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I never thought an allergy med would have a reaction with my esophagus, but I guess everyone can discover something new! I used to be on RX Zyrtec many years ago and never really noticed any issues with it...I have taken Claritin OTC for some time now, but it doesn't seem to last long enough to cover the 24 hour day as it says, so I decided to try the Zyrtec OTC...by the third day I seemed to be having very tight and sharp esophageal pains in the middle of my chest and for the whole week I was on Zyrtec, the symptoms continued and became very intense...I stopped Zyrtec 3 days ago and have noticed a VAST improvement in the pain diminishing and I wondered if anyone else has had any of the same issues as I faced with this!

I have read a lot of these responses and here and have noticed a common thread among all responses. This may or may not help.

You need to give any new pill a full 3 months before judging it. Your body needs to stabilize with the new hormones that you are giving it. It generally takes about 3 cycles to do so. ANY pill, whether it is Femcon, Loestrin, Yaz, Yasmin, or any other will have the same side effects. So, for that matter, will Nuvaring or other hormonal based birth control methods.

I had problems with Femcon during the first month as well, just like I did with Yasmin. The solution to the problem is giving it a full three months before making your decision. Anything else, and you are simply not making an education decision. Good luck ladies!

I just wanna cry.I had mine put in on April 9th 2008. I thought for sure I was crazy and I was making a big deal out of nothing. I have it all the depression, lethargy, extreme irritability, mood swings, cramping, back pain, stabbing pain in my abdomen, bloating, abnormal and irregular bleeding, headaches, nausea, dizziness, lack of motivation, reduced interest in sex, continuous yeast infections, sore breasts, weight gain, itchy flaky oily scalp, joint pain, continuous gotta go feeling, and I so could go on.......... I just wanna give up. I have 4 childeren and can't afford anymore. I can't deal with the way I feel all the time. I want to get it removed but I don't want to end up pregnant and I'm just at a loss I don't know what to do.

I had an injection into a Bursae about a week and a half ago. My face was hot and bright red for about three days, if i went out in the sun it made it worst almost like i was allergic to the sun. I have had headaches daily, since. Vicodin will not help these headaches, my heartburn was so bad i stopped taking all medicines, birth control, antibiotic, pain meds. My stomach hurt so bad the second night that i could not make a sudden movement. and i couldnt stand straight up. i have been so naseated, ive thrown up twice, once i was taking a sip of milk to get rid of the side effects and as soon as i swollowed i puked, the second time i just smelled something. i have been bouncing around in the bed all night. and so depressed i need to be committed. my head has hurt so bad many days i dont want to hear my one and a half yr old speak. but ima astay at home mom and i have to do what i have to do. i had told my doctor that i had these efects, but another physician treated me. i told him and he assured me it would be a very small amount. also a my ankles hurt especially, feel like they are gonna snap, as well as all my other joints when i come off of these. someone email me plz tellione@hotmail.com

Mirena....pills..depo...ALL VERY SCARY!!Like someone else said in this website....makes sense- "can't have our cake and eat it too" I had the Mirena inserted in me about a year ago and I have back, shoulder and neck pain ALL THE TIME!
Also very sharp shooting pains.......not all the time but very painful, like needles. I feel depressed all the time when I KNOW I have no reason to be and horrible mood swings. I did also notice those weird acne looking bumps on my forehead and very dry skin which I've never had in my life! I am getting this thing removed ASAP! Thank you ladies!!

My husband (57 years old) started Lisinopril in March of 2007 for High Blood Pressure and he's never been the same. At first, we didn't connect the symptoms but now I am convinced this drug caused his problems. His symptoms include loss of memory, can't concentrate, can't retain anything, short tempered, depression. At times confusion or unable to grasp anything requiring multi-tasking. He had a loss of appetite where in lost 25 pounds in less than 6 months. He described months ago that "his head just doesn't feel right". When asked...do you have a headache...he'd reply.."I can't explain it...it just doesn't feel right. The depression has lead to another drug "Lexapro". This drug interferes with concentration too!
Prior to taking Lisinopril my husband was running his own business and working a full time job he's had for years. Within 6 months, our lives changed drastically. I know 2 other people experiencing the memory loss, can't concentrate, can't retain symptoms around the same age as my husband... all taking Lisinopril.

All of this has been weighing heavily on his mind because his mother has been diagnosed with Dementia/Alzeheimers at age 74. Guess what...she has been taking Lisinopril for years and years and has been treating for depression for years and years....any connection here? This drug has been around for many years and it seems like every elderly person is taking this for High Blood Pressure. Could this be a culprit to Dementia/Alzheimers? A reoccurring theme I see amongst all of these side effects is "depression".

Of course when we discussed these symptoms with his Doctor...we were pooh poohed with "I've never heard of these symptoms in 20 years of practicing". Well, he needs to do some research! My husband quit taking this drug on Sept 12th which takes 2-3 weeks to get out of your system. I noticed recently he didn't struggle at all at the ATM machine. I'm hoping this is the culprit as we are now in the process of getting a second opinion to determine if he may be in the early stages of Alzheimers. We pray that he is not! Get this drug off the market!!!

I just had Mirena implanted and it was not a pleasant experience. I have a high threshold for pain and delivered my children naturally and without medication. I wish I had been given a valium and prescription strength Motrain for this procedure. I passed out and was weak and dizzy the remainder of the morning.
I have read all the posted comments from everyone and am scared to death to wait and see which bizzare side effects will overcome me. I am a true believer that the medical professionals (doctors) are not keenly aware of the general public's documentation on side effects and in this case Mirena. I took the Chantrix (stop smoking drug) this summer and the worst side effects possible presented themselves to me. I quit the drug after 3 weeks of progressively worse symptoms such as nightmarish dreams, audiotory hallucienations, depression and stomach aches.
I am going to have Mirena removed immediately -- Monday next week if possible -- because I do not want to experience anywhere near the degree of suffering the poor ladies have in these examploes

I just got off topamax after being on 800 mg/day for over a year. Unlike most of you, I used it to treat seizures. Because of the side effects (slurred speech, bad memory, and NO sex drive) my doctor to switched me to Lamictal.

After just one week, my sex drive is back to normal, my memory is better, and I'm more confident in my speech.

Well, I've been on Yaz for 5 months. I was on Ortho tricyclin lo and was fine with it, but my doctor switch me because I stopped nursing my youngest child. So at first I thought that it was great! I stopped getting my periods! What woman actually wants periods? But at the end of each month I was always scared that I could be pregnant and not even know it because I never got my period, which my doctor said was normal... So on top of the $55 a month the yaz cost me, I was also buying pregnancy test each month!

Well, I started having issues in June about a month after I started Yaz, but I didn't put it all together until right now... I have extreme headaches, nausea, diarea, terrible mentral like cramping all the time and like other people said, during sex I am really dry...At this point I have decided to stop taking yaz and switch to something else... I just feel awful all the time.. getting my period once a month is way better than feeling like this!

All the advantages my Doctor told me about taking Yaz... none of them were true for me...

I am now 21 and it's been almost a year since I stopped taking Yasmin.I was on it for about 6 months, and I put on some amount of weight at the beginning (about 5 pounds). It was only months later, that I finally suspected I might not be going crazy after all, and that my bouts of anxiety and depression might have something to do with the medication. It was an absolutely horrifying experience. Some research online confirmed that it could be the case and I stopped. The immediate flux in emotion disappeared but it was like a pandora's box of insecurity and self doubt had been opened, and I've only just learned to feel really comfortable with myself again.

I was given this med. and within a few hours the Uti was better but I felt like I had the flu, disoriented, increased appetite then no appetite, I felt like I was in someone elses body looking out and I got severly anxious and annoyed with my 2 toddlers antics that I usually find amusing and adorable. I couldnt sleep till the wee hours of the morning 2 nites in a row and finally I relized what is going on and came online to look up the meds thinking i was crazy for thinking they were affecting me and found this site. I just chucked the bottle of em in the garbage, deep down so my kids cant get a hole of them. I pray these dont have lasting effects on my body. Im so glad my daughter was weaned from Nursing 2 weeks ago, cant imagine what they would do to a baby. Thanks for listening. So glad I found this site. ITS NOT JUST ME.

I had a cyst that became infected, and was prescribed Doxycycline - I've been taking it for about four days now and have been experiencing a lot of dizziness and lethargy. I got online to research, because dizziness is not listed as a potential side effect on the prescription info sheet I have at home, and I'm glad I found that others have experienced the same symptoms I have. I'm on a ten-day course for this med, so I guess I'll finish it, but I'm so woozy from the dizziness!

l will let it be known that I'm a healthy 27 year old..very active, never suffered with depression, never had acne, no headaches, never had mood swings (unless someone was pissed me off :) ) NADA...just the 7 day periods with heavy bleeding the first couple days..no cramps though. With that being said.....I have been on Femcon for 1 month now..I'm actually finishing my first pack..i have 2 more pills to go. I can honestly say this pill is NO GOOD for me!! If anyone already suffers from any of the things i've listed above..DON'T TAKE THIS PILL!! The first week on the pill was great..no problems. Exactly on day 10 of the pill..I had break thru bleeding that lasted the rest of the month. It was the nasty brown kind with an occasional red. I started to notice that EVERYDAY around 4:45pm I would become so furious over nothing..i mean NOTHING..go in my room slam the door shut..then turn around and cry because I knew I had nothing to be mad at. I became very depressed. My skin starting breaking out, but just no only on my face..all over my body. Really gross. Im now taking the brown pills and I have really bad night sweats. Horrible. These pills also made me very constipated. My sex drive went down hill too. HOWEVER, the PRO to these pills are I haven't gained any weight, haven't lost any hair (that i know of) and my period is sooooo light...still about the 5-7 days, BUT the cramps are almost unbareable and last for 3 days. I'm whiching in 2 days to Loestrin24 FE. If anyone is experiencing similar symptoms and looking for a new pill, let me know. I will be more than willing to share my experience with Loestrin also.

~RRB~

I wanted to say this as well: why do we feel like it's all in our heards, why are we so relieved when we find other testimonies of how badly a bc pill has affected us? Because we don't believe it's the pill, because no one really warned us. Another thing: my period is still VERY painful and heavy. I went on bc strictly to prevent pregnancy, not for painful/heavy periods (otherwise I might have tried to switch earlier). So there is no garanty that the pill will give you a lighter/easier period. It affects everyone differently. The point is, you have to decide whether you want to take synthetic hormones. I don't anymore. I am gonna try a cervical cap.

Against my better judgement, I received my first shot in Oct 07 and my second in March 08. I will absolutely will not get the third. I was suspicious of the vaccine, but was convinced by my doctor to get it. I should have listened to my gut. Within two weeks of receiving the first shot, I experienced flu-like symptoms, fever, and such severe vaginal discomfort that I went to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis. It cleared up, but my health felt off - worse digestion, I started getting heartburn, feeling fatigue, started seeing floaters in my vision and getting terrible headaches, and my menstrual cycle started becoming more irregular. I had always been like clockwork. I started losing weight, which was unusual, as I had always been overweight and had a hard time losing weight. I began feeling more and more irritable, but made no connections to the Guardasil shot. In March, immediately after receiving the second vaccine, my arm hurt terribly, I felt lightheaded, woozy, and had hives appear. Within 1 week, I started experiencing vaginal irritation again, fever, and had flu like symptoms. Over the course of the next month, I started to feel such severe fatigue, stomach aches, and uncontrollable diarrhea, that I went to my doctor. She told me I probably just had acid reflux. Two days later, I experience debilitating stomach pain, which lasted for nearly 1 month. I had an endoscopy, a CT scan, allergy tests, and blood work for thyroid disorders and other imbalances, all of which have come back reasonably normal and regular for my body and system. I did have some esophogeal damage from acid reflux, and was put on Prevacid. Receiving no answers from the Western Medical community, I cut out gluten, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, caffeine, alcohol, yeasts, and sugar from my diet and started working with an acupuncturist and naturopath. Stool sampling showed signs of Candida Yeast overgrowth in my intestines and parasites, which I am combating naturally with help from my naturopath. I a got off the Prevacid successfully with her help, and am starting to feel stronger. However, since January, I have lost 50 lbs, have experienced hair loss, fatigue, eye itchiness, emotional upset, headaches, joint pain, tingling/numbness in hands and feet, lower body tempurature, disruption in my sleep, decreased strength, muscle loss, continued gastrointestinal pain, alternating diarrhea/constipation, persistant Bacterial Vaginosis, and have not had my period since I received the second shot in March. While I do feel I am becoming stronger, this road is long and the journey is slow. My health is not what it used to be, my diet is restrictive, and I am taking multiple herbal and natural supplements, vitamins, and probiotics. The appearance of overall, chronic symptoms with the timing of the Guardasil shots makes me believe that I, like so many other women, am a victim of Guardasil. Don't get this vaccine.

I had a great experience with Biaxin. I have chronic fatigue syndrome...took Biaxin for a skin infection...the skin cleared quickly. The only side effect was that I actually slept incredibly well for the first time in years!

I took paxil for 6 years. IT takes a bit of time to start working, and for your body to adjust to it. So if you recently started taking it, and are having those symptoms, keep taking it. Your body will adjust. It really was an amazing drug for me. It eased my anxiety. However, when I stopped taking the paxil, it was terrible. The doctor gave me a plan to wean me off the medication. I still had the most unbearable side effects. I couldnt get out of bed for 2 months,felt nauseaous all the time, was insanely dizzy constantly, and an emotional mess. I was also incredibly anxious. I wouldn't wish the symptoms I fely being taken off the drug on anyone. They were the worst feelings in the world to have to cope with for 2 months straight. So, as great at it was while i was on it, I would never reccommend Paxil to anyone because of the way i felt when I was taken off of it.

Risperdal increases production of prolactin. That would explain lactation and reduced sex drive. So if you read that it doesn't affect sex drive, it may not but in some cases it very well my since increased prolactin decreases sex drive.

My 2.5 year old son has been taking oral Singulair granules for 5 days. He has developed a vasculitic rash on his arms and legs. Is this a known side effect of the medication?

It was like having the munchies when yu smoke weed.