Surprise symptoms and conditions

Hello Ladies. I was a mirena SUFFERER for 3 1/2 years. Had all the symptoms including hair loss. Terrible drug. Had it removed in sept 2008. Just a heads up girls, If you dont want kids get another form of bc right away. I am now 5 weeks pregnant again. LOL we did try the vasectomy route for my husband so you can imagine our surprise when we got the news. LOL Mirena was the worst thing to ever happen to me and my family but there is light. After almost two months my hair loss is down and my acne is almost gone. Joint and back pain gone. Mood so much better i feel like a new person. And you can get pregnant again.LOL So chin up girls. Always listen to your body and decide for yourself, but for me getting it removed was the only answer. HOWEVER, one note. After removal the risk of ectopic preg is much higher for the first year. Be careful and if you do turn up prego again make sure you discuss with your ob/gyn and get an ultrasound as soon as possible to be sure of location of the fetus. Good luck ladies.

I am a 35 year old female. Previous Dr. had been watching my BP for about 4 months and asking me to lose some weight - I am about 15 pounds overweight. Changed doctors due to insurance and new Dr. prescribed Lisinopril right away, 5 days ago. By the 4th day I was feeling tired, more than usual, and went to bed really early. Today, the 5th day, through out the day, I started feeling pressure on my chest, a need to breath deeply with some resistance, a weird sensation running from the heart across my chest toward my throat, anxiety thinking I was having symptoms of a heart attack. I feel slight pain running down my left arm. So, tonight before going to bed, thinking, do I have to tell someone what I am feeling? Should I go to the ER? I decided to look up side effects for this drug. And to my surprise I ran into this site. I am sooo glad to read that so many people are going through the same thing and have not had a heart attack. As I sit here, I have chest pain, and anxiety, and I was supposed to take the 5th pill tonight, but I am not going to. I will call my doctor 1st thing tomorrow and ask her to switch medications. Thank you for posting. This has helped me make a quick decision not to continue with this drug.

My 12 year old was on Singulair from age 4 to 10. We too thought it was a life saving drug. The doctor then put my youngest son on it for allergy cough etc. That is when all hell broke loose. He immediately had signs of depression, anxiety, anger, nightmares, ocd and facial ticks. We took both boys of this drug and I will never use it again.

I've told every doctor that we visit about this and they have basically said they haven't heard this as a symptom. When I told his immunologist this was a symptom he said that if I'm telling him it's a symptom then they aren't going to dispute it. His lack of surprise led me to believe that this wasn't the first time he heard this. This is the same doctor that put my 12 year old on this drug as part of a study through U of M. (At the time, the drug wasn't available for 4 year old)

I would strongly caution anyone about the use of this drug and I wish I had done more research. My son has been off it for 2 years and still has
lingering effects.

Hi so glad to read this im calling my dr as i read!! i got my mirena in apr of 2005, i was one of the 1st pts my dr did one on. I have no children and am married, we wanted to wait to have kids and i have frequent migraines so the pill is a no-no. the day i had it put in i passed out while leaving the office. they said "oh wow that never happens"...hmmm wonder how many others passed out after i did!

i cant really report any bad side effects until about 1 yr after insertion. i started having terrible cramping where i couldn't even stand up. this would come and go every few months. then i noticed i couldn't urinate as well anymore...the stream was weak and it seemed like my muscles were tense or something. i now have constant pain and pressure of the pelvic floor, my abdomen is always bloated, i have gained 20lbs and i do weight watchers and cant lose a pound, i retain tons of water, i have fatigue and joint/muscle pain. I attributed the joint pain and fatigue to fibromyalgia which i have been dx'd w/ in 2007 but now i wonder if its this mirena!

i have been to different doctors and specialists because i don't feel well, i haven't for a few years now...now i wonder if its because of this mirena. im going to have mine removed and see how i feel. the urination problem is the worst! i always feel like i have to pee but nothing comes out...the urologist said all my tests were normal.

im so glad i read all these posts...i hope every woman reads this before deciding on the mirena.

I had the mirena inserted in late August of 2006 and have had consistent pelvic discomfort. Prior to mirena I delt with cysts and endometriosis and the one thing that mirena DID do was take away my cycle. Since not having a period I no longer had the monthly cramping from the cysts or endometriosis. However, the down side to the mirena is that I felt like I would have stabbing pain in my pelvic area where the mirena was at. I did have cramping from the mirena as well (not associated to period cramps at all). In July of 2007 my husband and I were taken by surprise when I miscarried at 1 months gestation. How could this have happened??? I was not given any answers, I was not given a proper check to make sure that the mirena was still in place, and when I mentioned the pain from the mirena I was told it was 'common' and 'should go away'....well I had finally had enough of the pain and lack of energy...weight gain as well and decided to have the mirena taken out on September 5th 2008. I went to a different doctor to have it taken out versus going back to the same doctor who put it in and didn't give me any answers. The new doctor explained that the chances of getting pregnant are rare and the pain are factors of the mirena most likely not being in place correctly. She explained that it needs to sit in/at your uterus and it can sometimes slip down to your cervix, making pregnancy possible. It was a relief to get the mirena out. I have been bleeding though non-stop since the 5th and it is now the 13th.

As a parent of a teenage girl diagnosed with Bipolar I as well as DID, I thought Lamictal would be a great change from Lithium and would contribute to her stability. Imagine my surprise when I saw this happening to my 17 year-old daughter; constant insomnia over the last three months; panic attacks; anxiety; and paranoia, especially at night. Finally, my daughter threw her Lamictal away, and she has been much better since. I don't think folks always are aware that anxiety can be a real side effect of this amazing mood stabilizer, and it's good to be on the look out for it when your kid is taking it. She also claimed it made her more depressed.

WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE SEND IN A MEDWATCH REPORT BY GOING TO WWW.FDA.GOV.
IT'S THE ONLY WAY SOMEONE WILL LISTEN TO USE.

ALSO, CALL ORTHO-MCNEIL AND LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU GOT SICK ON THEIR WONDER DRUG. JUST DON'T GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS.

After a slow ramp-up (4 weeks), I'm at 300 SR for major depression and PTSD. Though originally petrified of taking it, I must say it's been a pleasant surprise -- the only side effects have been dry mouth and occasional afternoon tiredness. This week I'm noticing that that pervasive nameless read has subsided, and I'm actually tackling some of the little tasks that had seemed overwhelming before. So far so good!

Okay, I am 16, have never taken any birth control,and I am in my 3rd week of Loestrin. My doctor told me that if i started the pill on the first day of my period (august 1) that i would not have to wait to have UNPROTECTED sex, but to be safe, my boyfriend and I waited until august 7th to have sex, we also had sex on the 12th. Around the 15th I had some light pink discharge that lasted for 2 days...this worried me a little but i did not think much of it. Soon after that I started having back pains, cramps, nausea, headaches, my breasts are swollen, VERY tender, nipples are larger/darker, you can see the blue veins in them also. I have been picky about foods,discharge has increased, and have had terrible heartburn and have been extremely emotional. I have also had pains in my knees and ankles, and smells make me very sick to my stomach. I am very worried that I am pregnant.....but I am not supposed to get my period until the 28th so I have to wait...if anyone has been pregnant or had these symptoms on Loestrin PLEASE let me know....Thanks!

53 year old female who has taken "F" for almost 2 years - the past two months was the generic version. Have noticed a gradual onset of joint pain and heart palpitations, but am not one to see a doc unless I feel like I'm dying... So I wrote it off to aging. (-:
A friend recently mentioned that she had heard that Fosamax causes bones to be brittle, which caused me to wake up, look around and see what people are saying and what new articles or research are out there. Yeah, sure - there are lawsuits. Not a surprise in our litigious society. More importantly, however, are the comments from real people. Thanks to you who've posted your experiences!
I stopped the drug several weeks ago and seem to have an increase in joint paint. But I'm not going back to Fosamax! Also interesting to me is that around the same time I stopped the drug, I experienced an uncharacteristic downward shift in my mood/mental state. Not sure if there's a correlation to the drug or not...
It is reassuring to see some comments from people who indicate they feel better after weeks/months of being Fosamax free. I am a "gym rat" and very fit/weight appropriate. Weight training and nutrition will be my treatment of choose for osteopenia for now. With time, I am confident that the symptoms I'm experiencing will subside. And any future ailments for which I am prescribed a drug will be very carefully researched by me beforehand.
Be careful out there and stay informed!

I stumbled onto this site while trying to find a reason for these headaches I get sometimes for no" apparent" reason. Imagine my surprise to find your testimonies about your lives on warfarin sodium.At 38, I had surgery to repair a congenital defect of the aortic valve and had to have a hema-shield graph to repair an aneurysm of the aorta. That was in Oct.2002. Warfarin has been a part of my life since then. I was also put on anti-depressants because my family Dr. thought I was depressed since I repeatedly complained of not feeling well.(I took myself off the anti-depressants a couple of years ago.) Extreme fatigue , serious memory issues, thinning hair,dizzy spells and numerous other ailments continue to plague me.Add to that a large weight gain ...and, well, you get the picture. If anyone knows of an alternative to taking this "poison", PLEASE, PLEASE let me know. I just WANT MY LIFE BACK!!! I actually cried after reading this blog. As I explained to my husband, I suppose it was from the sheer relief of knowing I was not going insane!!!

Well i just got back from the docs.......no surprise he highly doubted the singulair would have anything to do with an insulin blood level......same old song and dance.......I as a mother don't understand what a leukotriene receptor blocker antagonist is,but i was hoping those i pay the big bucks to that have completed med school do......i am wondering that one.....so i have to see an endo doctor and spend more monies but i have no choice it is the health of my son

This is my second post on this subject. The short story is I had a stroke at 43 years old, doctor prescribed Zocor to me, 90 percent of side affects posted here.

I went back to the doctors afraid I was going to get the treatment from mmy doctor that most others got "your crazy, and it's psycholog". To my surprise the doctor knew exactly what I was going through with the only information that I was on Zocor.

The doctor was aware of the undocumented side affects and told me stop taking it immediately. She prescribed Lipitor and so far so good.

Most of the side affects have gone, the foggy head totally gone. The doctor said I was lucky to be recovering so quickly as most take months and some times years from the damage of Zocor. The longer you take it the longer the recovery time which makes sense. The doctor said that Zocor is cheap and highly dangerous.

I urge anyone coming across this website to see your doctor for a medication change ASAP.

I will post again in six months and give an update.

I lasted just 20 days on Yaz. I had a persistent "kicked-in-the-stomach" feeling that just wouldn't go away. This is the kind of stomach pain that makes you want to bend over and not sit or stand up straight. For days which I wasn't even on my period, I had cramping and a backache -- which usually only occur for 1-2 days during my period. So it's like I got to experience the pain of my period most of the month! Finally, I couldn't stand the stomach ache any more, and read the leaflet that came with the pills. Then I jumped online and -- surprise! I'm not the only one experiencing nasty side effects. Thank God I finally figured it out. However, it's been 3 days OFF the pills, and still my stomach has been hurting. And for all that pain, my period is still heavy! I had tried Ortho Tricyclen in the past and had very few side effects. It was NOTHING as bad as this. These are some of the worst pills I have ever taken.

I am a 61 yr. old female former smoker diagnosed with COPD/emphysema. I was put on ADVAIR 500, along with using a nebulizer with albuterol and bromide to "inhale" several times a day.I also was on oxygen. I quit smoking and worked at getting my health back and to the surprise of the doctors went back to playing tennis several times a week.After reading about the side effects of the high dose Advair I had my Dr. reduce the amount to 250. It has been almost a year now that I have been on Advair. I have noticed some of the side effects mentioned here. The leg cramps, and leg spasms have been horrid. I also have had blurry vision. And lately I seem to not be able to sleep even if I am tired.I am going to see if my Dr. will let me drop to the 100 Advair level. Lately I have been intentionally skipping Advair doses to see if I notice any difference in my breathing. I almost forgot- since going on the meds listed above I have had kidney stones, an emergency appendix surgery and now high bilirubin count. I cannot find any info on those problems if result of medication ADVAIR. Even though I smoked for a number of yrs. I was very active and not over weight. The Dr. thinks thats why I am back to playing tennis. Has anyone else had a gastro problems ??Thanks A.

I went off the pill 12 years ago and started on Yaz in the summer of 2007. I had pretty significant mood swings for about two weeks on the first pack. In fact, it was like the worst PMS I've ever experienced, with my anger and rage surging up for no apparent reason. The mood swings were gone after my first period, though. The only other problem was that my first cycle lasted 10 days, the second 7 days, but by the third pack my periods completely regulated to a light, 4-day cycle.

Since the "old-school" pill had made me gain weight, I was expecting to do the same on Yaz. To my surprise, that didn't happen. Also, I didn't experience any PMS at all, before, during, or after my periods. I only went off Yaz because of surgery for fibroids on my uterus resulted in a uterine hysterectomy last month.

The older brands of birth control come with many warnings of potential blood clots and other side effects and, while I am sorry for the illnesses and losses people here have experienced with same, every prescription medication has its risks. Yaz was wonderful for me!

I have taken Flomax for three nights. Each night, I woke up after having a disturbing and rather intense dream. This kind of dream was something that might happen once per year. Three nights in a row is very unlikely to be an accident.

I WILL NEVER TAKE THIS CRAP AGAIN!

Of the last four medications I've taken, three caused unacceptable side effects!

Gosh... this is such a big surprise. I have recently read that pharmaceutical companies have been tampering with the results of drug studies. They also have a "buddy-buddy" relationship with the Food and Drug Administration and some members of congress.

I can't wait for November 2008 to vote against the regime that is in power and which allowed this kind of farce to occur in agencies that are supposed to help protect Americans from crappy "medicines".

I just got back from an appt. to check my Mirena inserted almost 2 yrs ago
I mentioned some S/E's I thought could be from it & he said no possible way HUH????

I've had NO sex drive
poss. painful sex Can't 100% prove that yet though
vision-floaters
an attack of extreme muscle/joint aches in my legs that lasted 5 days (came out of Nowhere) assuming it's the mirena
also have anxiety seems to have gotten worse since being on the Mirena??
lazy feeling no energy

Update.. well today is the 10th day off of Singulair for my 6yr old son. He is doing wonderful. One of the issues he has been dealing with over last year was constant sinus infections. Just curious if anyone else out there experienced thick mucus/sinus infections. His got to the point that his adenoids became enlarged from constant infections but even after surgery in Feb his sinus did not seem to drain completely. Well yesterday he finally started having discharge of what seems to be a lining in his sinus(what they saw on cat scan before surgery). He has no cold symptons and I have been giving him mucinex & saline washes to help thin it out but I have been doing this along.. I have been waiting for this to happen for months now! I don't feel its coincidence that its after we stopped the Singulair his sinuses are finally draining (without antibiotics)

My daughter's last dose was Wed 3/26/08. Today she woke up in a great mood - very happy! My husband and I noticed how "euphoric" she was. We could tell she had not felt this good in a long time. She was happy, laughing, and skipping when we went out today. She even spilled a soda in the car and that would have normally started a MAJOR scene (crying, blaming others, extreme anger) and instead she was very calm about it and helped clean it up. What a surprise that was! She has not been like this for years! She actually had an appetite today and asked for food! It tears me up to think she lost almost 4 years of precious childhood to this medicine! She used to be so depressed before that my husband had suggested to her that she see a psychiatrist. We asked her about those times this morning. She said she was so depressed because of the bad dreams she had before. We never mentioned these side effects to her so it was surprising to hear her say that! I'll post again later to see if the changes continue.

I am 52 and had a hysterectomy at 28, so I've been on lots of different kinds of estrogens in that time. Once I went on Premarin until I found out that it is made from pregnant mares' urine ( the "mar-" in the name of the med). They are confined to very small stalls and have catheters to catch all of their urine. Many of their colts are born unhealthy, which is no surprise. If this disturbs you, remember - there are LOTS of good alternatives.
I'm trying what are known as "bio-identical" estrogens next this summer.

Stupid Bactrim..never again!! I am a healthy 27 yr old, have never had any problem with antibiotics before, but my doctor prescribed me BACTRIM for my UTI! All I had was a UTI..and I felt like Bactrim actually made me feel worse than having a UTI!!!!
I only took it for 3 days..after that I stopped. I felt like I got the flu instead. I had a fever of 102.8, chills, headache for 3days, rib pain, my body ached, abdominal pain, fatigue..and the medicine extended my period. I should be over with it by now. But it is day 3 off the pill..I am feeling better. Drinking lots of fluids.Just feel a little more tired than usual. Will keep you all updated on how I do.

BACTRIM SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE MARKET!!!! So many people have horror stories about this drug!!!!!

Hi, I'm 27 and had Mirena inserted in Oct. 2006, six weeks after I had my little boy. I have been experiencing extensive hair loss, fatigue, lack of sex drive, heart palpitations, intolerance to cold, and inexplicable mood swings (especially including anger or depression). I haven't gained much weight; however, I have been incapable of reclaiming my pre-baby weight regardless of diet and exercise. I wrote off most of these symptoms during the first year, since I thought they were just the result of my hormones getting back to normal after child birth. But now that my son is almost 19 months old, I've really started to get worried. Not only are these problems NOT dissipating, they are getting WORSE.

I've recently been doing some research, and it appears that these symptoms are indicative of hypothyroidism. I was planning on undergoing treatment for that affliction. However, I don't know what I should do now that I've discovered that so many other women on Mirena are having the same problems as I am having. Perhaps it would be better to switch to a different birth control. It would be stupid to take one drug in order to counter-act the side effects of another, wouldn't it? It may be less convenient, but I know for a fact that I never had problems like this when I used Nuva Ring.

I had been taking Lipitor for well over six years to help lower my Cholesterol count with no know side affects. A problem developed about two and a half years ago with nerve damage that gave me excruciating pain in my shoulder and arm. After an MRI and three cortisone shots I was referred to a neurologist for help. He had no idea what was causing the problem.

About six months after many doctors could do nothing for me, and referring me to a physical therapist, my wife showed me a story in a magazine, which I can no longer find, that talked about problems with Lipitor that had not been properly documented. The article talked about exactly the side effects I was having. The article said there was a problem with nerve damage. It had been well documented that some people had muscle problems, but it was not know there could also be a problem with nerve pain.

I contacted my doctor and stopped taking Lipitor. Two months later, the pain just disappeared. The very day the pain ceased, I had a visit from a good friend of mine who is a Radiologist and who had studied Lipitor because of a problem he was having.

He explained that Lipitor was doing the job it was supposed to do, namely keeping the liver from producing all fats. The problem I was having was that I had injured a nerve and Lipitor was keeping the liver from producing a particular fat needed to help heal that nerve. It seems that the myelin sheath around the nerve needs that fat to help the nerve heal itself, and Lipitor was preventing the production of that particular fat.

Once I quit taking Lipitor it took about two months for the healing fat production to do it's thing. Recovery of the nerves in that arm has been very slow, but they do seem to be healing now.

I thought this was such an important finding that I notified all the doctors I had seen about this problem. To my great surprise I heard from no one. Not even a thank you. I guess that since they didn't find the solution, they just were not interested.

I hope this discussion helps someone else. Thanks for listening.

I am a 62 year old widow. Have insulin-dependent stage 2 diabetes. Was put on Lipitor 20 mg 2 years ago. I am astonished by this web site which lists every one of my concerns: short term memory loss, severe hip pain, shooting pain (especially in my eyes) foggy vision, fatigue as though I'm on chemotherapy, nausea, hair loss and, no surprise, recurrent depression with weepiness. What's motivating me to write is I've recently met a kindly, attentive gentleman, and now I discover I also have zero libido! I've been married more than once; I know what's missing. More than all the other aches and pains, I would love to sue for "loss of pleasure in life"