information' that the side effects 'could cause' sleeplessness, leg pain, anxiety, depression, nausea, etc. I won't take it again.
D

Took leviquin 500 for 8 days before I realized what was happening to me. Side effects included: severe panic, altered mental state, constant sleep, loss of appetite, pounding heart rate. After 2 trips to the ER no help was provided. I stoped the Leviquin early (was supposed to take it for 3 wks) and immediately started feeling better. The anxiety is much less but still present and I still sleep all the time.

Has anyone had similar experiences and, more importantly, how long does this last?

Please help!

I just began taking the drug about one month ago. I now am experiencing a pounding heart -- never had this before -- which drives me nuts. Also I have extreme agitation where I can't seem to sit still, and need to be drumming my fingers, etc. Even when sitting still, I feel very ansy. Not sure what this is about. Anyone have any thoughts? I am about ready to trashcan the drug.

It took me several months to figure out that the cause of my discomfort: hacking cough, pounding heart, shortness of breath and constantly watering eyes was from the Lisinopril. Most affects have eased since I quit taking this medicine.

53 year old, runner, given shot for fibroids,Day after 1st shot (30 day) side effects started: High blood pressure, racing heart, shaky hands, flushing. Had these problems for a couple of days, then started with chest pain, chest heaviness, shoulder and neck pain feeling like I couldn't breath, pounding heart, barely able to make it up the stairs in my house. Ended up in the ER from the severe chest pain - all tests were normal.
additional side effects two days later - blurry vision at times, tingling in hands and feet, occasionally spreading up to my head, insomnia, pounding feeling in my chest, another trip to the ER - again all tests normal. Now on top of all the above, I am having severe indigestion and feel like I have a large lump in my throat and have a hard time swallowing. I still have 2 weeks left. Hope it all goes away soon - also have been bleeding for about 10 days - What a nightmare!!!

Hi everyone -

I'm brand new to this site and I can't tell you how glad I am to have found it!

I'm 41 years old with no history of any serious health problems. In February of last year, I started feeling run-down, depressed, etc. (first time ever). By April, I went to my gynecologist and was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst and put on Yasmin to help it resolve. After the cyst cleared up, I stayed on the Yasmin because I liked how it worked for birth control (never used BCP's before this). At the same time, I was diagnosed hypothyroid. A few months into treatment for both, I started having tachycardia/palpitations/pounding heart, severe depression, anxiety attacks. These were all written off by my docs as related to the hypothyroidism. My doctors and I kept thinking once we had that under control, the symptoms would resolve.

Well, the hypo has been under control for about three months, but the heart and anxiety symptoms continued to get worse.

I decided to dump the Yasmin about 7 weeks ago, because I couldn't figure out what else could be causing all the symptoms. My heart started feeling better in about 3-4 weeks, although the depression and anxiety lingers on (but are both improved).

I am not a very patient person and the idea of "waiting this out" is awful - but your postings have given me a lot of hope that all of this will eventually go away.

I would like to suggest that everyone spend a few minutes reporting their side effects to the FDA. If you go to www.FDA.GOV, there is a section where you can report adverse reactions yourself - without having to convince your doctor to do it for you. Under the section "Let Us Hear From You", there's an option to "Report a Problem with a Product". It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. If enough people file complaints, they'll have to do SOMETHING, won't they? ;-) And just the act of "ratting out the makers of Yasmin" is very satisfying....

Good luck to everyone!

Julie

Lizzy,
Isn't it unreal that no docs will admit the correlation of Yasmin and the side effects of anxiety, pounding heart, weight gain, etc? How can we all be experiencing this with one common denominator - -YASMIN?

I am almost 3 weeks post Yamin, on Xanax and Paxil for about 10 days or so, which I hope to wean within 4-6 months. I have never taken any medication of this kind in my life! I can feel myself getting better day by day, I hope it keeps up.

Good luck on finding a competent doc when you return to N.O. I hope that it all works out for you.

One thing that is helping me is that I cut out caffeine. I used to love Crystal lite teas, diet coke, etc.... I drink lots of water and I think it is helping (I suppose that it cannot hurt). I also am careful not to have any alcohol. I never was much of a drinker but I won't even have an occasional glass of wine until I get better.

Last year, I was prescribed Etodolac for pain I was experiencing in my knee. After incredible improvement in my knee within 24 hours, I continued taking Etodolac. After 7-8 days on Etodolac, I started waking up in the a.m. feeling like my heart was racing and difficulty breathing. I thought I was coming down with flu or pneumonia. Went back to dr., who additionally prescribed an antibiotic. Symptoms continued until I read about the "rare" side effects (breathing difficulties, congestive heart failure, etc). I called my pharmacist Sunday morning, who advised me to stop taking the Etodolac and see if symptoms improved. I stopped having the pounding heart (which occurred 9-12 hours after each dose). I called my dr. the next day to make him aware of my reaction to Etodolac. However, I'm wondering if it could have done any permanent damage. I found out, during a routine colonoscopy that I had a heart irregularity and ended up having to have a pacemaker.