Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 748259

Shown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

fluoxetine + common cold

Posted by Ruuudy on April 8, 2007, at 21:50:54

I dread the common cold because I usually end up with a "head cold" that I bet most other people don't experience. Could the fact that I take fluoxetine & then add cold medicines to fight the cold be the main cause of the head cold?

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Ruuudy

Posted by Phillipa on April 8, 2007, at 22:04:57

In reply to fluoxetine + common cold, posted by Ruuudy on April 8, 2007, at 21:50:54

Why do you think that? Love Phillipa

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Ruuudy

Posted by Bonnie_CA on April 9, 2007, at 1:16:37

In reply to fluoxetine + common cold, posted by Ruuudy on April 8, 2007, at 21:50:54

Be careful with cold medicines and SSRIs. No one told me this, I had to find information on it myself. The cough suppressant in many cold medicines causes your body to produce more serotonin (this is how it calms the urge to cough). More serotonin + serotonin reuptake inhibitor = serotonin syndrome. It can make you WAY sicker than the cold. I was only on 20mg of Celexa when I ended up in the hospital, unable to stop puking and dry heaving. I had taken Dayquil all day (made my stomach hurt a lot, I didn't know why) and then I had taken a dose of Nyquil to go to sleep. I had a really high fever and I didn't understand what was going on, and I guess my body reached a breaking point and I starting getting hot and cold and couldn't stop puking. I sat in the shower for hours, turning the water on cool and warm depending on how I was feeling at the moment. Went to the hospital, they couldn't find anything wrong, so they sent me home with prescription dramimine and vicodin. In fact all I needed was a benzo and perhaps a beta blocker.

It seriously bothers me that this information is NOT provided with SSRIs OR cold medicines. How easy would it be to commit suicide using an overdose of SSRIs and a cough suppressant? OH WAIT! The drug companies wouldn't want that secret out, since it would damage the "safe" reputation of SSRIs. (I think SSRIs are as safe as skydiving and bungy jumping...)

If you get a cold while on prozac, take lots of vitamins, get lots of rest, and drink lots of water. And by lots of rest I mean sleep as long as humanly possible. If you are congested badly, it's ok to take sudafed because the worst it will do is raise your heart rate, and of course you can take a pain reliever. But avoid any of the medicines that contain a cough suppressant.

You can find cases if you google "serotonin syndrome". This is the only way I found out the reason I ended up in the hospital. I was pretty ticked too, because I clearly told them that I was on Celexa and had been taking cold medicine for a cold.

Hope that helps.
-Bonnie

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Bonnie_CA

Posted by Meri-Tuuli on April 9, 2007, at 4:11:40

In reply to Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Ruuudy, posted by Bonnie_CA on April 9, 2007, at 1:16:37

Wow, bonnie, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Sounds awful! I totally agree with you about what you said re: SSRIs being supposedly 'safe' etc. And that the drug companies aren't more transparent about these things. And what annoys me is that herbal remedies get a complete and utter bashing should they so much as cause a rash - yet Big Pharma medicines can get away with all sorts of things, like your example.

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold

Posted by Meri-Tuuli on April 9, 2007, at 4:18:20

In reply to fluoxetine + common cold, posted by Ruuudy on April 8, 2007, at 21:50:54

Generally, I take nothing for a cold, and never have done. Maybe a paracetamol if my fever is getting really high but thats about it. Or I might sniff some olbas oil or eat mentol candies, but that is seriously it.

Fevers, coughing, sneezing, having a runny nose, are all ways in which your body tries to get rid of the cold virus. They are healing mechanisms and I don't think they should be suppressed. Your body knows how to rid itself of a cold - you should let it run the course.

Some good 'alternative' menthods of helping (not suppressing) your body are:

Take vitamin C and zinc. You should be also to find these quite readily.

Eat onions and garlic, raw. They help alot. Onions really help in clearing passages and they have properties as well.

Try sambucol - kind of natures tamiflu. Google it. Its kosher too.

And just let your cold run its course and stay in bed, etc.

Kind regards

Meri

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold

Posted by bassman on April 9, 2007, at 8:25:31

In reply to Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Ruuudy, posted by Bonnie_CA on April 9, 2007, at 1:16:37

For example,
http://www.answers.com/topic/serotonin-syndrome

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold

Posted by Ruuudy on April 9, 2007, at 10:17:12

In reply to Re: fluoxetine + common cold, posted by bassman on April 9, 2007, at 8:25:31

Thanks for your'alls input. I'm convinced it's an ingredient in the "Nighttime" version of the cold medicine, as oppossed to the "Daytime" version. Perhaps it's the antihistamine. Something really scrambles my neurochemistry & make me really light-headed & weak.

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Meri-Tuuli

Posted by Bonnie_CA on April 9, 2007, at 16:09:14

In reply to Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Bonnie_CA, posted by Meri-Tuuli on April 9, 2007, at 4:11:40

Yeah, the FDA gets all up in arms about herbal remedies which may or may not work, but completely ignore the problems the prescriptions have. It's sad really. How many people will have to be seriously sickened or die for them to see the problem? But, I guess we can all recall Fen-Phen... how many people had serious heart trouble before they recalled it? And how did it slip through without that being noticed? Hmmmm...
Why won't the FDA (or whatever that agency is called over where you are) put a warning on the label about THAT particular interaction? All they mention is the MAOI interaction, which is silly because I think the portion of the population that might mix an MAOI and an SSRI is a much smaller portion than the population that will take a cough suppressant and an SSRI. I guess the difference is how lethal it is... it's likely you will live through a serotonin syndrome reaction with a cough supressant and an SSRI, but you probably won't live through the combo of the MAOI and SSRI. So really, how many people will have to die...?

-Bonnie

 

Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Bonnie_CA

Posted by Phillipa on April 9, 2007, at 19:36:10

In reply to Re: fluoxetine + common cold » Meri-Tuuli, posted by Bonnie_CA on April 9, 2007, at 16:09:14

What about viox sp? and the other one? And that's why I don't take meds at least 10 years old and no one ever said don't use a cold preparation with an SSRI. But another good reason to take a benzo with the. Love Phillipa


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