Visual changes symptoms and conditions

I had the Mirena for 5yrs & had it replaced this past April. I had loved it (no menses) but little did I know of the adverse side effects that were plaguing me. I always had some depression, but wrote it off to cyclical hormones; cystic acne that seemed to be getting worse as the years went by; heart palpitations; NO libido; anxiousness. All this seemed to happen slowly over time for me. Once I had the new one inserted, I started noticing the part in my hair was becoming thinner, like balding; developed an eczema/rash on the back of my neck at the hairline; I felt like my hay fever was non-stop & got an ear infection/sinusitis for the first time ever; then the headaches which most recently turned into a migraine with visual changes coupled with insomnia. And I ached all over like I had the flu all the time. I had no clue that the Mirena could do this until I started researching & read the PHYSICIAN insert info! I discovered that out of 21 "adverse effects" I had at least 13 of them! I was mortified - being a Ob/Gyn RN, I felt I was really misled by the manufacturer & my doctors. I could not take the headaches & insomnia any longer. A week ago, desperate & could not wait until an appt., I went into the bathroom, pulled the strings myself & removed the sucker (being a RN, I have to tell you not to do that; I was willing to take the heat should something bad happen!). Over this last week, a HUGE difference for the better. NO headaches, insomnia, body aches, skin is clearing & my mood is getting better. I actually am feeling frisky for my hubby even (who by the way will be having a vasectomy in the next couple weeks & was fully supportive of me doing this). I am so disappointed as I LOVED the no period thing, but I am not willing to risk my well-being over that!

I was prescribed Doxy 100mg twice daily for 14d for a Mycoplasma pneumonia. Day 6 I started to get a bit dizzy and some changes in my vision, sort of having a hard time to focus but I just though it was symptoms of fatigue or just being hypochonric. From day 8 I started to get really depressed and felt that I was going to die and that everyone was leaving me. On day 10 I also started to get anxiety attacks and had extreme difficulties to concentrate on anything. By this time I also got tremor, weakness and tingling in my arms and severe neck pain. Throughout this time I was aware of the risk for benign intracranial hypertension, but I didn't get any headache or nausea until d 16, i.e. 2 days after I stopped the medication. I never had fever. I then dropped 6 pounds in a week and had a hard time eating. It is now 6 weeks since I stopped taking the medication. My pneumonia is totally gone. The depression/anxiety is almost gone although some social withdrawal and lack of initiative still remains. It's still a bit up and down but much better. My neck pain is still there but is also getting better and I only have minor tremor in my arms. The visual changes still persist but every now and then I feel like my old self again for a few hours/day. The whole episode have been, and still are, the worst experience of my life. I keep my fingers crossed that it will all go away over the next few weeks.

First I want to say, after reading several posts, that it seems a lot of you are taking Topamax without food, which may be causing your "spaciness." My doctor suggested always taking it with food, even though it says with or without food, and I only experienced spaciness the few times I took it at bedtime without food. Once I started taking it with breakfast and dinner, that never happened again.

I am a 48 year old woman, prescribed Topamax in September of 08 for migraine associated vertigo without headaches, with facial numbness. The first thing I noticed was I immediately had headaches, which to me indicated it was dehydrating me as that is the only time I get a "normal" headache. So I knew I had to drink a lot of water. Soon after starting Topamax I developed a dry cough that lasted the entire time I was on the med. I did not relate it to the drug at the time, however. It never even occurred to me. After about two months on the drug I started having trouble breathing with extreme dryness in my airways. I was prescribed an albuterol inhaler which did not help. I was then prescribed a corticosteroid inhaler which also did not help. I thought the trouble breathing was from taking Nadolol which I was prescribed for occasional heart fluttering - the neurologist said this was a normal side effect of Topamax. I stopped taking the Nadolol but the trouble breathing continued. I also had more migraines with vertigo and facial numbness than before I started taking the drug. I hoped it would eventually stop and the drug would kick in to help the vertigo, so I stayed on the drug. I had very minor tingling in my feet, but it was tolerable. I became very stressed out, had trouble sleeping, depression, my face started breaking out in November (and still is), I lost interest in everything that I normally enjoy - reading, photography, following politics in the news (sort of an obsession of mine). In December I was so depressed that for the first time in my 11 year career I started canceling appointments and eventually took three weeks off from work to "re-group." In January the neurologist decided that we would increase the dose from 100 mg to 150 mg for one more month, and if it did not get rid of my migraines with vertigo, we would discontinue the drug. The first day on the increased dose I had a killer headache, and I drank 150 ounces of water before it went away. That night I did not have to go to the bathroom during the night, unheard of for me. That's a lot of water to drink and not have to pee. Within two days of increasing the dose, my cough became much worse, and within three days, the breathing became more difficult. Within five days, I was having trouble speaking because my airways felt so dry. I called the doctor the next morning and he said it was not the drug, but if I wanted to, stop taking it. So I went off it cold turkey, per his instructions. I had rebound migraines every day for a week or two and my heart was pounding, sometimes for three or four hours at a time. Eventually the cough and trouble breathing went away, however, I had to continue drinking lots of water or I would notice that I didn't have to urinate, sometimes not at all. Again, unheard of for me. I saw a cardiologist at the neurologist's urging and they said the heart pounding was just anxiety. I disagree, as did another doctor of mine. We both believe it was withdrawal. I have now found out (by getting copies of my medical records) that the neurologist is now attributing all of my side effects from the Topamax to "somatization." In other words, psychosomatic - not a side effect, but just a way of getting medical attention. I am seeing a few people on this board who have also experienced a dry cough and trouble breathing. Can I have the same side effects as other people and have them still be psychosomatic, even though I had no idea those side effects could occur? I don't think so.

I have a theory that Topamax interferes with hormones which causes a lot of the side effects like lack of concentration, memory loss, anxiety, depression, insomnia, acne, and hair loss - all symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause. Ask any woman in her 40's or 50's if she has these symptoms and most of them will say yes. My face has not been this broken out since high school! My hair is falling out at a rapid rate. I won't even bother mentioning these to the neurologist. He'll just say it's not the drug.

I'm very frustrated and not sure what to do at this point. The neurologist has me taking a supplement called Migrelief now, but I think it takes three months to kick in, so I have no relief at this point.

Has anyone else experienced the trouble breathing with dry cough? I don't believe for a moment that it was psychosomatic.

I am thinking of calling my doctor today to schedule an appointment to have my Mirena IUD removed. I had it inserted about 1 year ago. In August of 2008 I turned 37. My original thought was I was getting older and although I had been in perfect health up to this point, I figured my age was catching up to me. Now I am starting to think differently. Here's my story:

The day of my birthday party an overwhelming wave of vertigo swept over me and I ended up on the floor (and no, I wasn't drinking, it was a family party!). I was so dizzy and so sick I had to go straight to bed. I went to the doctor the next Monday and saw the PA. She thought I had an inner ear imbalance and gave me some Meclizine for the dizziness. That wave of dizziness ended before I had to take the medication but I held on to it in case I needed it in the future.

End of August nagging pain in my foot sent me to the doctor's office again. I had been ignoring it because I had no injury to my foot. Come to find out my foot was broken and I had a severe Vitamin D deficiency. I have no idea if this is related to the Mirena but I am adding it in for the consistency of my story.

Since my Mirena I have also had to get new glasses. My contacts drive me nuts and I can't seem to see out of them. This also happened when I was pregnant and my doctor told me it was the hormones from pregnancy causing the visual changes. I think this time it's the hormones in the Mirena causing me to walk around like Mr Magoo when I am wearing my contacts.

My brain is in a fog. I can't think clearly. As soon as I see a bed or a couch I am planted. I have no desire to do anything. If I could stay in bed all day I would. I really have no idea how I manage to get out of bed each morning and me a productive member of society. I am on Zoloft for depression. I have had to have my dose increased due to it not being as effective as it was when I first when on it. I have no patience when it comes to my kids and that kills me. I don't want to be a grumpy mom.

I have headaches everyday. Throbbing headaches where I swear I can feel the blood vessels in my brain pulse. Somedays it feels like I am about to have an anorysm. Other days my headache is confined to behind my eyes and I was contributing that to my contacts and vision changes.

This past month I have been to the doctor due to horrid jaw pain. My jaw actually locked up on me and I couldn't open my mouth. I have been fitted with a mouth guard for sleeping and was given a prescription for a muscle relaxer to help me not clench when I sleep.

And again this weekend greated me with the horrible experience of vertigo. I was grocery shopping last night and thought I was going to pass out in the middle of the frozen food aisle. My dizziness didn't go away with sleep. I woke up at 2am this morning still dizzy and unable to fall back asleep. I am trying not to move my head or my body for that matter too much today. The medication was brought out of the cabinet and I took one last night and one this morning. It isn't helping very much.

So, between the anti-depressant, the muscle relaxer, the dizziness medicine, and the constant supply of Advil I am consuming I am thinking now is the time to call my doctor. It was until my sister mentioned that all my problems seemed to have started when I got this monster implanted that I realized that yes, this was true. I want my health back. I want to enjoy my kids again.

Centocor, the maker of Remicade, aggressively pushed physicians to set up infusion clinics, write for the drug and promised huge profits.Most of these infusion suites are run by nurses. The drug dose is calculated by a nurse and mixed into the iv bag by a nurse NOT A PHARMACIST. The drug, which can put patients at risk for serious infections and tuberculosis is not even mixed in a sterile IV hood !!! It is mixed out in the open air and exposed to contamination. In the meantime,Centocor downplayed the severity of the side effects. This drug actually caused LUPUS in a patient who subsequently won $19,000,000 in a lawsuit. The drug can greatly increase the risk of lymphomas and blood disorders with fatal outcomes. But the literature does not adequately educate patients and physicians on how to properly monitor the drug! The drug can cause memory problems, visual changes, and increased sed rate and increased c-reactiv protein.

i experienced all the above mentioned symptoms but in addition did anyone have problems with their vision as a sense of having blurry vision and sensitivity to light?