![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
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 Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
Hey, I'm slowly tapering off of Parnate because it was found that my catecholamine levels were 3x normal. They did scans and everything was good, so I need to come off of the Parnate.
Coming off of it gives me a racing heart beat, and I got palpitations once or twice. I haven't checked my pulse in a long time, so I wanted to know where I was at after a while of not knowing. It was really slow - like slower than a beat a second. I don't know if that's bad, but it started making my heart race.
I guess I was subconsciously worried about it being too slow? It was regularly very fast so I was given a tab of Atenolol to take. I'm worried that the Atenolol is slowing it down and the Parnate is speeding it up, so coming off the Parnate is going to slow it down more than usual. I try not to worry but one stray thought seems to trigger a panic attack, then my mind bombards me with adrenaline and catecholamines or whatever and worries :( .
This is really scary. I tried looking on google to put my mind at ease, because usually they say things like "if you have a resting heart rate in the 50s, it's not a big deal" or "panic attacks aren't a big deal" or "if your resting heart rate is 90s it's not going to kill you."
I was looking for some sort of reassurance, but instead, the site I was looking at said "heart palpitations are usually benign," but went on to say "check with your doctor because arrythmias can lead to sudden death."
OH. MY. GOD. That just made things much, much worse for me o.o; . I don't want to die, and if I die, I don't want to die suddenly!! That's why I'm so afraid of surgery - the anesthesia would mean that I would die and would have no conscious part in the matter to get help or anything - my life is in someone else's hands. Most people would probably prefer to die this way, but it scares me so much!! Dying scares me, but sudden death just sounds so scary!!
I'm tapering off slowly - from 40mg I am tapering completely off of it at 2.5mg/week. I am currently at 22.5mg and will be going down to 20mg this Sunday.
I feel emotionally unstable, have periods where I feel really exhausted and periods where I have panic attacks or periods where I feel severely down. Most of the time I am emotionally numb, but at times I feel little trickles since coming down on the Parnate.
I don't want to die and this is really scary - how do I know my heart won't stop or I won't have a fatal arrythmia?? o.o
Looking things up make things worse, but the uncertainty is bad too. :(
Posted by Phillipa on September 1, 2013, at 9:50:09
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
Since you are taking the heart med I tend to agree with google and recommend that you call your doctor and ask. To give medical advise about one's heart wouldn't be ethical. As I'm not a doctor. Were you told this might happen? As for google I do this all the time for the same reason reassurance. And end up finding horrible stuff. Also your pharmacist did you ask him/her? Phillipa
Posted by Lou Pilder on September 1, 2013, at 11:54:15
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
> Hey, I'm slowly tapering off of Parnate because it was found that my catecholamine levels were 3x normal. They did scans and everything was good, so I need to come off of the Parnate.
>
> Coming off of it gives me a racing heart beat, and I got palpitations once or twice. I haven't checked my pulse in a long time, so I wanted to know where I was at after a while of not knowing. It was really slow - like slower than a beat a second. I don't know if that's bad, but it started making my heart race.
>
> I guess I was subconsciously worried about it being too slow? It was regularly very fast so I was given a tab of Atenolol to take. I'm worried that the Atenolol is slowing it down and the Parnate is speeding it up, so coming off the Parnate is going to slow it down more than usual. I try not to worry but one stray thought seems to trigger a panic attack, then my mind bombards me with adrenaline and catecholamines or whatever and worries :( .
>
> This is really scary. I tried looking on google to put my mind at ease, because usually they say things like "if you have a resting heart rate in the 50s, it's not a big deal" or "panic attacks aren't a big deal" or "if your resting heart rate is 90s it's not going to kill you."
>
> I was looking for some sort of reassurance, but instead, the site I was looking at said "heart palpitations are usually benign," but went on to say "check with your doctor because arrythmias can lead to sudden death."
>
> OH. MY. GOD. That just made things much, much worse for me o.o; . I don't want to die, and if I die, I don't want to die suddenly!! That's why I'm so afraid of surgery - the anesthesia would mean that I would die and would have no conscious part in the matter to get help or anything - my life is in someone else's hands. Most people would probably prefer to die this way, but it scares me so much!! Dying scares me, but sudden death just sounds so scary!!
>
> I'm tapering off slowly - from 40mg I am tapering completely off of it at 2.5mg/week. I am currently at 22.5mg and will be going down to 20mg this Sunday.
>
> I feel emotionally unstable, have periods where I feel really exhausted and periods where I have panic attacks or periods where I feel severely down. Most of the time I am emotionally numb, but at times I feel little trickles since coming down on the Parnate.
>
> I don't want to die and this is really scary - how do I know my heart won't stop or I won't have a fatal arrythmia?? o.o
>
> Looking things up make things worse, but the uncertainty is bad too. :(trevpr,
You wrote,[...how do I know my heart won't stop or I won't have a fatal arrhythmia??...].
There is a way for me to answer you that question but I am prevented by the nature of prohibitions posted here by Mr Hsiung to me to fully answer you that.
My answer to you would come from a Jewish perspective as revealed to me. I can not post that here, but one way for us to have dialog could be to go to the admin board here and even go back in the archives and post to me there. Then I could respond to you and perhaps give you enough information so that you could know how to deal with your question here.
You see, there is healing, and in particular healing from the effects of mind-altering drugs. It has been revealed to me how this healing can come to you. Be advised that it is generally accepted that about 42,000 people just last year alone were killed by psychiatric drugs. I consider that number to be an understatement for my math shows 10-100 times that number of deaths. Be advised that the chemical structure of the drug that you are taking comes from amphetamine and that I am prevented by the nature of prohibitions to me by Mr Hsiung from posting the historical use of amphetamine during a particular time frame, a time frame of importance in where some of these mind-altering drugs came from and how they were used in the commission of mass-murder. And some of the chemical compounds of the mind-altering drugs promoted here are used today in gasses used in the commission of mass-murder. You may have taken them and could their effects linger in you? Do you want to take more mind-altering drugs?
Lou
Posted by Partlycloudy on September 1, 2013, at 12:09:07
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
Hi, there. I am very familiar with panic attacks. First name basis.
I can highly recommend some form of meditation, any kind. I like yoga Nidra for its relaxing effects, plus there is no way to do incorrectly. It is very good for people who have PTSD, which, if you ask me, any one undergoing withdrawal is experiencing a trauma if it isn't going smoothly.
Keep your environment soothing. Ambient music, or none. I wouldn't bother with TV because it is pretty stimulating.
Take care, and know that the withdrawal will go away. And you will be OK.
(Nice to meet you, BTW.) I am PartlyCloudy
Posted by Moishe Pipik on September 1, 2013, at 17:58:22
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
That's weird, because I had no withdrawal symptoms even after stopping Parnate cold turkey.
60 beats per minute is a perfectly normal heart rate.
Chances are, your heart palpitations are benign, and might have more to do with your general state of mind than the cessation of the Parnate.
For most of my adult life, I've have a mildly chronic case of PVCs, a type of heart palpitation. As disconcerting as it can be, especially if I feel stressed and/or am suffering from sleep loss, it's not an immediate health danger (tests have all come up negative).
So, try to relax as best you can until things get back to something resembling "normalcy".
Posted by baseball55 on September 1, 2013, at 19:07:33
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
> Hey, I'm slowly tapering off of Parnate because it was found that my catecholamine levels were 3x normal. They did scans and everything was good, so I need to come off of the Parnate.
>What are catecholamine levels and why do they matter? Just curious Never heard this term before.
Posted by bleauberry on September 1, 2013, at 19:56:55
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
I was just curious, dunno, does it make sense to send your life into a place of dark torture because catecholamine levels are high?
Posted by Willful on September 3, 2013, at 0:44:08
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
If you're having anxiety or physical symptoms related to anxiety, I would try xanax and possibly a small dose of seroquel, and go up a bit if it doesn't help in half an hour.
My pdoc used those two when I went off parnate cold turkey from a very high dose and went to the emergency room because of a lot of agitation and feeling I couldn't swallow. It helped a lot.
I hope you're doing better though.
Willful
Posted by phidippus on September 3, 2013, at 11:06:43
In reply to I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 1, 2013, at 1:08:42
Having a little OCD about your heart, eh? Just tell yourself your heart will fail or explode inside your chest. That would be the ERP approach.
The odds of you dying from a heart problem are pretty slim. Try to leave it at that.
Eric
Posted by Trevpr on September 5, 2013, at 18:16:18
In reply to Re: I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal) » Trevpr, posted by phidippus on September 3, 2013, at 11:06:43
Hey I appreciate all your replies. Man this is HARD. Sometimes I feel so slow and out of it I get really scared. I try not to FEEL scared but I'm having trouble just thinking straight. This literally feels like I have alzheimers. I was trying to taper off 2.5mg of parnate per week, but this is really bad - I think ineed to take a break.
I'm on 20mg right now which isn't too much, but this last decrease is driving me insane. I went from 25mg to 22.5 and felt off for like 3 days and it slowly improved, but after this last decrease that I did on Sunday, I'm still feeling really off and Its already Thursday (so that's like 4-5 days later)
When should I expect to feel relatively stable?? I really hope that the parnate hasn't left any permanent brain damage. I've been on it for 6 months
Posted by alchemy on September 20, 2013, at 17:16:51
In reply to Re: I'm Scared - Can Someone Help? :( (Withdrawal), posted by Trevpr on September 5, 2013, at 18:16:18
It's hard to say when the withdrawal effects of the parnate will completely end, but they will. I also experienced a lot of anxiety. I agree with bleuberry about taking a benzo for maybe a couple weeks to not make it so horrible. I would assume it would also calm your heart down.
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.