Time frame symptoms and conditions

i just wanted to let you know tha I am a RN. I have been on YAZ for 3 months only. In this time frame, I have had severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and back pain. I at first blamed it on the hormones but now attribute it to bad side effects from YAZ. I have already had my Gallbladder out when I was 18 yrs old (side effect of BC pills). Anyway, my doctor just sent me for an upper GI and small bowel follow through....but, I think that it is all related to YAZ. The MD thinks I am just being a "know it all" nurse, but I have research this med. I have lost 12# in 3 months (bonus), lol....but I am sick of being sick...my husband thinks I am a big complainer, but its real and it hurts. I would have been in the ER also, but being a nurse, I am a little more stubborn to go to the hospital. I did go one night because the pain was sooo bad but the wait was 3 hrs and I vomited 3 times while waiting, The pain was now tolerable so I left! I have 5 days left of YAZ, I was going to try to last out the rest of the pack, but after getting severe pain, again, tonight....after eating soup only all day and throwing it up...I am DONE WITH YAZ. I am stopping cold turkey...the body will regulate itself. I want to feel better. I hope once this stuff clears my body, I will feel better once again! Good luck!

Hello, I can't help but get into the Mirena conversation. Three months after my son was born, I was put on the Mirena IUD. I had a ton of symptoms. My hair was falling out, tired, weak, headaches, stomach cramps, and just all around felt like crap. I went back to the doctors to have the Mirena removed positive that it was the Mirena that was making me feel like crud. The doctor persuaded me to keep it in longer and after much debate and feeling flustered with the doc I agreed for a couple more months. Well symptoms got ten times worse to the point I called and demanded to be seen right away to have it removed. Well after it was removed, I felt better but not completely. I started losing weight, I had periodic migraines which mind you I never had a migraine in my entire life, and felt like a truck ran over my body every morning when I got out of bed. I went to the doctors and they ran a slew of tests and NOTHING! Well about a month after a car ran a stop sign and crashed into me. I hit my head. IT was the best damn thing ever, I got a cat scan and it showed something on my brain. A MRI picked up a right cerebellum hemangioblastoma about 3cms. I had to have brain surgery to have it removed. They decided to do a full scan and I now currently have a kidney hemangioblastoma. Moral of this story. I am 31 years old, I have always been healthy with no migraines, no ailments, nothing. I have the Mirena put in and I feel like shit and they found a brain and kidney tumor. The estimated both my brain and kidney tumor to be about 2 yrs old. THE EXACT TIME I GOT THE MIRENA IN. Hemangioblastomas are either sporadic of VHL. With sporadic, usually you only get 1 and if you get another its later on down the road and my two tumors would not be the same age so it rules that one out. VHL, I had a genetic test done and it came up negative. So anyone of answers for my mishap. I know the Mirena caused this for me. Im just looking for someone with a similar story

IT'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!! What a mess I went through. For those who missed my prior posts, I got my Mirena in June 2008 after I got married. Even though I'm 29, I'm a medical student and not ready for a baby.. Within weeks I had oily skin, oily hair, hair loss, sore breasts, and no sex drive at all. But I never had a single period after the second month, so I was happy!

By August or September I was gaining a lot of weight (20lbs) and started feeling "brain fog" and fatigue. By December and January I was seeing neurologists for SEVERE migraines and dizziness. In April I developed symptoms like MS such as tingling/numbness in my head, face, and one foot... profound fatigue, and incapacitating dizziness.I've had every test done from thyroid workups to MRIs/MRAs and nerve conduction studies. I was on 3 different migraine prescriptions and was even getting nerve blocks in my neck for them.

In May I became withdrawn, irritable, depressed, and had anxiety attacks. I'm not ever a moody person, and never had PMS. But here I am, crying for no reason, yelling at my husband, snapping at my mother, and SO FREAKING EXHAUSTED that going to work is impossible, driving the car seems dangerous (severe brain fog.... like I'm drugged), and even just doing the dishes or feeding the pets takes all my effort (with tears) to complete. I don't feel like myself at all.

I found this website and thought perhaps all these symptoms were from the Mirena. So I found a new OBGYN who was awesome and said he'd take it out. I went to have it removed but the first a$$hole who put it in for me cut the strings too short so they could not be grabbed. The new doc tried to reach them but couldn't. I ended up having to have THE MOST PAINFUL PROCEDURE OF MY LIFE.... I had to take cervical dilation pills and then get a hysteroscopy which is where they shove a camera into your uterus to look around and find the little sucker. The cramps were unbelievable.... 10 times worse that getting it placed. (Mind you I've never had children so it was really bad). After he found the strings, he grabbed them and pulled. I thought I was going to die.... my poor cervix had a scope in it, an instrument holding it still, a dilator in place, a speculum in the hole, and then an instrument went in along side the scope and pulled the little bugger out. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I was in a hot sweat worse than menopause I bet!

So here I am, home, bleeding, only minor cramps. But now I wonder... how long will it be until the depression and brain fog go away? I want to be myself again. I want to be happy. I want to laugh instead of cry. I WANT TO HAVE ENERGY. My greatest fear is that I went through all the pain of putting it in, taking it out, and the cost, and the depression, fatigue, and brain fog won't go away, meaning it wasn't the Mirena to begin with. (If that was the case, I could have dealt with the weight gain, oily hair, and migraines as long as I had the nerve blocks). But I find it hard to believe that the Mirena is not the cause since so many of you women say the same thing. BUT.............. most of you had the Mirena placed after having a baby, so it's possible it was PPD?

THIS IS MY QUESTION TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE.... did any of you WHO HAVE NEVER HAD CHILDREN have these things after getting the Mirena? Also, isn't it weird that the severe fatigue, depression, and really bad brain fog started after 9-10 months of having it and not sooner? I was on OCPs before the Mirena and did fine.... but this time I am so depressed and irritable, dizzy, and FREAKING TIRED TIRED TIRED.

:( How long until I feel better if it was the Mirena?

My 4 year old Son has had diarrhea from about the last 4 weeks... we have started some tests for Celiac disease but today it only occurred to me today that he has been on Singulair for about that time frame... after all the worry and reading these other storied Im even more convinced that it maybe the Singulair..
Im just hoping that someone might read this sometime today or the next couple of days to tell me if when they come off the singulair how long did it take for the diarrhea to pass. My son had is last tablet 2 nights ago ( so he has only been off it so far for one night. But he still has the diarrhea.. should it have started to come out of his system already.

I decided to do some research and stumbled across all of you!
Well is started Yasmin about a week ago and...i stopped eating, im nauseous,tender boobs, my period as stopped but the after bits are still coming. I am in such a bad mood! i want everyone to stay away from me!!
All my friends have been on Yasmin and they praise this magic pill! I wasnt sure if it was the pill - but now i am.

Thanks for the posts!

I have been on NuvaRing for 2 years. At first I thought it was wonderful. But now two years later I am connecting all my health problems back to when i started taking this BC. For two years I have had horrible nausea and digestive problems and weight gain.I also have had horrible mood swings and emotional instability. And worstly I have had horrible sinus problems. In fact I had sinus surgery which did not help. I also got a therapist and started considering seeing a doctor about the digestive problems. But after some research and connected the dots on the time frame of all these sudden health problems.... I am pretty sure it is the BC. I stopped taking it yesterday. I hope I go back to my healthy self from2 yrs ago. Please do not ignore side effects of drugs.

My daughter received her first shot on 6/20/2007 when she was 14 years old and second shot on 12/27/2007. During this time frame she complained of having headaches daily. On 1/8/2008 my daughter had a seizure. She had been a healthy, dancer and scholastic student. Since her shot she has had a total of 12 seizures and has been in and out of hospitals numerous times. She was diagnosed with epilepsy in March of 2008. She has been on Topamax, Keppra, Lamictal and Zonegran and continues to have seizures. The side effects from the medications that my daughter has suffered with along with depression has been tremendous.
We thought we were protecting our daughter and found that we have only hurt her. The doctors need to stop pushing the shot and it needs to be taken off the market. Because of this shot she has to be dependent on more drugs. She has missed so much school, which were important years (freshman & sophmore) that she will never get back. How many more girls need to suffer!

I am a physician. Kenalog is one of several injectable steroids that can cause subcutaneous atrophy or lipoatrophy as a side effect. For those who have this reaction, they will notice a dent or divot. This is not dangerous problem and most of the time the dent or divot will fill back in with time. How much time? The range is 3 to 24 months without treatment. However, for many patients this healing process can be speeded up with weekly saline injections that can be safely performed by almost any Doctor and need not be expensive.

The technique was well described in the Journal of Dermatological Surgery in 2006. If you do a google search for the name of the article as listed below you can find the Abstract and take a copy to your Doctor.

Best to all,

T.

Treatment of Local, Persistent Cutaneous Atrophy Following Corticosteroid Injection with Normal Saline Infiltration

Shumaker Peter R., MD*, Rao Jaggi, MD † , Goldman Mitchel P., MD †

Published in Dermatological Surgery, 21 Mar 2006

ABSTRACT
Background. Injections of corticosteroids are commonly used for a variety a dermatologic conditions but may cause local, persistent cutaneous atrophy, with few therapeutic options.

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of bacteriostatic normal saline infiltration on the improvement of corticosteroid-induced cutaneous atrophy.

Materials and Methods. Four patients with corticosteroid-induced atrophy of the skin, two caused by acneiform cysts and one from intramuscular steroid injection, were treated with weekly injections of normal saline directly into the atrophic site. The patients were seen on weekly follow-up visits, and improvement was documented.

Results. All four patients demonstrated complete resolution of skin atrophy and restoration of surface contour within 4 to 8 weeks of initial presentation. Injected volumes of normal saline ranged from 5 to 20 cm3 per treatment session and three to six weekly treatments. The patients were completely satisfied with these results.

Conclusion. Normal saline infiltration offers a safe, tolerable, relatively rapid, and effective treatment for local, persistent corticosteroid-induced atrophy.

Dermatologic Surgery, Volume 31 Issue 10, Pages 1340 - 1343,

I was prescribed the generic form of Yasmin by my ob/gyn for irregular periods, severe cramps and as a way to treat my endometriosis (insurance won't pay for a laproscopy until I try some sort of pill). I started taking it two weeks ago and in that time frame, I have had severe mood swings, fatigue and cannot eat because of my stomach hurting while suffering from nausea all the time. I even had to call my family doctor and he prescribed me Compazine for the nausea because I literally could not function. I am not the same person I was before starting the treatment. As a stay at home mother of a two year old, I have just decided this morning, that I am going to stop taking Yasmin for myself (my health) and my child. As a matter of fact, I threw the rest of the pack away down the sink. It is not worth all of these side effects when I cannot function during the day. Thank you for sharing your stories with me. At least I know that I am not alone.
Andrea-Pittsburgh PA

It is too soon to tell if YAZ has contributed to my daughter's problems but her doctor just recommend that she stop taking it immediately.

My daughter is 17, in the last two years she has had mono twice. It all started with spasms in her back and neck two years ago, then her neck lymph glands started swelling and she kept getting horrible viral sore throats. Next her blood pressure started dropping radically. 85/50 for no reason, next she started getting terrible stomach pains and then headaches,nausea, watery eyes, irritable bowl syndrome and then the glands in the area of her appendix swelled up so much the emergency room thought she had appendicitis.It was her glands, not her appendix. This was all over a 2 year time frame. None of the symptoms had any rhyme or reason and they all came and went erratically. However, they were making her miserable and me miserable because she was depressed, very moody and unhappy and sick!

The only thing she has ever taken during all this time was YAZ. I asked her doctor if the YAZ could contribute to the swelling of the lymph glands and he did not think so. That was a year ago. Yesterday, I took my daughter to a Rheumatologist and when he heard she was on the YAZ he told her to stop immediately and prescribed a low dosage of muscle relaxer and an anti inflammatory. I have no way to know whether all of these symptoms are going to clear up. I have started my daughter on a wellness plan of eating which includes lots of holistic methods. Hard to get a teen away from comfort foods when they don't feel well but she is resigned to the fact that her immune system is so compromised that if she ever wants to feel well we have to try drastic measures.

She has had almost all the symptoms described as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I am told that's what she has now. It is possible that the YAZ had made all of this worse. She sleeps endlessly and only time off of the YAZ will tell, but as a mom I wanted her off this pill a year ago and I am upset that I didn't do more to get her off it. It took her missing 60 days of school consecutively for a doctor to say STOP and see if it helps. My feeling is she couldn't be much worse, well actually that's the direction this seemed to be going. I think that the estrogin has fed many of the problems my daughter has had, but I am not a doctor and it's just my mom opinion.

Only time will tell.

Can anyone give me an idea how long it takes for the sex drive to come back after removal? Also, these joint pains are still getting pretty bad, but it's only been 3 days since i had it removed. Any thoughts on a time frame?

This website had made me sane!!! I have recently become a crazy woman searching side effects of birth control like it was my job, it has taken up my entire head!.. I started nuvaring four months ago (first form of birth control ever) to help control my horrible pms and very irregular period, and it helped that out, HOWEVER, I have recently decided I would prefer the pms over these awful, AWFUL symptoms. Although little spurts occurred here and there, this month is the absolute worst. I have managed to gain 12 lbs in under a month ...(keep in mind I am a work-out freak and have made sure to burn as many calories as I take in each day simply because I just can't stop gaining the weight!) I don't fit into any of my clothes and I just do not like the way I look. It is as if my body has just gotten wider and larger. I used to love my body and now I cant stand looking in the mirror everyday. My eating habits are awful....I try to starve myself for periods of time because I simply cannot help myself when I enter the kitchen. I feel like a bulimic girl, without the puking afterward. My binges are DISGUSTING, I'm actually ashamed. The worst symptom of all, though, are the mood swings. I cry at the drop of a hat every single night, I'm 20 years old away at college, and last night I cried because all I wanted was my "mommy." That's embarrassing. Not to mention my boyfriend thinks I am absolutely nuts because I have "changed." When you tell a severely hormonal woman she has "changed" you better expect a shoe or the nearest object to fly at you, which is exactly what I did. I CAN'T HELP IT! I also have been having negative thoughts about life as a whole lately and have even entered the realm of slight suicidal thoughts, or at least thinking my life was worthless. I've been through too much with my cycle to stop it now (even though I feel like ripping this thing out ASAP) and have 2 weeks left before I can take it out FOR GOOD! If anyone has any feedback they want to share to keep me sane through these last 2 weeks PLEASE PLEASE share! Also, does anybody know how long it will take for me to get my life back?! =(

I had a Mirena put in 1.5 weeks ago. I have had 3 migraines in this time frame. I have only had 2 migraines my WHOLE LIFE before the mirena. I asked a nurse at the doctor's office if this is a side effect and she said NO! Pffft. I also noticed my hair is coming out in clumps in the shower, and my right leg has a weird cramp/ache down the back of it, not like sciatica but a kind of dull ache. I think I am one of those women who is very sensitive to hormones. I was on the pill for years as a teen and young 20something, and had chronic headaches but never put 2+2 together! I will be getting the Mirena out asap and I'm going to try Fertility Awareness. I'm done with trying to chemically manipulate my body.

mood swings, short term memory loss, extreme sleepiness, edema, light flashes, constant ringing in ears that varies in tone, depression, stomach pain, flu like body ache, headaches, ear ache, continual nasal congestion, weight gain, constipation, dry & flaking skin & hair

Funny...Me and my Boyfriend of 3 years just had this big heart to heart today trying to figure out...WHERE MY SEX DRIVE WENT???? So we put two and two together in the time frame is seemed to have been "lost" in, and we came up with YAZ. Thats not why I ended up on this site at 1am though...

As we were lying in bed, I got sudden mild chest pains in my left side and my left arm went numb. All I have ever known about these symptoms is that you are having a heart attack! As I get outta bed Travis says "what are you googling?" Him knowing that I am a hypercondreact!

I had decided today to stop taking the pill not willing to risk my wonderful sex life and relationship. I said goodbye to my wonderful FULL C breasts :( I will keep you posted on my after side effects! Good luck to you brave women!!!

Wow. I found this site after looking up causes for lack of sex drive. I've been on Yasmin for 6 years, but never thought for a minute it had anything to do with the problems I've been having. Loss of sex drive, vaginal dryness, hair loss, mood swings (partners always gets the brunt of those), repeated bouts of chest pains (diagnosed with pleurisy recently, don't know if there is a link).

I had got to the point that I thought this is just the way I am, it never occurred to me that something else could be causing this. I can't even remember what it's like to be normal.

I already have 2 kids and don't want any more at the moment so I don't know what the solution is. Well, I haven't wanted sex for the last few years so i suppose the bloody thing has done its job in that way!

I'm just shocked, this has been a real wake up call. I'm stopping taking the evil little things as of now.

I was on zyprexa for nearly 3 years. In that time I became very lethargic and disinterested in everything! I gained over 100 pounds and suddenly was sick all the time. I suffered from involuntary muscle spasms, light headedness and nausea with frequent vomiting. I had a rapid increase in cholesterol levels from a healthy level to an extremely high level. The Doctor ran all manner of tests and could not figure out the problem. After I started suffering heart issues, mind you I was in my mid thirties, he took me off the medication for a couple of weeks to see if that made a difference. Nothing changed! It took losing my job and health insurance to find out that the medication was, in fact, the culprit! I could no longer afford the meds, so went off them. It took 4 months for me to feel "normal" again and I've not suffered this symptoms since, although I've still not lost all the weight!
While I still suffer from extreme manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, all my friends and family agree they're easier to deal with than the three years as a zombie! There is much of that time frame for which I have no recollection, it;s as though I lost 3 years of my life!

I have been taking Lamictal since October of 2007. I experienced some of the symptoms (muscle pain in the head and neck) before I started the medication. I have experienced panic attacks since July of 2005. I have had mild heart palpations since I was in my mid 20's (I'm 36 now). I have had what I would consider a below normal energy level since my mid 20's also. Ok so like everyone else I am thinking I'm a hypochondriac! However, I was diagnosed August 28th 2007 with having Lyme’s Disease and also Hyper-Thyroid (same time, same lab-work). Two weeks later I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder (this is one thing I knew I was battling but didn't know how to handle it). My physiatrist started me on Lamictal and I did the standard ramp up to 200mg. I also was started on a 90 day treatment of Dyoxicycline for the Lyme’s and Methimazole for the Hyper-Thyroid. I was very very weak and was only able to stay awake for short periods of time (4 to 5 hours max). Just an fyi, I am not overweight, lazy or unmotivated. I have the physical appearance of perfect health. This, I think works against me as the Dr's seem to think I'm just whining. Mater of fact; my Primary Care Physician never tested me for Lyme’s. I went to an Urgent Care Center which tested me for Lyme’s disease and I came back positive (they also tested my Thyroid levels and found the problem with my THS levels) I told my Dr the results and he insisted I have same test done again. Guess what, new tests, same results.
My symptoms today are very similar to what I have seen posted many times. Muscle pain (entire body, some areas worse than others), heart arrhythmia, racing heartbeat, intense palpitations, nausea, foggy “un-plugged” mind, fatigue, weak muscles, muscle cramping (especially after repetitive motion, such as strumming a guitar), panic attacks (much more severe) and the latest addition to the group, Insomnia. Muscles pain in my head, fore-head, jaw, temple, neck (front and back), shoulders, is terrible to say the least. The pressure in my fore-head (right under my brow) makes me feel like I need to close my eyes or rest (resting does not relieve anything). The front of my neck is so tight at times it feels like my jaw is being pried down. I could go on and on.
On my quest to find out what else is going on with my body I have had 2 Echocardiogram’s on my heart and abdomen, 2Nuclear Stress Tests, blood work out the wa-zoo, MRI of my brain, 2 CT’s of my Head and Neck, Chest X-rays, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, and all revealing nothing.
Most doctor’s I have encountered seem to want to treat the symptoms, not the problem/disease. I believe I know why; we (the ones who are there for solutions) tell them what the symptoms are (how we feel). We of course are thinking “this will help with a diagnosis of the problem/disease”, when in fact (I feel); the doctor’s thought process stops there. They don't know what’s wrong with you but they do know what your symptoms are so....bingo, let's treat the symptoms. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I’m not saying, “Most doctor’s don’t know what they are doing” or “don’t take your meds”. I am saying you and I are one of the 20 to 30 patients most doctor’s see daily (100+ weekly). They may be caring and good people but they are just as human and fallible as you and I. My advice is this; (and I am taking my own advice) don’t always “pop” into your body what the doctor suggests/prescribes, without doing your own research. Heck most of us won’t buy a car or more importantly, send our kids off to a college with out doing your own research (we just don’t trust those shinny brochures). Your body and your health are worth you doing your own research. Just keep in mind, Pharmaceutical Reps are always at your Dr.’s office (sit in the waiting room for 10 minutes and I’m sure you will see one). Reps are paid to do one thing; encourage (push) the Dr.’s to promote use of the Pharmaceutical Companies drugs.
My wife and I have been doing our own research on Lamictal (after a year of taking this stuff) and the side effects associated with this drug. We have searched through many (many,many) web sites for information and we have talked with pharmacists and Dr’s for opinions. Although I’m am not thoroughly convinced that Lamictal is the cause of all of my symptoms, my wife and I have decided to lower my Lamictal slowly from 200mg to 100mg. I am now taking 150mg daily (three days now) and plan on staying at this level for a total of two weeks before lowering to 100mg. I do fear dropping the dosage to quickly (potential side effects) or lapsing into a mania. To help avoid a manic episode my wife and my immediate family are all “up-to-date” with my course of action. They are on “Red Alert” and have promised to keep a close eye on my behavior patterns and moods. (I don't want to put them through another hyper-mania episode, its much too devastating). I do want so badly to feel healthy and alive again and at this point I am rather frustrated with the Dr.'s ability to help me achieve this goal. Remember it is called “Practicing” Medicine. So now I’m going to practice a little, very carefully and cautiously.
As a foot note; I have recently (past two weeks) been re-tested for Lyme's with a negative response. I am keeping in mind Lyme's test are very inaccurate (still hoping this one is accurate). My thyroid is under control and normal, so.... let's see if dropping below 150mg of Lamictal will eliminate some of these other symptoms. I will keep you posted.
Erik

Endo Cancer?

It has to be listed and discussed.
All you ladies out there that have had the Mirena removed:
Are your periods lighter than they ever were?
Are they still?
What is the time frame of having the IUD removed & your return to what is a normal period for you?

If you're still experiencing a "light" or "lighter" flow than what is your norm after having the Mirena out, get yourself to the doctor's office (NOT your Gyn), tell them you were using the Mirena & ask for an ultrasound to measure and look at your uterus. Chances are, like me, you'll have an unusually thickened endo lining. Not just thickened, but irregular as opposed to smooth.
What does this mean? Well, you shouldn't have a THICK lining that keeps growing or stays the same.
I was normal before insertion. (u-sounds done 2 weeks prior)
At about 10 days after removal, u-sounds showed an irregular thick lining measuring at 10mm.
At almost 8 weeks after removal, u-sound test showed the lining to be at 13mm.
NOTE: The "C" word starts getting used if you head toward the 15mm range.

Has anyone in your GYN office addressed this side effect with you?
Mine certainly didn't. Not one word. They didn't even tell me what to expect after my insistant demands for removal. (I called them after to report severe bleeding and clots of tissue, to which they responded was "normal".)
Ok....so if I had a heavy bleed, one would assume that the lining would be completely shed. So, why, after two cycles, and only 21 days of actual Mirena usage, is my endo lining growing like a banshee?

i was prescribed cytomel as an adjunct to noretriptlin 25mcg twice daily/ I do not have any thyroid problems. Both above drugs were prescribed by a psychiatrist. I began to have brief loss of vision followed by extreme weakness and sweating. these symptoms occur I am currently undergoing a series of cardiological tests because my primary physician found an irregular heart beat via ekg. I have always had an irregular heart beat. All my physicians are aware of all the medications I take which includes a blood thinner. Most unfortunately, am having difficulty connecting the time frame to the "side effect" and datae of beginning the cytomel. I realize I can make the connection by calling the pharmacy tomorrow. I also have an eye disorder with no cure and have lost much of my peripheral vision so at first I thought there may that relationship. But I went to the doctor when I realized I was also experiencing the fatigue, shortness of breath and something quite akin to hyperventilation. I will have my 69th birthday this month and thought my body and mind had a close relationship, but I am beginning to think they have become arch enemies,bent on just confusing the hell out of me.The tests with the cardiologists have been on going for almost two months with no results or diagnosis given.that important phase is due August 27. It is a good thing that patience is one of my virtues although brevity is not. Any comments please and thank you

I posted on here a few weeks ago complaining about my excessive hair loss to the point of seeing through my hair. I went to my obgyn after reading this forum. He said he is not surprised....that anything containing progestin causes hair loss. Also any traumatic experience....to expect hair loss to start from 3-6 months post trauma....I had a baby, a mirena, marital separation, and 2 d&c, along with a bad delivery and severe blood loss, ALL in a matter of 4 weeks. So, it could be all or one....either way he was not scoffing at my claim of the mirena being the culprit of the hair loss. We agreed to give it a few weeks and see if the loss slowed, if not I will return to have it removed......I also put on a quick 10+ ponds which I am not happy about, but my appetite is raging. I am still breastfeeding too, so I don't know which one is the cause. I also lost hair and gained weight last baby....so who knows. I will keep everyone posted.

Staci from SC

I'm a 30 yr old healthy male. I went to the ER, and then the Dr., about 4 weeks ago after waking up with intense pain in the veins of my right arm and having pounding palps. I had just been told some extremely stressful news the night before, so I was pretty sure this was blood pressure & stress related. ... EKG showed Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome, so that's what the Dr's assumed was the problem. I never knew what it was called, but I've had my heart race due to WPW many times since I was a young child .. this did not seem to be related. This was just pounding.

The cardiologist put me on 50mg of Toprol XL daily to control the WPW - even though that wasn't acting up. I left confused. Pharmacy issued generic Metoprolol Succinate mfg. by Sandoz.

I didn't want to be on meds, so I didn't take it for the first few days, hoping that I would return to normal. After all, I just woke up with this all of the sudden.. I had been fine the day before. Palps continued, though, so eventually I relented and started taking the meds.

The first two or three weeks were filled with ups and downs. Exhaustion, palpitations and anxiety would come and go.

This past weekend things got really bad. I began having anxiety attacks -- I think that's what it was, I'd never had one before -- and my vision was totally screwed up. I couldn't focus on anything and was sensitive to some lighting. Black text on a bright white screen (lcd monitor) was especially hard to read. I was completely in a dazed & confused state. Loud noises and crowds were bothering me... which was awful, considering it was my best friend's wedding. Also had headaches, lightheadedness & loss of appetite. These side effects came and went on Friday & Saturday and were pretty constant on Sunday & Monday.

I decided to quit Toprol cold-turkey on Sunday. I have been 2 days without. I have used L-Theamine to reduce stress and keep my blood pressure steady. It seems to be working. I also began taking CoQ10 today after reading some good things about it here.

My vision & mental focus is beginning to improve after 3 days of disabilitating problems. Anxiety has also improved. I even attempted to "get back to normal" at work today, but had to leave after only an hour of strenuous exercise in the heat. Vision problems returned, anxiety set in. It's like riding a really freaking scary roller coaster, except with a legitimate fear that this thing might kill you.

I will update this as time goes by, to let you all know how things worked out for me. I'm really hoping to be mostly back to normal in another day or two, since I haven't been on for very long. Hopefully this will be of help to someone in the future. Damn, I Wish I had never gotten on this stuff.

I have been reading the posts at this site for two weeks, ever since the day I went to my GP for a check on blood pressure and general well being. As I was getting ready to leave the examining room, he asked how I had been since my last visit, and I responded that I'd been OK, except of course that I wasn't sleeping well. I didn't tell him that I'd had obsessive thoughts of death and dying, severe anxiety, morbid depression, horrible mood swings, and compulsive thoughts and actions. Yes, I've been taking Singulair since it was approved for seasonal rhinitis. It seemed to work well with Allegra, although when my allergies were extra severe, I also had to resort to Benadryl or one of the other "drowsy" antihistamines. When I mentioned sleep, he said "You have heard about Singulair, haven't you?" Guess how shocked I was when he told me about the latest information on the medicine I was taking every night for the last 5 years? Unfortunately, I had been under severe stress because of professional and families issues during the same general time frame, so it would never, ever have occurred to me that a prescribed medication could make me so miserable. My psychiatrist had recommending doubling my dose of Cymbalta, but after some trials of that, I became convinced that when I did so, I felt worse. About 6 months ago, my emotional state went from bad to worse. I began to feel a sense of panic when called upon to make the most innocuous decisions, and was always aggravated and nasty to the people I loved most. With my doctor's mention of Singulair, I stopped taking it. I slept better from the second day of not taking it. In the last 2 weeks, my emotional roller coaster has smoothed out, not perfectly, but enough so that I'm much more like my old self. The stresses are similar, but my reactions are different. Zyrtec (1/2 tablet) works much better for itchy eyes and nose than Singulair did in the first place. My husband and son both have continued to take Singulair with no apparent problems. I think that if one has developed unusual or unexpected emotional symptoms it is definitely worth a trial off Singulair. I wish I had been aware of even the smallest possibility of a reaction such as mine when I started taking it.

I only started Topamax three days ago (25 mgs, but it will be increased to 100 mgs over an eight week period to help me adjust), and I've already experienced the loss of appetite, crazy mood swings, insomnia, eye aches, and head aches. I haven't had a migraine, though, so that's nice, I guess.

I don't think that anyone can predict a time frame for getting over an adverse drug reaction. Below is my opinion but I see a lot of evidence that it is basically shared by other people maybe not exactly as I state it.

Adverse drug reactions deplete many essential nutrients from our systems. Inflammatory response is very stressful on the body. It is sometimes a very big effort to work on the diet to put back what has been taken away. It can take a long time.

Quinolines particularly deplete B-vitamins, folic acid (B-9), calcium/magnesium/zinc and omega-3 fatty acid. Sometimes the blood-lab work shows elevated homocysteine which proves that the body has suffered inflammation. Cardiologists now use homocysteine levels to show whether someone is at risk for heart disease due to inflammation. Deficiencies of B-6, B-9, and B-12 are known to cause elevated homocysteine.

Here is the pharmaceutical company ZINGER. Now companies such as Merck and Pfizer are going to offer niacin products to lower cholesterol. Well, yeh, duh !. All of these drug reactions are causing depleted B vitamins which elevate cholesterol. Then after they have tried to kill us by depleting our B - vitamins, they want to sell us another pill to give the B vitamins back to us. How many people out there are on some kind of a pill with side effects that cause inflammation? What a business? It is win, win, win.