Zapped symptoms and conditions

I started with 60 mg per day for polymyalgia rheumatica and now after two years have weaned myself down to 5 mg per day. I have a side effect that I have not read anyone else having. It has effected my taste buds. Many foods that I loved in the past, have a foreign taste to me. I am 66, male and have tried to drop down to 2 1/2 mg but the pain is too intense to remain at that level, so had to return to 5 mg. I have lots of pain in the feet and especially toes. I can tell that I am getting better and am very anxious to get off of Prednisone.

Hi everyone –

I read this entire thread (wow, but good read)! I will start with the positives and end with the negatives (and yes, I’m going OFF Yaz).

Positives I lost weight (flat stomach due to the diuretic) and spontaneous sex (but the tricky thing is, it takes away your libido or at least mine) – lost about 5 LBs and decreased appetite. 120 to 115 lbs and sometimes 112 – flexuates between 112-115.

Negatives
First month I felt VERY nauseous – took the pills at night but didn’t help. I had some stomach cramps which went away. I had severe migraines (one that made me vomit and I could not move & I was in such unbearable pain I thought I was going to die – seriously (stuck in bed all night – and yes the headaches did stop after 4 months). I felt “spacey” all the time (this was early on, went away) – Best way to describe this would be like drinking a glass or two of wine, I felt a bit numb. I would get as one poster described these brain spurts that zapped me with this dizzy thing that lasted seconds and would go away (nice to read that as I know I’m not alone). Another common side effect I still got up until the 6 month was my ears plugging up (usually in the morning) and it happened a lot and it was from the pill. I also had troubles sleeping and anxiety out of nowhere (all of a sudden I felt too nervous to walk in my bosses office, very bizarre). I had to go in the bathroom and breathe then felt ok.

The week before my period I am MOODY and ANGRY inside and it’s made me feel more withdrawn from my boyfriend. I was never a depressed person before or moody minus occasional crabbiness from lack of sleep or stress. I never had severe PMS to start to it did the reverse for me, made my PMS worse. I have only been on this pill for 6 months to by the way! Curious if it is true about the serotonin in this pill – if there is serotonin isn’t it supposed to make you happy, LOL so I don’t know how much that part is true. Guess I do better a la natural!

My libido is gone but only comes back during aunt flow when I’m taking NO PILLS and I feel happy during my period (and sexual) and my old self (go figure?). the thought of sex doesn’t cross my mind and trust me prior I was like a cat on a hot tin roof (in my 30’s afterall)!

I used to do Ortho for years with headaches but no loss of sex drive or anything then stopped cold turkey for a year. Prior to that I did seasonal and had some hair loss and a brown spot on my face due to the BC.

It’s really hard to find a specialist who really gets in the ins and outs of birth control pills. They should have a dr that works only on BC’s (sorry but most gyno’s don’t really know as they say “everyone is different which is true but c’mon, you guys are way more educated of the pro’s and con’s then they are). I went to see an OBGYN that said “that’s what happens in relationships, you’re libido drops” when I told her, I thought “huh” what kind of DR are you? My regular DR was way better informed but not a specialist (waste of my time and money)! She told me to stop having a period and to take Yaz continuously and gave me more free samples. Wonder how much the manufacturer is paying her? Makes me wonder. I prefer to have a period, that’s when I felt like myself again, ha!

I want lists and stats of all pills same with side effects and percentages of women who experience the same. I wish Oprah would do a show on this – anyone have any connections??? It should be called “Birth Control, what he manufacturers don’t want to tell you” basically you can have condomless sex but the catch is “ you don’t want sex” LOL

Thanks.
Peanut

PS The straw was last Saturday – I was so moody (5 days before aunt flow) and my BF thought I wasn’t into him anymore and I couldn’t shake the withdrawn feeling and today I miss him so much and can’t wait to see him Saturday and I will not be starting my new pack of pills on Sunday –we’re putting Latex back into business  until I research other methods, possibly nuva ring but who knows? Next 2-3 months I don’t want anything in my body besides food and weekend drinks, ha!

SAVA102503 AND ANYONE ELSE WONDERING ABOUT ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY: It should ONLY be done as a last resort!! In my experience, I had it once in my early twenties and it had only a temporary effect on my depression, ZAPPED my short term memory and I had PTSD from it for YEARS!! Please know that there ARE community mental health clinics for those who have no money, and they are lifesavers. Find one!! Good luck.

I have been reading about this now for three hours, and it has made me feel both better and worse. I have been on antidepressants for over 10 years; I think I have been on Effexor for around 4 or 5. It has all but banished my panic attacks; I haven't had one in months now, and those that I have had over the past few years have been endurable to say the least. What worries me is the changes in my personality that have taken place over the past decade. I have been thinking that what I have been experiencing is my depression getting worse and that I have been spiraling down into severe mental illness. It's frightening to say out loud that you think you are going crazy, and so I have managed to keep a tenuous hold on reality and ever onward I go. I mentioned my symptoms to my doctor almost 2 years ago, and her response was to increase my dosage to 112.5 a day. This only served to confirm my belief that my mental health was indeed declining. After reading these posts I want to weep with joy that I am not crazy, it is this magic pill that I take every day. I too have avoided going off Effexor because of the side effects; it seems that it would be easier to withdraw from a serious heroin jones with less suffering. My side effects while being on the medication have been: loss of interest in everything in life that ever interested me, weight gain with loss of appetite (go figure), loss of sex drive and almost an aversion to sex or intimacy, fatigue, confusion, and an emotional withdrawal from those around me. The few times I have tried to go off Effexor (or missed a few days due to forgetfulness or lack of interest in going to the pharmacy to pick them up), my symptoms have been: that weird feeling of your brain having to catch up to your eyes, that feeling of being shocked or zapped, a descent into depression equaling the speed of an Olympic bobsled run, a feeling of hopelessness, headache, cotton mouth, diarrhea, mood swings so severe and radical that I frighten myself, irritability to the point of wanting to chew off my own fingers, tears over everything and anything, and restlessness. Reading over this, I'm thinking that being depressed was not so bad after all. It's kind of sick to wish for simple depression; it reinforces my belief that this medication is bad. I see that in another post someone is asking if there is any rumble of a class-action lawsuit; I would also be interested in this information. Thank you for sharing what this medication has done to all of you, and I hope that my post helps someone else with similar experiences.

Am taking Prilosec in the mornings and Zantac 75 at nite for stomach inflammation.

Took a Zantac last night followed by one glass of white wine and it zapped me. Chronic fatigue and stomach upset and anxiety.

I am 26 and have been taking Toprol for 4 months now for Premeture Ventrical Complex. It has helped greatly but has zapped me of my energy, made me gain at least 5 pounds...not to mention the inches I have gained in my breasts, hips, and middle section...which I did not need!! I feel like I am pregnant all over again!!

I am a 56 year old female given this drug after gall bladder surgery I left the hospitaL feeling almost decent I woke up in the hospital with sweats after they gave me my dose. When I took it at home my first dose I took a nap woke up with no strength in my legs in the middle of the night I had two episodes of sweating profusely. My thinking has slowed I fell like my life was zapped from me. Now I know why my potassium was so low in the hospital. I am sitting here wanting to cry. I have to support a family this is awful that no one knows anything about these drugs. I am mad get this stuff off the market. It is taking me so long to just think of what to write. Wow what if I wasn't smart enough to figure out what it is.