Weren symptoms and conditions

So thankful I found this website and that I am not the only one having these problems! I started the NR this past February and thought it would be great not to have to worry about taking the pill. I had been taking Kariva and besides it being a pain to worry about, I also started gaining wt for the first time since high school (it had been two years with no wt gain). A few months ago I started working with a personal trainer and running to prepare for a 1/2 marathon...after three months I am now up 7 lbs even with working out 6 days a week! I assume it is severely causing me to retain fluid. I have not noticed mood changes but definitely no sex drive. I used to get migraines all the time and those are actually gone. The biggest side effect I have noticed which no one else has mentioned is heart problems. I have always worked out and ran a lot in high school with no previous problems. When I began training for my 1/2 marathon I noticed I was SOB, fatigued, and having palpitations all the time. Running for long periods of time has been impossible. I never thought it could be the NR until the last few days. It is the only thing I have done different. If I weren't married I would quit bc all together but instead I plan on going back to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo which I had the best results from.

Do NOT take Avelox! As a result of taking it for a sinus infection, I now have acute hepatitis. On Feb. 14, 2008, Bayer Corp., which makes Avelox, notified its doctors in Europe that dangerous liver damage and/or skin rashes can occur in "rare cases." U.S. docs weren't notified. My doc prescribed it to me along with prednisone. Gastric problems began almost immediately, but I didn't make the connection. I thought I just felt so bad because of the sinus infection. My urine turned orange and I became deathly ill. Tests revealed non-viral hepatitis (not contagious, in other words). My liver counts were in the thousands! They are slowly going down, but I have lost two months of my formerly active life so far. I lost 15 lbs. in a week. I am weak and still have problems eating. I was healthy as a horse before. My life was hell for the first month--sweating, itching, dry eyes, dry mouth, couldn't sleep, diarrhea. I still have no energy can can't eat enough to gain weight. You don't want to mess with your liver. I feel lucky that a GI doc has been watching my counts and guiding my care. All you can do is rest and try to eat and stay hydrated. I have a long way to go, but at least I'm not on the liver transplant list--it was that bad before. I am angry that U.S. doctors weren't warned. The side effects listed for Avelox don't mention what happened to me. I am trying to get info on a possible class action suit against Bayer for knowing this drug causes liver failure and not telling U.S. doctors.

basically, this was my experience with the paragard:
1. Dec 2004 - Paragard iud was placed post-partum after my 2nd daughter was born. i was breast-feeding, and had no noticeable symptoms until Nov 2005.
2. Nov 2005 - had my first period since my daughter was born. it was heavy and crampy, but i thought "i haven't had a period in 2 years, so this is the price i pay..."
3. Each period hence was heavy, long at 6-7 days, and cramps were intense. again, i just decided that i could manage.
By the end of 2006, my periods were so bad that my husband and i decided i had to see the doctor.
4. Jan 2007 - saw the doctor about removing the copper IUD. she said that the paragard should not be causing such bad symptoms, and since i was did not want to get pregnant, she decided we should try to control the symptoms with birth control pills and Prometrium. I did not want to try Prometrium since I was unsure of how I would react to the hormone. she believed that i might be suffering from severe pms, called PMDD. note that i loved and trusted this doctor - i had some complications during my 2 pregnancy, and some problems post-delivery, and she was attentive, personable, and caring. i was very comfortable and trusting, so i listened to her recommendations. i tried yaz, yasmin, and 2 other pills over the next 3-5 months, but was extremely nauseous and sick with all of them (plus break-thru bleeding).
5. Feb - September 2007: i started having pre-period symptoms of nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea, abdominal cramps, severe fatigue. the first 2 months that i had these symptoms, they were so bad that i believed that i had an intestinal virus - same cramping, throwing up, and bad diarrhea, plus this was BEFORE my period. I then made the association between my symptoms, and the fact that they occurred 3-5 days before my period, and then they would subside about 3 days after my period started. my periods were still long with heavy bleeding.
6. September 2007 - was having same symptoms, but started 7-10 days before my period, and they were so bad that my husband had to take off from work to take care of our 2 girls each month (i stay home with them). i went back to the doctor during September, and was told to modify my diet (no white flour, sugar, low fat, high protein, lots of water) and to try some vitamin supplements since i didn't want more medications. she again recommended taking 100 mg Prometrium to help ease the symptoms. I asked to remove the IUD, again, and she said that "before she took out something that expensive, she wanted to make sure that something else was not wrong" - I was shocked at her statement, but agian I liked her and trusted her, so i went along for the sonogram.
7. October 2007 - In the meantime, I was desperate, so i took the vitamins and Prometrium, which sent me into what i can describe only as a psychotic episode. i had severe emotional outbursts, i was irrationally angry and irritable, and had absolutely zero patience. i am usually a smart girl, and in my normal "mental state" would have associated that the Prometrium had caused this severe reaction, but I was no where close to my normal state of mind, and i just thought that my physical symptoms were now affecting me mentally.
8. LAte Oct 2007 - BY this time I am so down and really ready to get my life back. I am still sick with nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, severe abdominal cramps, severe fatigue, and now my abdomen stays sore and tender through the whole month. FINALLY the doctor calls with the ultrasound results. she said that there were 2 small ovarian cysts - and i was relieved - i thought that FINALLY, we were getting somewhere - but in the next sentence she said that she didn;t think that they were responsible for my symptoms. i was deflated - and at such a loss of words. i listened to her tell me how she thought that i had IBS, and that she was going to refer me to a GI doctor. i know that IBS is a catch-all category of symptoms that some doctors throw on people they can;t diagnose. and remember, i was just a few days out from recovering from 1) having a severe personality reaction to a drug, and didn't know it was because of the Prometrium - i thought i was going mad, and 2) i was just getting over being sick before my period - AGAIN.
I finally called her back a few hours later and left a message with the nurse "since she doesn;t think that the cysts are causing the symptoms, could we please remove the copper IUD?" i never got a reply.
I called my niece who is an RN at a respected women's health center in NC and cried a lot and told her what was going on. she got me an appointment with a doctor there for mid nov 2007.
10. Mid Nov 2007 - tell the NC doctor my medical history, and she says "we need to get that IUD out". in less than 30seconds it is gone with minimal discomfort, 25% of the abdominal soreness and tenderness is gone within 24 hours of removal, and completely gone within a week. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS THAT MY TUMMY WAS NOT TENDER OR SORE!!!
i have a follow-up appointment for mid Jan 2008 with the NC doctor and possible placement of the Mirena
11. Nov 29, 2007 - have my first period in over a year where i am not sick etc - it is heavy and a bit crampy, but is shorter in duration.
12. mid dec 2007 - i start to suspect i may be pregnant, but think that we have been cautious, and my period is probably going to be irregular with all of the crap that has gone on
13. jan 5 2008 - yep - i'm pregnant!! but that was ok - we wanted another anyway.
14. jan 7, 2008 - catch the respiratory flu that has been going around and stay VERY sick for 4 weeks, and i just know that something is unusual - i can't eat i am so sick and am so weak that i shake whe i stand up - call a new local OB doctor and see them.
15. jan 30, 2008 - have miscarried the pregnancy
16. April 2008 - the new ob doctor places a mirena
17. first of may 2008 - my husband is asking if i feel ok, that he has seen similar but much less severe symptoms in my mood as when i was on the Prometrium. i have never had acne this severe on my face, neck and back - it actually hurts and i have some scarring even though i have not picked at it.
By the way, my new local OB told me that HE WILL NOT PLACE PARAGARD COPPER IUDS FOR HIS PATIENTS BECAUSE THEY WORK BY CAUSING INFLAMMATION IN THE UTERUS.
however, he also said that i shouldn't have any issues with the mirena, and now i am starting to wonder if i am going slightly mad...
i want my life back...
i now realize that there is a side effect to EVERYTHING that you put in your body...
i am terrified of getting pregnant right now even though a few months ago i was excited about this wonderful possibility...
i am now talking to a counselor to try to work out the events of this past year+ so i can move on...
i feel like my voice was NOT heard or even acknowledged...
the reality is that WE are ultimately responsible for our own well-being, both physical and mental, and that doctors do treat with preconceived notions about the way health should be and how medications and devices should work...they listen to pharmaceutical reps and not their patients...
i don;t know what to do about birth control now...i suspect the mirena is making me feel this way, but i am terrified of getting pregnant, i can't take birth control pills, and am hesitant to put any thing else in my body that is a chemical...however, i have no libido anymore (my poor wonderful husband) and i use to enjoy the closeness and intimacy of being with my husband...
i don't know how this affects your decision about the copper iud, but i just caution about 1) be careful with sex after the mirena is removed and 2) be mindful of anything that we eat or place in our body.
i do know that i could not find any other information from women who experienced my symptoms, but i find it very difficult to believe that i am the only one who experienced this.
lots of luck, and thank you for sharing your experience with the posting site! it has helped me make an informed decision about removing the mirena, and i hope that the information here will help you make an informed decision about the copper iud.

Oh my god!!!! My poor daughter. My daughter Karilynn has been taking this drug for about 8 months now. She is 2 1/2 years old now. All of the sudden she had a drastic change in behavior, sleep and eating patterns. She began with sleep problems. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming that the green monsters were after her. I chocked it up to night terrors that weren't explained. Then she started waking up screaming that her "bottom" hurt but would point to her stomach. She quit eating, cried all the time, started acting out randomly. My little girl who had never had discipline problems started randomly hitting and biting me. It wasn't even when I would discipline her for something. She would literally come up and bite me out of no where. She throws huge tantrums now. The daycare lady even asked me if something was going on at home because she was doing strange things there also. Not knowing what was wrong (but trusting my mother instinct that there was SOMETHING wrong) I started to think that maybe she was being abused. The night mares, the random pain.... I even had a breif moment where I thought my grandmother was hurting her. I want to throw up thinking about that now. I took her to the pediatrician, who ran every test imaginable to "rule out any physical reason" that could be causing all of these symptoms at once. Test after test came back negative. I actually have the number to the psychologist that does "play therapy" sitting in front of me because we were seriously terrified that someone was hurting her. Little did I know it was us!!!! I called tha asthma dr. yesterday after seeing the news story and he told me that my concerns weren't really valid and that it sounded like she was being a "typical" two year old. That really made me angry. After reading all of these accounts there is very little doubt in my mind that it is the medicine. It all makes sense now. Halleluah if it is such a simple fix!!! I was worried my daughter was being ABUSED!!!! What an unimaginable feeling for any parent!! I quit the singulair last night against the asthma doctors "urging" and gave the daycare lady a heads up. Its sad to say but I pray this is all that is wrong with my little girl!!! If someone files a class action suit please let me know. Also if there is anything more I can do to make sure someone else doesn't go through this let me know!!!!!

I heard about this on NPR on Friday morning and cannot believe what all I have read about to date. We have been to so many psychologists, psychiatrists, play therapists, neurology, allergy, and so forth trying to explain her behavior. We have had so many different theories thrown our way that it's hard to know what to believe anymore. Not one medical professional noted that her allergy meds could be partly to blame. After I listened to the initial report, I was talking to my small circle of friends about some of the problems we have been experiencing with our daughter for years. Everyone that I have spoken with that has children on Singulair all complain of similar problems in their children- they say they wish they weren't alive, show extreme rage , hate to be alone, etc. I am no medical professional, but I cannot afford to see if this isn't what is causing our daughter's behavior. Certainly after reading these postings I'm even more convinced about the connections. I would be remiss if I followed my pediatrician's advice and continued her on Singulair. Finally, I see some light at the end of this long tunnel and I no longer feel so isolated.

I used Yasmin for almost 3 years between 2004 - 2007. I loved it....my periods were regular, I had little acne, and I hardly had any PMS. Then I got pregnant (after stopping the Yasmin!) with twins and delivered them in late November 2007. I was so happy to know that I just knew which type of birth control I wanted to use, I had a great experience while on Yasmin so of course I would go back to it!

BAD IDEA! 4 weeks after the babies were born I started the pills. Mind you, I had a great pregnancy and lots of help at home...no post-partum or baby blues here. I started the pills on 12/23/07 and by 12/25/07 (Christmas Day) I was feeling majorally depressed, having emotional outbursts, having irrational thoughts....I felt alone and as if no one cared about me. I secluded myself and had suicidal thoughts. I thought about leaving my family and living in a hotel. I would get so mad at the littlest things....I almost threw a chair at my husband and tried to punch a hole in the wall. I cussed family members out. I was so irrational. I felt like a crazy, psychotic woman and all in less than a week. This was NOT me.

I quit the pill after the first week, realizing that this pill was causing all these side-effects. I called my OB and spoke with the nurse who told me what I was experiencing couldn't be from the Yasmin - those weren't common side-effects. I told her that I was 1 day Yasmin free and felt like a completely different person...I was myself again. She tried to tell me that maybe I was experiencing post-partum depression and I decided then to just make an appointment to talk to my OB (about Yasmin & his nurse!).

I have an appointment next week and am curious as to what he will say. I know it was the Yasmin and I am glad that I found this website & that I am not alone!