Road to recovery symptoms and conditions

My name is Eric, I am 16 years old, I have been taking singulair for about 8 years I think, I was never one for having bad dreams, but that all changed. (right now) I searched on google "Singuliar bad medicine" and I found this forum. I am very happy to know that Singulair could be the reason why I frequently have dreams of myself being killed or people I am close to dying.

When I grew older, I realized that the dreams I had did not match up with any thoughts I had the previous days, this is when I began experimenting with Singulair. I would take it as prescribed, then not take it for X amount of days and would see what happened. After not taking it for 2 days in a row, I slept soundly through the nights and had no dreams at all.

I tell you this now, in hopes that it's not too late.. If you or someone you know takes Singulair, GET RID OF IT. The bad dreams I had were so terrible that often times I would lay in bed and not fall asleep for many hours because I was so petrified of what I might dream about. The dreams I had would seem never ending, and anyone who knows what I am talking about understands that having a long dream can be very painful (I have felt the greatest of physical pain, this mental agony is far beyond anything I could have ever imagined). These dreams still haunt me today and not only that, but they have changed me as a person. I would wake up sometimes from a spaz attack, (arm thrust, kicking motion, because the dreams were so real). If you think mentally you are able to handle this, then continue taking singulair it works miracles, but I promise you the pain will only get worse and worse, thank you for your time, and please talk to me if you have questions, I would love to help.

I stopped taking singular, I never fall asleep in school anymore, my grades skyrocketed. I only have irritated eyes from not taking it, and sadly they hurt ALL THE TIME.

I had to stop taking Topamax because it destroyed my life...life-long friends and my long-term relationship all fell apart because of my extreme pessimism which was not me. I actually gained quite a bit of weight. Also, I had very obvious intellectual problems.
I have been off of it for over a year and have just realized my moods are completely different from before the drug and my memory is nothing like it used to be. I am concerned about long-term side effects even after stopping Topamax......

My 7 yr old daughter has been off of Singulair for 12 days now. The change in her personality is amazing. She experienced two nights of strange dreams and waking in the middle of the night. We put her back on Flovent once a day as a substitute. Her aggression and frustration went away within days. She is so happy and content with herself. I can see that she is no longer frustrated by emotions that she could not explain. She's silly, funny, happy. She no longer hates us, pulls her hair, or tries to slap herself because she's thinks she deserves it. She has been on the drug since she was 3-1/2. We were doing family therapy to try to help her. This is no longer needed. She's back to her old self. What a shame no one warned us of this potential side effect. I also wondered how I missed the news story since I just found this site in September 2008. The news story about Singulair came out in March - just around Spring Break. Since we were out of the country, I missed the news. Isn't that a convenient time of the year to break a story? I'm sure many other families missed the news.

My daughter is 4 and has allergies. Last year she was briefly on Zyrtec and I immediately noticed that she became very aggressive. This year her doctor prescribed Singular. She has been on Singular for 8 days. Her appetite has dwindled. She has complained that her stomach hurt which I thought was due to not eating. Last night, she had nightmares - screaming out in a panic. This afternoon she couldn't sleep. This evening she fell asleep in my arms. Suddenly she sat up with glazed eyes wide open and began to relive when she fell and hurt her hand a few days earlier. I thought she was sleep talking with her eyes open. She was in a total panic but appeared to be sleeping. Yet, when her dad approached she held out her arms for him to pick her up. She eventually fell back asleep only to awaken two more times with similar sceneros played out. I could not get these scenes out of my mind. Given the previous experience with Zyrtec, I looked over the side effects of Singular and the word Hallucination jumped out at me. I spoke with a pharmacist who was not aware of anything I have since read on this site. I decided to Google Singular Side Effects and came upon this site. Tears well in my eyes after I read posting after posting. Thank you, thank you to all who have posted their experiences. You have saved my daughter and our family from a true nightmare. Bless you and your family.

Ladies, I feel like an intruder for being the only male posting a comment on this site. But the thing is, I'm desperate. My girlfriend began taking Yasmin this beginning of this year, and i believe it's one of the main reasons I'm seriously considering ending a 3yr relationship. Since she began using Y, she's become a different person - a lot more emotionally unstable, and sorry to say quite self-absorbed. Her sex drive is almost non-existent, but that's not the hard part tho. It's the fact that when i hold her tight she often doesn't even put her arms around me, physical affection has decreased so much I often find myself thanking her when she touches me......when did it become an effort to show love?
She's become very distant on more than one level, and i swear she doesn't wanna be with me anymore but just too scared to break my heart.

I have suggested that this pill could be the cause of loss of her libido (can you imagine a guy addressing this issue with his gf), but she denied the possibility. I've done a fair amount of research and I can't believe how many women this so-called miracle drug is affecting them in these ways.

She's honestly the love of my life, the only girl I want but not the person she is now. I've never allowed myself to become dependent on a woman to make me happy, but I'm very weak for her. I've spoken to her about my feelings a number of times but things are not improving.

Any advice for a hopeless fool would be much appreciated.
Thanks for reading

My daughter was prescribed Omnicef for an ear infection. Almost a week into the dosing she developed a severe rash all over her body. She also was very "sensitive" while on the meds, which it's hard to tell if it was the meds or just not feeling well. But my son has been on this med before and had the orange/red stools. After reading all of these posts I will never allow him to take this medication again. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we have seen the worst of her rash and she can start to get on the road to recovery.

hi kim 123,
i know you don't feel like yourself but just seeing your post you sound so much more together than you have when we have emailed each other,you seem stronger and the fact that you have been researching and are now able to pass your advice on is a sign that you are on the road to recovery,i am sooo pleased for you kim i really did feel for you when you were just of yasmin and in that terrible first stage of withdrawl,and also well done for getting off the lexapro,i'm sure you don't realise it but it was such a strong thing for you to do and you have coped brilliantly. how is dejay doing? have not heard from her in a while,i hope that means she is out there enjoying life to the full and had put this nightmare behind her!
great to hear from you on the new site,i hope you will find even more help and support on that site too.

sarah

Happy New Year to all

Hi there i am officially one year and 2 months off yasmin and i can tell you all its hard and each day is hard as you go through each and every symptom and every anxiety attack and every pain that you think may be leading to a heart attack/stroke/blod clot etc, and i am still here 14months after finishing this damn pill but i can tell you ITS GETS BETTER. to the new ladies to recap i was on the pill for almost 3years and yes i went through every side effect and struggled each and every day to the point i thought i was losing it even having a heart attack and life was so hard with a job and three young children and i felt like i was going insane and then i stumbled on this site and found silke and all the girls.
the first three months were horrendosu and the symptoms were so severe and i struggled immensly but then as i approached month five it slowly began to get better each and every day and i had everything high blood pressure huge weight gain massive anxiety heart palps i had to quit my job i was not coping and yet every day i came to this site and after a long six months i was getting better and better, i just want you all to know to hang in there i took it day by day and i know thats so hard when you are going through it but guess what i have been there and its gonne be ok. I took magnesium, vitamin c, a good multi vitamin and flaxseed capsules and i think these helped immensly, I have just been diagnosed with low iron so am on an organic supplement and my liver is not working as good as what it should so my naturopath will give me something for that in late january and thats why he thinks i have massive weight gain so lets see if what he gives me helps.
take care all and remember all of us who have travelled the road and still are are here to help you to realise you are not going insane and that you are on the road to recovery even though you fell like its a battle you will never win
take care
LISA

hi kim123.
i think the main difference between yaz and yasmin is that it only has 0.2 drosperinone compared to 0.3 in yasmin so it is a slightly lower dose,the drosperinone component is the equivelent of progesterone i think,it has been a while since i have looked at the leaflet. i am sure silke had a problem taking the "b" vitamins so she may be able to give you some advice there. i take b6 and b complex,i have not tried missing a dose since i stopped taking yasmin so i am not sure if they make me more anxious or whether i would be calmer without them as odd as that sounds!!!!! i just read that they will help with my hormonal problems and have been taking them ever since!
i know how you feel about missing all of the things you loved,now i am on the road to recovery i make a point of trying and doing everything that i used to love and do you know what...i enjoy them so much more now because i know how much i missed them when they were taken away. i used to hate going to the supermarket,i thought it was boring.... i love it now because i can go without feeling terrified!

sarah

hi ladies,this is a question for silke or sophie or any of the ladies who have suffered muscle weakness.
This is not really a side effect that i had badly when i was taking yasmin but i am mid cycle again (i seem to get something new every midcycle and end up here asking questions!) i have a really really weak left arm,to the point that i am even having trouble lifting it to type this question. i was holding a hamper earlier on in the day for about 20 mins but it was not really all that heavy but now my arm just seems as though it has no strength at all...just wondering if this is another side effect or if it something completely new to hinder my recovery! has anyone else experienced this? i have been off yasmin for nearly 8 months now.

sarah

p.s silke how are things now????? are you back on the road to recovery.please let us know how you are doing,i often think about how you are doing and if you are back singing with your band.i always look forward to reading your posts and knowing that you are still getting better each day.

Sophie,
I just read your post and hope you are feeling a little better by now. We all know exactly how you are feeling and that the thing with post-yasmin is that one day you are fine and the next day you feel terrible.

When this happens to me i try to remember that the chances are high that by the next day i will be feeling a little better. I am off yasmin for a little longer than you. About 8 months. I think that from 6 months onwards i started to get a little better.

I was able to start making since of things again.

If you can keep a diary of how you are feeling you will notice a pattern. This helps you to ride out the bad days.

It might be helpful to note the day you are ovulating and how long after that until you start to feel bad.

Yesterday i found out that i have a luteal phase defect. This has been linked among other things to contraceptive use. But the doctors have said that it is treatable with progesterone.

I have been keeping a menstrual diary for the past four months. I noticed that my cycles were getting shorter and i was ovulating earlier.

Try this and it might help. I really hope it does. I know it is not an instant cure but it might put you on the road to recovery earlier. This along with all the great advice from flowerbabies and everybody else will keep you going until soon you will have no more yasmin poison left in your system.

I know i have mentioned this before but i feel that LDN has helped me hugely. It is currently used as an ms drug but is been prescribed off-label for pms and hormonal problems. Google "low dose naltrexone" to get info on it.

If you can try to remember when you do feel bad that this is not permanent, it will go away soon.

Migraines during menstruation are usually because of the change in hormone levels. I suffered too from them and sometimes could not even open my eyes to light. Along with nausea this can mean that you get anxious because you start to become afraid that something more sinister is happening.
This then starts a vicous circle.
Why not ask your doctor for an anti-migraine prescription. I took these for a while when my migraines were at their worst. They really do work. The trick is to take them before your migraine starts.

If you are keeping a diary you will notice that the migraines come at around the same time every month.
I hope this helps Sophie. I wish you the very best of luck. Just Remember that this WILL go away. You WILL be ok again and there are people on this forum who know exactly how you are feeling.
murph70

I have been on Yasmin for 2 1/2 years and off of it for 5 months. The only side effects I experienced when going on the pill were thinning hair, severe depression (and I do mean SEVERE) mood swings, panic attacks and bad anxiety attacks. I've always been a very social person and never had problems like this before. I felt as if i was living my whole life in a cloud. My husband and I decided that I should get off of them. However the side effects of discontinuing Yasmin have been worse. I have been sick for the past 1 1/2 months with what I thought was bad food poisoning and gastroenteritis. But now that I have read your other posts I realize that it's all side effects. I went to ER twice, the first time told me that my potassium levels were extremely low (and no I don't have kidney problems) and I was dehydrated. I had severe diarhea, severe nausea, depression, I felt like my whole body was shaking, and I felt like I was going crazy. I hadn't had much of an appetite which is very unusual for me. I got my period on time the first month after stopping, but then my 4th and 5th month I was 2 weeks late both times. I've never had irregular periods since I started at age 12. I'm still dealing with dizziness, motion sickness, anxiety depression. I occasionally have nausea in the mornings and afternoons. When they tell you that your body returns to normal about 3 months after you stop taking it, is not true. I'm into my 6th month and I still do not feel like myself. I'm so glad I found this website because it's literally like I'm reading my own testimonial because all of our symptoms are so much alike. I will never take the pill again. Thank you for all of your posts regarding this and hopefully everyone is on the road to recovery from taking this pill.
Tiffany

I have posted here before I am 4 months off Yasmin, and the majority of symptoms that everyone has while on Yasmin are over for me. I still am Anxious during the month but I am seeing a therapist for relaxation techniques, because I was tired of seeing doctors that just wanted to give meanti anxiety medication and get me out of their office. But here is something I thought everyone here would understand...my family sure didn't. So here is the backstory. I was on Yasmin for 5 months. On the fifth month I was at work at my whole right side went numb, my ear was ringing and I couldn't talk. I passed out, luckily I worked for the accounting dept of the hospital, a nurse just happened to be in our office, needless to say i was WHEELCHAIRED to the ER where I was diagnosed with a mild stroke. I stopped Yasmin that evening, only after finding this site and putting all the anxiety, weight gain, constant urination, mood swings, hair loss, constipation and everything else together, it has been a long road to recovery and my sex drive is SLOWLY returning. But here is the kicker. I went to the OBGYN to get my annual about a week ago and she asked me why I was no longer taking the pill, I told her everything about Yasmin, I had it written down so i wouldn't forget, and then I went on to tell her about the stoke I had in May and she told me "OH Yasmin didn't cause that, you probably had a migrain." I am still so pissed off at this woman, becuase we all know migrains make your body go numb and you cant walk or talk because of it!!! AM I the only one that this pisses off. I have never been so angry in my life. I really dont think that a lot of the OGBYN know anything about the side effects of these birth control pills. So thats my story I thought I would share. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE. Find a OB that you trust.

To the last post:
Anxiety is a major withdrawal side effect once off Yasmin. It has now been close to 7 months for me and I am now feeling ALOT better, but I admit it has been a very slow road to recovery. Be sure to explain how you're feeling to those close around you, as they need to be able to support you through this. You feel like you're 'losing it' sometimes when in fact you are the same old you, but just effected by the low level hormones.

The anxiety is due to your low progesterone level now you are off Yasmin. I'd recommend you have your levels checked out. I am now on Agnus Castus to help re-balance my hormones. I wished I hadnt waited until now to do this, as I may have speeded up this whole process.

You will find you will have good and bad days with this, according to your cycle. The important thing to remember is that you will get better, and the anxiety will go.

Like I said, see a doctor (preferably one that specialises in womens health, and therefore will not ignore your symptoms or disregard them).

A message for voicei...Hi, I've read your posts alot, and we have been leading very similiar lives for a long time it seems with all this (I too have posted alot). I just wanted to ask you how you have been once on the Agnus Castus...did any of your symptoms get worse before they got better? I have only been on it 10 days and on the whole have felt ok, but just wanted your thoughts about it so far...thanks.

Big hugs to all.

Trailblazin,

Thank you for the heartfelt post! I feel horrible and I apologize that we got off on such a bad note too!! Let's put it all behind us ok?

I am 41, female and I do research within the medical field.

I feel so bad for you Trail, and moreso for the way I came across at first. What a terrible ordeal you've endured!! I'm just thankful that you are ok now and on the road to recovery. I know it won't be easy, but I have faith in you. You'll do just fine!

I know it's off the subject here, but how is your diabetes?
Did the new pancreas alleviate it? You mentioned a book about jump starting the pancreas...so I'm alittle lost here..lol.
It sounds as if this man might know a thing or two, I'd be really interested in the name of the book, if we can reveal things like that here.
My mom has Type 2. I started her on a few good supplements and it's helping, but I'd love to see her totally off the glucophage.
I worry about her liver more then anything, but as with you, the kidney/pancreas is of concern also.

I really hope you find some ways to help your insomnia and everything else that came with the prednisone therapy. Medication can have some really toxic effects on some of us but thankfully we usually recover from them.
Your positive outlook is absolutely admirable to me, especially after everything you've gone through.
The things I've seen in my field and some of the things I've gone through in my own life have really altered my way of belief.
For me, I will back with my whole being that; positive attitude, the will to survive, mind over matter, and faith are a few of the strongest medical properties/medicines in the world. Your the prime example of this.

Hope your having a great, pain free, peaceful day Trail!!
Thank you again for your heartfelt post, you really made my day! :)

Jules

Ok, here goes! I've waited to enter this until I left the levaquin nightmare. This drug made my life miserable for three months. Iam a very healthy active person even ran a marathon in Novemember. I was prescribed levaquin for a lung infection in February. Was prescribed 500 mg for a week. When I started taking the drug I had very bad neck spasms but just assummed the drug was ridding me of infection. The full effects of the drug became more evident towards the end of treatment.
I was extremely tired, sleepy, very weak muscles hardly able to push the gas peddle without feeling weak. The thought of walking to the mail box was overwhelming. I had internal chills and shivering, muscle aches, muscle spasms and muscle twitching and just felt dreadful. This went on for about three months. I am still not myself but I think I am on the road to recovery. I was told by my doctor that I had neurotoxicity to levaquin. I cannot tell you how much money and agony this has caused me. I was also referred to a rheumatologist, and a neurologist to rule out other diseases.I went to a naturopath, my obgyn, my dermatologist (
weird skin things) I worried like crazy that I would never be the same all because of an antibiotic. This drug should be taken off the market immediately. Good luck to all of you who are suffering. I have things that seemed to help me but I think time is the only cure.