Muscle cramps symptoms and conditions

Irregular menstrual periods, muscle cramps in pelvic region, lower abdominal pain, vaginal dryness, vaginal discharge, vaginal odor, frequent urination, pain with sexual intercourse, breast tenderness, no libido, weight gain, fatigue, acne, skin bumps, dry skin, change in skin texture, headache, migraine, depressed mood, anxiety, and mood swings.

I had my Mirena IDU inserted in October of 2007. It was "the best thing ever", at the time. I initially bled for 5 months, just a light bleeding, but bleeding non the less. The discharge has never went away. During and even after the bleeding stopped- I started having an odor. I had NEVER had an odor of any kind down there before. I failed to realize that my skin issues that started a month after insertion were related, as well as the headaches. My husband was in Korea when I got the Mirena, so it wasn't until he came home on leave that I realized the pain with intercourse, vaginal dryness, and breast tenderness. The acne, no libido, depression, anxiety, mood swings, weight gain, and fatigue started about 4 months ago. Today I woke up with horrible cramping. I will have a mild cramp about once a month for a second, but none so sever as today. In doing my research I have found that all of the problems that I have been having are linked to the IUD. Granted, it could just be a big coincidence. I'm still calling the hospital on Monday morning and making an appointment to get it removed. That's if my pain doesn't go away and I make it to the ER first. I'll keep you ladies updated on my "recovery". Good luck!

I am a 42 year old healthy male who works out and, therefore, I know what muscle fatigue and common muscle cramps feel like. However, today was my 10th dose of a 14 day supply of Levaquin 500 mg for a chronic cough and possible sinus infection. Suddenly this morning, after walking down 1 1/2 flights of stairs at our church, both of my calves simultaneously cramped so severely, I lost feeling in both of my feet. I had to grab the handle bars to keep from falling. Once we got home, I wrapped my calves in a heating pad for an hour which did little to relieve the pain and cramping. My calves are now noticeably swollen with continued cramping. I can barely walk. Suspicious of the Levaquin, my wife googled the drug and found this website. Thank God! Now all we can do is pray that the suggestions for self-help posted on Oct. 27th will work and that I do not develop any further side affects as others have posted. I will also alert my GP on Monday of this website as well as everyone we know.

I've had all these same symptoms at one point during the two years I've been taking Advair. I've had exercise induced asthma since I was 18 but I can still work out at age 38 regularly with the help of Albuterol/Proventil. I stopped taking Advair after I completed my last disk in Sept, 08. It all makes sense now after the fact from reading here. Firstly, I cant tell you how severe the muscle cramps were. No words can describe upper body cramping in every muscle that I endured for weeks (it felt like knives all over)!!! The same happened with my legs...the muscles became so tight they contorted! My Dr. gave me an m.r.i. took x-rays and several blood tests...even gave me an h.i.v. test because he had no idea what would cause all these symptoms. He said it was "complicated". The test results found nothing. All lof my symptoms are gone now that I've stopped taking it (mouth sores, bleeding gums, strange skin lumps, hair loss, dry eyes, swollen tongue feeling, lump in throat feeling, severe cramping all over my body for 3 weeks). The Dr. noted that I had gained 10lbs since my last visit. I told him, "I've barely been able to MOVE with this cramping much less exercise with my regular weekly routine!" "It even hurts to breath deeply!" I still have a dry cough that hasn't gone away and normally I clear up after the seasonal rag weed season is over. We have had two hard frosts already...that usually clears my allergies.

I've had all these same symptoms at one point during the two years I've been taking Advair. I've had exercise induced asthma since I was 18 but I can still work out at age 38 regularly with the help of Albuterol/Proventil. I stopped taking Advair after I completed my last disk in Sept, 08. It all makes sense now after the fact from reading here. Firstly, I cant tell you how severe the muscle cramps were. No words can describe upper body cramping in every muscle that I endured for weeks (it felt like knives all over)!!! The same happened with my legs...the muscles became so tight they contorted! My Dr. gave me an m.r.i. took x-rays and several blood tests...even gave me an h.i.v. test because he had no idea what would cause all these symptoms. He said it was "complicated". The test results found nothing. All lof my symptoms are gone now that I've stopped taking it (mouth sores, bleeding gums, strange skin lumps, hair loss, dry eyes, swollen tongue feeling, lump in throat feeling, severe cramping all over my body for 3 weeks). The Dr. noted that I had gained 10lbs since my last visit. I told him, "I've barely been able to MOVE with this cramping much less exercise with my regular weekly routine!" "It even hurts to breath deeply!" I still have a dry cough that hasn't gone away and normally I clear up after the seasonal rag weed season is over. We have had two hard frosts already...that usually clears my allergies.

I've been taking Omeprazole 40mg's once daily for two weeks now. I'm 28 years old and up until September have never been sick a day in my life. After an endoscopy, was diagnosed with a "hiatal hernia" after months of a mysterious vomiting syndrome and put on this drug by my Gastroenterologist.

The first week and a half was great, it was able to control my vomiting. But now, after thirteen days of taking the drug, I've been feeling incredibly fatigued over my whole body, like the way you feel the day after you lift weights. Stabbing pains in my ribs, chest and abdomen that come and go. The feeling in my stomach of being "eaten" from the inside out. It's horrible.

Like others, I've also been getting quick, stabbing headaches that come and go in a flash. Joint pain. Muscle cramps. Bloating. Depression. Waking multiple times in the middle of the night. Strange and vivid dreams. Severe nausea in the morning when I wake up. It's all really, really weird. And as of last night, my vomiting has relapsed. Keep in mind, I've NEVER experienced ANYTHING like these symptoms before in my life.

I've got a follow-up appointment scheduled with my doctor in three days and I intend to get off of this stuff immediately.

I've been taking Omeprazole 40mg's once daily for two weeks now. I'm 28 years old and up until September have never been sick a day in my life. After an endoscopy, was diagnosed with a "hiatal hernia" after months of a mysterious vomiting syndrome and put on this drug by my Gastroenterologist.

The first week and a half was great, it was able to control my vomiting. But now, after thirteen days of taking the drug, I've been feeling incredibly fatigued over my whole body, like the way you feel the day after you lift weights. Stabbing pains in my ribs, chest and abdomen that come and go. The feeling in my stomach of being "eaten" from the inside out. It's horrible.

Like others, I've also been getting quick, stabbing headaches that come and go in a flash. Joint pain. Muscle cramps. Bloating. Depression. Waking multiple times in the middle of the night. Strange and vivid dreams. Severe nausea in the morning when I wake up. It's all really, really weird. And as of last night, my vomiting has relapsed. Keep in mind, I've NEVER experienced ANYTHING like these symptoms before in my life.

I've got a follow-up appointment scheduled with my doctor in three days and I intend to get off of this stuff immediately.

Well, I have had my Mirena since June/08. I had my son in May/08. I was 7 weeks pp when I had it put in. After my son was born I felt ok, no pains besides my c section scar
NOW...since insertion I have had a mess of problems. I have been a healthy woman for a long time and never had issues like this until July-ish. I am 27.

1. I had horrible back pain and my legs felt like I walked in 7" heels the night before (the tight muscle cramps, etc). My PCP told me I could possibly have a slipped disc and wanted me to go to PT. I had all my blood work come back fine btw. Since I knew in my heart I didn't have a slipped disc I did not waste my money on PT.
2. I have NO sex drive. The thought of sex makes me gag. No joke. I had sex 6 weeks pp and had a libido with no sleep. My son sleeps 11 hrs a night and I still don't want sex. As I type, I could go the rest of my life with no sex. THAT IS NOT ME AT ALL!
3. Extreme tiredness. Like I said my son sleeps 11 hrs a night and I sleep 8 hrs a night.
4. Light-headedness- I do have a BP of 110/70 so if I get up fast I get dizzy, but more now than before.
5. Started to have SEVERE pelvic pain right above my c section scar. It hurt so bad I was about to go to the ER. I was home alone with my 6 mo old so I tried to wait it out. I called my OB and they got me in. In his exam he felt a huge knot in my pelvis and it hurt like a MF! He suspected a hernia so he sent me for a CT scan.
Got the results yesterday and they came back normal. He said maybe I bruised something. But why do I have a big knot in my pelvis?
I feel like I am crazy. My bf takes my pain issues with a grain of salt now days. My OB did say since there is progesterone in the Mirena that my leg issues could be from Mirena and he was more than happy to remove if I wanted.
I still have it in and more and more I am thinking of getting it removed. My issue is I am so bad at taking pills and didn't like the Depo.
Anyways ladies...please let me know if you have had these issues. My email is arizonaequine@yahoo.com
Hope this can help someone feel less crazy!!

I am a 21 year old female. I have been on 25mg Toprol (twice a day) for over a year now. I was having intense heart palpitations from scary panic attacks... this drug basically cured my heart irregularity. When I first started taking Toprol I experienced some muscle cramps but that lasted less than a week. Overall I have NOT experienced ANY negative side effects from this drug. It is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I was so scared before due to having at least 5 ‘episodes’ a day with my heart… now I may only have 2 – 3 per week. Such a wonderful improvement! It has really changed my life for the better.

i had the most painful and frightening episode last night. thank god for the internet....the zocor stops today....after only a week or so of low dose....severe leg ,inner thigh muscle cramps and then last night...i must speak frankly,at the end of normal sexual relations, my climax spasm transitioned into a groin and lower stomach cramp that made me roll off the bed in pain and confusion,never have i felt such horrible mind numbing pain....took about ten minutes for spasm to release,still awful sore this morning....it's oatmeal and more swimming for me...just the memory of the pain and helplessness in the midst of it make me nauseous.

Started with a Pred pak for a sinus infection. Made my heart race and had tach and early heartbeat, which kept me from sleeping. Went to Cardiologist. Several doctors denied that the Pred would cause the rapid heartbeat. Then the Cardiologist did an echo and found a pericardial effusion and some weird spots on my lungs. They suspected lung cancer which may cause the effusion, so I had surgery to do a pericardial window and a lung biopsy. Then a pulmonologist decided to put me on Pred again...steady dosage...because she didn't know what else to do. (Didn't have lung cancer) I didn't have any more funny heartbeats, so maybe the pred didn't cause it after all. But I've gained 40 pounds. My hair has grown faster, and I've gotten some facial hair (not supposed to have that, being a female)...which I call fur. Moon face with cheeks that are hard, muscle cramps, can't sleep, but once I do go to sleep, I can't wake up. Tired all the time, headaches, joint pain-sometimes severe, dry skin, generally bad attitude, with very little patience, low potassium levels which add to my muscle cramping problems, difficulty swallowing, indigestion which I've never had, with painful and burning reflux. And occasionally when I eat, I have the rapid heartbeat again. I go in search of food like I'm going to store it in my thighs for winter. Anything you eat will turn to fat, including protein. Can't wait to get off this stuff which will take until June of next year. Then my doctor says it will be 3 months before all these effects wear off. No one told me I would get fur.

I have been on Advair for a little over two years. At first I thought it was very helpful, I had a very rough summer last year and it was the only thing helping me. But lately I've noticed an increase in frequency of my migraines, muscle cramps, constant edema in my legs and always being tired. My sleep is broken due to leg cramps, back spasms, or very strange dreams. I had also gained a lot of weight, but thought it was just natural slowing of my metabolism due to age (I am 46). I am cutting back to one dose a day and plan to stop altogether soon. I also stopped my Zocor because that seemed to make my leg swelling worse and the lasix the doctor prescribed just made me pee a lot and my legs were just as swelled up as before.

STRANGELY ENOUGH THE CORRECT INFORMATION IS SHOWING UP IF YOU HIT REPLY SO DO THAT!

GUESS WHAT, WHEN YOU CUT AND PASTE THE SIDE EFFECTS INTO THIS WEBSITE THEY DON'T ALL SHOW UP!

MISSING IS:

BEHAVIOR AND MOOD RELATED CHANGES

CHECK FOR YOURSELF ON THEIR WEBSITE BECAUSE THEY ARE THERE!

MY APOLOGIES TO ALL FOR AN ERROR IN MY PRIOR POST. WHEN I CUT AND PASTED THE INFORMATION FROM MERCK'S WEBSITE NOT ALL OF IT APPEARED IN MY POST FOR SOME REASON. THE CORRECTED INFORMATION IS BELOW. CHECK THEIR WEBSITE FOR YOURSELVES TO VERIFY THIS.

THIS IS FROM THE PATIENT INFORMATION:

"What are the possible side effects of SINGULAIR?

The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side
effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).
The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:
• stomach pain
• stomach or intestinal upset
• heartburn
• tiredness
• fever
• stuffy nose
• cough
• flu
• upper respiratory infection
• dizziness
• headache
• rash

Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include:
• increased bleeding tendency
• allergic reactions
• behavior and mood related changes
• drowsiness, pins and needles/numbness, seizures (convulsions or fits)
• palpitations
• nose bleed
• diarrhea, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, nausea, vomiting
• hepatitis
• bruising
• joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps
• swelling

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped.
Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right away if you get one or more of these symptoms:
• a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
• a flu-like illness
• rash
• severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)
These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR."

d27gayle POSTED INCORRECT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF SINGULAIR. I JUST COPIED THIS FROM MERCK'S SINGULAIR WEBSITE. THIS IS THE CORRECT AND UPDATED INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION DOES LIST DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR AS SIDE EFFECTS.

IF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SHARE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE, PLEASE MAKE SURE IT IS CORRECT BEFORE POSTING!!!!!!!!!

What are the possible side effects of SINGULAIR?
The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).
The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:
• stomach pain
• stomach or intestinal upset
• heartburn
• tiredness
• fever
• stuffy nose
• cough
• flu
• upper respiratory infection
dizziness
• headache
• rash

Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include:
• increased bleeding tendency
• allergic reactions
• behavior and mood related changes
• drowsiness, pins and needles/numbness, seizures (convulsions or fits)
• palpitations
• nose bleed
• diarrhea, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, nausea, vomiting
• hepatitis
• bruising
• joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps
• swelling

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain
symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who
were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped.
Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right
away if you get one or more of these symptoms:
• a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
• a flu-like illness
• rash
• severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)

These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist. Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR.

THE FOLLOWING IS COPIED DIRECTLY FROM THE SINGULAIR WEBSITE.....

The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).

The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:

stomach pain
stomach or intestinal upset
heartburn
tiredness
fever
stuffy nose
cough
flu
upper respiratory infection
dizziness
headache
rash
Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include (listed alphabetically):

agitation including aggressive behavior, allergic reactions (including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat, which may cause trouble breathing or swallowing), hives, and itching, bad/vivid dreams, increased bleeding tendency, bruising, diarrhea, drowsiness, hallucinations (seeing things that are not there), hepatitis, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, irritability, joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps, nausea, palpitations, pins and needles/numbness, restlessness, seizures (convulsions or fits), swelling, trouble sleeping, and vomiting.

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped. Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right away if you get one or more of these symptoms:

a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
a flu-like illness
rash
severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)
These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR.

I was prescribed Bactrim for a staph infection that turned out to be MRSA. I took the pills (2 pill 2x a day for 10 days). It did clear up the infection; but the side effects sent me back to the doctor. After the second dose, I started having a headache and feeling feverish. After the third dose, my muscles started aching and I began having little muscle spasms and numbness in my right arm and a low grade fever, headache and fatigue. The morning after the 5th dose, I woke up with severe muscles cramps in my legs and feet. I took the 6th dose and what a mistake. The muscle cramps and spasms moved to my inner thigh, legs, feet, abdomen and back. I had to use heat packs to quiet the muscles. I stopped taking the meds and notified the doctor. He changed my prescription to doxy and said that I was allergic to sulfer meds. He also gave me flexorial to help with the muscle spasms. It been 3 days since I stopped taking the meds. I still feel severe fatigue, muscle aches, fever, sweating, and anxiety. I will never take this stuff or anything like it again. I have noted it in my pharmacy charts so they will no ahead in case I don't catch it.

wow, guys, so...i have had mirena in since April 08, and experiences minimal side effects that i was told would happen. slowly but surely though other things kept coming around, including:
-10-15 day periods
-constant cramping, extremely painful at least 2-3x a day on either left or right side
-no sex drive
-high irritability at unpredictable times
-muscle cramps
-headaches about 2x a week
-nausea at least 3x a week
-fatigue about 2x a week

When i first got on i thought all these people complaining were whiney, whusses. but now i see that all these little annoying things add up, and aren't good.

so i am getting mine taking out tomorrow, and the only form of birth control i will use is the easy fertility awareness method. charting your cycles is natural and fairly easy, and can help you avoid pregnancy, or get prego. Taking Charge of Your fertility, by Toni Weschler is the book i use, It is totally the fertility bible! Man-made hormones are just going to screw you over eventually, why not try just educating yourself and knowing when not to have sex, or to be protected? It worked enough for me before i got prego, i got pregnant exactly when i wanted to. I just went on mirena cuz it was easy, paid for by insurance, and i didn't have to avoid sex with my hubby that one week a month, haha now i don't even want it. funny stuff, eh?

I will try to up date after i get it taken out to see if i get the same relief that many of you felt!

Horrific muscle cramps, twitches or fluttering in my heart/chest. Aches, pains, depression, feeling old, having lots of hair come out each day, thinking it looks like more than it should be, swollen stomach/bladder/uterus, urge to pee even when my bladder is empty. Cramps in my bladder/abdomen. Some dizziness and weird vision episodes.

They had me add these in a separate area - these are just the majority of what I can think of. Part 2 to my post.

Anjamaka,
Like you I have taken BCPs since the age of 18 and like you I did not suffer any side effects, I took Yasmin in 2001 with no side effects at all for nearly 4 years when I started to feel really bad :horrendous muscle cramps/ blackouts, hypoglycemia, lost of energy, arthritis, earache, fatigue, heart palpitations etc etc...and I have a very healthy life, I eat well and exercise regularly. When I stopped Yasmin 4 years after, these symptoms went away!! So don't say that we are complaining and wait until your time comes!!
Sylvie

Wow you are all a bunch of complainers who try and blame XYZ on Yasmin which probably have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the pills. I have bee diagnosed with PCOS and have been on hormone therapy since age 15, first zovia, which worked well enough but did not get rid of a lot of my symptoms, only lessened them somewhat, so now I am on yaz. My depression has completely subsided, I feel GREAT and only had some nausea which almost EVERYONE gets when taking a hormone therapy birth control pill. Trust me, if you are going to have SIDE EFFECTS it is not going to happen 4 YEARS LATER, please.... grow up and take responsibility for yourselves, rather than trying to blame a pill

Hi Ladies,
I am 31 with 3 beautiful children. I have had the mirena since July 2007. I now have a thyroid disorder called Hashimoto's thyroids. No personal or family history of any type of thyroid diseases. I am having mine removed in 4 days. Of course my family practice MD claims there is absolutely no connection between the mirena and my new onset of thyroid disorder. Just FYI for all of you ladies out there, the symptoms most commonly reported by a majority of you, take a look at the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Fatigue
Weakness
Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
Coarse, dry hair
Dry, rough pale skin
Hair loss
Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)
Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
Constipation
Depression
Irritability
Memory loss
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Decreased libido

Any of these sound familiar??? All of my labs including my thyroid (TSH) levels came back normal. Except one. PTO, the test for thyroid antibodies. My immune system is literally attacking my thyroid. Thyroid levels under 3.0 are looked at for many women with infertility and miscarriage. Mine was 2.44, which is within normal range, but I am also on the verge of hypothyroidism. 3 weeks ago I noticed a lump on the left side of my thyroid, I just found the infertility information late last night, and that's how I wound up here. Mirena is doing its job, but it is also messing with your metabolism. Just because your thyroid levels are within normal range does not necessarily mean you are not having thyroid issues or it may be early enough where your levels are not "concerning" yet. No connection between thyroid and Mirena, huh???? Good Luck to all of you.

Lately my wife has been experiencing of depression, lack of energy, muscle cramps, nausea, enlarged and soar breasts (nipples are hot also), headaches, insomnia, vaginal discomfort and sourness with and without physical contact, constipation, and other symptoms, which I cannot as a male, properly describe. Is this accumulation of symptoms normal or should we look in another direction for birth control (besides condoms)? A concerned husband, Kenny...

Within about 8 days of starting Yaz, I developed muscle pain all over my body, but especially in my legs and shoulders. Sometimes it felt like muscle cramps, sometimes like a crawling feeling, sometimes like a pinching, sometimes like a knot. Blood tests and a Doppler test showed no blood clots, but I went off the pill anyway. The symptoms started improving after a few days, and mostly went away within a few weeks. But then I came down with extreme itching and discharge, and trips to four different doctors revealed no infection. That finally cleared up after about two months. Now I'm on a different pill, and unfortunately the muscle pain is coming back. So I guess hormonal birth control might not be for me, but like someone said, this is not easy to deal with in a committed monogamous relationship. I'm going to take a break from all hormonal birth control and hope that the return of the muscle pain was just because my body isn't ready yet after the Yaz.

I first posted back in January, after having been on Toprol XL for 7-weeks. It's now been about 8-months and some of the side affects are still there, although lessened. My BP, as of two weeks ago, was 114/68. My pulse averages about 68 BPM, lowest in the AM (as low as 48 at times) and as high as 78 in late afternoon. After hard exercise my pulse will hit 110-120, but rapidly drops to 75 or 80 within 5-minutes.

After taking my dose (25 mg), almost predictably I have weird chest pain and gas in the afternoon and some muscle cramps. The symptoms subside after a few hours. Other than that all other nasty symptoms have gone away. I still have extremely vivid dreams, but most are very interesting and the nightmares are all but non-existent. Here are some things that helped me. 1) Take the Toprol immediately after a meal and with a large quantity of water. 2) Take it at the same time every day. I tried several different times and for me with lunch works best. 3) Try to stick with the brand name. I switched to the generic version ($8.00 vs $39.00) and the side affects worsened. Anyone that says that a generic is equivalent to the "real thing" is full of crap. 4) Meals with a higher fat content seems to lessen the side affects. Not sure why, but I experimented with this and it works for me. I'm not promoting fatty food (I'm not overweight). 5) EXERCISE if you can. Even moderate exercise will help. I work out 30-minutes each day and this has helped tremendously.