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What is Mevacor (lovastatin)? Lovastatin is a cholesterol-lowering medicine that blocks the making of cholesterol (a kind of fat) in the body. Lovastatin decreases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol in the blood. Lowering your cholesterol can help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease. Lovastatin might also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.

What is the most significant information I should know about Mevacor (lovastatin)?

In exceptional cases, lovastatin can trigger a condition that result in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue. This condition can cause kidney failure. Call your doctor immediately if you have unexplained muscle pain or tenderness, muscle weakness, fever or flu signs, and dark colored urine.

This medication can cause birth defects in an unborn baby. Do not use if you are pregnant. Use an effectual form of birth control, and tell your doctor if you become pregnant during treatment. Do not buy Mevacor if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.

What should I discuss with my medical doctor prior to taking Mevacor (lovastatin)?

Do not use this medication if you are allergic when you buy Mevacor, if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease. Sooner than you buy Mevacor, tell your doctor if you are allergic to some drugs, or if you have: diabetes; underactive thyroid; kidney disease; or a muscle disorder. If you have some of these conditions, you may not be able to buy Mevacor, or you may need a dosage modification or special tests throughout your treatment.

FDA pregnancy category X.

This medication can cause birth defects. Do not buy Mevacor if you are pregnant. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant during treatment. Use an effectual form of birth control while you are using this medication. It is not known whether lovastatin passes into breast milk. Do not take lovastatin without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby. Lovastatin is not for use in children younger than 10 years of age.

How must I take Mevacor (lovastatin)?

Take this medication accurately as it was prescribed for you. Do not take the medication in larger quantities, or take it for longer than suggested by your doctor. Follow the directions on your medicine label. Take lovastatin with a full glass of water.

Do not crush, chew, or break an extended-release tablet. Swallow the pill whole. It is specially made to release medicine gradually in the body. Breaking or opening the pill would trigger too much of the drug to be released at one time. Take Mevacor at bedtime or with an evening meal. If you get Mevacor a number of times every day, take it with meals. Follow your doctor’s instructions.

In terms of scientific perspective, the Cordarone drug is known as Amiodarone, The Cordarone drugs is classified or categorize under a new drug group known as anti-arrhythmic drugs. The drug is mainly used as a treatment and prescription for patient suffering from irregular heart beats. The usage of the drug is mainly to sure that the patient will have a normal heart beat rather than a faster one will could be life threatening. Patients with life threatening heart beat disorders are mainly due to the ventricles in the heart that allowing the blood to flow out of the heart. The drugs are to ensure that the ventricles will function as normal by not allowing the dangerous blood flow (out from the heart.)

The Cordarone drugs in mainly used in two major conditions which are ventricular tachycardia and also for ventricular fibrillation. The ventricular tachycardia is where the heart produces a fast rhythm while beating caused by one of the ventricular of the heart which may lead to ventricular fibrillation and even death. On the other hand, ventricular fibrillation is where when the heart beats, electrical signal moves through it. Therefore, the ventricular fibrillation occurs the heart’s electrical activity becomes disordered. In this condition the heart pumps from little to no blood which is a dangerous condition which can lead to death.

Prescription of the Cordarone drugs must undergo certain serious consideration as most other drugs as well. The drug is used only during life-threatening conditions and the side effects caused by the drug can be fatal. Therefore in general, a few dosage of the Cordarone is given to the patient in a hospital environment. After the dosage is consumed, the patient’s heart will usually be monitored by the hospital authorities for any potential side effects. The patient is strictly advised to take the dosage exactly as prescribed by the doctor and make sue to consume together with full glass of water. If the patient feels any serious side effects, then the patient must immediately stop taking the dosage and inform the doctor immediately. Patients who have heart-related diseases or liver-related diseases and asthma are strictly prohibited in consuming the drug. A patient who uses this drug is usually monitored by doctors where the patient’s blood, liver and thyroid will be thoroughly tested and monitored. Therefore, the patients are strictly advised on to miss any of the scheduled appointments with his or her doctor.

Some doctors may prescribe Celexa for PMS, because Celexa is a Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitor (SSRI). In this article, we look at why Celexa may relieve some PMS symptoms and the side effects associated with its use, hopefully answering your questions about Celexa and PMS treatment.

The cause or causes of PMS are unknown and a combination of factors may be involved. Doctors sometimes prescribe an SSRI like Celexa for PMS based on the observation that serotonin levels were lower in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a condition in which the emotional symptoms of PMS, including mood swings and depression are more severe. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, sleep cycles and appetite, among other things. It is known that people suffering from depression have low levels of serotonin. An SSRI improves the body’s ability to use serotonin more effectively by reducing how quickly it is broken down.

Estrogen is believed to have a similar effect on serotonin, slowing its breakdown in laboratory tests. Low levels of estrogen during PMS could be responsible for low levels of serotonin. Currently there is no FDA approved hormone therapy for PMS, thus efforts to treat the condition have focused on increasing serotonin production or decreasing its breakdown.

In the seventies, Professor Richard Wurtman of MIT showed that eating carbohydrates raises serotonin levels. Years later, after the introduction of SSRI antidepressants, Judith Wurtman, a research scientist, made the observation that during PMS, women crave carbohydrates, overeat and gain weight. She theorized that overeating reduced feelings of depression and anger by increasing levels of serotonin. The Wurtmans tested the theory on a group of women with emotional symptoms related to PMS by giving them either an SSRI or a special mixture of dietary carbs. Both improved symptoms.

In 1997, the SSRI Prozac was approved by the FDA to treat PMDD. Other SSRI medications were later approved based on the same research. The FDA has never approved the use of an SSRI including Celexa for PMS treatment. Celexa has never applied for approval to treat PMDD. It is approved for treatment of depression and because it is an SSRI, it is sometimes prescribed to relieve depression and other emotional issues that accompany PMS. It will not relieve bloating, breast tenderness, headaches or other physical PMS symptoms and there is a possibility of interactions between Celexa and PMS treatments of other types.

Premenstrual migraines are fairly common among women who suffer from migraines. The majority of people who have migraines are women and most have noted that changing hormonal levels that precede menstruation trigger attacks. In some cases doctors prescribe triptans to treat migraines. Women who take triptans for migraine relief and Celexa for PMS, PMDD or depression risk a life threatening condition called serotonin syndrome. It is also possible that dietary supplements that increase production of serotonin could cause the same effect, when used by persons taking Celexa.

The relationship between Celexa and PMS symptoms has never been evaluated. However, during clinical trials to evaluate the safety of Celexa for depressed patients the following side effects were noted. Frequently, the drug impaired concentration, caused amnesia, apathy, depression, increased appetite, aggravated depression, led to suicide attempts and confusion. Frequently the drug caused women to stop having their monthly periods. 18% of the test group was drowsy, but 15% were unable to sleep. Other side effects include headache and difficulty achieving orgasm.

There are millions of hair loss sufferers in the world and many don’t bother to do anything about it for many reasons. Some reasons might be that they don’t care about going bald, many can’t afford to buy hair loss treatments, and some just don’t believe hair loss treatments really work at all. There are many hair loss treatments on the market today but I wanted to specifically focus on Rogaine Foam as it is the most popular hair loss treatment as well as I have personal experience with the product. I’ve read plenty of Rogaine Foam reviews but many seem to be tailored on promoting the product or just bashing the product altogether from an unhappy customer. As a fellow hair loss sufferer, I felt providing an honest Rogaine Foam review to be needed to really educate the public so hair loss sufferers can hear both sides of the story before considering using the product.

My Hair Loss Story

Everyone loses hair everyday. In fact it is typical to lose up to 100 hairs per day as they are being replaced by new hairs. However, I believed my hair loss was excessive and it was one of the most depressing experiences of my life at the time. Each time I got my hair ready in the morning or whenever I showered I would see tons of hair in the drain. My confidence was down big time as I constantly worried when I would be fully bald or when people would notice that I was going bald. To make matters worse, my father is bald so I just knew it was just a matter of time before I was bald. The overall experience and anticipation made it a very stressful situation as many people in society base people on looks. I didn’t know where to turn to or if there was even anything I can do to make the balding stop. I have always seen the Rogaine commercials but questioned, “Does Rogaine Foam work and what are the Rogaine Foam side effects?” I did some research on Rogaine and then decided to try the product years ago. I will share my experience with the product later in this article.

I have read through many Rogaine Foam reviews from other users and based with my personal experiences here are the positives, negatives, and some possible side effects of Rogaine Foam.

Rogaine Foam Positives

- Obviously the main positive that everyone using Rogaine Foam hopes for is that it may stop male pattern baldness and regrow your hair back.

- Many users claim it made their hair thicker, fuller, and darker.

- Rogaine Foam is very quick, easy and convenient to apply and use. You can work it into your daily regimen quite easily. Many state its the most convenient and easiest hair loss treatment to use.

- The product is only supposed to regrow hair on the top of the scalp but many users said it regrew hair even on the frontal hair line.

- Most had positive results with just using Rogaine Foam, however, many experienced even greater results when combined with other hair loss treatments. Many used Rogaine Foam for hair growth and used it concurrently with Propecia which is used to stop hair loss.

- Rogaine is the only FDA approved hair loss brand.

Rogaine Foam Negatives

- Some claim that the product doesn’t work and that Rogaine Foam didn’t stop their hair loss nor regrow their hair. First, Rogaine only works for pattern baldness so you have to make sure that your hair loss is due to pattern baldness and not occurring because of a disease, stress, or another reason. Secondly, Rogaine themselves has stated that the product doesn’t work for everyone as it claims that in studies it was effective in 85% of the people. There not many health products that work for every person and I know for sure there isn’t one single hair loss treatment that will work for every single person in the entire world. There are going to be some people where the product just doesn’t work for them. You wont know unless you try it and you must use it for at least 3 to 4 months to really gauge to see if the product is working for you.

- There are possible side effects when taking any product as Rogaine Foam also has but the more common side effects are itching and flaking of the scalp. If you do experience this while taking the product, simply stop taking the product and it will go away.

- Another issue is that when you stop taking the product your hair loss will continue. I am not speaking of just simply missing an application and you will wake up bald the next morning. But if you completely stop taking the product I believe it takes about 2 to 3 months for your hair loss to continue. The simple solution to this if the product is working, do not stop using it.

- Others claim they didn’t like the smell of Rogaine Foam, however, their is a newer unscented Rogaine Foam formula so this shouldn’t be a factor any longer.

- Some people end up using more Rogaine Foam than if they were to use the topical solution. For example, in both products you are supposed to apply two times per day. The topical solution comes with a dropper so you can measure the exact amount that you apply. However, with the foam it states to apply half a cap full two times per day. As a user of Rogaine Foam, since it so easy and convenient to apply it becomes quite easy to make it a habit to not put the foam into the cap and to just directly apply it to the scalp. The people that do this might end up using more than they should, thus depleting the bottle faster and end up spending more money. The easy solution to fix this problem is to actually do as the directions say and apply half a capful.

- Lastly some people state that Rogaine Foam made their hair loss actually increase. This is actually a possibility, however, it is normal. It is very important that you understand this so you wont panic and stop taking whatever hair loss product you decide on. Let me explain really briefly;

Hair growth has 3 cycles which consist of the anagen phase which is the growth phase. The second phase is the categen phase which is also called the transitional phase. It lasts 2 to 4 weeks and during this phase the hair actually stops growing but does not fall out. The 3rd phase is the telogen phase which is also known as the resting phase which lasts 2 to 4 months. During this time the hair still does not grow. Approximately 10 to 15% of the hair on your scalp is in the telogen phase at any one time. After the telogen phase the cycle is complete and the hair goes back into the anagen phase. It is at this time where the hair shaft is forming that the old hair is pushed out and lost.

So when you start taking a product like Rogaine Foam you stimulate the hair follicle to start producing hair. What happens is that many hair follicles that are in the telogen phase then go into the growth phase. When the hair follicle starts growing a new hair it first has to get rid of the old hair which is still attached to the hair follicle. So instead of these hairs falling out gradually at different times, they all fall out together giving you the impression that you are losing more hair. The reality is that the hair that fell out had stopped growing and it was due to fall out anyway. So shedding is a positive sign and means that you are responding well to the treatment and new hair is growing in. And when I say hair falls out it doesnt mean your entire head, it just means the hairs in the telogen phase which is about 10 to 15% of your hair. Many people do not know this and end up stopping the treatment when they should stay on it.

My Personal Experience Using Rogaine Foam

I actually first started taking Rogaine Topical Solution before I used Rogaine Foam. I purchased the product online as I was too embarrassed to buy it in the store. The product started working for me as I noticed less hair falling out and my hair seemed thicker and fuller. However, after about a couple months my scalp actually started to itch and get flaky. I knew it had to be the Rogaine as it was the only new product I was using on my hair. I began to worry as I didn’t want to stop taking the product as my hair loss would continue so I did further research. I read that some people with more sensitive scalps had the same itchy scalp problem that I had, however, when they made the switch to Rogaine Foam the itching and flaking disappeared. So I made the switch to Rogaine Foam and the itchiness and flakiness did exactly that, it disappeared. As far as the hair loss went, I also noticed the same results as the topical solution. My excessive hair loss stopped and my hair was thicker and fuller.

My Recommendation

My experience with the product is a positive one and I still currently use the product. The product has stopped my excessive hair loss which in turn has restored my confidence and ability to just keep on living life without worrying about going bald. I know that with my family history I would have been bald by now if I didn’t use the product. I also feel that Rogaine Foam is really convenient and quick to apply. I just simply added it to my daily regimen of getting ready and it only takes about 20 to 30 seconds to apply.

Based on my personal experience of using the product and reading Rogaine Foam reviews of others I recommend the product to any male experiencing pattern baldness. I hope they have the same positive experience that I am having. The real negative is that it might not work for you, however, if you purchase the 3 or 4 month supply product it is a small price to pay in order to find out if Rogaine Foam will work for you. All you have to do is give it a try and sufficient enough time to see if it is working for you.