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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:11:00
Hello, I had recently been debilatated to the extent of not being able to work or go to school for over a year because of, I believe, reasons pertaining to psychiatric medicines. I brought this to a lawyers attention and unfortuantely he says I need some sort of evidence of this. I may look desperate here, but can someone please help me find out what kind of tests I can do to determine what effects these medicines have had on me?
Posted by mike13 on January 29, 2005, at 17:24:40
In reply to Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:11:00
What are your symptoms exactly??
Posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 17:39:05
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by mike13 on January 29, 2005, at 17:24:40
.... and what what drugs have you taken? At what doses?
Ed.
Posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:52:03
In reply to Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:11:00
ed_uk, the drugs that I believe did this to me were Geodon and Effexor, unfortunately I cannot remember the doses off hand as it was a year ago, but I do remember that the effexor was in the mid range, and the geodon was in the higher ranger. Mike, as far as the symptoms, they included: panic attacks which ended up giving me dissociation, muscle twitching which I still get even today, sensitivity to light, strange never sensations that someimes feel like burning almost and that happen mostly in my left leg where it twitched the most, also around the back of my neck and behind my eyes, it also gave me that shaking leg syndrome too. This all started after I took the medicine and it has been so painful, it is too much for me really. This happened a year ago and these things are still there. It all happened one day, when I missed both doses of Geodon and Effexor in the morning, it happened later in the evening and I have never been the same. But I cannot stress more the effect this has had on me, as I can't really do anything like work or school, the pain physically and psychologically is too much.
Posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 18:07:04
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:52:03
Hello,
Did you have any side effects from either of the medications before the day when you missed the dose?
After the day when you forgot to take your meds, did you continue to take the medication as usual or did you stop taking the medication or reduce the dose?
Ed.
Posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 18:15:17
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:52:03
Hello,
I will try to help. I hope you don't mind answering some questions :-)
Do you have a mental health diagnosis?
Did you stop Effexor and Geodon abruptly or do a gradual taper?
What symptoms did you experience when you stopped the Effexor completely?
How long is it since you took Effexor?
Why were you originally prescibed Effexor and Geodon in the first place?
Do you suffer from any medical conditions?
Which parts of your body twitch?
Do you mean that your eyes are sensitive to light or your skin?
What do you mean by 'shaking legs syndrome'?
Have you seen a neurologist to discuss your current symptoms?
Do you take any medication at the moment?
What medication have you taken in the past apart from Effexor and Geodon?
Ed.
Posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 19:46:09
In reply to Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 17:11:00
Thanks for helping me.
>Do you have a mental health diagnosis?
Yes, I was diagnosed with major depression and generalized anxiety>Did you stop Effexor and Geodon abruptly or do a gradual taper?
I stopped them abruptly and that is when this stuff starting happening except for the light sensitivty which started when I took Geodon (I noticed that it made my pupils dilate, my pupils still seem to be sensitive to light and there is this strange nerve sensation behind my eyes, almost like the sensation you get when you are about to sneeze. I eventually tapered off both drugs with the help of clonazepam.>What symptoms did you experience when you stopped the Effexor completely?
I am not sure, as I stopped Geodon and Effexor at the same times.>How long is it since you took Effexor?
About 7 months>Why were you originally prescibed Effexor and Geodon in the first place?
Effexor for depression and Geodon for anxiety, I later found out that Geodon was an anti-psychotic>Do you suffer from any medical conditions?
No>Which parts of your body twitch?
When the twitching started happening a year ago, it was in many places like the neck arms and legs, now it dosen't happen as much but when it does it is my left leg, also the same leg where there is a strange nerve sensation from behind the upper thigh to the knee>Do you mean that your eyes are sensitive to light or your skin?
I mean my eyes>What do you mean by 'shaking legs syndrome'?
Yes, I think it is called akathisia, but it won't go away though...>Have you seen a neurologist to discuss your current symptoms?
Yes, he gave me a CT-Scan and they did a EEG but they didn't show anything, I know these drugs did something>Do you take any medication at the moment?
No>What medication have you taken in the past apart from Effexor and Geodon?
Many others such as Zyprexa, Lithium, Seroquel...
I did something stupid with the seroquel once, I had taken kava and took the seroquel too close in time, it ended up sedating me very bad, and I had these brain shocks or something for almost 2 months, I am such a moron
Posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 20:46:15
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 29, 2005, at 19:46:09
Hello!
>Thanks for helping me.
You're welcome!
After the day when you forgot to take your meds, you started to feel ill in the afternoon. Did you continue with your usual medication the next day? If you did, did the symptoms which appeared that afternoon go away over the next few days when you took your medication again?
How long did you take clonazepam for? Do you remember the dose? Which symptoms did clonazepam help?
Why did you decide to stop your meds abruptly rather than doing a gradual taper? Did you doctor suggest doing a gradual taper?
>I later found out that Geodon was an anti-psychotic.
Yes, it is. Antipsychotics are often prescribed to treat anxiety in people who are not psychotic. They are used most commonly to treat people who have not improved despite treatment with more 'standard' anti-anxiety drugs.
While you were still taking Effexor and Geodon, what side effects did you experience?
Have you ever taken Prozac? If you have, did you have any side effects?
>When the twitching started happening a year ago..
You said you stopped Effexor and Geodon 7 months ago. Were you taking any medication when the twitching started? ....or did the twitching start after you stopped your meds abruptly? Can you stop the twitching if you try?
>Yes, I think it is called akathisia, but it won't go away though...
Akathisia is a feeling of restlessness 'in the muscles' which forces a person to keep moving. Is this what you experience at the moment?
All antipsychotics can cause akathisia, either during treatment or after withdrawal.
Did you experience akathisia while you were still taking the Geodon?
At the moment, do you find it difficult to sit still? If so, does clonazepam help?
Do you 'twitch' in response to feelings of restlessness or is the twitching completely out of your control?
What would the twitching movements look like to an observer?
>there is a strange nerve sensation from behind the upper thigh to the knee
Can you describe what it feels like? Does it make you feel restless?
Ed.
Posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 21:19:25
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs » heroin, posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 20:46:15
Hi,
Please can you describe your panic attacks. What symptoms do you get when you have a panic attack? eg. sweating, racing heart etc.
How often do you have a panic attacks?Ed.
Posted by heroin on January 30, 2005, at 6:41:07
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs » heroin, posted by ed_uk on January 29, 2005, at 20:46:15
>After the day when you forgot to take your meds, >you started to feel ill in the afternoon. Did you continue with your usual medication the next day? If you did, did the symptoms which appeared that afternoon go away over the next few days when you took your medication again?Oh. sorry for the misunderstanding, I started to feel sick later in the day on the same day I stopped taking both medicines abruptly, during that night, I got a panic attack from it with dissociation (which I still have now). Actually the symptoms didn't go away when I took the medicine again, except those nerve sensations would stop when I took the Geodon, but even a year later they are still there. Those nerve pains caused by stopping the medicine all of a sudden, would stop when I took the medicine again, Geodon also caused horrible sedation.
>How long did you take clonazepam for? Do you remember the dose? Which symptoms did clonazepam help?
I took it for about a month when I was weening of of Geodon, I think the does was 2mgs, the clonazepam helped with the withdrawal, the only symptoms it seemed to help were the agitation.
>While you were still taking Effexor and Geodon, what side effects did you experience?
The side effects I had before stopping them suddenly were: extremely heavy sedation, dilated pupils, sometimes racing heart
>Have you ever taken Prozac? If you have, did you have any side effects?
no
>You said you stopped Effexor and Geodon 7 months >ago. Were you taking any medication when the twitching started? ....or did the twitching start after you stopped your meds abruptly? Can you stop the twitching if you try?
The twitching started suddenly one night about a week after starting Geodon, I can't stop the twitching but it is not as bad as it used to be.
It is mostly in the left leg.>Akathisia is a feeling of restlessness 'in the muscles' which forces a person to keep moving. Is this what you experience at the moment?
Every single moment, it is like a low level one, I do not understand why it is lasting this long for.
>Did you experience akathisia while you were still taking the Geodon?
No, only when I stopped taking the dosage suddenly.
>At the moment, do you find it difficult to sit still? If so, does clonazepam help?
Yes I feel that way and the clonazepam helps somewhat.
>Do you 'twitch' in response to feelings of restlessness or is the twitching completely out of your control?
It is out of my control
>What would the twitching movements look like to an observer?Like if you were to suddenly jerk a part of the body slightly in an outward direction.
>Can you describe what it feels like? Does it make you feel restless?
If it feels like a strange burning sensation sometimes, like a cross between hitting your funny bone and that sensation you get mid-way into a sneeze.
what I don't understand is, I was only on the Geodon for about 2 weeks, I thought it would be safe stopping it suddenly.
Posted by ed_uk on January 31, 2005, at 8:29:16
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs, posted by heroin on January 30, 2005, at 6:41:07
Hello,
I only have a few more questions now!
Are you sure that the sedation and dilated pupils were caused by the Geodon and not the Effexor?
Which SSRIs (Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox, Zoloft, Paxil) have you taken in the past? Did they help your depression or anxiety? Did you have any side effects?
Would you be willing to take a low dose of medication on a long-term basis if it was effective in relieving your symptoms without causing any problematic side effects?
Whe you took the Geodon again, your 'nerve sensations' temporarily went away. Did the restlessness also temporarily go away?
> I started to feel sick later in the day on the same day I stopped taking both medicines abruptly, during that night, I got a panic attack from it with dissociation (which I still have now). Actually the symptoms didn't go away when I took the medicine again, except those nerve sensations would stop when I took the Geodon, but even a year later they are still there.
So, when you restarted the Effexor your anxiety didn't reduce at all? .....or did it improve partially?
Has your doctor ever prescribed propranolol (Inderal) to help reduce your restlessness?
Do you suffer from asthma?
How effective was clonazepam in reducing your anxiety?
Did you get any withdrawal symptoms when you stopped the clonazepam?
Did you have any important side effects from clonazepam?
Did you use any other medications to help reduce your withdrawal symptoms apart from clonazepam?
Ed.
Posted by ed_uk on February 3, 2005, at 8:31:32
In reply to Re: Evidence of damage caused by drugs » heroin, posted by ed_uk on January 31, 2005, at 8:29:16
Posted by Warren on February 8, 2005, at 17:28:53
In reply to Heroin, are you still around? (nm), posted by ed_uk on February 3, 2005, at 8:31:32
My wife is having some of the same issues. She was on Geodon (40mg per day) and Effexor (75mg per day. She is also on Vistaril (50mg 4x per day). She was on Geodon for about 3-4 weeks and came off about a week ago. Now she can't sleep at night and her heart seems to race frequently. We can't decide what she really needs to be on and what is causing the side effects. The pdoc is quick to prescribe, but we don't think they are doing the right thing.
This all started due to an extremely difficult pregnancy. Lack of nutrition and sleepless nights resulted in depression. She is still pregnant and we are worried about all of the meds the docs keeping throwing her way. We would love for her to be off of everything, but are scared to make that step without the doctor. She isn't as sick as she had been with the pregnancy. She is staying hydrated and able to keep food down most of the time.
We just can't figure out what she needs to really be on and what is causing the insomnia and the adrenaline rushes....
Thoughts?
This is the end of the thread.
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