Time money symptoms and conditions

My name is Katie, I am 31 years old. I have been suffering with what doctors call Chronic Idiopathic urticaria for 16 years now. I was prescribed Zyrtec 14 years ago and remained hive free until I had my first son. After a complicated pregnancy and emergency delivery the hives returned full force. The doctor prescribed Singulair in addition to the Zyrtec.

The hives went away; however, I have so many other problems now. I have been seeing a specialist thinking I have lupus or some other disorder, but all my tests are normal. It wasn't until I had my singulair refilled yesterday that I realized instead of symptoms, what I am experiencing may be side effects.

-- I have gained 60 lbs.
-- I have horrible headaches almost daily
-- I am so tired that when I am not working it is impossible to even make myself leave the house
-- I have taken myself to the hospital 3 times thinking I was having a heart attack and told I suffer from acid reflux
-- I have so much pain in my legs/feet/back that I can hardly walk
-- My hands and feet like to go numb for no apparent reason
-- I am always anxious & moody.
-- Can't sleep
-- Clearly I am not myself. Lately, I have felt the quality of life I am leading is horrible.

Wouldn't it be something that I have spent all this time & money trying to figure out what else is wrong with me when it is the medicine I thought was keeping me well really making me sick. Why do the finest doctors not realize when your symptoms are actually side effects?

I am pretty out raged at this point. I would take myself off this medication today if only I knew how to control the edema.

I started nuvaring after being on the pill for 6yrs and trying ortho evra for a week and ending up in the hospital for nausea. After about a few weeks on the ring I was feeling exhausted all the time, even after 12-14 hrs of sleep. I was moody, in a super depressed mood, and I had no sex drive. I was driving my boyfriend crazy because I was like a different person, and I was miserable. I talked to my doctor about switching again, but she suggested that before I switch I try taking a multivitamin with B complexes and iron because birth control can cause vitamin deficiencies that manifest as all of these awful symptoms. I took her advice AND IT WORKED!!!! Since taking the multivitamin daily, I have had no side effects with the Nuvaring for 4 months, and I feel better than I have in a long time. So before you run to switch to something else TAKE A MULTIVITAMIN! It might save you a whole lot of time, money, and trouble.

I can't believe that this drug is legal and that it has not been taken off the market. I have been on it for a year and couldn't understand why I was gaining weight, nothing helped to get those pounds off. I started at 160 and now at 195 and growing. Three years ago I had triple bypass, weight 150, some of the meds caused some weight gain, but nothing like this. My joints was so sore in the morning I couldn't hardly walk, I just knew I was going to be using a walker if this kept up. BTW I'm 65 female, always been active and busy, now I just do what I have to or can and that doesn't make me happy. I have recently been having crying spells and sore throat, voice lost, and enlarged tongue. The enlarged tongue caused me to do some searching on side effects.....I am so glad I found this page. I haven't taken any puffs of Advair since., that was 3 days ago. My tongue is starting to shrink, my joints aren't as sore, my crying is stopping. The weight is still with me and might never lose it, time will tell. I don't seem as hungry and eating less so maybe there is hope. This is a drug that should have Big warning all over it. Advair has taken a year of my life at this point. If there is ever a law suit I would be the 1st to sign. I didn't have that many breathing issues and really didn't understand why the Dr. put me on it.
I usually check up on drugs before I take them, this one slipped through the cracks, guess cause it wasn't a pill. At this point I just hope that others find this in time and stop using Advair before it ruins their lives.
God Bless
Barbie Kay