Red flag symptoms and conditions

I have to agree with the July 11th comments. This medication should not be on the market. I was on Toprol XL for years and experienced side effects from that. Then my doctor recently changed my medication and put me on Lisinopril. Within days I started to experience dizziness, fatigue, muscle weakness, insomnia, racing heart ( these attacks would last for 30-45 minutes following muscle weakness ), weight gain, and oh my goodness the COUGH. That would start shortly after laying down and I would go on coughing for 2 hours. Between the cough and the insomnia what was the point of sleeping. I have been to the doctor twice complaining of the symptoms and they look at me like I am nuts. The worst part is the racing heart episodes which make me feel like I am having a heart attack. The amazing thing is, after all the tests that have been performed since I started this medication, I am a very healthy person. So why is it the doctors I have seen,who have run all these tests, at the cost of my medical insurance, never thought that maybe it is the side effects of this medication. WHY don't doctors listen more and WHY don't they take the time to inform themselves of these medications before prescribing them. They need to LISTEN more to their patients, after all
we know our bodies better than they do. My blood pressure is 104-63 with a heart rate of 110. I am 53 yrs old and my blood pressure should be between 129-142. Don't you think there should be a red flag some where?
This is where my trust factor is zero. I think the more medication doctors can prescribe the sicker it makes us. I can't speak for all doctors but I have seen 4 doctors and not one of them seemed to be looking out for my best interest. DON'T START THIS MEDICATION. Apparently there have not been enough case studies on Lisinopril. Oh by the way did you know that taking this medication increases your chance of a stroke by 60%. One more side effect. Thank you for this web site.

I was put on Yasmin several years ago to control symptoms caused by ovarian cysts. I was told this was pretty much the only solution. Against my better judgment, I went on it. Things were ok for a few months but I started having mild side effects. I didn't feel like myself and my sex drive was definitely gone. Two years ago I had my thyroid levels checked and found out my TSH level was very high. After doing some research, I found that birth control can affect thyroid levels. I contacted my general doctor and he confirmed my findings. I took Synthroid to control my thyroid for two weeks and had to get off of it. I was like a zombie. I called my general doctor back and asked about stopping everything. He said to contact my ob/gyn and if she ok'd it, then it was fine by him. They agreed but also said there is no connection with the pill and thyroid. Red flag #1. After being off of the pill, my sex drive has not returned. It has been two years now. I asked my ob/gyn to do a hormone profile and they said I was too young to be having any problems like that. Red flag #2. I was tired all the time and had no energy at all. My general doctor gave me pills for depression (which the main side effect is extreme drowsiness). I was so disgusted at this point, I went to a Homeopathic doctor. I was told I had adrenal fatigue (which can be caused by the pill). I have been on a course of natural supplements for a few months and have felt better than I have in a long time. However, the sex drive is still gone and due to the pill, may never return. This has been a horrible strain on my relationship. It's upsetting when you know you should be feeling a certain way and you just don't. I have given up on traditional medicine and the idea of pills being given out without knowing long-term side effects and causing even greater problems. Ladies, if you are experiencing problems on or off the pill, see your doctor. If they offer no help, find another doctor! Also, after looking up Yasmin in a pharmaceutical book, it is listed as one of the WORST pills and listed under definite do not take. Use this pill at your own risk.

This site is the answer to my prayers. I have been on YAZ for 2 years and at first it was amazing. Regular and light periods, no mood swings, no breast tenderness and no weight gain. The past few months it all changed. I thought it was just a funk I was going through but its to the point it is affecting my life. I have developed severe anxiety and a feeling of sadness for no reason. My life is great; new job, great relationships, financial issues are fantastic. I have been having panic attacks out of the blue and it is getting worse as well as weird muscle twitching daily. I felt like I was losing my mind, because I can't stop feeling that way. I went to the doctors and acupuncture to see if it could help. I noticed it was worse a week before my period and during my period and the week after. It fluctuated all the time. Then one day my eye sight was blurry and couldn't see straight for 20 minutes. I've been thinking about Yaz and if its a side affect so decided to get off of it. Now that I did my own research and seen that people are having similar side affects , it gives me an even more red flag to get off it. I hope and pray that these feelings go away now that I am getting off it.

Thank you so much for all your posts guys!! I just googled Mirena side effects today just trying to check ANYTHING that would explain my recent experiences. I sat her bawling while calling my doctor to insist it's removed immediately.

I had it inserted in December after having baby #3 in October. I finally got my girl after 2 boys and a few miscarriages and wasn't certain what to expect. I am only 25 and didn't want something permanent or really any drugs put into me on a consistent basis. When the doctor pushed Mirena I happily said okay! Sounded like a god send. I have extremely high blood pressure and his strong sale point would be that it would remove the need for meds. Liar! My regular doctor flipped out when she found that he had removed me and of course, I went back on meds a few weeks after having it inserted, after 4 readings 200+/110+... amazing he didn't cause me a stroke. That should have been red flag #1 but I figured it was just an error in judgment on his part.

I felt no pain with it going in and didn't cramp at all.. spotted for a few hours then it was over.. My first cycle lasted 2 1/2 weeks and the next started a week later.. All side effects I was warned of so didn't really concern myself.

I started having phantom kicks (uterus contractions) and stabbing labor pains back in February which I figure was it doing its job trying to get my system on track. I had numbness and pain down my left side and would constantly find myself hunched over in pain.. The bleeding had slowed down so much that I was so grateful and just kept popping pain pills like candy hoping it would go away soon.

These last few days have been a flu from hell. Can't leave bed, can't speak, constantly throwing up, loose stools followed by extreme constipation, achy muscle tingling skin.. you name it!! Went to the bathroom earlier and when I wiped, had a small bout of black blood.. Old blood that sometimes you will find at the end of your cycle! I checked the calendar and had indeed finally skipped a cycle.. The cramps and pains have been there as though I was going to start, but no bleeding for a week now.. So apparently to skip a cycle I'm going to be bed ridden with the flu.. I have a 5 year old, a 2 year old and a 7 month old who can't have mommy sick. This has been hell..

I too have experienced
terrible headaches, stomach pains, DEPRESSION, short fused tantrums, sitting and crying for hours on end, no passion for life, numbness of limbs, tingling skin, sinus infections, yeast infections, temporary blindness and now spots in my eyes which aren't regaining vision, 5 months ago I dyed my hair and it came out by the chunks, now that the dye is gone, I'm still losing hair and have bawling spots which I blamed on the dye.. Now I wonder..I also look like I'm about 6 months pregnant and people keep asking.. I HATE IT!! its been devastating to my self esteem. I lost so much weight after my boys so I blamed the weight gain on having a girl.. Now I wonder about that too.. The weight is only about 10 pounds but ALL in my belly..

I wonder so much..

I got about 5 posts into this horrified before I called to insist it will come out.. I have to wait 4 weeks.. but I can't wait to find me again.. I'm gonna just stick with condoms until I get my body back.

Thank you so much for speaking out on this.. I know the doctor is going to insist that it's not to blame.. but I now know better.. Thank you so much for helping me find answers.

My 17 year old daughter had her scheduled three doses of gardasil and within the last month was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. I have tucked away the names of about a dozen others that have had the same diagnoses after two or three gardasil shots. I FIRMLY believe gardasil triggered my daughter's lymphoma. WILL NOT give it to my younger daughter and research each day to find statistical evidence. Hodgkins Lymphoma symptoms are: fever, night sweats, weight loss, itching, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, pain on drinking even a little alcohol. Most people do not experience all of these symptoms. The most common symptoms are swollen lymph nodes and fatigue. The itching and pain on alcohol consumption should be a big fat red flag! Beware...

This pill was prescribe to me to reduce the bleeding and pain cause by fabriods. This is my 2nd package and I am stopping this pills. I have no sex drive at all. I feel like dead in the sex department. My stomach it gotten so big that I can't wear my pants. I have gain about 6 pounds in the pass 2 months. I work out 5-6 days a week and eat healthy. I will find other alternatives to deal with the fibroid pain, but I won't use this pill any longer.

I was prescribed Avelox for a sinus infection and bronchitis after relapsing twice following treatment with amoxicillin and Levaquin. The doctor had provided me with 12 sample packets and advised me to take (1) 400 mg tablet each day for 12 days. He then wrote me a prescription for another 14 day supply and advised me to wait to fill the prescription until I determined if I could tolerate the drug. That statement should have been a red flag for me, but, I didn't think twice about it.

I proceeded to take the Avelox for 9 days before the side effects kicked in. The first thing that I noticed was itchy skin. I didn't associate the itching with an reaction to Avelox right away because it was mild itching. By the 10th day, the itching was very severe all over my body. I took Benadryl and went to bed. When I woke up, my face had swelled up, my eyes were practically swollen shut, I had a rash on my entire body from head to toe but most noticeable on the upper half of my body. The itching was unbearable and my body kept going between chills with extreme shaking and teeth chattering to profusely sweating. At this point, I finally associated my symptoms with a reaction.

I stopped taking Avelox 5 days ago. It took two days and a bottle of Benadryl before the rash and swelling subsided. The severe itching also subsided after two days. However, I still have mild itching and some swelling. I've also had two severe migraines in this 5 day period along with fatigue and an upset stomach. I've also continued to experience chills and profuse sweating.

This is a wicked antibiotic. I would strongly advise against it. I've never experienced anything like this before. It's scary.

My daughter had her first shot on Thursday three weeks ago. Starting that weekend she started with a headache, then nausea, vomiting, body aches and fever. This lasted for 5 days. Then followed by a severe headache for another 4 days. It also increased her period from 4 days to 9 that month. The doctors office who gave her the shot told me "that it wasn't from the vaccine", to make an appt. with a GYN ! I guess I need to be looking for another doctor !

Effexor XR has been a life-saver for me! I have been taking 150mg per day for about 8 yrs. Recently, 75mg was added to my daily dose because of a temporary new stress or on my plate - divorce. With the increased dose came constant sweating and unbearable dry mouth. I dropped back to the 150mg dose and the sweating is back to being manageable and the dry mouth is much less. I can't imagine living without Effexor XR - this anti-depressant has literally saved my life -- I know now that life doesn't to be so horrifically painful as was the norm for me prior to taking Effexor XR. I have no other side effects - I have gained some weight but only over the past two years and that possibly can be attributed to my age (50) and the stress of a bad marriage. The half life of Effexor is short and I do sometimes get the electrical shock feeling in my head -- that usually a red flag that I missed a dose. To be on the safe side I keep a dose in my purse as a back-up. All-in-all, it feels great to be 'normal', even if it means using Effexor XR - I hope it never goes off the market. Way-back-when, I initially started out w/ Paxil (helped, but I felt just below the surface of reality and had horrid withdrawals) - then tried Wellbutrin and after a day was so terribly spaced out that I could only minimally function and couldn't even leave the house - got off of that stuff immediately! Effexor just lets me function and feel feelings at a normal volume. Thank you Lord!!

I think the hardest part - for me - was even to concieve the idea that Zyrtec has all of these side effects.

I've been taking Zyrtec on a daily basis for about 90- 110 days a year due to really bad allergies. We live in the NY area which produce alergans most of the year.

After trying almost every antihistamine, Zyrtec seemed at the time as the best drug since it handled the allergy while eliminating the drowsiness almost completely for me. Being happy that I was able to maintain normal life during allergy periods was almost a new concept for me and I was really grateful for finding this drug.

Unfortunately, being almost blinded by the allergy-fighting success, I neglected the attention to the side effects. I guess I'm falling into the unlucky 2%. I had almost every side effect: Irritation, mood swings, gaining weight, dry mouth - just name it.

Recently, my wife did some research because we got to the point where I would fight with her over anything. I can testify that my tolerance level hit the ground. Anyway, she got my attention for her research results which turned a red flag for me. In addition, this year my body seemed to not respond anymore to the drug and doing my own little research revealed that it is very likely that you need to rotate different drugs every few months.

So I decided to get off Zyrtec and switched to Benadryl Allergy which I take every 4-6 hours. Yes, it does make me drowsy for about 15-20 minutes but it works. What's more interesting is, I've been about 10 days off Zyrtec and I am shocked to realize that I'm slowly getting rid of all the side effects associated with Zyrtec.

That being said, I would like to emphasize that this was my own individual experience and it may not be the same for someone else. But it is pretty disappointing for me that i cannot use this drug anymore on a regular basis.

Health insurance companies starting to use databases to identify possible adverse drug reactions problems.

Data Mining Prescribed To Ensure Drug Safety

WellPoint's "Safety Sentinel System" may help the FDA and drug makers identify medication safety problems much earlier by analyzing patient clinical and claims data.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek
April 16, 2008 03:58 PM

http://www.informationweek.com/news/business_intelligence/mining/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207300005

I decided today that Mirena is coming out, asap. I had it inserted Jan...2008.
After having an ablation in 2007 that did not seem to work I thought Mirena would be a good b/c alternative...it has helped with the break through bleeding. Virtually, not period or bleeding. But that is about it. I have experienced some weird side effects...to include face and back acne; extremely oily skin; always tired and sleepy; bloating and weight gain...12lbs so far in just a few months; dizziness; cramping; and breast swelling. I dont even feel or look like myself anymore. I've been working out; cutting calories and bad carbs. And yet I gain. Whats up with that.
Thank goodness I can still have orgasms or life would be over. Although, my hubbie can feel the string. And the friction is not pleasant.
But after seeing my regular md today and seeing that I gained 12lbs in just a few months...the red flag went up. I love looking beautiful and in shape being nearly 35. Everyone thinks that I am 25. And thats the last thing I feel right now. I would rather have the bleeding than these weird effects. At least my weight was good. This is too, much to deal with right now. Going to have try something different. Any suggestions? Did anyone else out there have an ablation? Please comment.

59 year old female, overweight.

My nightmare with 40 mg. Lisinopril started 3 months ago with the dry, hacking cough which got bad enough for me to gag & left me short of breath. I stopped this med completely after reading the horror stories here. Had little effect in lowering blood pressure.

I felt achy all over - thought I had the flu or a nagging cold which wouldn't let go, yet no temperature or other symptoms. Been coughing for 3 months. Some numbness in left hand fingers. Very tired all the time with no desire to do anything.

Depression got much worse, I felt like I was dying or had cancer and just felt like I wanted to end it all to get relief.

Had moving chest pains and some pain in left arm. Bad stomach/intestinal pains with bloating, gas & cramps. Some dizziness & light-headed feelings.

Reading the posts on this forum has been a Godsend; I wish I had found it sooner. My mom just got a prescription for Lisinopril; I told her to not take it - it's poison. Referred her to this page. When I read the same symptoms over & over on these pages, this is a red flag. Only wish the doctors would take heed of this - in fact I plan to tell my doctor tomorrow to come here & read these postings - they are an eye opener and could well save others from the horror of Lisinopril.

I'm planning on weaning myself off all prescription meds and start an herbal/alternative lifestyle. I stopped this stuff cold turkey when I read all the posts here & am feeling somewhat better altho I still have the nagging cough. Truth to tell I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I am on my third moth of the Lupron shot! I was basically three choices as to how to take care of my severe Endo and severe Anemia caused by the Edno those three choices were 1. Do nothing and eventually bleed to death.
2. Take Lupron and 3. Have a Hysterectomy! Okay I am 27 years old and bleeding to death from a period is not an option I was even willing to ponder (what idiots for giving me such an option), having a hysterectomy was something I thought about but then after doing much research I decided No and I did research Lupron and although I read horrible things I felt that was really my only option to some hope of relief and I also thought, I am a big girl I can deal! Well I am dealing, I have not experienced a hot flash but I do have night sweats, headaches and feel sick to my stomach on a daily basis! The side effect that I really am suffering from is total hair loss. I mean I have hair on my head but I use to have the thickest hair and get so many compliments on it and now when I brush it, wash it, run my fingers through it or just put it up I literally will have a hand or brush full of hair. My hair was so thick I could not get it into a barette and I would have to use those think hair ties sometimes two hair ties and now I can use a kid hair tie and tye it once! Me and my baby niece who is 16 months old share hair tyes! I have done more research on Lupron since starting it and although I have not experienced many of the side effects listed that you could suffer a red flag went off when I read, it does not cure Endometriosis and there is really no cure, just pain management and so I am at the point where I believe I am going to stop and find alternatives myself and if that means going to GYNO after GYNO then so be it. The side effects I have suffered from are minimal however if the pain is going to return after I stop Lupron then why go through the pain of side effects? This is soley my opinion and I am posting to get it the madness of my chest that I allowed my Doctor the guy I pay take control of my health! I am now taking that control back.

Ten months ago I was persuaded by my MD to start taking Lipitor . In less than two months, my numbers went from 349 to 189. However, this initial positive outcome never prepared me for a host of adverse conditions!

In the past three months, I have experienced some Red Flag physical problems but the Light Bulb Moment came with a weight increase of 15 lbs, concentrated on my belly. I have not increased my food intake and my diet continues to include fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken, milk/cheese, and some sweets. When I started taking Lipitor, I weighed 122 lbs; now I'm at 134!!!!
My level of physical activity has remained the same as has my food intake.

It was this weight increase that prompted me to search the internet for a possible connection between Lipitor and weight gain. Three days ago, my fears were confirmed as I read similar postings.

But my problems go beyond the weight gain. Here's is my "laundry list" of symptoms and I believe that Lipitor is the ugly culprit:

1. Sciatic pain
2. Left leg is numb; tingling, burning, shooting pains
3. Foot pain/numbness
4. Periodic shortness of breath/palpitations
5. Incident of high blood pressure
6. Weight Gain: Belly! Bloated appearance
7. Constipation
8. Fatigue
9. Periods of depression
10.Anxiety

I have stopped taking this dangerous drug. I am due for lab work and MD visit.

Hope to hear from you.
Jessica

On day 12 of a 14 day treatment of Septra DS the backs of my thighs began to itch. I thought I might have gotten a heat rash from the vinyl padded chairs at my work. Just to be safe I stopped the meds because I have a history of antibiotic allergies. That was on a Friday. By Monday afternoon I had to leave work early to rush to my doc who said I probably had a rash from the bronchitis I was treated for (something called viral exanthem). I didn't buy it but trusted the doc. Two days later I was in agony. I itched EVERYWHERE! Relentless horrible itching. I took 2 full strength benadryls every 3 hours to no avail. Tried calamine lotion,etc. Nothing worked. The doc finally gave me 40 mg of prednisone for 5 days. But it's day 3 of the steroid and I started itching horribly again last night.
I know it's the sulfa because I now remember some slight itching the last time I took it. So beware... itching on sulfa is a red flag... your skin is telling you something!

Four days ago i had all four wisdom teeth removed after nearly two decades of constant migrains and other related pain.
While my quality of life has yet to show dramatic improvement due to the fact that i'm still recovering, i am hopeful.
The dentist prescribed two meds for me to take while recovering from the minor sugery. Meprozine and Methylpred (also know as methylprednisolone). The first two days have been a blur but i can remember sudden exhaustion and irritation at the least little thing. Now entering day five, still on both meds and a sudden drench in sweat for no reason sent up a red flag through the haze. I looked up both meds and the side effects. They are eerily familar in the mood swing department so i can't be sure where one side effect ends and the other starts.
I have felt weak, drained, lost memory, snaped and yelled over nothing and gotten upset to the point of begging my kids for a quiet moment and the frustration seems to just build.
Just a few moments ago i woke drenched in sweat on just the right side of my body.
I will be calling the doc's office first thing in the morning to discuss the option of a different pain managment. This is just not working or even worth it.

My 4 year old son has been taking Singulair for 2 1/2 years. It really helped with his seasonal allergies, asthma and a chronic cough he had. HOWEVER, he too became more aggresive, unfortunately, my sweet angel's personality change was not enough of a red flag for me. Over the past couple of months he's been opening and closing his mouth (tic like), eye blinking, teeth grinding, making sounds with his throat and nose. The more my husband and I talked about it we realized he had been doing some of these things longer, but they were subtle. Now they all came out at once. I have been crying my eyes out, feeling like a horrible mother - thinking my child is possibly developing tourette syndrome. We are do to see a neurologist in 3 weeks, but I just know that it was the Singulair.

I have a 9 year old son who's been treated for allergy-induced asthma for several years. About 2 years ago he was put on Singulair and it seemed to help quite a bit. I eventually weaned him from it and he did really well until about 2 months ago, when he had a bout of allergy/asthma. His ped put him back on Singulair and started albuterol, along with the Flonase he was already taking. Just over the past 2-3 weeks we've noticed a complete change in his demeanor.

He normally is a bright, loving, sweet kid who excells in much of what he does. Lately that has all changed. The first big red flag was seeing him hit himself when asked to do something more than once (ie make his bed). He'd hit himself and call himself stupid. He went from that to saying he just "needs to go away". And finally admitted that he wants to kill himself sometimes. Has a "plan" and everything.

I read some of the reports similar to the ones here and took him off both the Flonase and Singulair. His moodiness increased and even went toward mania in the two days that followed removing the med. 5 days after stopping the meds, he leveled out considerably and also had an asthmatic attack that night. Sounds to me like the "levels" of meds dropped at that point.

We are now 1 1/2 weeks past stopping the meds and things are returning to normal, though he is still struggling somewhat.

He also has exhibited physical "tics" - throat clearning, sniffing, rubbing his chin on his chest, head shakes, shoulder shakes, etc. on and off since first being put on Singulair. Those have escalated with the other symptoms. And he's also complained of achy legs.

I wonder if there is any way to report these issues and have them taken seriously.

My daughter ALSO had a seizure after taking the medication Meprozine, which was prescribed by our doctor after being in a car accident and suffering pain /pulled muscles. Obviously, she was allergic to it - but how were we to know?
My advice to anyone taking this medicine is check your own body/symptoms . . . her's was trembling (mostly her hands) for a couple days before she had the seizure. BIG red flag!

I've had recurring bronchitis for years and have used just about every drug, so my physician gave me someLevaquin about 2 months ago with 2 refills in case of another bout. Well, the first go around (7 days 500mg.) went fine and the bronchitis cleared up. The seconf go around, last week, was quote different. I took a pill and started to feel some relief; I took a second pill and hell broke loose. I had chest pain, numbness in my hands, a mild panic attack and trouble breathing. So I called the Pharmacist and he said STOP now!.
He then asked me if it was the first time I had tried Levaquin and I told him no. He then told me that it's not unusual for your body to produce a protein that then lives in it aftee the first shot and the, upon a second dose sees the Levaquin as a foreign body and produces these respitory dide effects.
I say this becasue he continued to tell me that had I not stopped I could have been hospitalized within a couple of days.
My point is that such an incredible drug with such wonderful potential for good can kick you in butt big time and that any side effect should be considered a red flag, stop taking it and report the effect to your physician post haste.

Myhuisbasband took this medication only 2 nights. He was very dizzy and had headachees the next mornings. He took #10s eac night. This drug is only to be taken for 10 days at the longest as it CAN BE VERY ADDICTIVE AND IT IS ALSO NEW> RED FLAG> NEW> They do not know every thing it can do to you. Please every one slowly ween yourselves OFF this drug NOW. BADDDDDDDD DRUG.