Recollection symptoms and conditions

I've been on Singulair for a few weeks now and just put 2 and 2 together. Since starting this medication my nighttime asthma has improved but I have been very irritable. I have always been a stay at home mom and wouldn't have it any other way but lately I can't stand my children or my husband. They have been driving me crazy. Every little thing they do makes me want to scream. I just want to get out of the house. My husband also tells me I'm losing my mind. He says he has told me things and I have no recollection. I am currently breastfeeding my 10.5 month old who has also been very cranky lately. My 4 year old started Singulair around the same time as me and has been whinny all day and cries a lot. We are both stopping this medication today. I wish I had researched it before we started it.

Hi...I've been on Topamax since October of last year. I take 50mg. in the morning and again at night. I haven't noticed any real significant decrease in the migraine frequency, just in the duration. Whereas sometimes I'd be in bed for an entire day, sometimes 2, now they only last until the early afternoon. A big plus. However, there are some side effects that I just can't live with. The dry mouth is a pain in the butt but that I can deal with. What I can't deal with is the almost complete loss of my short term memory. It's so bad that I will ask a person the same question numerous times in a 5 minute time period and have absolutely NO recollection of having asked the question previously. I have found myself walking down the street and not known where I am. I dial the telephone and not remember who is going to pick up on the other end. And I'm dazed and confused on a good day. On a bad day it's worse. I can't live like this. So...I was wondering if others had the same awful symptom that I'm experiencing. I have others that bother me but that one is the worst. Also, how do I wean myself off of this medication? Thanks for listening.....D.

I've been an Ambien (short-acting) user for many years with no real problems unless I drank any alcohol with it and then stayed up for any time at all after taking. (Two major no-no's!!). Besides the oft-reported binge eating and frenzied cleaning, etc., the strangest thing I ever did was what I call "sleep-emailing." I did this twice--I composed bizarre emails on two separate occasions to two different individuals and sent them. The emails didn't just not make sense, but were as if I was typing a dream out loud--I suppose like sleep talking in print. The first time it happened, one of my friends emailed me the next day and said she had received my "cryptic" email. I told her I hadn't emailed her and didn't know what she was talking about. She copied and pasted the content and sent it to me--I told her I didn't know who wrote that, but it wasn't me! She then forwarded the entire email to me and I saw that it had indeed come from me. That was frightening. I had zero recollection of writing it. The second time it happened, once I was made aware of the email I did have a very vague memory of writing it, and incidentally the email itself was not quite as bizarre as the first one was. I've learned that as long as I don't consume alcohol with Ambien and go straight to bed after taking, I have no problems with it whatsoever, and have found it to be very helpful for my insomnia. I have recently begun trying the extended release version, Ambien CR, as I'm having more problems with periodic awakening throughout the night. Thus far the only side effect I seem to be having is the daily onset of a headache on awakening that I can will develop into a migraine without intervention (I've suffered from migraines for many yrs). If it continues it may be enough for me to have to discontinue the medication.

Because of a couple tragedies that ocurred in my life, I was unable to sleep. Ambien was prescribed and with it, I woke up completely rested! BUT there were several dangerous events to share with you.

I drove several times & have no recollection! If it weren't for receipts, checks, etc. I wouldn't know anything about it! I'm a married woman and I took a male acquaintance to a liquor store 1/2 hour away once!
I drove to a city an hour from my home at least once!

Additionally, I've had phone conversations, conducted business meetings, taught a religion class...ALL with no knowledge or memory of these acts.

Yes, I would find dirty dishes in the sink in the morning too! I ate so much food! I didn't gain weight though...probably because the Ambien also removed ALL inhibitions in my life. My husband selfishly took complete advantage of this...if you know what I mean. This was not right! I'm still angry about this. It wasn't until he realized that I was driving in my sleep that he encouraged me not to take the Ambien anymore...I haven't taken it for two years. I do miss it because it really left me rested. Now I only take over-the-counter products and they leave me groggy.

Wow! The day before yesterday, a friend of a friend reported that she had her IUD taken out. It was Mirena. I have had mine in since last December and it never occurred to me that this could be the problem. In June, I started having symptoms that were like UTIs but I've never had one. I had to pee all the time and when I did, it burned. I felt nauseous but then, before going to the dr. the symptoms would pass. Finally, after a month, I decided to stop ignoring it. In the meantime, I started having all these lower gut/uterine achy feelings that moved toward my groin and pelvic bone/thigh area. I've never had anything like it. Sometimes, it was hard to walk. I went to my gyn. and she said she saw nothing and I had a sonogram and they saw nothing and said my Mirena looked great. In the meantime, I have been more and more tired, drinking three or more cups of coffee a day to stay awake. I have a 1 year old and I feel so tired I sometimes feel frustrated with her. I also have had rage during my PMS which I've never had before in my life. I used to get a little weepy-sometimes. Now, I find that I'm so irritable about the slightest thing. Until this friend of a friend mentioned her trouble (which was similar to mine) I never even thought of the Mirena. My GP told me that it was a pulled muscle (even though I had no recollection of pulling anything). I can't wait to get this thing out! Oh, also, someone mentioned vaginal dryness--YES! I've never had a problem with this before but it has been getting harder and harder to ignore during intimacy. I was never, ever told about any such side effects! I am having the Mirena taken out on Thursday--I can't wait.

I took Ambien CR for about 2 years and have experienced not only memory loss of the time while on the medication, but also longer term memory loss as well. Even now I find it hard to remember significant things from years ago that I would normally be able to remember easily, and I am only 24. No reason for memory loss and it all started with the Ambien CR. I have done the drive and not remember thing, the cleaning with no recollection of it the next day, the wondering who ate all the food, etc. At one point I actually called my employer at 3AM to explain what I was still doing awake. I worked day shift and had off the next day anyway! I woke up to a voice mail from the supervisor and found out I was fired. I had zero memory of the incident and thought I was being set up by someone until I checked my cell phone records and found it to be true. Friends have also questioned me about late night calls and visits, some I somewhat remember after being "reminded," some I did not. When I was first prescribed this medication I was having these crazy nightmares before I actually fell asleep and would act them out or run from them. One was a young girl playing ball in the road and my boyfriend said I actually ran out in the street at to save her and fought him when he tried to bring me back inside. Obviously no one was actually playing in the road. Even towards the end of using the drug at times I will go through the first few hours of the day with the same forgetful effect that I would have had the night before. I have also gained 20 pounds, not sure if it's from the excessive night eating or the sluggish feeling I got the next day. Once the pill kicked in for me at night I would feel a sudden urge to finish up household chores, or get what some people call "the creative phase" of Ambien CR. I would write poetry (illegibly), cook (usually starting small fires), draw (not well), redecorate, and talk philosophically, none of which I remember. The pill works wonderfully as long as you go straight to bed. After using it awhile you may recognize the energized feeling as actually being the reverse, the pill taking effect, and I could go to bed and fall right to sleep. But I had quite a few dangerous situations and I wouldn’t be able to take it when I was home alone, just in case I missed that "deadline." I agree it is a very risky drug, but then again most drugs are. I do not suggest taking this if you are alone at least until you experience the way you react to it. If these symptoms are an issue for you as well you can always try Lunesta. That worked quite well for me, with none of these weird side effects. The worst I got was a weird taste in the morning, which subsided with breakfast.

I was on zyprexa for nearly 3 years. In that time I became very lethargic and disinterested in everything! I gained over 100 pounds and suddenly was sick all the time. I suffered from involuntary muscle spasms, light headedness and nausea with frequent vomiting. I had a rapid increase in cholesterol levels from a healthy level to an extremely high level. The Doctor ran all manner of tests and could not figure out the problem. After I started suffering heart issues, mind you I was in my mid thirties, he took me off the medication for a couple of weeks to see if that made a difference. Nothing changed! It took losing my job and health insurance to find out that the medication was, in fact, the culprit! I could no longer afford the meds, so went off them. It took 4 months for me to feel "normal" again and I've not suffered this symptoms since, although I've still not lost all the weight!
While I still suffer from extreme manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, all my friends and family agree they're easier to deal with than the three years as a zombie! There is much of that time frame for which I have no recollection, it;s as though I lost 3 years of my life!

I was put on Zoloft 4 months ago to help me deal with the stress and trauma I went through caring for my dieing mother while I was pregnant with my 5th child.

However it has just about killed my marriage. I think it's great, I feel better able to cope with things, I don't feel that overwhelming feeling of losing control and wanting to run away from my children and husband. I thought it killed my sex drive too but since i've been on zoloft I have started having sleep sex which is not good. If it was my husband I was having it with it would probably be ok, but it is with myself and it is causing major problems. I have no recollection of any of the instances, and it has increased when I upped my dose from 50mg to 100mg. I had told my husband for ages that I had no desire for sex whatsoever but lay next to him every night having sex with myself. Now I am extremely embarrassed and ashamed and feel alienated as I have no one I feel comfortable in sharing this with. I can only hope that my husband loves me enough to stick with me and support me through this while I come off the drug. If I had of known before hand I would never have gone on it.

I was an occasional user of Ambien CR, took it if I couldn't sleep. Well a few weeks ago I couldn't sleep took an Ambien and woke up in bed the next morning with a crushed wrist, cheekbone, temporal bone, bruises etc. Apparently, I walked in my sleep had a serious fall (and concussion) then got myself back in bed???? I don't remember anything--including much of the next day, emergency room, operations etc. It was a nightmare. I seriously think this drug should be taken off the market. It made me wonder if I walked in my sleep after taking this before and had no recollection.
I have missed weeks of work, gone through several extensive operations and have been through a lot of pain. I have since read that I am one of many ambien sleepwalkers with all kinds of results---why are they still allowing this drug to be on the market????

To the person above me who claims Dilantin is being used as a "crutch" for people, congratulations on graduating with honors and being a nurse, but please do not assume your non-reaction to this medication is how we all react. I was diagnosed with seizures at age 20 and have been on dilantin for 2 years. At 22 years old, I have no recollection of my junior or senior proms, my high school graduation, many huge events in my life. I can't recall even ATTENDING these functions. Dilantin has erased my life from my memory. I had a 3.8 GPA in high school, did not do drugs or drink. No actions that would have caused my memory loss. Now, I stutter, I am constantly tired, forgetting things very often, studying is nearly impossible and I have no sex drive at age TWENTY TWO. My doctor refuses to change my medication insisting side effects of other medications would be even worse. I've considered weaning myself off Dilantin to end these effects but am afraid to do so. I wish we could all be as symptom free as you have been, but please do not look down upon those who have legitimate side effects.

Hey. Just a disclaimer, before I list my experience. Keep in mind that everybody is going to react to a new drug differently. All drugs, especially drugs like Ambien CR, come with warnings in bold print and all caps saying that if you experience ANYTHING...ANYTHING abnormal after you start a new medication, to immediately call your doctor or pharmacist. Don't let it get to the point where your loved ones are driving. If you notice things have happened and you have no recollection...CALL YOUR DOCTOR! It takes maybe ten minutes to call your doctor or pharmacist. This ten minutes could potentially save your life and others. This goes for ALL medications, even ones like Tylenol PM.

Okay. Here is my observations of my mother (55 yrs. old) while on Ambien CR.

Ever since she’s been on the medication, I’ve encountered strange behavior on her part. These are the most common:

1. Phone calls, with no particular purpose or intent. She sounds like she is very lonely and just wants to chat, but her speech is slurred and her thoughts impaired. Most of what she says is not in coherent sentences, just mixed up phrases. Sometimes she starts off sounding somewhat normal and then fades into the slurred speech. I usually terminate the conversation once she starts repeating herself, asking questions she had either asked earlier that day or even just minutes before in the same conversation.

2. Eccentric “projects.” She recently said, “I’ve found that after I take my medicine, I get very creative.” This particular comment was after I found her in the kitchen putting Hot Tamales (the candy) in her ice water, after she had taken her medicine. Another time, she was standing on a trunk, trying to put up shades in her window.

3. Binge Eating. Just the other night she baked an entire batch of cookies...and ate them ALL within 30 minutes of them coming out of the oven. This is just one of the many times I've seen her eat like this after taking her medicine.

Overall, she seemingly "stays up" until she either crashes from exhaustion or only after repeated commands to turn off everything and go to sleep. I recently, after researching further, have found out that she actually is asleep, but medications such as Ambien CR can induce a complex form of sleep-walking and talking, as well as sleep-driving (though my mother has never done this.) It looks, to an observer, like the person is aware of their surroundings because they can carry on complex conversations, or complete a complex task, even though, they are really asleep.

The most concerning thing to me is that she walks up and down the stairs (or gets up on things, like the trunk in her bedroom) even though she is consciously aware that she gets dizzy and has little control over her balance. Most of the time she is living alone, so if she happened to trip and fall, it could turn into a very dangerous situation very quickly.

Another note: She only seems to remember her strange actions once she is reminded of them. Sometimes she will remember them accurately, and sometimes she has a distorted memory of the events, but almost always must be reminded of her actions before she has any memory of doing it.

Since me and our family have taken time to talk to my mother about this, she (an RN for over 30 years) is calling her doctor tomorrow to talk about alternative solutions to her insomnia.

My daughter, who is 9.5 has been on Singulair for the last 6 years. I am saddened that I was so frustrated with her for all of these bizarre behaviors that I never even thought to link to this medication. My daughter has severe allergies, and her asthma is triggered by her allergies, so to that end the medication worked beautifully in controlling the asthma. But, it is not worth the aggressivenesses, horrible mood swings, suicidal thoughts, depressiveness. She has frequent temper tantrums that mirror those of a two year old. I frequently have asked her when she will outgrow this phase, it seems she never moved passed it. Then a moment later, it seems as though she has the drama of an adolescent girl, including the depression and even the extremes of threatening to run away from home and that she would be better off dead. This has been going on for years, and I never connected it to the Singulair. I just thought there was emotional problems, and that I was a bad mom, and that I just needed to keep being consistent and reassure her that she was loved, but that her behavior was not acceptable. She has very low self esteem one minute, and incredible confidence the next. She is very argumentative all the time, about everything. She also talks and sometimes walks in her sleep. She tends to get up 1-3 times per night, and has no recollection of it ever. She has begun to develop stomachaches, headaches, and leg cramps recently.

My son, who is 6.5, and has ADHD, now is starting to mimic some of the things he has heard her say, and it is difficult to undo this damage.

Again, I never connected any of this to Singulair, I just thought I had a challenging child. I pray for all of our children that the damage is not permanent, and that there is a safe alternative that we can have faith in. I know it will be difficult for me to trust another medication.

My deepest sympathies to those families who have lost a child to the perils of the side effects of this medication that were not disclosed to us.

Mirena Round 2: On Feb, 21, 2008, one week ago, I had my 5 year old Mirena removed and a new one inserted. I was 6 weeks post-partum when I had the first Mirena inserted. I have no recollection of any adverse side-effects and my body was still recalibrating after the birth of my 2nd child, a daughter. I am 1 week into my new device and feel very weird. I started crying last night for no reason at all and have felt horribly bloated since day 2. My belly literally feels like a pregnant bloated belly. The cramping has been on and off everyday since insertion. And now that I think about it, I had a headache a few days afterward for a very long time.
Looking back over the last 5 years, however, I have battled acne, which I just attributed to "hormonal outbreaks". It never occurred to me that it could possibly have been a side effect to my Mirena. My poor husband has been so sweet and understanding, but today we had the talk. How long would we allow before having it removed? $500+ down the toilet. What a shame. Who knew that merely replacing the device I had already spent 5 years with prior would/could bring on a whole new set of side-effects?

I've taken Ambien for a few months. My family tells me of my strange bevhavior at night, and it is frustrating that I dont remeber any of it. Last night I rode my bike around the yard, crashing into trees. I had complained of double vision. I also BBQd steaks at mid-night. I have no recollection of it- am embarassed to have to ask my wife and kids what I did last night. My kids said I was acting drunk. I had double vision the next morning for the first half of the day. I wonder if I ever really sleep! I am sometimes tired the next day. As for the high - you dont remeber it anyway!

I had only been taking yasmin for three days and I had a totally no appetite, I was totally forgetful, I put the fresh cream on my TV and didn't even know id done it then I put scotch eggs in my bread bin, and my boyfriend said why have you done that and I said done what? I had no recollection of doing anything? I had really bad gas, I felt sick ,and had violent headaches and had bleeding in my urine which was so constant for 5 hrs on the 3rd day I had to go hospital. I would definitely not recommend this pill

Do not take this drug. I took it on a Friday night and I am still feeling side effects on a Monday morning. I feel like vomiting and like I'm going to faint. Not a pretty feeling.
Right after I took it I was hallucinating things like purple elephants and singing animals. It was very wierd. I also had no recollection of a phone call. You are completely out of control while on this medicine.

I have been taking Ambien for over a year. I take it because I have Restless Leg Syndrome and it keeps me from waking myself up when my legs jerk! It has been a life saver in that respect. I take 5 mg each night. Recently, however, I have noticed that I have been wanting to eat constantly. My appetite (& weight) has increased tremendously and I'm wondering if it's related to Ambien. Before I started breaking the 10 mg tablet in half, I would notice food missing when I got up the next morning, but had no recollection of fixing the food or eating it. Somehow in my particular body chemistry I'm finding that I want to eat more during my waking hours, and with the higher dosage I definitely ate during the night! Has anyone else had this side effect or is it just me???

was put on effexor-XR for post natal depression five days ago. As of tomorrow I am going to stop taking them as I have never experienced anything like it. I have a four month old daughter who I am to scared to hold as I am having severe vertigo and I am also having black outs. Ive done things that i have no recollection of doing, one of them included me remembering walking out of a shopping centre and the next thing i knew i was in my car. I had crossed two busy roads in the mean time and im not even sure if i looked to see if any cars were coming. I also sleep alot and i have no emotinal feelings what so ever. Im not to be left alone with my daughter in case something happens as i also suffer form tremors in the hands Would love to hear from anyone who has had similar side effects.