To no avail symptoms and conditions

I had been on Toprol XL 50 mg. for three years. In April of this year, I began having gastrointestinal problems. By May, I was sick just about every day with gas, bloating, cramping, pain and nausea. I was seeing a gastroenterologist practice almost weekly. Over the next five months, I had just about every test, scan, and scope there was to do to no avail. By June, I began having anxiety attacks simultaneously with the gastric episodes. The doctors could find no reason for the symptoms and I was referred to another specialist and tests that were ordered at a medical facility 50 miles away. I had also lost 38 lbs. because I was unable to eat without becoming sick. In November, I notice that my hair was thinning and my family doctor said that it could be from the Toprol. At that point, I discovered this website and began reading the postings. I cut the Toprol dosage in half after informing my doctor about it. In three days, I started to feel better. I also read more of the postings and saw that other were fine on the brand name Toprol but had problems with the generic. Click went the light bulb. Towards the end of March of this year, I had been switched to the generic. I began weaning myself from the medication and took the last dose on Thanksgiving. There have been some minor withdrawal symptoms but I am feeling so much better and have had no gastric symptoms for two weeks. Yesterday, I was actually hungry for the first time in months. I saw both the family doctor and gastroenterologist and informed them that they need to consider a patient's medications which unexplained illnesses arise. I can't express the gratitude that I feel for having located this website and thank everyone for the information that has been provided.

45 y/o female, nurse, prescribed Toprol XL 50mg daily. Could not take drug at bedtime as suggested by MD. Was not able to sleep. After a few months experienced visual problems, joint and muscle pain, anxiety, gi upset, weight gain as well as sleeplessness and heavy sensation of chest along with shortness of breath. Complained to MD to no avail. Called cardiologist, he suggested brand use as opposed to generic. Apparently, generic drug does not provide continuous steady release. Also, he lowered dose to 25mg daily. Will report subsequent effects but hope to be weaned off the drug entirely. I appreciate all the information that has been posted on this site, especially the beta blocker info. Hope this helps somebody else!

My husband is 24 and has been on Advair for about a month now since he started using it he has experienced horrible headaches,worse asthma symptoms then ever before,constant mucus buildup,severe stomach cramps,chest pains,cramps like a tightening sensation in his pinky,not able to sleep,tired all the time,bad mood swings,and worst of all he used to have 20/20 vision but within the last 2 weeks had to see an eye doctor for blurred vision now he has glasses.When he asked his doctor about side effects this drug may have he was told by the doctor none at all is that legal for your doctor to lie to you?THIS DRUG HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE PLEASE PLEASE FOR YOUR SAKE AND YOUR LOVED ONES SAKE DO NOT TAKE THIS CRAP!!! If anyone knows if his eye sight will get better please post your experience and let us know.THIS MEDICATION IS DEATH IN A DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(SIGH) well, with great relief i can say i'm not alone in the war against BC pills and side effects. the weirdest things started happening to me when i began taking yasmin - the 1st night i got my period after taking it i has THE WORST period pain EVER!!! so bad that i popped a mersyndol and no lie, within 30mins my sister was driving me to the emergency ward - i literally thought i was dieing. Anyway, turns out i had a MONSTER of an anxiety attack and a (viral) ear infection at the same time... GREAT!

at the time i had no idea what was causing my 'so called' spazo attacks - i just thought i had some horrid ear virus which would last a couple of months and clear up (the docs agreed). when it didn't start clearing up i started seeing docs on a regular basis, paying thousands for all sorts of tests even did the whole allergy testing thing thinking i'm seriously intolerant to something but to no avail... 4 years later and i'm still struggling with the following symptoms: dizziness (and i mean ALL the time), it's more like being lightheaded not so much dizzy spells, nausea, bloating, sore throat, tired/no motivation, weight gain 8 kgs in 3-4 yrs, i'm 29 (female) so i guess my body thinks it about to have babies... pressure headaches, ear ringing, my sex drive has packed up and left town, blah blah blah, i could go on... anyway, last month i went off yasmin (only cos i ran out) and spent 4 weeks al'natural. i got my period only a couple of days last and last sun i went back to the doc for gen exam and thought while i'm here i'll get a script for yasmin again... took my 1st pill on mon just gone - i can't tell you how rotten i've felt this week, i just thought it's prob pms or something no joke, everything has come back new and improved - now the dizziness is worse 10 fold, the bloating horrid... i've had a headache for 3-4 days now, constantly running to the loo. i feel like a TOTAL wreck!!! my husband thinks it's just women's stuff... pfffffft!!! he noticed i've been edgy all week and keeps asking 'what's up with you' and me thinking it's pms or something kept saying 'nothing honey' - well thanks to everyone who posted here i now know better!

oh, forgot to mention, after having my HUGE panic attack, the doc prescribed by 5mgs of lexapro daily and i've been taking that for almost 3 yrs - not sure if that's even good for my poor body...? helps with anxiety but purely masks the symptoms, hasn't cleared up - even the psychologist gave up cos she couldn't work out what was causing the anxiety... PFFFFT doctors... honestly!

good luck to everyone and head up guys, i know it's a painful process but eliminating the cause can take FOREVER and still i may neveer know what caused it...

I was prescribed Levaquin 750 for 5 days for resolving pneumonia. I didn't finish the last pill due to increased heart rate and severe anxiety. These symptoms did stop for me. However, about a good 2-3 wks later my wrist started hurting. I thought I may have slept on it funny or something. Then a day or two later, my jaw started hurting so bad I couldn't chew at times. Another 2-3 days which leads me to today, I am having tingling/shock sort of feelings running thru my legs and arms and still having the jaw and wrist pain. I have an appt next week with my doc. I'm sure she'll send me thru all the tests everyone here has mentioned to no avail. This is very frustrating and scarey. I wish folks would repost and let the rest of us know how they are progressing. I will post back after my visit. I am going to try the magnesium and 5-htp the gentleman said worked for his wife. I am becoming a firm believer in a more holistic and natural approach to healing. I know sometimes chemical medicines save lives but this one has caused my life a lot of pain that I feel was not necessary for a very light case of walking pneumonia. Good luck to everyone. Please keep your progress updated to help the rest of us out.

Sometimes when I use it for a continute period of time two sprays a day and but more particularily when I exceed that dose, I get a canadia infection in my mouth and throat and have difficulty swallowing. If I stop the medicine for a few days, the canadia infection goes away. Before I fitured this out my doctors had done all sorts of tests to no avail. None of them had made this connection.

On day 12 of a 14 day treatment of Septra DS the backs of my thighs began to itch. I thought I might have gotten a heat rash from the vinyl padded chairs at my work. Just to be safe I stopped the meds because I have a history of antibiotic allergies. That was on a Friday. By Monday afternoon I had to leave work early to rush to my doc who said I probably had a rash from the bronchitis I was treated for (something called viral exanthem). I didn't buy it but trusted the doc. Two days later I was in agony. I itched EVERYWHERE! Relentless horrible itching. I took 2 full strength benadryls every 3 hours to no avail. Tried calamine lotion,etc. Nothing worked. The doc finally gave me 40 mg of prednisone for 5 days. But it's day 3 of the steroid and I started itching horribly again last night.
I know it's the sulfa because I now remember some slight itching the last time I took it. So beware... itching on sulfa is a red flag... your skin is telling you something!

i've been on synthroid for 9 years. started at some low dose and gradually went up to112 mg. get extreme itching all day everyday if i don't take allegra for that.not a rash just itching. that doesn't bother me as much as the fatique. every joint in my body aches all the time. sure there are better days but fo rthe most part it's bad. tried physical therapy and chiripratic care but no avail. they ended my sessions. my legs get sooo weak and my feet burn lower back really aches. sometimes muscle cramps. i'm very negative towards my loving family and it hurts me to do so. can't seem to keep upbeat. soo tired all the time.
is it the syntroid? i used to be very energenic and a doer. now i have spurts of activity in the morning , but then i just can't get motivated. help me any suggestions?

Ambien 4 yrs Ambien CR 1yr memory loss, I don't sleep very long. Sometimes I will close my eyes and I can't move or speak, headache. I don't know how long it last. I can hear whats is going on around me, but I can't call out for help. depression.

I have been taking 50 mg of Toprol for about six months now and have experienced the exact same side effects as the majority of you. I have been thinking that I have congestive heart failure but it turns out that the Toprol is causing these symtoms. The worst thing I am experiencing is chronic leg and ankle swelling and I have been taking 60 - 80 mg of Lasix to try to correct it but to no avail. This Toprol has helped my blood pressure and tremors but the side effects are too much. I am seeing my doctor to get another treatment. This is NUTS!!!!

Oh my God! The itching is horrible! I woke up and my eyes crossed from the severity. I could not even go to work. After taking Sufameth/trimethoprim for 2 days (2 pills/da) for a UTI, my scalp started to itch. I scratched all day with a pencil...to no avail. Later that day, the vaginal and rectal itch was unmerciful. Vagisil maximum COULD NOT TOUCH it. I scheduled a gyne appointment because I thought, maybe I was developing something else...yeast infection. But there were no other signs. My husband suggested it could be an allergic reaction to the medicine. My nurse suggested I take an antihistimine like Benadryl. That provided some relief. Now I see similar postings on the web about severe itching. Thank goodness I only have one more pill of this 3 day treatment.

have had asthma for as long as i can remember. i am now 35. i started taking ad-vair about 3 yrs ago. i have since gained alot weight and have tried dieting,exercising to no avail. i also have phlegm all the time, at first i thought that advair was the best thing since sliced bread but now not so sure. i have the " moon face" always sleepy, always coughing, gained weight, moody, tender skin, if i do skip a dose i get sore on my behind just like with prednisone. it has the same side effects as prednisone i don't care that the dr.'s say it has a low dose of steroids i can't tell it and neither can my body. also have noticed my spine curving, numbness in my hands, fingers and arm for no reason. it is like when you bump it in just the right place it has the numb feeling but i didn't bump into anything. if i had i would have had a bruise, because i can barely touch something and bruise. i have tried getting off of it but then i wheeze and can't hardly get out of bed because i can't breathe so i need decide if the side effects are worth having, or if i can get over the withdrawl effects. if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Been on Lopressor since November- gained about 5 pounds. Never had weight problem before. Continue to exercise regularly, to no avail. Considering going off medication for fear of continued weight gain. Have decreased dose to 25 mg twice a day, but this hasn't helped.

I have been on Diovan, 80 mg. for almost 3 weeks now. I was taken off of lisinopril due to a terrible cough which was getting worse by the day. My cough is almost gone now, but I have been having a real problem with flatulence since I started the Diovan. I also take Lipitor, and I think the combination of the two drugs may be the issue. Back to the doctor, I guess. I would like to be able to go out in public. I've tried Beano to no avail. But on the positive side, my blood pressure is fine now!

I posted above (36565) and want to add that I called the manufacturer - Ortho McNeil (l-800-526-7736) to report these side effects. They were very thorough and took lots of information and assured me that every complaint has to be reported to the FDA. They were unable to offer help, except to seek doctor's advice - which of course we have done - to no avail. However, if everyone reported their side effects, maybe the FDA would take some action. It's worth a try.

I am not sure -- Trying to investigate-- Shortly after starting the med, I had strep throat and developed an unusual sinus condition where my sinuses do not drain in either direction. I have such "fullness" in my sinuses and throat that at times I feel as though I am drowning on my own secretions. I have had septoplasty and allergy testing to no avail. Now I think I can trace the symptoms back to beginning treatment with Lamictal.

I am taking Topomax for migraines. I always start everything at a really LOW dose since I have a lot of probs with side effects. Started at 15 mg and went right away to 30mg (15mg twice daily) the second week because I was dying from headaches. The other antidepressants prescribed for constant daily headache prevention all of a sudden weren't working. I didn't want to take my abortive med for migraines every day (Amerge) so I was curious if Topomax might help my daily headache pain. Possibly my daily headaches had become migraines... so hard to tell one from the other anymore. I teach exercise for a living and so much of my headache pain is exercise induced. I found that while on topomax, all of a sudden 2 Advil would take away a headache I would get after exercising which never happened before. I would take two Advil before doing some of my hardest exercise to prevent a headache and for the most part that worked too... and that never worked before. I had tried all kinds of NSAID's before and after exercise at the advice of my neurologist to no avail. I did have one diffuse headache yesterday that might have been a true migraine and I took Amerge because Advil didn't help. I have been on the 30 mg two week now. But, now the downside. Since on the 30mg I feel like my chest is heavy a lot of time when I do water exercise... I am exhausted a lot doing my usual routines... I feel edgy, can't sleep well at night. I HAVE to have a two hour nap after teaching in the morning or I can't function mentally or physically. I sleep well for that nap time. Seems like I have thermoregulation problems. I teach water exercise and if the water is a little cold it bothers me and it never used to. Then in the pool awhile I feel hot. Same when I sleep.. I need a lot of covers, then I throw them off. Then they are on again. No I am not menopausal yet. My brain is hazy on topomax as well. I take bellydance lessons and sometimes I realize I can't remember what my teacher just told me. Now people reading this, don't think that just because this happens to me, it will happen to you. I know people who LOVE topomax with zero side effects. They don't tend to write in to posting boards. Also, sometimes side effects go away. Be patient if you want to give topomax a shot. I am thinking I am going to go back to 15 mg again... and see how I tolerate that. Because I teach exercise, the hardest thing is to feel the heaviness in the chest and the lack of ambition. This is not me. It is great not to have the headache pain, but I don't know if this is the drug for me. I was excited about the "losing weight " side effect , and I could see how skinny people who lose their appetite easily might be affected, but it takes a lot to stop me from eating LOL darn! I did read in another chat some poor chap had sinisitis for months and took TONS of antibiotics before finding out Topomax gives sinisitis type side effects in a small amount of people. So if you get sinisitis, don't take antibiotics before checking out if topomax is the culprit.

My heart goes out to every person out there trying to find the magic bullet for their headache, siezures, whatever... ADVICE.. .start with SMALL doses... you may be able to get used to side effects if you work up slowly in ALL drugs. In many drugs that didn't come in small doses, I took out 3/4 of what was inside just to get a mini dose. Ask your doc if you can mix one capsule or one pounded up tab of your med with juice and store it in the referigerator. You can drink say 1/8 cup a day of the juice to get 1/8 of a capsule. It is a lot easier than chopping up a tab into eighths. Also ask your doc about childrens doses that come in liquids with droppers. Topomax makes taking smaller doses easy with the sprinkles.. you are encouraged to open the capsule and sprinkle as little as you want on food. Good luck all. L.

I had a heart attack a little over 15months ago & am now on several different meds. For the past 10 months I have been coughing& I mean coughing, can hardly breathe. The cough wakes me up at night, I feel as though I am short of oxygen & have to tell myself to be calm, take a slow deep breath .I am starting to resemble a fish that is out of water. I have told my doctor on many occasions but to no avail. I have also put on 15 lbs on weight . I am too afraid to come off the Lisinopril as I don't want another heart attack. I can't afford another med as i am self pay & can't afford another expense.....I am trying to tell myself that i can live like this, but now the coughing is annoying my work collegues...Also having vivid dreams, am out of breath with any exertion, blah, blah, blah...Anybody got any ideas??? Or should I just stop the meds & die??? Sorry, that was a little dramatic, I am just very tired. Thanks for taking time to read this. Good luck to those of you in the same boat.

I am so glad I found this sight! For all Prednisone users out there...I was prescribed Prednisone for an upper respiratory infection (I had for 9 months). I was prescribed a 21-day 'taper down' course five (5) times; in actuality not all that much...if I had only known what this drug would do to my body! Besides the insatiable hunger and weight gain (5 - 7 lbs. weight gain per course of the drug), the swollen face/neck, muscle aches, double-vision, sleeplessness - I have been through the worst three (3) years of my life since taking this 'drug'! Three years ago, I had the worst knee pain (in both knees). The orthopedists said tendinitis, bursitis, IT band syndrome...finally a new ortho. ordered an MRI and found out I had Stage II Avascular Necrosis (AVN) in both knees. This is a condition where the blood flow has STOPPED reaching a certain area of the body. It is a side effect of this so-called 'wonder drug' (Prednisone). I had the surgery that is used for AVN (Core Bone Decompression) - it did NOT work! They tried other surgical procedures to no avail. A big issue was that AVN in the knee is very rare. AVN commonly strikes in the hip. There was little or no medical documentation on how to treat AVN in the knee(s). A year later, I ended up having total knee replacements in both knees. Last summer (Summer '06) I broke a bone in my pinky finger by barely hitting a wall in frustration over all this. My bones are extremely brittle from this drug. I am sitting writing this after having dental (oral) surgery because I have lost four (4) teeth as a result of this drug! I need over $7,000 in dental work (implants/bone grafting) that insurance does not cover as a side effect from this drug. I realize that some people out there must take this drug...If you have taken this drug, and have pain in your hips and/or knees, please ask your doctor for an MRI (AVN can not be seen in X-ray until end stage - when the joint collapses from lack of blood flow) and see your dentist regularly. I am only 34 years old and if I can reach just one person regarding the side effects of Prednisone, I will sleep better tonight!

I am so glad I found this site. I thought I was going crazy!

I have been an Advair user for about four years now and have gained 45lbs. The weight gain is solidly in my mid section and is bearing down on my lungs, stomach and intestines. I am only 5'3" and I am pretty miserable.

So the dizziness, heartburn, heart palpitations, hoarse throat, coughing, etc that everyone else is experiencing - me too. Thought it was the weight gain. I have dieted, exercised every day - sometimes twice a day, adjusted my eating routine, anything and everything to get my weight down but to no avail.

Each winter I am slighly worse than the last - and after four years, I can't walk more than 2 blocks without use of an inhaler. I thought it was me - the weight gain - and my work schedule. The ability to walk less and less was really starting to scare me. I can't do stairs without stopping halfway to catch a breath. I wasn't like this 4 years ago! I PRACTICALLY RAN UP AND DOWN TWO - THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS each day of work! and could walk a hiking trail for hours without worrying about my breathing.

Swimming is the only exercise that seems to help, takes the heavy feeling away from the mid-section so I can breathe again.

It seems alot of people are experiencing problems. Shouldn't the makers of Advair be told and the doctors informed?

I have been on Yasmin for about 3 years now (possibly longer). In the past year or so, my skin has become EXCESSIVELY oily. I mean - it's disgusting! I have tried every cleanser/astringent/medication possible but to no avail. I eat a healthy and balanced diet and drink plenty of water. The only thing I can think of is that it's the Yasmin that is causing it. Has anyone else had this problem? Could this be the cause of my overly oily skin? I mean, 20 minutes after I cleanse it will literally be dripping with oil - enough so that I can scrape it off under my nail and it will just be liquid oil. It's gross and very embarassing. I'm 24 years old and can't think of any other causes.

I would like to find out if anyone has had similar problems as my wife. My wife has been taking Topamax for 4 to 5 years for migrane relief. During this time she has had a series of problems that list out as side effects (IE: weight loss, difficulty with memory, depression, psychomotor slowing, mood problems, confusion, decreased libido). But the biggest and most problematic is paranoia. We have been married for 29 years and are in our mid 50's. About at the same time she started taking Topamax she went into metaphase. Initially I thought her paranoia was a symptom of metaphase, but she is through that and her paranoia has accelerated. She accuses me constantly of being unfaithful, having another job, investing in things she is not aware of and literally hundreds of accusations. All of wcich are untrue and I have proven that to her time and time again to no avail. Her doctors say no she is on too low of a dose to have these problems, but I dissagree. She went off the medicine in December and January, but started to get frquent migranes in late January so she went back on the medicine. When she was off the medicine her demeanor was like the wife I have had for 25 yaers. When she went back on it she had a significant demeanor and the accusations started up again. She can't get the negative thoughts out of her mind, which is causing her incredible turmoil, and me too as I am the fucus of her paranoia. My next door neighbor was on this very med and developed awful thoughts about her husband and got off the med. It took her about a year to get her mind right. My wife doesn't believe she has this problem. But believe me she does. DO you have or know of others who have had these problems that are on Topax? Please let me know. Thank you! Engineer-guy

Hello;
After 13 year's of having I.T.P. I was so sick of the many mental and phyical side effect's of prednisone I let the
Doctor remove my spleen.Since that didn't work I even tryed
chemo therapy again to no avail.Every doctor seem's to think prednisone is a great medication.They don't dare tell you of the adverse side effects.I halucinate from it and, have woke
up on a bus I dont even remember getting on.This poisonus
medication has cost me more than I can go into here.People
put on this stuff should be warned and watched,just in case.

I took this for about three weeks for acne. I didn't have any problems for THREE weeks, then one day my back started aching. Then the next my hands and feet started itching. I didn't connect this with the sulfameth, until day four when, along with the muscle aches and itching, I had nausea and chills so bad I went to an urgent care clinic scared out of my mind. The doctor there said it was the sulfameth, and gave me a shot of something to stop the nausea and chills. That was a week and a half ago, and I still have the itching reaction. There's no visible rash--just insane itching. The urgent care doctor told me to take Benedryl, which I did to no avail. After a week, when it was clear the itching wasn't going to go away, I finally called my dermatologist who prescribed a prescription-strength anti-histimine. That helps to some degree, but the itching is still there, and my derm. said I could expect it to last for "a few weeks" despite the sulfameth not being in my system anymore!! I felt better after finding this site, knowing that I wasn't crazy, but I'm still angry about being prescribed this. Also-I had no appetite, but that is starting to come back slowly.

i have suffered from severe leg and feet pains getting progressively worse the pain kept me awake every night and i had great difficulty walking and even buying shoes was a nightmare because they all hurt.my doctor gave me all kinds of anti inflamitory and other types of drugs for pain, all to no avail. I have been taking lipitor for a few years. Last year somebody mentioned to me about leg pain from lipitor but i did not take much notice.Two weeks ago I just remembered about it and decided to stop taking them and see what happened, after a couple of days my legs have certainly improved I still have pain but nothing like it was and i have not had a sleepless night since stopping the tablets. I am still afraid to believe that this improvement is permanent so I decided to try the internet for information about these drugs and I am absolutely flabbergasted to find that other people are suffering in the same way as myself. Now i think I may have found the answer to my problem and I wonder will the pains improve more or will I be left with some permanent damage as I still have quite a lot of pain although not near as bad as before.