Dallas, TXKaren H. says that she is not positive that Avandia has caused her heart problems but it is the only drug she has taken that she says caused a bad reaction. She did not suffer a heart attack after taking but she says she believes she suffered other Avandia side effects. Although there is allegedly a link between Avandia and heart attacks, Karen (not her real name) says that it was congestive heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and a stroke that have her concerned.
"I was diagnosed as being a new diabetic, I believe in 2002," Karen says. "Doctors were trying medications to find one that was best. After I initially started, I was on metformin, but I had some difficulty on it so they decided to try Avandia. I started it but I became ill almost immediately. It made my breasts swell and I got fat very quickly. I was not feeling well overall. Eventually the doctor took me off Avandia and I went back to metformin.
About a month later, I was at church and my foot and ankle swelled up; they were huge. I didn't hear anything about Avandia at the time and I don't think my doctor did because he didn't say anything about it. I got a doctor's appointment and found out I was in congestive heart failure and didn't know it. My heart was going crazy. The doctor put me on medication but I had to try a few medications to find the right one.
The doctor sent me to the hospital for an echocardiogram and they said that I had the congestive heart failure, and then they checked my lungs and they said that I had pulmonary hypertension. I've been struggling because I didn't know what I could have taken that caused that. I've been having tests done every year since.
Then I had a stroke, and what scared me the most was that the MRI showed that I had previously had a stroke but I didn't know that I had one. [Karen was not told when the previous stroke would have occurred.]
I have searched and done everything I can do to figure this out. The only thing that bothered me [caused a reaction] was the Avandia.
I think it was 6 to 8 weeks that I was on the Avandia. I noticed the side effects almost right away. I was just diagnosed as being diabetic so I was in contact with the doctor often. I noticed the side effects fairly quickly. I was complaining that I was swelling and I didn't feel good. There were issues with the Avandia and it made me feel bad. The doctor took me off it pretty quickly. From a diabetic standpoint it did well but it didn't agree with me.
It was about a month later that I had the foot swelling and congestive heart failure. No one mentioned the Avandia as a cause in 2002. At that time, no one was saying anything about Avandia; I don't think we knew to look at it as a possible cause. I have continued with the tests and everything on my heart to make sure that I didn't get any worse.
I would suggest that, if you're taking Avandia, to watch yourself. Sometimes you get busy and forget. Monitor yourself. You're the only one who's going to know how you feel. They [doctors] don't know all the time."