Symptoms fatigue symptoms and conditions

Wow I wish I had come across this website sooner. I started taking Femcon FE in September 08, after I stopped breastfeeding my then 1 year old. I had taken trivora before with the only problem being PMS symptoms (fatigue, acne) a week before my period would start. But the period would start like clockwork on the same day every 4 weeks. With Femcon FE I have not had 1 normal period in 9 months. Every month it starts early. I also have had continuous anxiety symptoms of heart palpitations and a twitching lower eyelid, which is embarrassing. I chalked those symptoms up to job related stress as I had a change in work environments in September, and long ago I would have these symptoms during highly stressful times in my life. But I cut back to almost no caffeine when I use to drink 2-3 cups a day of either coffee and soda, and still the heart palpitations and eye twitching continues. I'd rather have plain old PMS then a racing heart and twitching eye. My family doctor recommended I see a cardiologist and ran an EKG which was normal thank goodness. But I'm stopping this pill tonight and hopefully saying goodbye to a twitching eye and erratic racing heart.

I have been feeling most of these symptoms for a while but thought it was just in my head or that I was going through early menopause but I am only 38.
Immediately I gained weight in my stomach area which made me mad but I dealt with it. I have have really long periods where I used to have a 3 day period. Now I have anxiety and mood swings where I just feel like being mean. I hate how I am to my husband, mom and kids. I feel like I can't concentrate and I can't remember a conversation that I had 2 days ago. I really feel like I was deceived of all these bad side effects. I just called to have this bitch removed and the nurse said she has never heard of any bad side effects. I guess I am one of the unlucky ones. I also exercise and diet constantly and can't seem to lose the extra weight I put on. It's so frustrating when I try so hard.Now I am a little nervous about getting it taken out. I plan on taking a xanex b.c it hurt so bad when I had it put in! I also am a little nervous about what birth control to use next. I don't want to deal with hormones again. It's not worth it. Also the sex drive is very low for me. I really wish I would have seen this blog ahead of time. I would NEVER of had the mirena inserted and I wouldn't have wasted a year and a half of my life on being miserable!! I'm getting this removed 9am on Friday!!

Thank God for this Site!!!

Just wanted to add a recent post. I have all the same symptoms... fatigue, emotional roller coaster, dizziness, headaches, as well as feeling incredibly insecure. I want NOTHING to do with sex. TMI warning... My boyfriend and I used to have sex AT LEAST on a daily basis, now I cant stand to think about it. I am 25 and have played sports all my life. I even coach for a high school team. This BC is aweful. On top of not having enough energy to do ANYTHING, when I pushed myself to workout, there were absolutely NO results. This is a debilitating drug that has been branded with an incredible amount of false advertising. It seems the pro's that the company braggs about the most, couldn't be further from the truth.
So once again, if you don not want:
Dizziness
Eye sensitivity and pain
Extreme mood swings ( from throwing things to crying over commercials)
Severe cramping (even when not on your period)
Insecurity
Weight gain and inability to loose weight
Food craving
Migraines
Oily hair
acne
Fatigue
DO NOT TAKE YAZ!!!!!

I have been on Synth since june of last year and have steadily gained weight to the tune of 22 lb! Most of my symptoms ( Fatigue, joint pain, dizziness, foggy thinking) have gone away, but the heavy ever lasting periods are still here, as is my extremely terrible acne and the numbness in my hands.Also have daily headaches that never subside. I just went off the synthroid all together yesterday and am hoping that I start to lose this weight. I have been diagnosed with asthma and am now on Advair, so I am hoping that it will make me feel better, maybe all of my symptoms were related to lack of oxygen! Cross your fingers that all of the bad symptoms don't return, I will post back when I notice a difference, either way.

I love that you all have the courage to post here. We must self diagnose, most dr's don't care, we are but numbers to them

Thanks to all

From the Netherlands 2006.

This is the html version of the file http://www.lareb.nl/documents/kwb_2006_4_montel.pdf.

Page 1
Nederlands Bijwerkingen Centrum LarebMei 2007Montelukast and depressive symptomsIntroductionMontelukast (Singulair®)is a leukotriene receptor antagonist available on the Dutchmarket since 1998. It is indicated for the treatment ofasthma as combination therapy forpatients with light to moderate forms of chronic asthma which cannot be adequately controlledby inhalation corticosteroids and short-acting ß-agonists. For asthma patients for whommontelukast is indicated as asthma treatment it can also relieve symptoms of seasonal allergicrhinitis. Montelukast is also indicated in asthma prevention, if exercise-inducedbronchoconstriction is the main factor

.ReportsOn September 20, 2006 the database of the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb contained four reports of depressive reactions associated with theuse of montelukast.Patient A is a female aged 55 who used montelukast 10 mg once daily for asthmaassociated with COPD. Concomitant medication included ipratropiumbromideinhalation, salmeterol inhalation, fluticasone inhalation, acetylcysteine, budesonide nose spray and desloratadine. Two weeks after montelukast therapy was initiated the patient experienced nightmares, a depressive symptoms, fatigue and increaseddyspnoea. When montelukast was withdrawn, the first three symptoms resolved. Itis not known if the dyspnoea resolved. The reporting pneumonologist stated thatthe increased dyspnoea also could be a sign of progressing COPD.Patient B, reported by a pneumonologist, is a female aged 39 who used montelukast 10 mg once daily for asthma. Concomitant medication included salmeterol/fluticasone inhalation, mebeverine and psyllium seed. One week afterstarting montelukast treatment the patient experienced chest discomfort, malaise,depressive symptoms and dizziness. Montelukast was withdrawn, patient outcomeis unknown.Patient C, reported by a pharmacist, is a male aged 46 who used montelukast 10mg once daily for asthma. Concomitant medication included omeprazole,salbutamol inhalation and budesonide/formoterol inhalation. Six days after startingmontelukast treatment the patient got in a depressed state. The patient continued to use montelukast for four weeks but the depression did not resolve. Whenmontelukast was withdrawn, the patient recovered.Patient D, reported by a pharmacist, is a female aged 59 who used montelukast 10mg once daily for mild to moderate asthma. Concomitant medication included mometasone nose spray, salmeterol/fluticason inhalation, oxazepam and paroxetine. Three days after starting treatment with montelukast the patientexperienced insomnia and aggravation of her depression. When montelukast waswithdrawn the symptoms resolved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 2
Nederlands Bijwerkingen Centrum LarebMei 2007Other sources of informationLiteratureSeveral drugs are known to cause depressive symptoms. However montelukasthas not been associated with depressive symptoms earlier . A Medline searchbased on the MeSH terms montelukast, leukotriens, depressive disorder and mooddisorders did not yield any relevant publication.DatabasesOn September 20, 2006 the database of the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb contained four reports of depression associated with the use ofmontelukast (ROR 2.1 95% CI 0.8 - 5.7). The same day the database of the WHOcontained 3466 reports on montelukast, 43 of these concerned depression (ROR1.2 95% CI 0.9 – 1.6)MechanismThe mechanism of montelukast-induced depressive symptoms is unknown.However montelukast has earlier been associated with adverse drug reactionssuch as abnormal dreaming, nightmares, hallucinations, agitation with aggressive behavior, irritability and restlessness, which suggests that montelukast can penetrate the blood brain barrier and exert an effect in the brain .Discussion and conclusionLareb received four reports of depressive symptoms in patients using montelukast.Possible confounding includes that asthma itself has been associated with the development of depression . Inhalated corticosteroids can also exert effects onthe central nervous system. Fluticason in combination with salmeterol which isused by patients A, B and D, is associated with hyperactivity and irritability where as budesonide, which is used by patient C also has been associated with depression . The latency of montelukast-induced depressive symptoms variesfrom 3-14 days. In three of the cases a positive dechallenge was seen.The fact that the patients (except for one) did not suffer from depressive symptomsbefore they started montelukast, the short latency, and recovery after withdrawal ofthe drug all strengthen our hypothesis that depressive symptoms are an ADRrelated to the use of montelukast. According to the Marketing Authorisation Holderof montelukast, depression will be added to the product information.References1. Dutch SPC Singulair®. (version date 11-7-2005) http://www.cbg-meb.nl/IB-teksten/23164.pdf.2. M.N.G Dukes and J.K Aronson, editors. Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs. 14 ed. Elsevier; 2000.3. Price D. Tolerability of montelukast. Drugs 2000;59 Suppl 1:35-42.4. Goldney RD, Ruffin R, Fisher LJ, Wilson DH. Asthma symptoms associated with depression and lower qualityof life: a population survey. Med J Aust. 2003;178(9):437-41.5. Dutch SPC Seretide®. (version date 12-8-2005) http://www.cbg-meb.nl/IB-teksten/23529-23530-23531.pdf.6. Dutch SPC Pulmicort®. (version date 20-10-2003) http://www.cbg-meb.nl.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 3
Nederlands Bijwerkingen Centrum LarebMei 2007

Can Statins Cause Chronic Low-Grade Myopathy?
Statins (hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase
inhibitors) are highly effective drugs for reducing serum
cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Clinical trials have shown that they also reduce risk for
coronary heart disease events, coronary procedures, and
stroke by about one third (1). Millions of people in the
United States and worldwide are being treated with statins.
In clinical trials and in clinical practice, statins have proved
to be remarkably safe.
The one notable side effect of statin therapy is myopathy.
A small fraction of patients who are treated with
statins will develop severe myopathy (2). In the worst cases,
severe myoglobinuria, acute renal failure, and even death
can occur. The incidence of severe myopathy is low, perhaps
1 in 1000 patients (2). Predisposing factors for severe
myopathy appear to include advanced age, relatively low
body weight, female sex, certain medications, use of multiple
medications, multisystem disease, and acute illnesses
or major surgery (3). If statins were avoided or used in low
doses in these circumstances, it is likely that the incidence
of severe myopathy could be greatly reduced.
Less severe forms of myopathy undoubtedly occur. In
some patients, fatigue and muscle pain and weakness develop
with moderately high serum creatine kinase levels
but not acute renal failure. In these cases, the myopathy
resolves when statin therapy is discontinued.
Still more patients report various muscle symptoms—
fatigue, pain, and muscle weakness—but have normal creatine
kinase levels. These symptoms probably are unrelated
to statin therapy in many patients. In middle-aged and
older people, muscle, joint, and tendon symptoms are very
common. Naturally, if a patient takes a medication that is
believed to produce muscle problems, symptoms are often
attributed to the medication. On the other hand, the major
controlled clinical trials have not detected a higher prevalence
of muscle symptoms during statin therapy versus placebo
(1). This failure of detection has generally led clinical
trialists to conclude that statin-associated myopathy with
normal creatine kinase levels essentially does not exist or
that, if it does exist, it cannot be detected above the “background
noise” of muscle symptoms in the general clinicaltrial
population.
Many physicians in clinical practice nonetheless believe
that they can identify a subset of statin-treated patients
who have a unique set of statin-related muscle symptoms.
Some patients clearly relate the onset of muscle
symptoms to initiation of statin therapy. These symptoms
may abate after discontinuation of therapy, only to reappear
when statin therapy is restarted. The number of such
patients is not large, and thus it may have been impossible
to identify them in large clinical trials.
In this issue, Phillips and colleagues (4) report on a set
of studies in four patients who had muscle symptoms during
statin therapy that resolved during placebo use. Quantitatively
measured muscle weakness also resolved during
placebo use. Muscle biopsies were performed in three patients
during statin therapy and then during placebo use.
Several pathologic changes were seen on biopsy specimens
obtained during statin therapy: increased lipid content of
mitochondria, fibers that did not stain for cytochrome oxidase
activity, and ragged red fibers. The authors suggest
that these patients had statin-associated myopathy with
normal serum creatine kinase levels.
Despite the study’s small size, we cannot dismiss these
observations as random variation in muscle structure.
However, these highly suggestive results are clearly preliminary.
The number of patients was small, and all appropriate
controls were not used. Nonetheless, this study is novel
because it used quantitative measures of muscle strength
and muscle biopsy to address the question of myopathy
with normal creatine kinase levels during statin therapy.
To be confirmed, the current data would have to be
extended to many more patients in whom muscle symptoms
are closely correlated with statin use. Reproducibility
of symptoms during therapy and symptom resolution after
discontinuation of statin therapy would be necessary. A
definitive study would have to be carefully designed and
executed. It would need to be double-blinded and placebocontrolled
and include sufficient numbers of patients to
provide a valid statistical comparison. In addition, investigators
would have to carefully consider the appropriate
selection of patients. The development of a registry of candidate
patients at multiple sites could facilitate a multicenter
study.
Is a carefully controlled, sizable study of this type
worth the investment of time and effort? To date, no evidence
indicates that prolonged statin therapy leads to permanent
muscle damage or progressive myopathy in patients
with normal creatine kinase levels. Controlled
clinical trials attest to the general safety of statins, and
symptomatic side effects appear to be limited to a relatively
small proportion of treated patients. In addition, no therapy
prevents or treats statin-induced myopathy, short of
withholding the drug. On the other hand, statins are being
prescribed to millions of people, and are usually continued
throughout the patient’s lifetime. It is certain that statins
cause myopathy in some patients. For these reasons, a valid
argument can be made for a more extensive study of lowgrade
myopathy in patients treated with statins.
In the meantime, physicians should recognize the great
benefit of statin therapy in high-risk patients and their
documented safety for most patients. For high-risk persons,
the proven efficacy for preventing cardiovascular disease
outweighs the unlikely possibility of permanent muscle
damage. Phillips and colleagues’ preliminary results
certainly do not provide adequate information on the spec-
Editorial
www.annals.org 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 617
trum, scope, or prognosis of myopathy with normal creatine
kinase levels during statin therapy. For these reasons,
prescription of statins for eligible patients should continue
despite the current results. Moreover, before discontinuing
therapy, physicians should carefully evaluate any patient
receiving statins who reports muscle symptoms. In most
cases, the symptoms will be found not to be consistent
with chronic myopathy, and often they will not be related
temporally to statin treatment. High-risk patients in particular
should not be deprived of major cardiovascular risk
reduction just because they display symptoms not clearly
documented to be closely related to statin therapy.
Despite these comments, the actions of statin on muscle
metabolism and structure deserve further investigation
to clarify the confusing area of low-grade myopathy apparently
associated with statin use in a few patients.
Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX 75390-9052
Current Author Address: Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD, Center for
Human Nutrition and the Departments of Clinical Nutrition and Internal
Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Y3.206, Dallas, TX 75390-9052.
Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: Honoraria (from Merck &
Co.; Pfizer, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; and Bayer); Grants (from Merck
& Co. and Pfizer, Inc.)
Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:617-618.
References
1. Executive Summary of The Third Report of The National Cholesterol Education
Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, And Treatment
of High Blood Cholesterol In Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA. 2001;
285:2486-97.
2. Staffa JA, Chang J, Green L. Cerivastatin and reports of fatal rhabdomyolysis
. N Engl J Med. 2002;346:539-40.
3. Pasternak RC, Smith SC, Bairey-Merz CN, Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Lenfant
C. ACC/AHA/NHLBI clinical advisory on the use and safety of statins (1)
(2). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;40:567-72.
4. Phillips PS, Haas RH, Bannykh S, Hathaway S, Gray NL, Kimura BJ, et al.
Statin-associated myopathy with normal creatine kinase levels. The Scripps Mercy
Clinical Research Center. Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:581-5.
© 2002 American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal
Medicine
Editorial Statins and Low-Grade Myopathy
618 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 www.annals.org

I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I feel now to the way I would've felt with a thyroid. I've been on Synthroid my entire life (22 years), and I'm up to 112 mcg now. I am very skinny (5'5", 104 lbs) and feel constantly fatigued no matter how many hours I sleep, what I eat, and how much exercise I get. I periodically get pain in my hip joints, heart palpitations, and intense mood swings. My thoughts race but I have very little physical energy. I feel restless and gloomy almost all the time for absolutely no good reason. My doctor tells me I'm depressed but I honestly have no reason to be depressed and I wish she would see it as a symptom instead of a diagnosis. I graduated from a good college, I've got a job I like, I have friends, I enjoy life and my hobbies, yet I feel overwhelmingly sad. This does not seem like depression to me.

I find that after I do aerobics I get a tightness in my chest, which makes me worry about my heart, but again my doctor doesn't seem to think this is cause for concern. I have been irritable/fatigued for YEARS and I suspect I'll feel this way for the rest of my life. The worst of it started when I hit 16 years old and started the 112 mcg. My tests are always normal and it frustrates me that my doctor disregards my symptoms. I've tried other doctors, but they always send me away with my 'normal' test results. Can anybody help?

I have been on Toporal XL 50 mg daily for 3.5 years. I have SVT & A-fib. I had ablation 2 years ago & it was not successful. Now I also take flecanaide 200 mg daily.
Since I started this drug I have gained 15+ pounds and have been working out harder than ever before...so frustrated. I experience all the same symptoms: fatigue, tiredness, especially walking up stairs, IBS, lethargy, on and on. I've tried to ween off but keep going back because my heart starts racing.
I'm going to try again.
Alcohol really triggers the rapid heart rate so I'll have to give that up too. I enjoy a little red wine and now that's gone!
This is such a drag.

I began with a flu three weeks ago. Though was over the most severe
of the flu symptoms, I still felt sluggish after one week. I had headaches, still tired and thought I needed to check my hormones. ( I am 60 year old woman on homone replacement.) My doctor thought I might be having anallergic reaction to juniper and decided I should try
Singulair.

Last week I reported back, this is after one week on this drug. Now I thoughtI was having heart attacks, I was extremely fatigued(much worse), I was feeling anxious, wired, going from A to Z without a pause, my
body hurt and I couldn't think. I have a high level professional job that requires me to be on and I could not go to work. I love what I do by the
way. My doctor wondered if I was depressed or having manic attacks because I seemed "wired" to him. He ordered a test on nuerotransmitters and a heart exam. Now one week later I am unchanged or perhaps even worse, still not working and waiting for my tests.

However, this psychological twist that the doctor introduced has been bothering me. I did the depression drill ten years ago. It took me four
years to get rid of all the different drug options everyone subscribed and
have not been on any mood drug for the last four years. I am happy and not depressed, just having heart attack symptoms, fatigue, headaches, feelings of dread, anxiety, etc etc I am also very knowledgement and sophisticated regarding intended, curious and side effects of brain drugs. I began to think and the only new thing was this
drug.

The only new thing was this drug, I began to ask around my friends and the responses from everyone were immediate. This drug is terrible, the symptoms I have and other ones I just read are commonplace. Those
that hadn't tried it were curious to know my thoughts as they had heard
that it was very good for allergies but had side effects.

I am stopping this pill immediately, waiting on my tests, and will report
back to you how I feel within a few days.

Severe pain in left arm (biceps tendinitis) ,developed same pain in right arm a few days later. Severe nausea and flu-like symptoms - fatigue, muscle aches, but no fever. Nausea and fatigue improved after stopping medication, biceps tendinitis slowly getting better, but not entirely gone one week after stopping the medication.

WED, 29 JUL BY BETTY
63 YRS OLD - HAVE BEEN ON MED SINCE THE 60'S. FIRST WAS EUTHROID THEN SYNTHROID BOTH WORKED VERY WELL. SINCE MAR '05 DR CHANGED ME OVER TO LEVOTHYROXINE (BAD IDEA). HAVE THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS: FATIGUE, TINGLING IN THE LEGS, NUMBNESS IN HANDS BUT THE MOST UNBEARABLE WAS THE CRAMPS IN MY LEFT ANKLE & CALF. THOUGHT I HAD A PINCHED NERVE. WENT TO A CHIROPRACTOR WITH NO PAIN RELIEF, THEN A ACUPUNCTURIST (SOME RELIEF) THEN IT HIT ME...SIDE EFFECTS FROM THIS DRUG. QUIT TAKING IT & WILL SEE MY DR TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND INSIST ON GOING BACK TO SYNTHROID. I HAVE A HARD TIME COPING WITH THIS PAIN AND WILL NOT LIVE THIS WAY. EVERY STEP I TOOK WAS EXCRUCIATING ESP WHEN I HAD TO WALK FR THE PARKING LOT TO MY JOB. I EVEN HAD TO SIT IN THE BATHTUB TO TAKE A BATH MY LEG HURT SO MUCH. I THREW AWAY THE POISON (PILLS) THAT CAUSED ME SO MUCH PAIN.
THE CRAMPING COMES AND THEN SUBSIDES BUT NOT FOR LONG. TRIED USING THE HEATING PAD, MASSAGES BUT IT KEPT RETURNING. HOPE THIS HELPS ALL THAT READS THIS.
WOULD LIKE TO HEAR MORE FEEDBACK ON OTHERS EXPERIENCES. THOSE THAT HAD THE LEG CRAMPS CAN YOU RELATE HOW IT AFFECTED YOU AND TO WHAT EXTENT.
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES , WHICH CONFIRMED MY SUSPICION ABOUT THIS HORRIBLE DRUG.

Used since 1/09/04. Near constant headache every day (feels like I've been hanging upside down for too long). Chest feels heavy. Some flu-like symptoms (fatigue, malaise). I will be discontinuing and going back to Albuterol inhaler.