SSRIs

Question:

Well, after a mere week on SEROQUEL, I am now free of meds due to the awful side effects and added psychosis and discombobulation seroquel gave me; on a low dosage of 75mg. I am starting at a new school in a week and a half and I cannot be playing trial and error with medications while I am in school.  I’m really nervous because I don’t need to be going up and down while I am attempting to learn…it’s a tech art school; 45 hours a week/14 months. I’ve been on quite a few psych meds (paxil, pamelor, zoloft, wellbutrin, serzone, effexor) over the past three years and have had negative affects with all…one even landed me in the emergency room. Has anyone else’s body simply rejected the medications?  Anyone know what could be the cause of medicines just NOT working with me? Thanks Leonessa

Response:

>I printed out your email because it gave me a few things to think about.  I >am going to try to solve this ASAP because I can’t live like this.

Don’t give up hope. I hope things work out for you. For email replies remove the **** from my email address.

Response:

Leonessa, I am ultra-sensitive to medications. I had a year or so of experimentation hell. Ive had liver damage (that was the worst one), rashes, drug-induced panic attacks, Tremor, lots and lots of ‘discombobulation’ (one of my favorite words), extreme weight loss, extreme hair loss, flu-like symptoms…and more. Usually I get the side effects that are mentioned as "rare" affecting like less than 1%. But…I too was struggling to get through school, as a graduate student. I HAD to find something to work because I simply couldnt function in either the extreme depression, or mania. There never seemed to be a middle ground. Luckily I have a good pdoc who I respect and trust. Weve slowly ruled things out. I totally agree with Mark’s post ( what an excellent post!)… in science, ruling things out is as important as proving a hypothesis. It DOES take extreme perserverence, and the faith that eventually you WILL find the "one(s) that works". EVERYBODY is different. Im finally stabile (pretty much, kinda, sorta…) on low doses of 3 mood stabilizers (no antidepressants). although…because of my less-than-sterling expeience with medications, I am always skeptical, thinking that I may be feeling normal, but it might be due to just being part of the whole cycling process. Just remember every time a drug fails, you move that much closer to solving the puzzle. Some people hit it right away. Others, like those of us with sensitivities, it takes an agonizingly long time. Hang in there! And I wish you luck with school, and I hope that you dont de-stabilize under the stress.(stress can do that!!!!!!) If you feel yourself slipping (or escalating) I advise you to not wait until it gets bad, the sooner you see your doctor, the better chance you have of becoming extreme. (at least thats my own experience). Sara – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Well, after a mere week on SEROQUEL, I am now free of meds due to the awful > side effects and added psychosis and discombobulation seroquel gave me; on a > low dosage of 75mg. > I am starting at a new school in a week and a half and I cannot be playing > trial and error with medications while I am in school.  I’m really nervous > because I don’t need to be going up and down while I am attempting to > learn…it’s a tech art school; 45 hours a week/14 months. > I’ve been on quite a few psych meds (paxil, pamelor, zoloft, wellbutrin, > serzone, effexor) over the past three years and have had negative affects > with all…one even landed me in the emergency room. > Has anyone else’s body simply rejected the medications?  Anyone know what > could be the cause of medicines just NOT working with me? > Thanks > Leonessa

Response:

>Yup!  I’ve had several different types of medication and all I’ve ever >had are the side effects.  I get the impression my psychiatrist >doesn’t actually believe me sometimes.  I guess we’re just lucky!

Mine thought my side effects were psychosomatic, from reading to much stuff on the internet. I’m thinking of changing psychiatrists. For email replies remove the **** from my email address.

Response:

I’ve had psychiatrists not believe me too. "I’m not eating at all and I think I’m becoming malnourished." "That’s common, let’s up the dosage a little…" > leonessa viola writes: > Has anyone else’s body simply rejected the medications?  Anyone know > what could be the cause of medicines just NOT working with me? > Yup!  I’ve had several different types of medication and all I’ve ever > had are the side effects.  I get the impression my psychiatrist > doesn’t actually believe me sometimes.  I guess we’re just lucky! > — > Shell > http://www.kaidea.freeserve.co.uk/yumorbum.html

Response:

Hey Mark, thanks for your response… > Did they all induce mania, or just one? Were the others just ineffective?

Well, some of them induced anxiety/mania…others made me MORE depressed..after taking one I became anorexic…and some made me physically ill. > Did you stay on each one for a substantial period of time?

Except for the ones that caused me to be unable to function, I was on a lot of these for months. > Have you taken other medications specifically for your emotional > difficulties?  Why is there no Mood Stabilizer listed?

I mood stabilizer would be like lithium, huh?  I guess I was never put on a stabilizer because I was originally diagnosed with unipolar and this was my first medication I’ve been on since my new diagnosis.  I probably should take a mood stabilizer, because if my moods were equalized, I’d imagine my psychosis wouldn’t be as bad. I printed out your email because it gave me a few things to think about.  I am going to try to solve this ASAP because I can’t live like this. Thanks so much. Leonessa

Response:

>   I’m sorry that you’ve had difficulty with your med. regiment. > I don’t have the answer, but I was just reminded of the unrelenting > persistence of Thomas Edison, one of the greatest men throughout > history. To Mr. Edison, he truly felt that every failure was a > positive step in the right direction, since it revealed one more > avenue that was eliminated on the road to success. To quote > Mr. Edison, he said:

snipped… Just had to say this is an excellent and well thought out reply Mark. Leonessa, I cannot take any SSRIs, TCAs, Mood Stablizers (MS)…the first 2 classes trigger dysphoria in me and the MS worsen the symptoms of my Multiple Sclerosis. I can tolerate Seroquel and Klonopin. I am taking Remeron whuch is a tetracyclic AD and I fear that it is also triggering dysphoria. I see my pdoc tomorrow. I plan to talk with him about Vagus Nerve Stimulation…alarge scaled study will be underway shortly and I live in Chapel Hill which has the University of North Carolina and nearby Duke University is only 9 miles away. I am hoping that one of the studies will be done here . If so, I plan to volunteer in a heartbeat!!! Persistence and patience…I know it is easier said then done. Best of luck to you…please do not give up hope. Peace, Lynda

Response:

leonessa viola writes: > Has anyone else’s body simply rejected the medications?  Anyone know > what could be the cause of medicines just NOT working with me?

Yup!  I’ve had several different types of medication and all I’ve ever had are the side effects.  I get the impression my psychiatrist doesn’t actually believe me sometimes.  I guess we’re just lucky! — Shell http://www.kaidea.freeserve.co.uk/yumorbum.html

Response:

Hi Leonessa…   I’m sorry that you’ve had difficulty with your med. regiment. I don’t have the answer, but I was just reminded of the unrelenting persistence of Thomas Edison, one of the greatest men throughout history. To Mr. Edison, he truly felt that every failure was a positive step in the right direction, since it revealed one more avenue that was eliminated on the road to success. To quote Mr. Edison, he said:  "I Speak without exaggeration when I say I have constructed 3000 different theories in connection with the electric light, yet in only two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory." Thomas Edison You see Leonessa, Thomas Edison for sure changed the face of the world and society with his successful invention of the lightblub. But he also showed us how to persevere in the face of impossible odds. It has been said of Mr. Edison: "He led no armies into battle, he conquered no countries, and he enslaved no peoples…. Nonetheless, he exerted a degree of power the magnitude of which no warrior ever dreamed. His name still commands a respect as sweeping in scope and as world-wide as that of any other mortal – a devotion rooted deep in human gratitude and untainted by the bias of race, color, or politics." So I would say this Leonessa,…… you have tried Pamelor, Paxil,  Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Serzone, and Effexor, all antidepressants. One is a tricyclic, 2 are ssri’s, and 3 are unique compounds. None of them have worked. Obviously you are trying to eliminate depression with those. It sounds to me like you are unable to take antidepressants. Did they all induce mania, or just one? Were the others just ineffective? Did you stay on each one for a substantial period of time? If we have established that you cannot take antidepressants, then you are have now gained an important piece of information about the nature of your disorder. You also said that seroquel doesn’t work for you. It is an atypical antipsychotic. You say it actually *increased* your psychosis and confusion. Again, here we learn another piece of the puzzle. I am not a doctor, but if I were, I would think that the nature of your adverse reactions would be telling of the pathology involved. Have you taken other medications specifically for your emotional difficulties?  Why is there no Mood Stabilizer listed? All I can offer you, is encouragement to persist in this challenge to find the root cause(s) of your problem. You must take each roadblock as part of the answer, and continue to ask questions and document your efforts, so as to eventually be able to see the big picture. It is essential that you take the scientific approach, and a proactive stance in cooperation with a qualified doctor. Best wishes sweetie, Mark of the Forest

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Well, after a mere week on SEROQUEL, I am now free of meds due to the awful > side effects and added psychosis and discombobulation seroquel gave me; on a > low dosage of 75mg. > I am starting at a new school in a week and a half and I cannot be playing > trial and error with medications while I am in school. I’m really nervous > because I don’t need to be going up and down while I am attempting to > learn…it’s a tech art school; 45 hours a week/14 months. > I’ve been on quite a few psych meds (paxil, pamelor, zoloft, wellbutrin, > serzone, effexor) over the past three years and have had negative affects > with all…one even landed me in the emergency room. > Has anyone else’s body simply rejected the medications?  Anyone know what > could be the cause of medicines just NOT working with me? > Thanks > Leonessa

Response: