Sceptical symptoms and conditions

I have been taking Omeprazole for about 2 months and since the start of taking it I have had stomach cramps that range from slight discomfort to buckling pain that is almost unbearable, my hands and feet swell weekly and it was substantial enough for my wife to notice without question, also I have been experiencing nausea more frequently and more severe the longer I continue to take the medicine, I have occasional joint pain most often at night making it sometimes impossible to sleep, I've struggled with depression before and am not sure if the medicine is causing it or not but my wife says she has noticed a change in my attitude since being on Omeprazole, As far as other side effects I have developed a rash on my inner thigh that seems to coincide with starting the medication, also I have had sharp headaches behind my eyes probably about twice a week lasting anywhere from ten minutes to half the day

Mu husband was hospitalized with a severe urinary tract infection - Dec.18, 2006 and was treated with levaquin intravenously. Upon release, Dec.22nd, he was given levaquin - 500mg - to take orally for seven days. While taking the medication he had no side effects, but the day after he took the last dose he started getting pains in the jaw and shoulder, which then spread to the chest. He has a history of heart problems ( 4 angioplasties) so I gave him nitro, although he insisted this was not a "heart" pain. The nitro didn't work and the pain worsened - he was sweating and obviously distressed. I called 911 and he was admitted to the hospital where they ran all the heart tests - EKG's, echogram, chest x-ray, cat scan, etc. The pain became excruciating and they finally administered morphine which was the only thing that helped. The doctors admitted they just didn't know what ws causing the intense pain, as all his heart tests were good. I decided to check the side effects of levaquin and lo and behold, right on the printout from the drug store they list "crushing chest pain" as one of the possible side effects. I pointed this out to the doctors, but they were very sceptical. However by the time he left tht hospital, five days later, they admitted that it could possibly be the levaquin. The chest pain never entirely went away, although it was much milder. He was fine for a few days, then the pain returned again - it was severe and this time he experienced rapid heartbeat (143) which he had never had before. I took him to the emergency room and he was admitted once again and of course, they did all the heart tests again. He explained that he had been through this before and it wasn't his heart, but they have to be sure, especially at his age - 81. I once again brought up the possibility of levaquin side effects but they were sure that as he had finished taking it 10 days ago, it couldn't be that. Once again they gave him morphine and he was abl to relax and his heart rate returned to normal. When he was discharged two days later, they put on his record and notified the drug store that he was allergic to levaquin. He was given a prescription for hydrocodone to take if the pain returns. The chest pain never really goes away - he says it hurts deep inside, somewhat like pleurisy, but all lung tests are negative. He is constantly fatigued and I realize that at 81 you don't have the energy of a 20-year-old, but prior to this he was very healthy - excercise class three times a week, walks regularly and plays golf. I wish I knew how long these side effects will last, especially as in view of the rapid heart beat, they now have him on Coumadin. Before this, he took only three prescription meds now he takes nine! I know they have to use powerful antibiotics to kill bacterial infections, but they should know of an "antidote" for these serious side effects. It's all very well tosay "it hardly ever happens" but reading the dozens of reports on this and other websites, I would say that it happens all too often. If anyone has found a remedy or anything that helps - please let us know.

hi all,i have been off yasmin for 3 days now,i am not expecting any miracles yet! i stopped taking it with 5 pills still in the pack so expect to get a withdrawl bleed any day now, it may be all in my head but my anxiety seems less although i still get palpitations at night,the only down side is i seem to have had a pressure headache for the last 2 days and also a sore throat,could be a coicidence, that is the trouble as we do not know exactly what yasmin does and does not do it's hard to say "oh it's definately this that or the other"! My philosophy at the moment is ..... it may make a difference it may not but either way i know i am still going to have to cope with the aftermath and the memories of the anxiety but by stopping pumping my body full of artificial hormones i can rule it out as a cause of my weird and not so wonderful symptoms! Thanks to all have posted your stories on here,i felt so alone and felt that maybe i was going crazy,my doctors just wanted to send me to the shrink and put me on pills. but now i have taken control of my situation i feel much improved mentally even if not physically yet, hopefully that will come once this crap is out of my system! you're all stars and i wish you all the best with your recovery! i will be sending my sceptical pill pushing dr to this site so maybe he will think twice next time someone comes in feeling like we have and is taking yasmin!

I am a 54 year old male and have been on Lipitor 10mg for nearly five years. I had a heart attack and since then have also been taking warfarin and also Atenolol 25mg and Candestartin 8mg. I have experiences some hair loss and some back pain. My short term memory is getting poor and I have dad days when I have felt generally unwell. Fairly recently I have had cramps and muscle pain in my legs and arms. Recently I began to have fluid collect on my knees and my knees joints have become stiff and painful. I have had the fluid drained from them and had various tests and x-rays. Everything is negative - there is no sign of infection or athritis. Liver and kidney functions are normal and gout has been ruled out. I am going to ask my doctor to check for muscle damage although he has already said that there is evidence of wasting and prescribed excercises for my legs. Is this the lipitor? He has give me some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to take in the short term but these interfere with my Warfarin and I cannot take them for long. I have looked up the side effects of the other drugs and they do not seem to be so severe as those of Lipitor. I live in the UK where self help in medicine is not so prevalent as it is in the States and my Doctor will, no doubt, be sceptical when I tell him about this site. What can I take to replace this drug?

I have been living in the UK for four years and started suffering with bad hayfever in the first summer. I battled through the first year with antihistamines that offered little relief. Now for the the last three years I've had a Kenalog injection from my local clinic.

Year 1 and 2 were fine, with almost instant relief. This year has been rather different - it's not had nearly the same effect and I've been battling some severe headaches in the evening, a week after having the injection.

I'm hoping they are unrelated, but given some of the texts written here, there's probably a strong chance they are as my normal routine has not changed much.

A year or two ago I would probably have recommended it without hesitation, but I'm a lot more sceptical now.