Pharmaceutical reps symptoms and conditions

This is my third posting. At this URL thousands of people have recounted how they were were poisoned by medicine that was supposed to make them well. Reading these accounts is like watching a science fiction horror film. One after another over the course of five years since medicines.com began posting their respective experiences, another hapless victim falls headlong into the levaquin trap. It's like watching cars crash on a fog-filled highway. Suggestible doctors rely upon marketing representations by pharmaceutical reps. Doe-eyed patients fill with confidence their doctors' prescriptions. A small percentage of these presciptees --- what % we likely will never know --- suffers severe adverse reactions that change their lives forever. There are several thousand accounts of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) re: levaquin on this website alone. There must be ten times that number of computer illiterates or incurious who experienced ADRs but who never posted their stories on medicines.com. Insofar as Levequin poisoning can appear many months after the prescription-taker discontinued taking his/her prescription, one wonders separately how many people became blind-sided by symptoms which the ADR sufferer never remotely traced back to quinolones. Suddenly out-of-the-blue a hapless victim is felled by symptoms that require exhaustive medical testing. No-one intended this DNA-changing drug to create full employment for medical personnel. Ironically Levaquin poisoning has created a pharmaceutical aftermarket for medical professionals who occupy a no-lose proposition: Either Levaquin will cure what ails you now, or consequent Levaquin poisoning will put you at the head of the line for additional testing. The right hand unwittingly prescribes a poison while the left hand tests you and treats you for a possible antidote! It's really a half-wit's delight with possibly deadly consequences. The FDA bows to the invisible hand of deregulation and social Darwinism: What doesn't kill you makes you better. If enough people complain about their ADRs, the FDA might or might not post a black box warning about the prescription drug's adverse effect. But unaddressed is the crucial link between commission-incented pharmaceutical marketing reps and their prey ---- harried doctors who are too busy to read the contraindications' fine print. Big pharmacy knows well the drill, and has earmarked a percentage of company profits and set them aside to cover the inevitable lawsuits from crippled Levqauin consumers and/or their heirs. Big pharma's profits exceed big pharma's court-mandated awards. The hubaballo dies-down about the time the FDA has weighed-in with warnings and after big pharma has retired its belatedly discredited antibiotic in favor of marketing a **miracle** new generation replacement. It's Sisyphus (look it up) all over! It's hard not to be cynical and bitter. This is the equivalent of taking incoming "friendly fire" in the medical profession. With ADRs like these who needs illness? Just take the medicine and proceed right to sick.

I don't have a side effect to report, but I have read all of your responses. Over all they are 95% negative. The only thing I am wondering, is WHY you chose Yaz to begin with.

I have been thinking about taking Yaz to help with my severe PMDD. If you don't know what that is, basically it's like the moodiness side of PMS times 10. I am euphorically happy normally, lol, kind of like how happy a cocker spaniel is when their family gets home... except I don't piddle on the floor. About 5 days before my period starts I go into a very deep depression, I bloat, I am irritable, and my entire life suffers. I cry (wail is more like it) for absolutely NO reason... blah blah blah. But once I am about 2 or 3 days into my cycle it all passes and I am back to chipper me.

Long story short, I heard Yaz is supposed to be amazing to help stabilize emotions in people like me. How many of you started Yaz just as birth control, or as an acne control? How many of you took it for PMDD and it STILL didn't help?

I discovered this site last Wednesday morning - without taking the time to list all of the grief I felt reading through the pediatric postings, I will briefly note my 4 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 2 years now. What I now realize is all the behavior issues, night screaming, etc. are so easily dismissed as stages of a toddler. She has suffered (as well as our family) every symptom and behavior listed by parents on this site with the exception of leg cramps.

Our entire family can see the dramatic results since taking her last pill last Tuesday night. The melt downs and tantrums are all but over, she even commented "hey, I listened right away" on the second day without Singulair. She is still having night terrors - I call them that because they are in no way a dream or nightmare, but rather agonizing moments that break our hearts to hear. I hope those will soon go away as well so her sleep pattern results in a restful night.

Am I angry that we have all suffered for 2 years only to find we have been basically poisoning her? Am I angry that for the 2 years her dad and I have sunk pretty low, feeling inadequate as a parent to teach and discipline our child? Am I angry that after 20 years of marriage, raising a great 16 year old in the midst of all this, we were to the point of the ADD, bipolar, etc. theory that would have been misdiagnosed? Heck no, we are all so thankful to have come across this site and are so giddy and excited to be happy again.

What I am angry about is this - when I called our pediatrician last Wednesday and relayed what I had seen on the Merck website for side effects added in recent months she had not heard this information and asked where I saw it. At that point I had not seen this site. I asked her how is it the well dressed pharmaceutical reps come in with doughnuts, exotic trips, etc. to market a drug with "ABC" treatments and "XYZ" side effects, continue to market the drug and never update the doctors when original selling points are altered - ie; new side effects.

The FDA website is troubling for two reasons: Merck is in charge of their own investigation regarding recent complaints and the FDA expects this to take 9 months. Gee, who gets to investigate themself? Secondly, in February the site notes the FDA and Merck are trying to find the best way to communicate the concerns being investigated to prescribes and patients. HELLO - we live in a world of real time, instant communication methods, two examples being the United States Postal Service and an internet connection.

Today is April 30 - a full two months after "trying to decide how to pass this information on" and my doctor, nor my pharmacist have received any information. Apparantly since we missed the story and coverage on Dateline we are out of luck.

I plan to start from ground zero to get our voices heard to change the way, or the law if you will, to implement an immediate communication link between the FDA and prescribes when an investigation such as this has been initiated. I realize Singulair has most likely benefited more humans than it has destroyed while on the drug and the FDA would have to clearly not communicate "panic". However, when a drug is used for pediatric treatments we need information quickly to assess on behalf of our children. In my case, since my daughter had been on the drug since 2 years old, I do not know what her "normal behavior" should be as that is the age they start to develop and show personality. Additionally, when enclosed prescribing information is updated with a prescription -MARK IT IN RED, "UPDATED INFORMATION". I read every ounce of information that accompanies a new prescription for any family member. I would NOT, however read the information every 30 days for an ongoing, long term prescription over the course of 2 years.

I am looking for anyone that may have started contact with a congressional representative or otherwise to change the communication to our doctors. Please note - I am in no way interested in any legal action regarding Singulair and our nightmare. We are moving forward and do not wish to live the nightmare one moment more. I simply want to see our doctors and pharmacists have vital information as it happens.

Thank you to all for sharing your experiences - I truly believe it is changing lives and making a difference. I am personally telling everyone I know about what is happening with our child and all of yours. Andy by the way, by telling one of my long time friends our amazing discovery, she realized she had been suffering from depression for some time and chalked it up to various things going on in her life. She had her last Singulair last week and feels tremendous! So keep the word going!

My 16 year old son took Levaquin 6 months ago and had a bad reaction to it. His symptoms were severe muscle weakness (he would get exhausted walking from the parking lot to a store and back, severe joint pain (in thumbs, wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles), dizziness (he felt like the room was moving away from him and would lose balance), and headaches (a severe pressure in the back of his head that was constant and then shooting pains in his his head that would come and go for no reason). I should say he was in top shape before this and wrestling in the 125 pound category. He took Levaquin to prevent an infection after sinus surgery.

Now 6 months later, his joint pain is completely gone except for his knees. They still hurt when he does squats and they are not good enough for him to go back to wrestling, but he can walk around pain free. His dizziness is also gone as well as his muscle weakness. His headaches are still there and still constant, but not as bad as they once were; however, he has had them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months. He is on Lyrica which has helped make the headaches subside.

I have taken him to more than 16 medical doctors of all specialties, had multiple MRIs, CT Scans, blood tests, spinal tap, and an MRA. All come back negative. Thankfully, despite all of this, he still remains happy and positive that he will once again be 100% healthy; it will take lots of time, but he will get better. I know the first three symptoms (joint pain, dizziness, weakness) are clearly Levaquin related, but I haven't heard much about the headaches from people. Anyone else out there that has suffered from a constant headache after Levaquin? I REALLY want to hear about headaches from others!!!!

By the way, we have filed a medwatch already. I also know that Levaquin is not approved for anyone under 18 years old and he never needed such a powerful drug to prevent an infection, but there is nothing I can do about that now except to warn others. One of his UCLA doctors wants to write a case study on him to make this more known to others and I am helping him with that.

If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask. If you have had a headache from Levaquin, please let me know where in the head the pain was, if it is constant, what it feels like (pressure, shooting, throbbing), how long you have had it, and what, if anything, helped. THANKS.

I was prescribed this drug earlier this week as I suffer with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) I told my new doctor that I've tried other antidepressants for my disorder and found them to either make myn anxiety worse or I get nauseous. He told me to take 10 mgs. to start and take that for a week and then increase the dose to 20 mgs. The first day night I took this drug I awoke at 4 am wanting to climb the walls. My anxiety was so bad I couldn't take it. I took 15 mgs. Valium but it did nothing for me. I took every herbal thing I had in my cabinet in hopes of getting rid of the horrible anxiety.....it was unbearable and I was on the verge of panic. I will NEVER take another one of these pills. I am so tired of doctors who write prescriptions without a care as to how it is going to affect their patient. It's not them that has to deal with the side effects. And I was told to continue taking the drug as the side effect will go away. He's nuts. I can't function with anxiety that was that bad. I give up!

Did you try bringing in a u.s. prescribing information sheet and highlighting all the side effects that you have? I realize that dr's dont read and they rely on the word of the idiot pharmaceutical reps, but maybe a highlighted sheet of paper in front of his eyes might open his mind a little. Also, find another doctor (neurologist).