Prevacid symptoms and conditions

I was taking prevacid for 6 years with no problems, then the insurance insisted I switch to omeprazole and after 2 weeks I developed severe upper abdominal pains, almost like a heart attack, with nausea, vomiting, weakness and cold sweats. It was a trip to the hospital and my primary care physician who swore that it could not be the Omeprazole and to continue. After the 2nd bout a week later I insisted that it was the meds and wanted something different. As I started taking something different I started feeling better after a couple of days and felt like I was over the problems after about 10 days and have had no problems since. Just the $7,000 medical bills.

After reading all of the comments, I am embarrassed to say that I have taken omeprazole for the past 2 years. Originally, I began taking it for nausea from GERD. I began taking it soon after the death of my cousin (as I figured the anxiety from her death caused my stomach issues). I began to become depressed shortly after, which I also attributed to her death, financial issues, etc. However, when life got better I was still depressed and anxious. Two years passed and I still couldn't figure out why I felt so bad mentally. Not to mention I was mildly nauseous most of the time and NEVER had a normal appetite. I would only know it was time to eat when I felt faint. Light-headedness, stomach cramps and lethargy were also side-effects that I experienced almost daily. The worst part was that I didn't know if the nausea was caused by my stomach issues or by the omeprazole. It was obviously the omeprazole. About 2 months ago I switched to Prevacid which caused much less nausea but many of the other side effects were still there although a little less. I weened myself off completely (which I would recommend to anyone) and I actually feel like my old self again mentally and physically. I didn't realize how low my energy was until this last week that I've been off those meds. I'm actually HAPPY again, I WANT TO EAT something, I have ENERGY, and no light-headedness or stomach pain at all. It saddens me to think that I spent over the last 2 years feeling this way needlessly and thinking that I was crazy. There ARE other alternatives to acid reflux, GERD, etc out there that are much safer and more tolerable. If any of you are experiencing some of the symptoms that I or others have described, explore other options before you just "get used to" feeling like crap.

This reaction is to the entire "PrevPak", vs. just the antibiotic Biaxin. The PrevPak, used to treat H. Pylori, also contains another antibiotic, Clarithromycin; along with 2 capsules of Prevacid in prescription strength, "these are proton inhibitors" which reduce stomach acid by preventing certain actions to take place in the stomach. The side-effects of the proton-inhibitor include the potential to block the absorption of Vitamin B, calcium and an enzyme needed to process and use iron in your body. Therefore, the following symptoms or behaviors may occur, once you begin the Prevpak. a) anemia/tiredness (take some slow-release iron) b) confusion and anxiety..(B12 deficiency); c) craving for milk and dairy (calcium deficiency).

Long-term, bone breakage, and other issues arise if you continue long-term use of a proton-inibitor.

I am posting this here as many of the reactions people are associating to Biaxin seem more attributable to the Proton-inhibitor that usually accompanie's Biaxin's use for gastrointestinal issues.

Biaxin's reaction, in my case, I would say was isolated to sleeplessness feelings, strange nightmare-like wakings, disorientation, a metallic taste in my mouth, and dehydration.

All of these are considered traditional symptoms of Biaxin.

I also had itching on day 12-14 for the PrevPak dose. This is probably attributable to the proton-inhibitor possibly affecting my histamines. However, it could also be an allergic reaction to either Biaxin or clarithromycin.

I started simvastatin 20mg mid-October 2008. The middle of November I started getting stomach cramps, then in January I had a sinus infection that wouldn't leave and dizziness to the point of passing out. Also having all over body pains. Now I have diarrhea and foul smelling stool and stomach pains and gurgling,also headaches. I have been taking bonine pills which gets rid of the vertigo temporarily. I just found this site today and will not be taking those pills again EVER. I thought I was going crazy.
I am starting to take prevacid morning and night and zantac150 morning and night to solve my indigestion issues. I hope all the problems will go away soon. We should be suing the drug companies for giving us these drugs. I will just live with my high cholesterol, at least I'll be living normally!

I'm VERY glad I found this too! I started taking it one week ago today. Took one dose that day, in the evening. Then I took 2 doses the next day, Sunday. One in the morning and one in the evening. I woke up the following morning, Monday, at about 5 am with horrible, horrible pain in my upper stomach/esophagus area. This lasted the entire day. There was terrible pain that flared up every couple minutes or so. I could hardly breathe and sometimes cried or yelled out because of the sheer pain. The pain has lessened considerably since Monday, however, it is now Saturday, and it still hurts every few minutes and hurts to eat/drink. I have never had anything like this happen to me IN MY LIFE, and it suddenly does a day after I begin taking this medication? Sorry, that's more than a coincidence. I called the office that gave it to me, was referred to a nurse, and she said that that was, "Not a normal reaction" and to "take it with a big meal." I'm so scared. I don't have insurance, and I'm beginning to fear that my stomach/esophagus has been severely damaged by the doxycycline. After reading this article (******), which I admittedly do not fully understand because I am not a physician, I am even more afraid because the doctor who wrote it said he hospitalized one of his two patients who experienced these symptoms. If anyone has any advice, I'd be so grateful.

I was prescribed Doxycycline Hyclate 100m for acne on January 20th 2009. Then, on February 6th, I took the medication at 11:00 only to wake up at 11:40pm with severe chest pains. I have never had anything wrong with me heath wise and the first thing that popped into my mind was the medicine. I went to the doctors the next day because the pain had become so severe and i could not eat or drink anything (even water) without feeling a sudden sharp pain. They did an x-ray and found nothing wrong. I was told it was probably anxiety and this medicine had nothing to do with the chest pains. I
went ahead and took it again last night only to still have chest pains so i decided to do research on this medicine and came to this where i found posts in which similar things were experienced upon taking the medication. I have just stopped taking the medication today and am hoping for the pains to go away.

My 9 year old son started Singulair 5mg about 8 months ago. Shortly after, he started to occasionally complain of stomach pain and not being hungry. About 2 months ago, they changed the dosage to 10mg. He now has chronic diarrhea and severe weight loss. We stopped the medicine about 2 weeks ago, but he's not "back to normal" yet. He's never had any digestive problems before. The doctor's recommending endoscopes, and we're at our wit's end.

i have had problems with acid reflux for approx 5 years now and have tried everything pretty much. i first went for tests and they did the one where you swallow the liquid metal stuff (barium?) and then a endoscopy. my regular doctor said i had a slight hiatal hernia after the barium test and after the endoscopy my stomach dr said i had acid reflux and didn't have a hernia so he started me off with nexium which worked good for a while but i began to have side effects . i would just feel not right mentally cloudy all day, extremely dizzy.after that it seemed like every drug he put me on (prilosec,aciphex,prevacid) seemed to have the same results. so i decided to see if i stopped completely if these feelings would go away and sure enough they did but the acid was soon to follow. i started taking zantac 150's and they worked but now i feel like i cant sleep at night and sure enough thats one of the side effects. i also read not to drink alcohol when using these drugs. so now i pretty much sit here not knowing what move to make next

I was on prevacid for about 2+ years. I tried to get off of it several times without success. I tried a 21 day weight loss plan that involved eating complex carbohydrates early morning and afternoon and heavier on protein and easily digestible veggies in for dinner. Following this plan has allowed me to finally get off prevacid! The biggest reward for being off prevacid has been regrowth of hair I thought I was loosing because of my age!

Against my better judgment, I received my first shot in Oct 07 and my second in March 08. I will absolutely will not get the third. I was suspicious of the vaccine, but was convinced by my doctor to get it. I should have listened to my gut. Within two weeks of receiving the first shot, I experienced flu-like symptoms, fever, and such severe vaginal discomfort that I went to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis. It cleared up, but my health felt off - worse digestion, I started getting heartburn, feeling fatigue, started seeing floaters in my vision and getting terrible headaches, and my menstrual cycle started becoming more irregular. I had always been like clockwork. I started losing weight, which was unusual, as I had always been overweight and had a hard time losing weight. I began feeling more and more irritable, but made no connections to the Guardasil shot. In March, immediately after receiving the second vaccine, my arm hurt terribly, I felt lightheaded, woozy, and had hives appear. Within 1 week, I started experiencing vaginal irritation again, fever, and had flu like symptoms. Over the course of the next month, I started to feel such severe fatigue, stomach aches, and uncontrollable diarrhea, that I went to my doctor. She told me I probably just had acid reflux. Two days later, I experience debilitating stomach pain, which lasted for nearly 1 month. I had an endoscopy, a CT scan, allergy tests, and blood work for thyroid disorders and other imbalances, all of which have come back reasonably normal and regular for my body and system. I did have some esophageal damage from acid reflux, and was put on Prevacid. Receiving no answers from the Western Medical community, I cut out gluten, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, caffeine, alcohol, yeasts, and sugar from my diet and started working with an acupuncturist and naturopath. Stool sampling showed signs of Candida Yeast overgrowth in my intestines and parasites, which I am combating naturally with help from my naturopath. I a got off the Prevacid successfully with her help, and am starting to feel stronger. However, since January, I have lost 50 lbs, have experienced hair loss, fatigue, eye itchiness, emotional upset, headaches, joint pain, tingling/numbness in hands and feet, lower body temperature, disruption in my sleep, decreased strength, muscle loss, continued gastrointestinal pain, alternating diarrhea/constipation, persistent Bacterial Vaginosis, and have not had my period since I received the second shot in March. While I do feel I am becoming stronger, this road is long and the journey is slow. My health is not what it used to be, my diet is restrictive, and I am taking multiple herbal and natural supplements, vitamins, and probiotics. The appearance of overall, chronic symptoms with the timing of the Guardasil shots makes me believe that I, like so many other women, am a victim of Guardasil. Don't get this vaccine.

I have battled acid reflux disease for 10 years. After years of Prevacid, Prilosec (prescription and OTC), and everything else, Nexium worked for me. I had no side effects except I was pain-free in my stomach. My only complaint was that 60 pills (of 40mgs) cost $40 after health insurance. I would definitely recommend trying it.

My 12 year old son has been on 60 mg of Prednisone for two weeks now. His side effects have not been bad at all up to this point. He's gained about 6 pounds. His brain is unusually active right after taking the drug, and this effects lasts a few hours. He's always been a wildly creative kid but prednisone seems to intensify is creativity and the productivity of his brain. He has Tourette Syndrome and his tics waned overnight after beginning the meds so that is a big bonus if prednisone is responsible for that. He has always been an insomniac since he was a baby but prednisone makes him sleepy, so sleepy he takes naps during the day and goes to bed early, sleeping soundly all night, so soundly he had an accident and wet his bed last night. His head sweats when he sleeps. He has infrequent periods of mild irritability. His appetite has increased but not unnaturally so. Seems like he finally has a sustained healthy appetite. He goes to 45 mg for two weeks tomorrow so I'm interested to see what new side effects this brings on. No stomach problems despite taking this along with very high doses of antibiotic. Maybe the prevacid he takes with Lactobacillus is helping with that and the fact that he takes his meds with small meals or lots of fluid.

I am a 53yr old female, I started with bronchitis in Feb 2008, after two er visits, and treatment with antibiotics/ cough meds/ decongestants, etc. thought I was finally over it after 2/3 weeks, then all of a sudden I would start up with the same tight, non productive cough, twice accompanied by strep throut also, these symptoms started to return almost monthly, without warning. The last episode I had in July I was put on prevacid for acid reflux, (the first dosage of that gave me a slight improvement of symptoms of the cough, then the following week prednisone was added with almost instant improvement, Wow finally, each day better that the last, then as I started to taper off a bit of increase in congestion, nothing that a child's dose of mucinex didn't help. Then almost a month to the day after thinking that I was finally better, I started all over again, up for almost 36 hours straight from coughing, started back on steroids, antibiotics, etc. But this time is tougher, The initial steroids helped right away, but there is a lot more mucous with this episode, My Doctor set me up for a PFT (pulmonary function test) and pending results plan to followup with a Pulmonary specialist, but as I've been tapering off the prednisone again the symptoms have increased, almost back to the beginning of the episode, with more coughing than not. Nervous about the last day of my steroids, my doctor put me on the Advair Diskus, my results of my pft should be in tomorrow, I took my first dose this morning, (quite nervous about it because I have several medication allergies and reactions) Now for my dilemma, my dose went well, I almost thought I felt a little something good, I know it's supposed to take awhile to help, but I felt positive about it and looked forward to my next dose in 12hrs. A little later in the day I started feeling funny, kind of spacey, fuzzy headed. Is it possible that this feeling is from the Advair? I've read the side affects and a lot of feedback from Advair users, and nothing matches what I;m feeling. Is there anyone out there that has felt like this? Please help, I'm almost due for my next dose and don't know what to do.
PMB in CT.

If you are taking this medicine, STOP! I took this medicine for about three months. I started to feel like I had a congestion. I cough lightly at first then into a hard cough which progressed into a hacking. My wife thought I was critically ill. I was spitting up clear congestion at work into my garbage can. This stuff is bad, I found this site and stopped taking the medicine. It took 3 week for the cough to subside. It’s been about 4 months, and I would say I am only about 98 percent back to where I started . About every 3 weeks I out of the blue start to slightly hack. I know one thing this is not a good medicine. When I started my BP was 138/109. My doctor told me to try this. Because of this medicine I could not do my job and my doctor never told me it was the medicine. When I told him he told me he didn’t think it was the medicine and prescribe some cold medicine

I am a 30 year old, been on L24Fe since beginning of Aug 06 due to breakthrough bleeding for several months on Ortho TriCyclen which I had been on since 1994, with no problems. Once I started it, my breakthrough bleeding stopped-in fact I never had a period again.

However, after a month, I started experiencing shortness of breath, and my heart was racing, I went to the Dr, they did an EKG, chest xray, pulmonary function tests, allergy tests. You name it. Dry mouth, dry eyes, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, insomnia, acne and wheezing and coughing followed. I was seen by several top specialists. They decided that I had Vocal Cord Dysfunction and it was caused by either something called Sjorgren’s syndrome or Acid Reflux. They decided it must be Acid Reflux-even though I didn’t feel like I had indigestion. They started me on protonix, that didn’t work, then switched me to prevacid, then when that didn’t work, they decided to put me on prilosec, then doubled the dosage, then tripled the dosage. By that time, I was doubled over in pain and was going to the bathroom every ½ hour. My stomach was swollen so bad, I looked very pregnant. I am a petite, thin person. I gained about six lbs over this time and I’ve been the same weight since I was 18, and I worked hard to keep it just at six lbs. (working out 2xs a day-seriously became a huge gym rat). I couldn’t wear my wedding rings b/c my hands were so swollen-when I complained-they said they weren’t “that swollen” and I just needed to buy bigger rings. I finally had an endoscope in Nov 07 and they ruled out acid reflux (which I knew bc I had no symptoms).

They then decided it must be the Sjorgrens-a very serious auto-immune disease-which causes-dryness everywhere, and they were guessing the dryness was causing my vocal cords to spasm-so they tested me-with a blood test-it was negative. They said sometimes the blood test is negative-so they then did a lip biopsy-also negative. The doctors all finally said, we don’t know what’s causing this, we’re stumped. You’re just going to have to live with the Vocal Cord Dysfunction-here’s some anti-depressants. I didn’t want to take them so I didn’t. I was stressed b/c I wanted to start a family-but how-I had no sexual desire, and I wasn’t an emotional wreck-not ideal conditions for starting a family-right?

Throughout all of this, I kept asking each dr. could it be my pill? No, it’s not the pill and I believed them b/c I had never had any problems with Ortho. I decided that I would go over my huge medical file 5 weeks ago. I spent two days and then got online and found this website and spent about 6 hours reading everyone’s comments. I was at the end of my package. I threw all of them away. It has been a month, I’ve never felt better. Suddenly, I’m able breath, my mouth isn’t dry, and I’m sleeping at night. I’m still periodically having hot flashes (but I’m not sure if its just the weather) and I’ve noticed that the vaginal dryness is getting better, but not fully. I have been getting a little dizzy, but I’m told that this pill has iron in it, and I’m likely just noticing the reduction in iron. I have started taking an iron supplement and it helped. Also, I got my period after 4 weeks, it wasn’t terrible-it lasted 5 days and it was light. I was massively bloated though. I just weighed myself after 2 days finishing my period-I haven’t weighed myself since about 2 weeks before I stopped the pill and I’ve lost 3 lbs.

If you think about everything. The signs I had ARE THE SAME AS MENOPAUSE. This pill mimics menopause. I’m 30, I’m not ready for that. I am paranoid that I’m never going to be able to have children. Oh yea, and my face has been clear.

All the doctors think I’m crazy, even my gynecologist. I’m considering contacting the FDA to force them to review our complaints so no one else has to go through all of these problems. Please contact me at this email address if you are interested.
I also found this website that we can report complaints to the FDA.

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

mY 11 year old son has a history of reflux, which he had taken Prevacid for in the past. He broke his arm and is taking NSAIDS, flaring up the reflux. Company's new insurance plan requires we have documented 2 week trial of zantac prior to approving Prevacid for use. He has been on Zantac now for four days and has had increasingly frequent watery diarrhea, stomach discomfort, nausea, difficulty sleeping, and loss of appetite. This is an unacceptable side effect profile for a medication for a child. Per the insurance company, he has to suffer with this for two weeks in order to get a medicine that we know works approved for payment. Insane. I will be taking him off Zantac as he is worse now than when he started taking it.

I have had EXTREME hair loss and I did not know what from. I never thought it was my advair. I checked all of my other medications and only one other one said there was a possibility of hair loss (PREVACID) so I went off of that but my hair was still falling out. I have been so desperate that I scheduled and appointment to see a dermatologist tomorrow. Today I happened to google "advair/hair loss" and I cannot believe all of the articles that came up with people expressing the correlation.
I have been so depressed from this hair loss. I had the thickest, shiniest hair and now I barely have a pony tail. I wear hats all of the time because I am embarrassed.It has been totally devastating.
What I need to know is which other asthma medication will NOT cause hair loss so I can switch? Too bad I just dropped $100 on a 3-month supply of Advair and now cannot use it.
Also, those of you who went off the Advair, how long did it take for you to experience hair growth or it not falling out?

What I am experiencing may or may not be the result of the doxycycline hyclate, but I suspect that it is after reading all of these posts. I took a 100MG doxycycline capsule about a week ago late at night ( to prevent Malaria), laid down, and I woke up to discover a sensation of something being stuck in my throat. That was about a week ago...since then it has progressively become harder to swallow and eat. I have experienced some tingling in my fingers, occasional bouts of nausea and discomfort/pressure in my chest that is very noticeable in my chest when I lie down. Also had severe chronic constipation subsequent to taking the pill, but this may not be related to the doxy, not sure.

I went to the doctor today-the PA ran all kind of tests-EKG, throat x-rays, blood, and urine and didn't see anything abnormal. I hope to find out what the problem is soon.

My son, Wilson, is a bright, easy-going, athletic 12 year old who has a history of asthma and allergies. After several asthmatic episodes from age one year to about four, he was prescribed Singulair. The asthma triggers seemed to be change of season or congestion from a cold, but not from exercise or physical exertion. As I recall, his asthmatic episodes seemed to decrease after he was on 5-10 mg of Singulair, and even more so with each passing year. Over the years, of my three sons, Wilson was the one to catch any virus that came around and missed more school time than both of his brothers combined. Often, he was the only one to get sick from a virus, which never passed to anyone else in the family.
About five years ago, Wilson started complaining of stomach aches. He was tested and was prescribed Prevacid on and off since then with varying success. In the last couple of years, headaches would come and go. He was re-tested for allergies and blood work with no conclusive results. About 2-3 years ago he would complain that he “felt funny…like he needed to do something.” Further conversations revealed that he was expressing anxiety. He’s a good student, has lots of friends at school, and is popular among his sports team mates. Occasionally, a teacher here and there over the last couple of years would note that he did not participate enough in class, or did not appear to be attentive. We thought perhaps he is shy. Still his good behavior, agreeable personality and diligence otherwise earned him good grades overall. He loves school and was very unhappy having to stay home when he was sick.
This past winter, he seemed to catch a virus about once every month and a half which caused him to miss 2-3 days of school. Headaches and stomach aches were common with each illness (sometimes nausea), and sometimes these same symptoms when he was not ill. He would only complain when they were prolonged or significant. Trips to the doctor did not result in anything conclusive. Again, Wilson was only too happy once he returned to school.
He claims that sometimes in school he feels like he’s in a fog and has difficulty concentrating. He gets plenty of sleep and sometimes sleeps up to ten hours during the weekend. We attributed it to adolescence and a busy schedule. He claims that this year is the easiest for him at school, and his social life with his friends is very active. His friends’ parents like him and find him to be an agreeable child. Other adults mistake his sometime mumbling answers and lack of eye contact rude. We concluded that he is just shy. He is the most hyper of his brothers, and has difficulty sitting still and constantly exclaims that he’s bored. We chalked it up to being an active boy. His grades are good in school and we never get complaints about bad behavior.
The last illness started a week ago, and he’s still out of school. The doctor said he had no significant allergy symptoms, other bacterial infections, and his blood work all returned with normal results for white blood counts, liver and kidney functioning and anemia. He can’t return to school because of his constant headaches (which cause pain in different parts of his head), nausea, constant stomach aches, no matter what he eats, and feelings of anxiety, mostly in the evening hours. He’s also complaining of dizziness, leg cramps and other muscle soreness. The notable difference in this illness is the anxiety. My husband and I take turns staying home with him, but if we left him alone for a half an hour at a time while the other was in route picking up a sibling, he became very anxious. In the past, he seemed to enjoy some alone time at home so he could play his computer games. He also becomes easily dizzy with shooting pains in his muscles. The doctor said that viruses can manifest themselves in later stages in the form of sore muscles. However, he was concerned about Wilson’s feelings of anxiety. The anxiety had not been as prevalent in prior illnesses. I finally signed onto the internet reading all the stories about other parent’s observations of their children on Singulair. My husband cautioned me about “internet diagnosing” with symptoms and stories that can be easily taken out of context in hope of self-diagnosis. I’ve always thought that Wilson’s doctors have had good judgment. Both my primary physician and allergist don’t think that Singulair has caused these symptoms, but agreed to take him off as long as we monitored any effect on his asthma.
I don’t know what to think. I want the cause of these problems to be the Singulair, because it’s an easy answer. Today will be the first day he’s off the medication. He probably won’t go to school again tomorrow. We’ll wait and see what happens…

It has been 18 days since my 9 year old daughter has taken Singulair. Our daughter had been taking Singulair for approximately 2 years. It was in the last year that we started to notice some behavior changes and mood swings that were so often unprovoked. We were somewhat concerned and thought like so many other parents that it was a phase. Then in December 2007 she came home from school with a tummy ache and had several episodes of vomiting. She seemed better the following day, but we took her to the pediatrician to be sure that this was a virus. The stomach pains continued, and then anxiety attacks began. Over the next month she began to wake up each day with stomach aches and we began more visits to doctors and more testing. She had abdominal X-rays, CT scan, mekel scan, GI consult and endoscopy. All were ok except she did have some small amounts of acid in her stomach. She was treated with Prevacid with really no significant changes. As weeks passed she missed more and more school, she just could not make it through the day. She had intense separation anxiety, and developed OCD about being sick again and vomiting, fears that she may stop breathing; fear of dying and the list goes on. She was refusing to ride the bus to school, and was having more and more panic attacks that would last for hours. We finally took her to a psychiatrist after we had done every test we could possibly do and all were normal. She woke up with the fear and anxiety, and fell asleep each night the same way. The doctor said she had "OCD" which she believes was triggered by the fear from vomiting. "This was the first time she had vomited since she was an infant.” She was treated with Lexapro, and Klonopin. The symptoms worsened over the next few days even with the new medications. After many calls to the doctor we were finally advised to have her admitted to a children’s psychiatric hospital for closer evaluation where higher doses of medications could be administered. She was there for 4 horrible days with slight improvements. Over the next few weeks the medication did begin to help some and she was able to make it through school each day as long as she was able to call me a few times a day for re-assurance. I thank God each day for her wonderful teacher and staff that have helped us through this. They all have known her for 3 years and knew this was just not her character at all and she was truly struggling. She was always known as "Smiley" to everyone because she always wears a grin. We began therapy with a psychologist as well and she has good and bad days. Then we heard the news about Singulair and I began to trace back other issues she had with focusing in 2nd grade and how things just seemed to progress from there. It all happened so gradually that I would never have put two & two together. She is showing improvements every day with personality, mood, attitude, fears, and the "OCD". She told me today that this was the best day ever!! I have made all the Doctor's involved aware of this information and the progress she has made in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Her doctor did cut her meds in half this week as well. Thanks to everyone that has posted their nightmares as well, and we will pray for you and for full recovery for all those that have suffered.

My daughter had an appointment with a gastrointestinal doctor this morning because of her stomach problems. (She has been off of Singulair 10 days now and ALL symptoms- leg pains, abdominal pain, dizziness, sensitivity to light, severe mood swings, depression, anxiety, severe tantrums have all vanished) We kept the appointment with GI because our physician advised us to. He found it hard to believe that Singulair could be the cause of all of her symptoms. Well the GI also found it hard to believe that Singulair was the cause but said, "The proof is in the pudding." I have filed a complaint with the FDA on medwatch.com. It was very easy. I have also asked the doctor to file one as well. I also gave the doctor a printout of the studies done. Hopefully with more and more people filing complaints the FDA will act quickly. There is so much indisputable evidence regarding adverse reactions. It is unbelievable how many stories sound just alike. So many children have lost years of their life due to this drug. Parents have spent so much time and money trying to figure out what is "wrong" with their child. It is a shame so many have been incorrectly labeled all because of a drug they were taking!!

Here is some perspective for you all. I take Singulair and do well on it and in ACTUAL studies it has one of the safest safety records. Understand that post marketing reporting does not mean there is a correlation between the event and the product. Throughout the life of a drug the companies must disclose any report of side effects reported to them REGARDLESS of causality. A popular antihistamine that is OVER THE COUNTER also has suicidal thinking/behavior listed in its post marketing section. However, just because patients who had reported having these thoughts while taking the product doesn't mean it was a result of the product! Maybe they had a depressive personality and were also on multiple other medicines to treat that. You must look at the "Adverse Reactions, Warnings and Precautions" sections of package inserts to see the side effects that were actually seen in studies. You can die from ulcers derived from over use of aspirin or ibuprofen. Decongestants can throw off your blood pressure and these events are documented in actual studies! Listen to your bodies when taking any med. If you feel differently report it to your doctor.

These are all drugs people, there are potential side effects. There are also side effects to those "natural" over the counter remedies that are not nearly as regulated by the FDA or studies by the drug companies.

To anyone out there who has experienced side effects to singulair timed to when you started it, talk to your doctor, stop taking it and see if it goes away. Same advice for any product prescription or over the counter medicine. Side effects can be a combination of many factors (what other meds are you taking?) But understand for many people this product is the safest and most effective treatment for them. The FDA and Merck are reviewing all information to see if there is any correlation to the reporting. But singulair been around for about 10 years and prescibed to billions of people and is known to be one of the safer medicines out there overall.

In between the legitimate posts on this site I get the sense there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. People looking to cash in on this big drug companies. We want drugs, we want them cheap and with no side effects which is not a reality. Keep stepping up the regulation and make the companies hire more lawers to protect themselves and jump through even more hoops and see what happens to the price and access to new meds. Even better, see how regulation has impacted the development of new medicines around the world (here's a tip, it will dramatically decrease). Drug companies certainly aren't perfect but which industry is?

Please, when taking any medicine over the counter, prescription or herbal supplement listen to your bodies to see if the potential benefits of the product outway the risks or side effects. Report any changes to your doctor.

Here's something to ponder...
Here's a quote from Merck's site "Merck voluntarily updated the worldwide product label for SINGULAIR in October 2007 to include "suicidal thinking and behavior" and included similar changes to the patient product information". So if they voluntarily updated their information, why aren't doctors aware, why is the public not privy to this information?

Moms, Dads, and everyone who is taking Singulair with these side effects..if you are wondering why you've changed since being on Singulair, it just may be the side effects of this drug. Please don't wonder anymore, and take yourself off. You don't need to wean off it (coming from my son's pediatrician). It may take a few weeks to really see results. With our 5 year old son, we saw results little by little, and now it's been a month and he's completely back to normal. No more suicidal thoughts, no more blank stare, completely focused, and is his loving self again.

Every time someone new comes here and posts their story, it just breaks my heart that we've all suffered silently for so long without knowing the causes. To all the Mom's and Dad's who've thought they were doing something wrong as a parent, I feel for you, I was there. We did do something wrong though, we trusted the very person who made an oath to protect our children, to help our children. But we cannot blame ourselves for that. We're doing everything in our power right now to make our children's lives better, be proud of yourselves that you're here, finding the answer. Now let's do something about it. It's important to educate everyone we can about this. Don't let these doctors or compassionless people come in here and tell you there are no side effects, trust your parental instincts and go with them!

My 7 yr.old daughter has been having abdominal pain for the last 8 weeks or so.She had, blood tests,abdominal ultrasounds and has seen a gastrointestinal doctor.We have come up with no reason for this pain she has.It has awoken her every night for past weeks.I had asked the doctor if it could be Singuliar causing this.He said it is highly unlikely,and prescribed her prevacid.Well I guess its" highly unlikely time".I followed my sisters advice,her children had experienced problems with singuliar a few years back.I did not give my daughter the prevacid,instead I took her off singuliar.Guess what?The stomach pain went away,and last night was the first time she did not wake up with pain.I would not have believed it if I didn't see it for myself.It annoys me to think that her pain was caused by a medication that was prescribed to help her.Also, just think of all the $ made by these side affects.It is such a racket!

I have been taking Nexium for over 7 years. I started on Prilosec but when that became available over-the -counter my doctor switched me to Nexium, 20mg once per day. Not long after that I started seeing a new doctor. I was still taking the Nexium, 20mg, one per day. But I was still having a little of that burning pain just below my sternum. I told my new doctor about this thinking he would probably increase my dosage to 20mg twice a day or switch me to the 40mg capsules once a day. Instead he switched me from the 20mg Nexium to the 30mg Prevacid capsules. I had horrible side effects immediately. I would have sudden and unpredictable loss of appetite. Not just loss of appetite but the sight of food would actually make me feel queasy. I lost over 10 pounds in a week and wasn't even trying. But the worst, and most frightening, side effect was the severe shortness of breath. I was in the Navy for 10 years and kept myself in pretty good shape. At one time I was even running 3 miles a day. Immediately after starting on the Prevacid I got so short of breath I could not climb a flight of a dozen stairs. It made me feel like I was 80 or 90 years old. And I was only 48 or 49 at the time. My chest would heave up and down. Air was going in and out. But it felt like my lungs weren't getting any oxygen from the air that was going in and out of them. I wanted to trust my doctor but I was actually becoming afraid of going home from work and taking the Prevacid. I got back in to see my doctor as soon as I could and he put me back on Nexium. Not long after this he took a job at another practice/clinic to be closer to home and family. I had to find another doctor. When I went to see my new doctor (the 3rd I've had since the reflux started) I told him about the Prevacid and the shortness of breath. It wasn't as bad since I stopped taking the Prevacid but I still had some shortness of breath and burning pain in my chest when I exercised. He said he had never heard anything about the Prevacid and breathing problems. He sent me to the hospital for the treadmill stress test to make sure it wasn't my heart. It wasn't my heart, but then again I knew that. Even after complaining about the shortness of breath during several visits over the years he never said or did anything about it. About 2 years ago I had a bout of bronchitis. My doctor was busy all day so I took an appointment with another doctor at the same clinic. (I've had to do this several times) While seeing this other doctor for my bronchitis I mentioned to him the whole shortness of breath story. He said I should consider having a pulmonary function test because "you're not too young to have emphysema". Then early in January, 2008 I had to see another doctor at the same clinic, again for bronchitis. I told her about the Prevacid and the shortness of breath. Finally someone sent me to the hospital for the pulmonary function test (PFT). Two weeks later I had an appointment with my PCP for an annual physical check-up. I asked him about the results of the PFT. He said he hadn't seen them but he would check on it while the nurse was giving me and EKG test. Some time later he comes back into the exam room and says "yep, you have a little emphysema". The nurse-practitioner who sent me for the PFT had already started me on Advair. Besides that my doctor seemed to have little to say about my newly discovered condition. I'm not sure if the Prevacid or continued use of Nexium had anything to do with me developing emphysema. But I do know that after complaining to MY DOCTOR of shortness of breath for 3 or 4 years it shouldn't have been someone else that discovered that I have emphysema. Anyway, I guess my real question is has anyone else had a problem with SEVERE shortness of breath on Prevacid, Nexium, or any of the other PPIs?