Error201: Am I an anomaly?

[Error201]

I have a long complicated medical history. I'll try to stick to the basics of it.

 

I started my first antidepressant in 1993 and I haven't been off one since. In 2004,  Trileptal, Lamictal, Abilify, Clonazepam, Prozasin, Adderall were added and Gabapentin I was only for a few months. Yes, these meds were taken all at the same time. I had a severe psychological reaction to Lamictal that ruined 8 years of my life. I never did learn why that stuff made me so incredibly anxious to the point of obsessive compulsive behaviors.

 

In 2016, I got very ill and during the stress from all that, my lovely psychiatrist decided to stop my Clonazepam that I had been taking daily for 11 years. NO WEANING. I amazingly didn't get sick, but the anxiety was unreal, but I didn't think much about it as I was dealing with some extremely stressful matters. Out of all meds I have come off of, it was definitely not the hardest by a long shot.

 

I had been on high doses of daily narcotics as well (prescribed) and between the narcotics and all the psychotropic drugs, I just couldn't function anymore. I have been bed bound for 2 years. Over the past 2 years, the anxiety and blah feelings just got worse. This is where I made a drastic decision in May 2018. I was going to stop all pain meds. 

 

That decision was the best decision I ever made. Despite the severe withdrawals, I stuck to my guns and kept with it. I'm still dealing with mild PAWS, but it gets better every day. I fired my psychiatrist of 13 years as well and started back up with my therapist and a new psychiatric ARNP. I decided (with their approval and help) to get off all my meds. Since July 1, 2018, I have weaned (way too rapidly) off pain meds, Trileptal, Gabapentin, Clonidine, Prozasin, and CBD. I only took the CBD to help me thru detox. 

 

I'm currently in the process of weaning off Pristiq. In April I was on 75mg, then dropped to 50mg for during the summer. I had no withdrawal whatsoever. I reduced down to 25mg 4 days ago and still no withdrawal. I am prepared if it hits me out of the blue. I quit Abilify in Dec 2017 cold turkey with no ill effects whatsoever either.

 

The more meds I've been coming off, the better I have been feeling. This seems to be the exact opposite of what others are experiencing. Two things I know about myself is that I metabolize meds rapidly and build tolerance to all meds very rapidly. Are they related somehow? I also am extremely sensitive to meds no matter what class they are in. They either work well, but poop out very fast, or I have the side effects that only happen in 0.00001% of people who take the same drugs. Still can't figure that one out.

 

Am I just one of the very few lucky ones, or can the withdrawal hit much later on? I'm excited about all this, but also very realistic that I can plummet at any time. I do have a blah day here and there with some physical anxiety, but it's easily abated by getting up and doing something. When I'm out and about I have zero symptoms. 

[ChessieCat]

Hi Error and welcome to SA,

 

To help us out please create your drug signature.  Keep it simple, no symptoms or diagnoses.

 

Anything prior to 2016 can just be listed as drug with year and dose.

 

We need details for the last 2 years.  ALL drugs, doses, with dates, include drug dose changes too please.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

We also need to be able to clearly see what drug/s, dates and doses you are currently taking.  If you are taking more than 1 drug currently please use the Drug Interactions Checker and copy and paste the results here in your Intro topic.

 

This is your own Intro topic where you can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

[Error201]

Done. I'm currently down to 25mg Pristiq and take 10mg Adderall. I ran out of room to add the adderall.

[ChessieCat]

9 minutes ago, Error201 said:

I ran out of room to add the adderall.

 

We need to have   You could join these into one line:

 

-Clonazepam 11 yrs stopped in August 2016;  Lamictal, Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Cymbalta all prior to 2016

 

32 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

please use the Drug Interactions Checker and copy and paste the results here in your Intro topic.

 

Please do interaction check on Pristiq and Adderall.

[ChessieCat]

Please also put Pristiq and Adderall on the bottom 2 lines so we can see that they are current drugs.  Thank you.

 

Also, I think Prozasin might be spelled prazosin.

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by ChessieCat

[Error201]

I am on my cell and I can't find how to edit my post to add the drug interactions. 

 

https://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=190-1645,2796-12488

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Error.

 

That link to drug interactions is fine. What time of day do you take each drug, and its dosage?

 

Your history sounds consistent with your being a fast metabolizer along some liver enzymes. Fast metabolizers face great danger from being loaded up with psychiatric drugs with no seeming ill effects. However, the drugs can still conflict in the liver and kidneys and damage them.

 

On the other hand, your history of going on and off drugs and suffering some adverse effects from them probably has caused your nervous system to become sensitized, which means you may quickly have exaggerated or adverse reactions to "normal" dosages.

 

You are fortunate that you have not suffered severe withdrawal symptoms so far except from the narcotics. As you are still suffering from PAWs, which confirms your nervous system is already sensitized, if I were you, I'd taper the Pristiq more slowly.

 

75mg Pristiq is a very high dosage of Pristiq. It could be that taking a third of the dose, now 25mg, is plenty to occupy receptors -- see Why taper? Paper demonstrates importance of gradual change in plasma concentration

 

If I were you, I would hold on 25mg Pristiq to allow your nervous system to get used to all the changes, then taper much more slowly. See Tips for tapering off Pristiq (desvenlafaxine)

[Error201]

I take 25mg Pristiq and 10mg Adderall in the morning. I used to take the Pristiq at bedtime. I just had all my lab work done and my liver enzymes are good. I am, however, in stage 3a kidney disease, but i have remained stable there for 10 years. The reason for coming off the Pristiq is due to tachycardia that it's been causing since i started taking it. I had no idea this was a side effect. I stopped the Adderall for 2 months to see if it would make a difference, but it didn't. The only remaining PAWS i have from coming off the pain meds is an occasional day of physical anxiety here and there, but it improves daily. I have more energy and focus now than I've had in nearly 25 years. I was given all those psych drugs based off a totally wrong diagnosis. It's probably why i feel so much better off them than on them. The remaining 25mg taper is going to be done very slowly as described in the intro section. 

[Altostrata]

Why are you taking Adderall? That can be rough on your body as well.

[ChessieCat]

13 minutes ago, Error201 said:

The reason for coming off the Pristiq is due to tachycardia that it's been causing since i started taking it. I had no idea this was a side effect.

 

This may be from serotonin syndrome which I can see is a possibility from Pristiq/Adderall interaction.

 

My diastolic blood pressure increased when I increased my Pristiq from 50mg to 100mg.  Sometimes I would feel like my heart flipped, or skipped a beat.  Unfortunately my doctor didn't recognise SS and just increased my BP dose.  I had mild serotonin syndrome symptoms (agitation, sweating, poor concentration) which lessened as my dose reduced.  I've also reduced my BP dose. 

[Error201]

I take Adderall for severe fatigue unrelated to all this. I actually have low blood pressure. I monitor it regularly. 

[Altostrata]

I'm pretty sure the fatigue is related to the ridiculous drug cocktails you've been on.

 

National Kidney Foundation: Which Drugs are Harmful to Your Kidneys?

 

Quote

 

Cocaine, heroin and amphetamines also can cause kidney damage.

 

 

A prescription is not a magic shield against the harmful effects of amphetamines aka Adderall.

[Error201]

I have had insomnia since i was a toddler. My former psychiatrist believed that if he couldn't get me to sleep, he would give me something to help me stay awake instead. Without going into detail, his care of me was extremely negligent. My psychologist and psychiatric ARNP are just floored by what he did. It was pure malpractice and I'm fortunate he didn't kill me on several occasions. I plan to come off the Adderall next, but my rule is to only change one med at a time.

[SkyBlue]

29 minutes ago, Error201 said:

I plan to come off the Adderall next, but my rule is to only change one med at a time.

 

Generally, that is a very good rule; it seems to be best for our oversensitized nervous systems.

[Tarheel109]

I’m curious to know how you are doing. Any updates?

 

Hope all is well.

[Error201]

I am doing really well. I was almost off the Pristiq when all the agitation hit me. I decided to go on Zoloft instead and wean off that come spring. This is the wrong time of year for me to come off it.  I ran out of time to come off it before the days get too short. I have a history of seasonal affective disorder. As far as coming off all my other meds, I have never felt better.