![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dr. Bob on November 5, 2003, at 19:29:32
In reply to extreme crash after feeling fine, posted by NegativeNelly on November 5, 2003, at 15:22:32
> Hi everyone, first let me thank you for sharing your personal lives, it is a great help to know you are not alone.
>
> Here is my situation. I have had OCD, Depression, and Severe Panic attacks in the past. I have been on Zoloft for about 7 years. During the past 5 years I have had no panic attacks and no depression just a lot of OCD (Intrusive thoughts mainly).
>
> I was on 150 mg's of Zoloft a day for 2 years. Decided I was doing well so I tried 100mg of Zoloft a day over the summer and this made my OCD worse.. Around Oct. 1st I was upped to 150 mg a day because I was going to start exposure therapy. Then on Oct. 28th my Zoloft was upped to 200 mg a day by my psych doc. This brings us to Halloween. I ate way to much candy and had a coffee early the next Morning (Saturday). While I was in my car that morning I had a sense of extreme euphoria for about 30 minutes followed by a crash. It wasn't a bad crash that involved crying but I did feel "jittery". On Sunday I noticed I was very anxious. Sunday night was worse and on Monday I had to leave work because I could not stop crying. I was SEVERELY depressed. Monday night and Tuesday morning were the same. Thoughts of me going insane, panic attacks and crying non stop. I called my doctor and he immediately dropped my Zoloft dose to 100 mg and added 25mg of Seroquel to be taken twice a day.
>
> I don't know if this was a reaction to the sugar , because I was on the South Beach Diet and didn't touch sugar until Halloween and then gorged myself on candy an had the coffee or I don't know if my meds were raised too quickly. Other then the OCD Intrusive thoughts I was living a great life. The thoughts were a pain in the behind and caused a tiny bit of depression but I was enjoying life. I don't understand why 4 days later I was a mess.
>
> I am hoping it was a combo of the fluctuating meds, too much sugar, and the new exposure therapy I have been doing but I just don't know. I actually dragged myself to work this afternoon which made me feel better but I have lost a lot of confidence.
>
> Has anyone who was on Zoloft for a substantial time and then had it lowered and then raised or any other factors had this happen to them. The crash has ruined my confidence and hope.
>
> Thanks everyone.
Posted by Elle2021 on November 6, 2003, at 5:22:09
In reply to extreme crash after feeling fine « NegativeNelly, posted by Dr. Bob on November 5, 2003, at 19:29:32
Sounds like you had a manic episode due to the anti-depressants. They can cause people to become manic. Prozac did it to me. Keep in touch with your doctor about it. Hope you feel better soon.
Elle
Posted by ramsea on November 6, 2003, at 18:50:16
In reply to extreme crash after feeling fine « NegativeNelly, posted by Dr. Bob on November 5, 2003, at 19:29:32
I am bipolar with a tendency to experience Mixed episodes and rapid cycling, which means I have the criteria for depression along with the overexcitement etc of mania. Basically I experience what you described rather too often. Sadlt for me I am experiencing it RIGHT NOW!!! This is a horrible business, and I truly am sorry you have had to go through this. I always feel like I am being toyed with, tortured, though I am not saying that I am being that---it is just such a physical jerking about, an emotional seizure. There is very little psychological dimension to this---at best I just have to ensure my safety and have devised methods that work pretty well. Why am I telling you this? 1) To show you are not alone, others also have had this happen; 2) To hopefully encourage a little confidence in you, as you can see someone worse off than you--this reaction you described is apparently a drug related episode of "rapid cycling" or mixed type hypomanic response---it is not the course of your illness. It's like having a bad trip. A bad LSD trip makes someone seem psychotic, but afterwards they are normal. Well, it would seem your extra meds wired you, and you had a bad trip. Now you will probably go back to dealing with the illness that you know. It's always better, the devil we know.
And one more thing. Please don't panic if it ever happens again. If you take Ads it is possible, and I know that Mixed Episodes can be very dangerous. Probably especially if someone doesn't know what is happening to them. If you can come to see that this reaction is just the drug, not you, and IT WILL PASS, and try to just reach a refuge and wait for the come down. I worry about people having rapid cycling/mixed episodes which are induced by mds and not knowing. Hope this is clear enough.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.