Posted by Ivan Toledo on July 20, 2001, at 3:00:36
Hello all,
Herewith I'd like to post a few questions my doctor didn't know the answer to.
Since 1996 I've been using an antidepressant (Seroxat, which consists of paroxetine), and an anti-psychosis farmacon (Melleril, which is thioridiazine) for controlling both my Borderline disorder and my depression. Next to using these, I've been smoking along with it (about a package a day). Now I want to quit smoking, and I've been almost free of smoking for two weeks now. That goes well, I don't long for cigarettes that much, but I do notice a severe change in my mental state that resembles the way I feel when I'm not using the proper amount of medication: I feel wobbly and dizzy, I'm mentally very unstable, with severe mood swings, I'm loosing grip on reality, en I'm getting depressed again – it feels I'm on the verge of a new psychosis.
Of course I'm very worried about this – and about how this will continue - , and I've searched the Internet for a relationship between smoking and the use of these meds. I found that the excretion of thioridazine is affected by smoking, and that a farmacon that is used to help smokers quit (Zyban) is in fact an antidepressant which could harm e.g. people with schizofrenia.
My questions: could quitting smoking indeed have that much influence on my medication that I'm at risk for having a relapse? If so, how should the dosage be adjusted? And could I also prevent these effects by using nicotine chewing gum?Thank you so much in advance for a reaction!
Kind regards,
Ivan
poster:Ivan Toledo
thread:71026
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010714/msgs/71026.html