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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 5:47:20
Had a terrible reaction to Geodon (which I never had in the past -maybe that happens when you start and restart a med?). Besides the muscle stiffness in my neck, my jaws clenched so tight it effected my ears. Very painful. Something to do with the muscles and nerves around the mandible bone. My MD said if I couldn't take a regular SSRI, I need to find something else. She suggested St Johns Wort. Ugh. I didn't realize what had happened to me which is why I went to regular MD (thought I had ear problem - kinda did).
I've already cut out caffeine (day 3) I think in the long run it will help. My regular doc said if I don't take something it will start to effect more than my teeth, jaw and muscles. She was really disappointed that I didn't stick with Effexor - but the first couple of days of nausea and dizziness was bizarre.
Is adding Buspar to Trileptal an option for depression and anxiety? I'll try it if anyone's had some experience with it. I'm actually not sure what med to discuss with my doc.
I hate the bad vision with Trileptal and maybe in the future I can taper to a lower dose, but for now, I'll just wear glasses to have a med with stability.
I see my pdoc in a week and she thinks I need to "power through the depression" and deal with it. I've had panic, anxiety and depression since the age of 2-3 that I can truly remember! Maybe she doesn't fully believe that Trileptal actually is adding to the depression?
Desperate here. I just need something.
For now, I'll be taking Atarax (vistiril) and Benadryl and Klonopin to deal with the severe akathesia and heating pads to try and unclench my jaw. I stopped Geodon last night. :( I'm sure the depression will lurk its ugly head.
I've already had 6 (4 replaced) teeth fixed over 25 years due to SSRI teeth grinding/clenching. Very expensive.
Regular docs don't know much about antidepressants and they just automatically think that they are the perfect drugs for stress, anxiety and depression. And they are for a lot of people.
Maybe I need to have IBS and nausea and stick with 75mg of Effexor.
Since its allergy season, I know the steroid inhaler I use for asthma and the sudaphed don't help someone with mood disorder (which is why I cut out caffeine). They just make me more nervous. But I have bad asthma and they are a necessary evil.
Would MORE Trileptal have stopped the akathesia and jaw clenching from the Geodon?
At this point maybe I was stupid for thinking an AAP would be good for depression (it was though!).
Posted by SLS on March 22, 2013, at 7:18:35
In reply to SLS and longtimers HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 5:47:20
75 mg of Effexor is a high dose to initiate treatment with. You might want to ask your doctor about starting with 25 mg tablets. Nausea and dizziness are common startup side effects that usually dissipate.
You tend to juggle the dosages of multiple drugs at the same time. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions. You might opt to work with only one drug at a time.
Your reaction to Geodon may or may not be manic. Some people become agitated at low dosages and feel better at higher dosages. Other antipsychotics with antidepressant properties to consider are Abilify, Latuda, Seroquel, and Saphris.
- Scott
Posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 7:52:29
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP! » Sheilac, posted by SLS on March 22, 2013, at 7:18:35
I didn't Effexor comes in 25mg?
Posted by SLS on March 22, 2013, at 8:01:19
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 7:52:29
Effexor 25 mg comes in an IR version only - not XR.
- Scott
Posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 8:29:12
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP! » Sheilac, posted by SLS on March 22, 2013, at 8:01:19
I can't get 25mg where I live. Only 37.5
What do you think happened with the Geodon?
Posted by vanvog on March 22, 2013, at 9:26:46
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 8:29:12
It's not unusual to start at 75 mg/day, Effexor was the first ever med I've been prescribed, my pDoc did not hesitate to start with 75 mg. Tapering from Effexor is a whole different story though.
Posted by Phillipa on March 22, 2013, at 9:46:29
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 8:29:12
Sheilac did you say you started with depression at age 2-3 years old? How do you remember this? Did something happen? How did you deal with it then? Not trying to be nosey and when I go back I could have read this wrong and if so apologies in advance. Phillipa
Posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 12:22:48
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP! » Sheilac, posted by Phillipa on March 22, 2013, at 9:46:29
I've tapered from Effexor in the past and it was the worst experience of my life. I thought I was going crazy!
My doc is open to me taking some sort of antidepressant though.
I don't know if that would be a lower or higher dose of Effexor (I wonder if a higher or lower dose would bypass the serotonin or lessen it) or take Buspar or what.
In the past it was serotonin meds (Prozac, Zoloft, etc, that ruined my teeth with all the clenching and grinding).
I've failed: Zoloft, Prozac, pritiq (awful tummy problems too), lexapro and Effexor (same tummy problems as pritiq.)
She did call me back and said that I did not have an ear infection that it is an issue with my Eustachian tubes not draining properly which could be due to the swelling from clenching and grinding.
He's the BIG problem. My steroid inhaler for my asthma, sudaphed and mucinex (to help drain my ears) just increase the anxiety 100 times over! These are meds I have to take.
It's just that time if year. I can always up my Trileptal to deal with the issues from steroids and sudaphed.
But I still wonder if all the clenching and grinding aren't due to the Geoon?
Or maybe, like my regular md thinks, I need to take something to help with the anxiety.
But what?
I had an out and out panic attack last night, full blown OCD due to being high on sudaphed and from the pain.
It sucks being BPII !
Posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 13:37:31
In reply to Response: HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 12:22:48
My father was severely bipolar and sexually, physically and mentally abused me and my sibling. No one knew. He was a very charming man. Maybe he wasn't bipolar, maybe he was a psychopath?
I remember being asked why I was crying (which I did a lot) when I was 2-3 and telling people I didn't know why. I now know I was very depressed and trapped.
As a teenager I had terrible depression, anxiety attacks with some OCD. There were times I would hide in the library at school and shake and cry in between classes. I pretty much isolated myself. I learned from an early age that when you go out in public you look and act fine, I still do this. Look great on the outside but I'm a mess on the inside!
I lived locked in my room until I left home. Then my father killed himself. I was the lucky one to find his body 2 1/2 months later. I can still recall the smell and what blood looked like.
Then instead of going to college with my friends I worked and found a great therapist that worked with me for a year and sent me to a doc for Prozac (all the rage back then).
After Prozac, I went to Zoloft with Trazadone and was flying high.
I had bouts of anger and rage. Pretty much a cycle of anxiety/depression/irritability and throw in some PMS!
My sibling had the ability to block out what happened (even though they were a pretty screwed up kid). Today my sibling is a raging bipolar, constantly cycling and I just try and keep the communication open. Refuses medication and doesn't believe anything is wrong. It's the rest of the world that is screwed up.
So, between my dear close relative who may die of cancer, my crazy sister and my security blanket (my beloved old dog who is the best thing in my life and isn't long for this world either), sometimes I just want to open my front door and run away as far and as fast as I can.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. So much more has happened in the past 5 years its just awful.
BUT, I look at my fathers life and now my sibling and I know for certain that meds work, even if they may not be the right ones. Which is why I can never give up.
Heck, I have to wear glasses now because Trileptal has made my vision worse.
But I do have to address the depression. It's the last nagging thing in my life.
Posted by tensor on March 22, 2013, at 16:45:51
In reply to Re: SLS and longtimers HELP!, posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 8:29:12
> I can't get 25mg where I live. Only 37.5
IIRC they are capsules, which can be taken apart easily, you can remove half (or as much as you like) of the content and put the capsule back together.
/tensor
Posted by Phillipa on March 22, 2013, at 21:01:02
In reply to Phillipa..., posted by Sheilac on March 22, 2013, at 13:37:31
Sheilac so sorry this all happened to you. Glad you did get some theraphy but it sounds like you really need someone now. That's a ton of stress and it all triggers past events in your life. So much PTSD. I would have to be a lot more knowledgeable than I am to help with the problems. I can offer support. But not med advise. Just know that I truly care. Phillipa
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