AliceWartooth's Journal, 24 July 2014

I don't think you are off your rocker. I hope you find what's going on soon. Best wishes! 

I hope you feel better soon. Hang in there until your meds get straightened out. This too shall pass. 

Your "Happy pills" are they an SSRI ? and by sauing you trying to get of them are you struggling to drop them due to SSRI withdrawels ? 

Yes they are SSRI, but haven't been on them for that long (about a year on this brand I think) and not a very high dosage. I'm gradually decreasing the dosage over a long time to avoid withdrawal (which is what I meant by trying), but it's hard to tell which of my symptoms are due to which meds/combination/withdrawing. Just going to handle this as patiently as possible, trust my instincts and have faith in my treatment :). Sorry I had a very bad night leading to a emotional rant. 

The withdrawel is very kak from an SSRI, been there, just drop it gradually. Symptoms ive expierenced from SSRI withdrawel, headache, vertigo, diziness, even nausea and so on. it sucks hang in there 

Thank you! I feel rather glad about taking steps to get off it, rather than risking other problems from interactions or being on it for too long. I think that all the pills I've been given are basically to to treat symptoms stemming from the same problem. I'd rather treat the source and the symptoms should follow. It's amazing how the chemistry in our bodies work. How long till symptoms were gone for good in you case if I may ask? 

If i may ask what meds are you on just to get an idea of interactions and so on ? First attempt to drop it i followed the following procedure, one tablet, every second day, but still got symptoms when i procded to one tab every 2nd day. Didnt work. Then I asked a friend and a nurse what to do. First step is to lower dosage, 1/2 tab for a week or two, then your body adjusts to lower dosages, Then add a day, 1/2 tab every 2nd day for two weeks or untill you adjust, and then drecrease dosage, 1/3 tab every 2nd day, and go on till youve dropped it. I dropped it in 3 weeks, with little to no sides on that method. 

Be careful with changing your meds. Make sure your doctor advises you and you follow what they say, because they know what they're doing. It took me a long time to go off Paxil. I had to do it really, really slowly and I still had side effects of light-headedness. After I was completely off it for a month, I no longer had side-effects. I'm not sure if all the SSRIs have similar side-effects, but just take it slowly. Don't rush the process. You'll be off it eventually. I'm not sure why you're going off of it, but if it's because you want to deal with life without it, I would take it even slower. My mom went completely off her anti-depressant years ago and has stayed off, but she did it over the course of a year. If it's too quick, your depression/anxiety might return, but if you do it slower, your body and mind will be able to adapt to living life without medication. I remember cutting the dosage of one of my anti-depressants in half once (with the guidance of my doctor) and ended up so depressed that I went back up to the dose I was on, plus added another anti-depressant, because I couldn't get out of my funk. So be careful. Gradual is the way to go. Good luck :) 

Lexamil 10 (you might know it as lexapro). . okay, I'm just going to spit it out. Started with stomach issues, hormonal issues and sudden unexplained weight-gain and depression. Finally was diagnosed with hypothyroidism after being put on anti-depressants and other hormone pills (to treat symptoms before they made the hypo diagnosis). Recently put on Concerta 36mg by another dr , helped me A LOT and was finally able to study and stay awake throughout the day. Some symptoms lingered and others intensified so I did some research and also checked for interactions on drugs.com. Saw concerta and lexamil have a moderate interaction and combinations should be avoided. Went to my usual doc about this and to do my scheduled thyroid tests. He agreed that I should go off lexamil and now I'm doing it as gradually as I can. Started feeling very anxious, rapid heartbeat. . dr phoned about thyroid test and said my blood levels have completely spiked and tests indicate hyperthyroidism now and I should go off the levothyroxine immediately (I suspected the stimulant nature of concerta (like ritalin) to have caused this "spike" but the dr said they are not related). Having my thyroid tested again in a month (still waiting for a copy of my previous results though). So there you have it. Hoping I answered your questions. I am currently dividing my pills, adjusting very gradually (I also decided on the 2 week adjustment phase like you). Through my studies and research I have educated myself regarding all the meds I'm on, the physiology behind thyroid disease etc. I'm just trying to listen to my body, trust and hope for the best. PS: as mentioned before, the combination of these conditions and meds, make it hard to pinpoint the source of symptoms at this stage. Thank you for the replies and support* 

Your doctor should have known which medications you were on before prescribing you something that would react badly, unless they don't have access to your medical records? Have you received any diagnosis yet? (You don't have to name it, just wondering if you received one yet.) You might have PCOS, if you're having hormonal issues and sudden weight gain, but again, I'm no doctor, it's just a possibility that you might look into. Maybe the dosage of your hypothyroidism medication (Levothryroxine?) was too high and caused the shift to the other extreme? As far as weaning off pills, I don't think it's best to skip days until you're down to the lowest possible dose. I think it's best to take them daily and cut the pills in half every week, until you are at a very low dose, then possibly skip days. That's what seems logical to me. Based on your PS comment, you might consider going off all of the meds that you are not certain you need, see how you feel, possibly get re-diagnosed, and then add one med at a time if needed. But, whatever you do should be discussed with your doctor first. 

I am gonna have to do abit of research as well before commenting and ask people knowledgable on meds, will get back to you later today, if i can get anything, hang in there 

From what I have seen sofar is that COncerta was a bad choice given previous symptoms, depression and the likes, and yes there is an interaction, like youre doing dropping your SSRI is needed due to the interaction and then hopefully some symptoms will clear up. seeing as withdrawel is adding symptoms to the checklist now, it becomes more complicated. All i can say is best of luck, always remember that once you've hit bottom of the pit, only possible thing to do further is rise. And lastly this is a great thing somebody said to me during my depression, You can always restart and redo anything, but life itself, life has no limitations on what you can achieve or overcome, and even at times when things seem darkest, keep on battling because on the other side there is light.  

Look guys, I was just ranting about the situation and I know what to do from here on basically, at this stage I have to wait for things to stabilise before any further decisions can be made, may blood is to be tested soon to see how my blood work looks without the thyroid meds and lexamil. I basically know what's causing the issues and know how these drugs can interact and cause certain symptoms, it's just frustrating to feel your condition as a whole and your current meds aren't always taken into account before new pills are given. I always tell drs exactly what meds I'm on, for what and for how long and I always consult physicians before making any changes. The Side effects at this stage of my treatment is just getting to me. Main diagnosis : Hypothyroidism. The others diagnosis/symptoms stem from thyroid problems (IBS, anxiety, depression,ADD, blood pressure abnormalities). If allopathic medicine doesn't seem to work, I may try naturopathic doctors etc.(always through medical guidance) that prioritise treating the main issue and supporting the body's own healing processes. BUT for now, I've got things under control in terms of what do do, but it's still an uncomfortable frustrating process> Hope this helps put things into perspective and explains the purpose of my rant :) But I truly appreciate the support and the fact that you truly show an interest in my problems. I guess I wish some docs would just listen to how I feel and what I think and not just the test results in front of them. So thank you for the support! It really makes a difference when someone truly tries to understand what you're going through. I trust that I believe what do to as things progress and need to listen to my own body as far as possible as everyone is so different* Thank you so much for taking time to listen, support can be so hard to find when something is hard for people to understand. I'll be sure to include you in my Oscar acceptance speech for you supporting roles ;)  

Received your message after posting the previous one, thank you so much and I'm glad you understand what I mean* I should hire you to talk some sense into my past physicians in terms of seeing the bigger picture ;) 

That sucks that you have those other problems due to the one condition. It's great that you're on top of your health, have educated yourself on it, and are trying to resolve the problem from the roots while taking as few meds as possible. At least you know that your problems are from the hypothyroidism. Hopefully, once it is treated, the other conditions will go away. *hugs*