Prescription plan symptoms and conditions

Hello everyone. I am a 40 year old female and have been on Toprol XL 50 mg. for about 6 years now. In the beginning I was taking Toprol, then because my prescription plan wanted to switch I am on Metoprolol. I was prescribed this after a stress test because my heart rate did not go down as quickly as the cardiologist wanted it. If only I knew what I did now, I would never have started it. HELLO!! I weighed 200 lbs. at the time and was a couch potato. What did he expect? Of course my heart rate wasn't going to go down being so out of shape. I am so angry that I was prescribed this drug for such a stupid reason. I am also on meds to lower my blood sugar and high blood pressure. I know that all of my problems are due to my weight and so I've made a decision to seriously change my diet so I can get off of all of this crap. I currently weigh 217 lbs. But as you all know, being on Toprol, it's so hard to lose weight. I want off of this crap as soon as possible. Can any one of you guys who has gotten themselves off of this medication please send me some information as to how you got off of Toprol XL? My doctor is a real moron who works solely for pharmaceutical companies so I refuse to go to him. I will be changing doctors soon.

I felt I should share my story, even though it is quite lengthy, since it is similar, and every story helps those who are still unsure.

I went on birth control at the age of 15. I tried several kinds, but all of them made me nauseous. I was on Mircette the longest, and seemed to be doing fine. Then around '03/'04 I started seeing a new ob-gyn, who told me that my problem was that I had a low tolerance for estrogen, and that was what was making me feel so nauseous. She said there was a new type of pill specifically for women like me called Yasmin that had very low doses of hormones. I was excited about starting the new pill, and did right away.

I continued taking Yasmin until about a year ago, when I switched to the generic of Yasmin, Ocella, due to the fact that my insurance didn't cover Yasmin and it was becoming expensive. On the Ocella, which I took for two months, I felt bloated like I had a basketball in my stomach, constipation, and other issues. I was told by the pharmacist that I was probably allergic to the additives that are sometimes in generic pills. So I decided to find out which birth control was covered under my prescription plan, call my gyno, and switch.

My gyno called in Loestrin Fe, but they filled it with the generic, Microgestin. I took this for approximately 3-4 months, and felt absolutely terrible, with panic attacks, crying, sleeping problems- the whole bit. So I thought that I should go back on Yasmin, no matter what the cost, and attempt to regulate again.

I went back on Yasmin six months ago, and though some of my symptoms have improved over how I felt on Microgestin, I am still a mess at times. I have moments when I am anxious and moments when I am absolutely joyful. I get really angry over little stuff, irritable and snappy. Then I get weepy and feel terrible about being snappy. Then I'm happy again. It's an emotional rollercoaster. I was never like this before- my moods were even, and I handled stress well. And I was always pretty happy-go-lucky.

Physically, I have ear fluttering/clogging/pressure/popping/pain. I'm getting fairly frequent migraines, which I never had before more than once a year. I, too, have numbness on the right side of my face in which it feels like my eyelid is swelling, neck stiffness and pain, and numbness of fingers and arm. I went to the ER a while back because I thought something was severely wrong due to symptoms of dizziness (vertigo) and right-sided numbness. I have severe TMJ and jaw pain, which I didn't have before, and allergies, which I also never had before. I have heart palipitations and sometimes random chest pain under or to the side of my breast. All of these symptoms have started to occur in the last six months after going back on Yasmin.

I went to an internist, who did blood tests, checking for thyroid issues and checking hormone levels. My thyroid was temporarily hyper, but my hormones were, according to the test, normal. But when the blood test was done, I wasn't experiencing any symptoms, so I'm not sure if it's accurate.

My yearly exam with my gyno is coming up in November, and I'm going to discuss these things with her, but I'm afraid she'll look at me strange for thinking that these symptoms are related to Yasmin...

Ironically, the only time it seems that I'm feeling pretty good is when I have my period! Which I guess would be when I have no hormones in me whatsoever! I feel happier and my sex drive goes back up, and my moods even out.

I am now considering, after reading these posts with all of you that were kind enough to share your stories, going off of Yasmin for good. I'm not sure what, if anything, my gyno is going to recommend, but I was considering trying an IUD instead...

I was on Diovan HCTZ for a number of years for my high blood pressure. It worked pretty well, keeping my b/p to around 130/80, it had been 158/90. The Diovan, since no generic is available, is expensive but I did have a prescription plan at the time. I recently retired and asked my doctor to switch me over to a generic medication to cut my cost. He put me on lisinopril hctz 20/12.5mg. I took it once a day and had great results with lowering my blood pressure. No side effects until the third month, I then began to notice a great deal of hair loss. Since I am 58, 15 years post menopausal, dye my hair, I thought maybe it was the dye (unusual since I have been using the same product for years). I started washing my hair every other day instead of daily. This did not help, I still had to vacumm my bathroom floor daily. At this point I looked up on the internet and found this site about the connection of lisinopril and hair loss. Being an RN I decided to cut the pills in half for a week and see what happened. Sure enough, my hair loss stopped. I then went to my doctor equipt with this information. I am now on HCTZ 25mg daily and taking my blood pressure 2x/day. My b/p stays around 140/80. I know I have to go back to the doctor next week to discuss what to do next because this is not working. Luckily I HAD very thick hair otherwise I would be bald. Does the hair grow back? Does anyone have any other medication they can suggest that does not have this side effect? Too bad, I was doing so good on the lisinopril with my b/p and it did not make me tired like the diovan did.

I'm 50, a lifelong asthmatic (since age of 4). I started taking singular in 1999, Time Magazine's cover story back then. In the spring on 2001 I had stopped taking it. I got sick and my doctor had me taking it again. I told him subseqently that I had noticed changes in my moods. He dismissed the notion. I worked on wall street. 911 came and I was put on antidepressants (zoloft 200mg/day and gabatril 8mg a day). I lost seven years of my life. Yesterday I spoke to my pharmacist. I'm now on disability (respiratory, depression and anxiety). Medicare Prescription plan would not pay for Advair. The pharmacist to my surprise pointed out that depression was written up as a potential side effect of singular. I have read that head meds may leave 70% of those taking them left them still depress and with sleep disorders etc. I have been off the head meds for 9 months now. The mental fog has cleared, (from not being sedated).). An my depression continues unabaited as it has for the past ten years.

I also found out that MAXAIR is back after being discontinued. I used it for at least ten years (in the 80 & 90's). It has nt steroids, long lasting compared to albuteral as an emergency inhalher and precluded the need for multiple asthma meds. My life changed when Maxair was not being bottled which was just about the time Singular came out. I doubt it will undo 10 years of environmental injury and damage caused by singular and steroids. I also believe the best advice for keeping me breathing freely was drinking lots of water, (distilled, I bought a machine rather than carry a gallon a day from the store.). was truely life improving. It allows your body to flush out the impurities our modern day life threatens us with. I read the posts on this site and was compelled to share my personal experience(s), for you to consider....

Horrible! Due to a change in my employers insurance coverage (no prescription plan) I could no longer afford Diovan and my Dr. switched me to Lisinopril. This stuff is the worst. About 30 minutes after taking it and on into the next morning I cough until I have thrown up. I don't have a high blood pressure issue but suffer from type 2 diabetes and take it in combination with my metformin...until today. I'm stopping the Lisinopril before my husband has to sue the manufacturer after I'm buried from choking to death for no reason! Thanks to all of you who have confirmed what I have been feeling. I missed a day of work last week because I was too dizzy to stand up and now I know why. Here's to a good nights (cough free) sleep and a clear head.

Since being switched from Wellbutrin SR to a coated generic tablet and most recently to Budeprion, I have noticed an increase in stomach pain that did not change whether taken with food or on an empty stomach. At first it was only intermittent, but the last few months it has been chronic and I believed I was developing an ulcer. Before having the large endoscope pushed down my throat, I decided to stop the budeprion and so far the stomach pains have gone away. I am curently petitioning my prescription plan to at least come up with another generic source for bupropion SR besided Budeprion.

I have not taken Zocor in eight weeks. The pain in my legs is almost completely gone. I can stand up for ten minutes (which is nine minutes longer than 8 weeks ago). My balance is still off, and I still fall, though not as frequently. I feel better mentally and physically. I don't know that the damage already done will be reversed, but I can say with certainty that I have not gotten worse since I stopped taking the Zocor.

Good luck to anyone that will end up having to see a neurologist. I am finding that physicians and the drug companies work together.

My prescription plan at work is sponsored in part by Merck,
who also makes Zocor.

My husband was on Prilosec for several years, and switched to Omeprazole by our prescription plan. I don't know if the medication is the cause, but he started experiencing chest pain, and occasional shortness of breath, not the same as the acid reflux discomfort. He went to the Dr. and was tested by blood tests, EKG and chest x-ray. All were normal, so stress thallium test was ordered. He passed the stress test with no problem, but had a small abnormality on the thallium scan. He was referred to a cardiologist because of this and a heart cath was performed, also normal so thallium scan was a false positive. The cardiologist changed his medication to Nexium. Could this all be due to switching to Omeprazole? I don't know, but the timing is suspicious.