Medication symptoms and conditions

I would just like to say that I was presribed Prednisone for inflamation. I know that some medications are used for different conditions but felt the need to comment due to the instructions I was given while on this medication. I had a total of 15 20mg pills and was to take 3 per day for 5 days. The doctor stated that it was very important not to take more then the above dose for my condition because it would be possible to shut down the " the sterroid making system" thats already in our body. So be carefull with this one all. This medication made me extremely sick to my stomach as well.

i, too had the head zaps with lexapro. they happened when i stopped taking it and also if i missed a dose. i thought i was the only one who had them and i could never really describe them to anyone else. they sucked though. i also gained about 15-20 lbs on lexapro but i'm not sure if it was related to the meds. when i was on lexapro it kinda made me a sociopath...i didn't really care about anyone or anything. it didn't make me happy or unhappy...just made me not care about anything. i almost ruined my relationship. honestly i never really felt like i needed medication. so i was on it for about a year and one day just decided to stop taking it...not the best idea cuz the withdrawal symptoms were pretty bad. in addition to the head zaps, i had migraines and walked around in a fog for awhile. i was also super cranky bc i stopped taking the Pill at the same time so some of the side effects could have been hormone-related. needless to say i was kind of a mess for a few weeks afterward. but i'm fine now.

I am a 52 yr old woman who was rushed by ambulance to the hospital on Sunday 4, 2009. I awaken with a horrible ripping pain in my lower left side and back. It reminded me of labor pain although it was worse because I knew I wasn't about to have a baby. I could barely walk and the pain kept me bent over, and burning in agony. After being x-rayed and diagnosed I was told I had a very tiny kidney stone, along with a UTI. I was told they could manage my pain better if they kept me overnight, with hopes I'd pass the tiny stone by urinating in a little strainer cup, to catch the stone. I've not seen the stone yet, and this is the 3rd day. Anyway, I awaken in the hospital after being knocked out by pain medication, with an excrutiating headache, as if someone was putting pressure on my neck and back of head. I also noticed a big red rash on my forehead. The nurse gave me benadryl, and continued my doses of Bactrim, and Flomax. When I was released the next day I was given a prescription to fill, Bactrim 2X 3 day therapy, Flomax, and Vicodin. Recovering at home I've had an excrutiating headache the entire 3 days.. I had nausea, felt chills, had no appetite, and felt dizzy and as if I'd throw up every time I got up. I ran a low grade fever of 100*. After reading this site I know that it had to be the Bactrim that caused all those horrendous side effects.This is the fourth day since I was diagnosed and I still have a UTI, and will be calling my doctor in the morning, thanks to post like these.

I am a 38 year old female prescribed clindamycin for a tooth abscess and it is the absolute worst. The main issue is stomach/intestinal problems. Unless I take it with a lot of food or some Pepto-bismol, I will puke after taking it. Also, my stomach is so bloated, I look like I'm pregnant, not exaggerating! Also, it makes you reeeeallly lethargic and I've completely lost all my energy. The only reason I am not stopping this medication is because my tooth is really badly infected, but it you do have to take it, be warned--it sucks!

A few years ago, my doctor prescribed advair to better control my asthma. After a few days, I had an almost fatal reaction to the medication. I woke up feeling fine, took a shower, and got ready for work. I took a puff from the advair discus and immediately felt my throat closing. I started gasping for air and took my rescue inhaler which didn't work at all. The nebulizer didn't work either. Within minutes I collapsed and became unconscious.Luckily, my son was late for work that day so he called 911 and gave me mouth to mouth resuscitation until the paramedics arrived. My blood pressure dropped to 60/30 and I had to be intubated for the first time. I remained unconscious until I reached the hospital. The doctor said the only reason I survived was because my son saved me. If I had been alone that day I'm sure everyone would have assumed that I died from an asthma attack. I wonder how many other people that happened to. Since then, I have been very careful about taking new medications.

I just looked at this site to see what side effects people are experiencing with this medication. Here is my experience: I went to see my ENT doctor-this is a great practice and I still have full confidence in their abilities despite what happened to me. I have been having trouble with lots of sinus headaches, and my tonsils becoming infected. However, I have severe hay fever type allergies so most of the time I put up with my symptoms and they go away. However, I knew that I probably needed an antibiotic because my symptoms were getting worse and I had caught a flu-cold thing on top of it. When I went to the ENT she said she thinks that my tonsils may need to come out and prescribed 10 days of Avelox along with a sinus rinse (saline only) she was concerned because I am allergic to a lot of antibiotics (mostly I get hives) so she gave me Avelox. I did not read the side effects before taking it. The reason being I get nervous taking antibiotics as it is because of my allergies and tend to freak myself out. So I just read the part about drinking lots of water, no vitamins,etc.. Even though I had a cold-flu thing I did not take my Allegra or even Tylenol to ease my other symptoms and no vitamins (which I usually take) I only took the Avelox. I also chose to take it at night because on the bottle it warned of dizziness or drowsiness. I have small children to take care of so I couldn't be dizzy during the day! The first night I took it around 10:00-I had trouble falling asleep, felt kind of woozy and high. However, I didn't worry about it cause I knew it could happen. I fell asleep and woke in the night feeling totally freaked out. I kept thinking someone was going to break in the house, I felt really scared for no reason. I wanted to wake up my husband so bad but I didn't because he had the flu and needed some rest. After that I kept drifting in and out of sleep and my mouth kept watering and watering. The next morning I told him to go in the bathroom and read the side effects to HIMSELF-I only wanted to know if what I mentioned was in there. He said yes. I continued to take the drug the next night-this time I felt lots better like my infection was clearing and the woozy feeling was less than the night before which made me happy. But again during the night I felt freaked out and had trouble sleeping all night. The next day I got diarrhea. Again, I figured minor side effects, I need to stick with this and clear up my infection. I took the pill for 5 nights. There were several times during the day that I weird pains (but not super painful-more annoying) a pain in my thumb, my hand, my shoulder, my calf. It was only here or there-not too big of a deal but I thought it was weird. Then I had something happen with my daughter (a family type emergency) which led to lots of crying and drama the entire day. That night I took the drug again (This was actually last night-the 5th time taking it) Again, trouble sleeping but better than the nights before. I woke at 6 this morning to get my daughter ready for school and as soon as I got out of bed I almost fell down. My legs and arms felt SO heavy I can't even describe it. I could barely make it across the room, then the dizziness hit and I started to feel really bad, I started to black out. I laid down on the floor and started sweating, felt like a cold feeling through my body and then my body started going numb. At first I thought "Oh god, I am having an anxiety attack of some kind from all the stress the day before." but it just got worse and worse, I felt like I was having trouble breathing and swallowing. The worst part was if I even tried to LIFT my head off the floor I started to black out (my vision was closing around me and my ears were ringing like crazy) then my mind went crazy-am I having a heart attack (no it couldn't be I am 39!) then the weirdest thing happend my thumbs felt like the muscles were cramping and being drawn into the palms of my hands uncontrollably. That is when I started freaking out. I was yelling-my husband had to leap out of the shower.I kept telling him, something is really wrong get me to the hospital. At one point told him to call 911. I seriously thought "this might be it, the end and I am gonna die here cause my stupid husband keeps rubbing me and trying to calm me down instead of calling 911!" Then I think he got freaked out because it just wouldn't stop and every time he tried to lift me up slightly I would start to faint. Finally, the blacking out thing eased enough he could sit me up, then I finally worked me into standing. He got me to the car and we decided to go to the urgent care versus the ER. They turned us away and told us to go to my doctor because of the antibiotic They said they would see me if I wanted but they really thought I should see her because the antibiotic is really strong and could be the problem. I thought they were crazy and I got really pissed off thinking "What the hell? I could be dying here and they want me to see my freaking ENT?!" My husband talked me into leaving because my ENT was in the next door building. Their office was just opening. They took my blood pressure, it was good, my pulse was good, they checked my ear pressure to see if it had to do with the dizziness and I argued my ears are fine! This is different from dizziness I had from past ear infections I was almost blacking out! But, alas one of my ears was off, and had inflammation. Then they gave me a steroid shot. They said that my infection looked gone in my tonsils but they are still concerned about my sinuses and what is going on there. I have to have a CT scan next week. They said they felt what happened to me was a combo of my ear swelling and a reaction to the antibiotic. They did not give me another antibiotic because they said 5 days was sufficient time to kill the infection. I came home today and tried to rest but it was hard because I had the kids. All day it was an effort to move or walk but thank god the other symptoms were going away. Now it is about 11:30 at night, I can't sleep and I was lying here freaking out about my legs being so screwed up. I have stairs and it is all I can do to walk up or down them. I started thinking the doctor may be nuts and that something really horrible is wrong with me (can you say paranoid?!) so I got on my lap top while my husband is asleep next to me. I found this site. Thank god. Now I can calm down and try to get some sleep! I am not dying of some freaky ailment-it IS the Avelox making me feel this way. While mentally I feel so much better and I am going to stop writing this book-I am still pretty concerned about how long the side effects with my legs are going to last. I am also a little freaked about going to the gym even after I do feel better. I will try to write later to let everyone know when my legs get back to normal. If anyone is experiencing the same symptoms I did. Stop taking this medicine and call your doctor right away. I felt so stupid complaining about all this weird stuff-my husband acted like I might be a little nuts! Now I know its the meds!! :)

I have been on Loestrin for about 6+ months now. I have a lot of the same symptoms as everyone else. The only thing that is different is that I'm not feeling psycho anymore...because I had my doctor put me on another medication to help with that. The name of it is Lexapro. It is AMAZING! I could tell a huge difference within the first week. I have never felt so rational, level headed, and normal before in my life. My husband loves it! We used to fight all the time. Now, it's only once in a blue moon. Lexapro works wonders, hand in hand with loestrin. As far as the extreme fatigue, weight gain, acne, etc. that I have, I don't know what to do. I haven't had a period in 3 months.

I am a 44 year old female with diabetes. I have high blood pressure and as a precaution was prescribed simvastian(zocor). I have only been on it for about 3 weeks...I have been feeling tired and very moody lately...but yesterday I woke up with my right leg swollen from the calf down my foot with severe burning pain and numbness. Now I have experienced Neuropathy in my left foot for years and somehow thought maybe this pain and numbness and swelling had to do with that...until this morning when I woke up to a severe pain in my right calf ( I immediately thought blood clot).. well I have a doctor's appt tomorrow to see what this is....right now Im sitting at work in so much pain and discomfort I want to cry...my feet are burning, my right leg and right shoulder are in burning pain...and my hands are numb and burning and in pain. I have to sit for hours at a time and cant just take a break when I need too...Ive only been taking this medication for 3 weeks and can not believe that all this pain and burning is from one little pill. Has anyone else had severe swelling from this medicine. Any other diabetics taking this medicine and having the same side effects? Im certain they are going to want me to stay on this medication and at this point after reading all these wonderful post, Im going to stop...Im even having difficulty in typing this post my hands hurt so bad. Im so angry that when I asked my Doctor about side effects he never mentioned these. he told me about being nauseated, constipated and so one...Ohh and I have also gained about 10 pounds in 3 weeks without changing my eating habits...anyone else have that? Thank you for letting me vent here. I was scared to death until I found this site. I was seriously considering leaving work and going to the ER room...Now Im just going to stop taking it and waiting this out till tomorrow....

my granddaughter has been on singulair since she was 5 months old she is now 6yrs old and it does control her asthma, but lately i have noticed a lot of the symptoms posted here. Headache, stomach pains, nightmares, sleepwalking, and the episodes are getting more frequent. When she does this mostly at night it is scary to me especially when she is crying for help and you don't know how to help her. I was searching for something else and was brought to this site, like i was meant to see it and it really scared me. I have already called her doctor and got an appointment for tomorrow. I want her off this medicine as soon as possible.

My son is 12 and has been taking Singulair for the last ten months...he has been getting moody and upset for no good reason over the last 3 months and I put it down to "hormones" starting to kick in. He has now gone to feeling very sad and has even told me last night that he has thought about killing himself several times and feels he can't go on, or cope and feels lost and lonely or unwanted and in the way. He is confused and does not understand what is happening to him. I have just realized it may be the Singulair and will be taking him off it immediately. I'm hoping it is this as if it isn't I feel totally helpless as to how to help my child. Please say a prayer for him. He used to be happy go lucky.

I just started taking Lisinopril 2 weeks ago for my high blood pressure, I'm coughing all the time with mucus, my left rib cage feels like somebody is continuously stabbing me in the same spot and then afterwards I would get a weird tingling sensation, I've lost my voice, I'm hungry all the time, I urinate way more than usual, I get irritated easily and start yelling at people when they haven't done anything, I'm exhausted from doing nothing. This medicine is terrible, I'm going to my doctor tomorrow and tell her that I'm going to stop taking it, I don't care, it's just not worth all the side effects.

LOL - I just started taking this med and was starting to think I'm pregnant (which would NOT be good!). Nausea, slight burning in abdominal area (like implantation) and headache, heartburn. I have to say I'm kinda relieved it's just this medication!!! Was prescribed for UTI and didn't want an antibiotic that would compromise my birth control so was put on this.

i had been diagnosed with a sinus infection and i had been prescribed doxycycline hyclate 100MG 2 times a day. I have been taking it for almost a week and i have experienced extreme nausea, headaches, lower back pain, lower abdominal pain, hot flashes,dizziness and a slight fever. before i saw this site i was worried that something else more serious was wrong with me.
Should i stop taking this medication? should i tell my doctor?

I have had great experiences with Levothyroxine. I am no longer tired, achey, grumpy, constipated. I feel great. I am only 27 years old and got my hypothyroidism from having my first child. I am excited that my levels are now normal after 3 months (TSH was 25.89). I was on .50 mcg now I am on .75. Feel great!
I am a medical technician and have found that a lot of people who start on a certain medication for hypothyriodism, such as Synthroid - do not fair well if they have to switch. My doctor always says NOT to switch...not EVER. She repeats over and over again to check my prescription every time I receive it. That means checking the pills against each other, because hypothyroidism medication is one of the highest missed - filled prescription. If I were anyone who has had to switch, I would demand to be put back on your original meds. Have your physician write up your symptoms with the new meds and make a recommendation to the insurance company that you NEED synthriod.

My 9 year old son started Singulair 5mg about 8 months ago. Shortly after, he started to occasionally complain of stomach pain and not being hungry. About 2 months ago, they changed the dosage to 10mg. He now has chronic diarrhea and severe weight loss. We stopped the medicine about 2 weeks ago, but he's not "back to normal" yet. He's never had any digestive problems before. The doctor's recommending endoscopes, and we're at our wit's end.

My daughter is 10 and took Singulair for a little over two years. She struggled during that time with being anxious, irritable, sad, not wanting affection, crying often, and with easily taking offense at anything and everything. We were having difficulty with her being disrespectful. We even began taking her to a counselor. After about two weeks of being off of the singulair--all of the above symptoms have completely disappeared. I am so thankful that I took her off of the medication.

Jan. 4th, 2009
4:35 am
I have been on wellbutrin 150 for several month's now and I have extreme dry mouth, sometime's unable to swallow without taking a drink. Itching, strong urine odor, hand's shake badly when drinking and sometime's eating, headache's, dizziness, lightheaded, balance is bad, nausea, depression seem's to be returning, weight gain, short term memory, leg cramp's bad enough that I have to get out of bed and walk them off, burning spot's on my lower leg's. Including the wellbutrin 150, I take about 27 or 28 pill's a day and it seem's like every time I go the doctor they add more pill's. I now also have nighttime incontinence and barely make it to the bathroom in time, but still have leakage or worse going to the bathroom, having trouble getting to sleep and if I get awakened it sometime's take's 2 or 3 hour's to get back to sleep.
--By floridapeach / Reply / Private Message Me

I have been on Yaz for almost two years. The first year was convinced it was a miracle pill because all my PMDD symptoms disappeared. Since April of this year I have been walking up around 5 am and throwing up. I am on day six of my January pack and have had diarrhea or vomited in the morning. I know 100% I am not pregnant because I use the Yaz as directed and condoms. However I since bc convinces your body your pregnant I think I am experiencing morning sickness. I have talked to several doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist about this issue and they all think it is highly unlikely I could be experiencing a side affect after having none for so long but I think they are wrong. I have a big training event a t work coming up in February and don't want to go off bc or start another because I'm scared of the PMDD getting bad. HELP!

I wrote a post few days ago about Singulair and how great my daughter is doing since she started to take this medication three months ago.
Then I started reading about all the side effects that other children had because of Singulair. I GOT SO SCARED!
So scared that last night I stopped giving Singulair to my daughter.

From January to September my daughter had asthma every other week. She was put on steroids (prednisolone) every time she couldn't breath. Then in September the pulmonologist said we have to take control of the situation because so much steroids can damage a little body.
She made me feel I had been a terrible mothers since I always refused to give her singulair.
She convinced me and then I started Singulair, but now I feel worst because I have the feeling I am giving poison to my daughter even if her asthma is under control.

My 7 years old stopped Singulair 12 hours ago, I do not know what is going to happen now. Of course I cannot call the pulmonologist anymore in case my ds gets bad.
Somebody here said that she is giving her son Nordic Naturals Fish Oil, Culturelle probiotics, vitamin c, and changing his diet - increased magnesium and decreased dairy.I will love to have more information about this alternative way of controlling asthma. I do not remember who wrote this post. If there is a web site of a doctor I can contact i will do right away. I live in New York.

I need help. Thank you so much.

I started Wellbutrin in the beginning of December. Someone very close to me passed away and I developed severe anxiety with some depression. I took some control of it with simply taking Ativan, but the doctor insisted I get on something for depression as well. I didn't really understand why I need to take a pill when I was just fine before this event.... but ok, I agreed.

I was prescribed Wellbutrin XL 150 mg. I was optimistic about it. She said it might improve my focus, give me some energy back, had no sexual side effects.

I took it in the morning, and usually with at least something in my stomach. The first 3 days of taking it, I was severely unstable. I think if I didn't have my boyfriend, I would be dead right now. I would cry uncontrollably, for no reason, pace, have terrible anxiety... I remember going through my closet, throwing things around, looking for a belt, throwing a few on the bed and taking one and tightening it around my neck.. I then walked around and was looking for a place to hang myself.. Luckily my boyfriend got home because he had a bad feeling about what was happening with me... otherwise I, to this day, do not know what I would have done.

After the first 3 days... things sort of calmed down... sometimes I would feel "better" in little spurts the first week.

I also had my sex drive for the first 2 weeks and it was good. I still wasn't "happy" but the medication wasn't doing any significant harm.

In the 3rd week, I lost interest in nearly everything. I didn't want to step foot outside. I stopped talking to my family, stopped answering my phone, I would lay in bed for hours, thinking of depressive things. I began eating, a lot. Constantly. Which shocked me since it is supposedly supposed to suppress appetite. I stopped going to school.

In the 4th week, and last, things gradually, and then quite suddenly just went downhill. It started with me becoming very agitated, snapping at everyone. My mental clarity was out the window. When someone said something, it took me a long time to register it, if I ever did. Sometimes my boyfriend would look at me after saying something and I would realize, oh my god, he said something... I really didn't hear/listen anymore. I was brain dead to everything except these horrible thoughts of just wanting to die. As the days progressed in the 4th week, I became more and more depressed. If I had to describe it, I would say it was a mental breakdown. I would cry hysterically over nothing. Absolutely nothing. I couldn't think of a single reason. I would start to cry while brushing my hair, while eating, sitting, watching a movie... I would cry 20 or more times a day. I really wanted to die because I could not bear it anymore. I felt like this was the end and it was going to end.. I wanted to inflict injury on myself, but focused my thoughts on more "permanent" damage -- suicide. I became obsessed with buying a gun. I swear if I had one, I would not be here. I would hit myself, all over my legs, while sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. Days later my boyfriend would ask where the bruises came from because it would be in such a weird area that there was no way i walked into something... and I would tell him I had no idea, and I didn't..... until later I realized it was me, hitting myself.... I felt very depersonalized. I felt unpredictable and I felt that I was not sure what I was going to do next, I was afraid of myself and very paranoid. I lost my appetite and never wanted to eat, thinking of food made me nauseous. I felt sick to my stomach. My anxiety was through the roof. My mind wouldn't stop spinning with thoughts, repetitive... until eventually it lead to another breakdown.

With my luck, it reached it's worst around the new year when everything was closed and I couldn't get a hold of anybody. I desperately called mental emergency facilities but all they said they could do was commit me for at least 72 hours and I didn't want that. I just wanted this to end, NOW, not be trapped in another hell hole. My mental doctor was closed so I tried to see my primary care and he was too afraid to mess with anything and told me to double my ativan dosage (WHAT! Because of Wellbutrin, I went from taking .5 or less mg of ativan a day to taking 2mg or more and still, it barely did anything!), so I went to the ER, and they did nothing, except tell me that the only way to help me would be if I went to a hospital for 72 hours. I said NO. It is ridiculous to allow someone to get this bad, and to not help them immediately, instead leave it up to them, to either be placed in some state run down mental facility or kill themselves that day.

I got a hold of my doctor the next day and she switched it immediately.

Got Mirena in August 2006, 2 months after the birth of my son. It hurt and I was very dizzy afterwards. The bleeding lasted for about a couple of months, but got better. The problems have really been within the last 6 months. The small problems - joint pain, lower back pain, cramping, weight gain. Another problem, something similar to a catch in my uterus prior to orgasm. Oh my gosh! My husband has actually felt the threads during sex. The absolute worst problem is the migraines. I have a history of migraines - usually right before or after my period. Now, I cramp every week, have spotting about every two weeks along with migraines that put me to bed. Sometimes I vomit from the pain. I've used Midrin for years as a rescue medication. Most of the time, I have to take 3-4 to get rid of the pain. My regular doctor wants me to take Topamax. I'm afraid to. I'm thinking removal of this Mirena will help. Can anyone offer some info on how their migraines became after removal?

I was on the pill for about 4 years, but I got really tired of taking it every day. I got kind of lax with it so I decided it was a good idea to change. I considered depo, but I know it causes weight gain and takes a really time to get out of your system. My doctor said nuvaring was her favorite form of birth control for college students, so I tried it.I didn't understand my side effects at first either, the first two months seemed okay. Then:
-A month of bleeding.
-Monthly yeast infections (never a problem before.)
-Complete inability to orgasm (never a problem before.)

I am clinically depressed (on medication for 5 years) and nuvaring didn't seem to affect that.

I'm getting off this evil, evil thing next week and hopefully will get my orgasms back. Anyone know anything about implanon?

Hi I just wandered to be a new one whit this medication for my 5 years ol boy, so y just want to know if there is any effect o sintom using Singulair as treatment .
Thanks so much

I had the Mirena put in in March or April (can't remember which one) of 2007. It was absolutely the worst pain I had felt in my life when it went in, but by the end of the day I was fine. (I had to walk home from the Planned Parenthood and could barely do it, the pain was so bad at the time.) I didn't notice any side effects, or at least nothing that I immediately linked to the Mirena. I read the list of side effects, but nothing was listed as "severe" and I had no idea that these side effects were so common and so intense.

By summer I was a wreck emotionally. I thought it was due to the stress of my senior year of college. I visited my boyfriend over winter break and snapped at him for every little thing he did or said. I actually threw rocks at him, punched him, etc., and yelled at him ALL THE TIME. I was also crying almost every day by that point. The acne was beginning but it wasn't too bad yet, just a few large cysts on my face, mostly on my chin, but I didn't think that it was connected to the IUD.

By the end of the summer that relationship was over due to my extreme moodiness (this was a long-term relationship and I had never been moody like that before), depression, lightning-quick temper, etc. The acne was still on my face and slowly but surely getting worse. I was still moody and cried all the time.

Fast-forward a year, and by fall 2008 the acne was taking over my face. I was embarrassed to go out. I spent three hundred dollars on makeup to try to cover it up. I think I still have scars on my chin, but it's hard to tell through the cysts that remain. Like many women who have posted here and elsewhere online, my acne was disgusting: giant, red, painful cysts that never came to a head and took weeks to go away. They didn't respond to any acne medication. I saw a dermatologist and she told me it was probably my toothpaste (my toothpaste causes acne on my forehead??) and told me to take antibiotics. Of course that didn't work. I was also a complete train wreck emotionally. I was in a new relationship but continued the same behaviors as in the previous relationship post-Mirena: short temper, yelling, overreacting to minor things, sometimes physical violence because I just got SO ANGRY with little or no provocation. There were a few months when I literally cried every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I thought it was due to the stressful things that were going on in my life and didn't even imagine it could be related to the Mirena.

A few days ago, on December 30, 2008, I was so fed up with the acne that I was googling, and I knew that sometimes acne can have hormonal causes. So I googled "Mirena acne" and came across this message board and many others, all of them basically saying the same thing. I showed my current boyfriend (who on several occasions almost broke up with me because of my moody, irrational behavior that I now know was caused by the Mirena!) what all of you and the women on the other boards had written, and I called to see how quickly I could get the thing taken out. On the phone with the insurance company, I started crying when she said I would probably have to wait three weeks to have it removed. I wept for a long time and then the next day I went straight into the urgent care center, where I again ended up crying. After much begging and looking completely pathetic, they finally agreed to take it out, and since then, I have felt five thousand million percent better. I haven't cried or felt like crying since I had it removed, and I haven't been moody or irritable or angry or quick-tempered. My boyfriend has said and done things that I know would have made me cry or want to punch him in the face, and I haven't reacted in either of those ways since the Mirena has been out of my body. I actually thought it would take a while for the hormones to get out of my body, but I feel SO MUCH BETTER already.

It took a long time for these symptoms to show up for me, and a long time for me to realize what was causing them. For anyone who is considering the Mirena, I would strongly encourage you to try the Paragard or one of the other non-hormonal methods. I actually had used the Nuvaring for a while too, and that one wasn't as bad as this. The Mirena has been HELL. The only positive side effect I had from it was that my periods got really light, to the point that I didn't have to use tampons or really much of anything beyond pantiliners. I'm scared to try the Paragard because it's supposed to make your periods much heavier, and also because the Mirena was such a hellish contraption. Other effects I've had that may or may not be due to the Mirena are: constipation, though this may have been due to the stress of living overseas; fatigue; dizziness, like I'm going to pass out and/or fall over if I stand up too quickly; inability to lose weight unless I am literally starving.