crista Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 I hope you are getting progressively everyday. I understand from what I hearThat there be some bad days in between but they will lessen as time goes by.Keep us postedLexy Thank you, Lexy. Yes, some days are worse than others. I'll be ok. Take care! Crista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Hi Crista how are you doing now? I am curious about Lyme and fear I might have it in addition to protracted WD. What treatment are you getting for the Lyme? How is it working? Did you experience Herxheimer reaction? Do you have a Lyme literate doctor? I hope your are continuing to improve.and doing much better! Take care. 2002? zoloft. Start of synthroid unknown. 2002? switched to paxil - Developed restless leg syndrome. stopped all caffeine which helped for many years. 2003? switched to effexor XL 75 mg. May 2012 began taper July 2012 stopped all effexor . Usual WD symptoms, lost excess weight, had more energy. RLS stopped immediately! Sept 2012 depression off and on, increasing. Tried tryptophan and acupuncture Dec 2012 severe anxiety began February 2013 used magnolia bark for anxiety - helped but developed central sleep apnea, so I stopped it by April 2013- stopped tryptophan, using saffron herb successfully and started HRT June 2013 doctor noticed bradycardia. I tried very small dose cytomel sev days for hypothyroidism but seemed to strain my heart. July 2013 stopped saffron due to slow heart and palpitations - did not help. July 2013 Increased synthroid from 50mg to 75mg. depression and anxiety improved. Heart problems continue. September & October 2013 - 2 month course of antibiotic for possbile lyme disease - mood and anxiety improved further. Heart pvc's flair up at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crista Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Hi Crista how are you doing now? I am curious about Lyme and fear I might have it in addition to protracted WD. What treatment are you getting for the Lyme? How is it working? Did you experience Herxheimer reaction? Do you have a Lyme literate doctor? I hope your are continuing to improve.and doing much better! Take care. Hello, Honestly, I'm not doing well right now. I was on antibiotics for over 5 months and I was developing ulcers and my liver was shutting down so I had to stop. I am now trying the Marshall Protocol and I'm experiencing a lot of herxes. You can read all about my Lyme story HERE. I also post facts about Lyme Disease, inspirational photos, and gluten-free recipes (it is good for people with Lyme to cut gluten and sugar etc). I would definitely recommend getting a a Lyme Literate Doctor and getting checked. HERE is some info on how to get tested. Crista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Thanks for your update and all the good links. I wish you well with the Marshall protocol!!! You have suffered a lot and been very strong to endure so much for so long. I admire you for posting your story and trying to get the word out about Lyme Disease. I hope and pray for your recovery, and that your story will help others get the help they need early on. I think you said you wonder how much of your symptoms are from Lyme and how much from withdrawal. I am wondering if some of us have had lyme for years and didn't know it. And when we stop the AD, it somehow allows the lyme to present itself. I know that any stress can increase lyme flare ups. So maybe the AD's were keeping us somewhat calm and the lyme somewhat in check, until we withdrew. I found an article that said "antidepressants can result in antibiotic effects, and antibiotics can have antidepressant effects." http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/Articles/LymeDepressionAndSuicide.htm see second to last paragraph. Your story describes many problems for a long time. I'm unclear on which AD's you were on and when you stopped. Did your symptoms increase upon stopping AD? I'm trying to figure out how protracted withdrawal syndrome symptoms are same or different from the psychiatric and other lyme symptoms. Most lyme sites mention anxiety and numbness and tingling, depression, and tinnitus, sensitivity to light and sound, brain fog and slow thinking, forgetfulness. All similar symptoms to WD syndrome. What about twitching, nerve sparks, internal vibration, auditory hallucinations, brain zaps! These might be more indicative of WD syndrome and NOT lyme. Although lyme seems to USUALLY involve joint aches and tiredness, that can be an earlier stage that subsides or not be present. Only when the brain and nerve effects take hold are some people diagnosed with lyme. I believe these are typical of the 2nd or 3rd stages of Lyme. Also, if a person had both lyme and protracted withdrawal, and started lyme treatment, it would be hard to know if the lyme has been fully treated. One might still be left with the WD symptoms, even if lyme is eradicated. I suppose one would wait until the herx symptoms subside to assume the Lyme has died off? But at the same time you could be having windows and waves from protracted WD. It seem it would be very hard to know what is what (herx or a bad wave) and if the lyme treatment is working. 2002? zoloft. Start of synthroid unknown. 2002? switched to paxil - Developed restless leg syndrome. stopped all caffeine which helped for many years. 2003? switched to effexor XL 75 mg. May 2012 began taper July 2012 stopped all effexor . Usual WD symptoms, lost excess weight, had more energy. RLS stopped immediately! Sept 2012 depression off and on, increasing. Tried tryptophan and acupuncture Dec 2012 severe anxiety began February 2013 used magnolia bark for anxiety - helped but developed central sleep apnea, so I stopped it by April 2013- stopped tryptophan, using saffron herb successfully and started HRT June 2013 doctor noticed bradycardia. I tried very small dose cytomel sev days for hypothyroidism but seemed to strain my heart. July 2013 stopped saffron due to slow heart and palpitations - did not help. July 2013 Increased synthroid from 50mg to 75mg. depression and anxiety improved. Heart problems continue. September & October 2013 - 2 month course of antibiotic for possbile lyme disease - mood and anxiety improved further. Heart pvc's flair up at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Altostrata Posted January 24, 2014 Administrator Share Posted January 24, 2014 Thank you for letting us know about the Lyme info. Wishing you good healing, crista. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crista Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Thanks for your update and all the good links. I wish you well with the Marshall protocol!!! You have suffered a lot and been very strong to endure so much for so long. I admire you for posting your story and trying to get the word out about Lyme Disease. I hope and pray for your recovery, and that your story will help others get the help they need early on. I think you said you wonder how much of your symptoms are from Lyme and how much from withdrawal. I am wondering if some of us have had lyme for years and didn't know it. And when we stop the AD, it somehow allows the lyme to present itself. I know that any stress can increase lyme flare ups. So maybe the AD's were keeping us somewhat calm and the lyme somewhat in check, until we withdrew. I found an article that said "antidepressants can result in antibiotic effects, and antibiotics can have antidepressant effects." http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/Articles/LymeDepressionAndSuicide.htm see second to last paragraph. Your story describes many problems for a long time. I'm unclear on which AD's you were on and when you stopped. Did your symptoms increase upon stopping AD? I'm trying to figure out how protracted withdrawal syndrome symptoms are same or different from the psychiatric and other lyme symptoms. Most lyme sites mention anxiety and numbness and tingling, depression, and tinnitus, sensitivity to light and sound, brain fog and slow thinking, forgetfulness. All similar symptoms to WD syndrome. What about twitching, nerve sparks, internal vibration, auditory hallucinations, brain zaps! These might be more indicative of WD syndrome and NOT lyme. Although lyme seems to USUALLY involve joint aches and tiredness, that can be an earlier stage that subsides or not be present. Only when the brain and nerve effects take hold are some people diagnosed with lyme. I believe these are typical of the 2nd or 3rd stages of Lyme. Also, if a person had both lyme and protracted withdrawal, and started lyme treatment, it would be hard to know if the lyme has been fully treated. One might still be left with the WD symptoms, even if lyme is eradicated. I suppose one would wait until the herx symptoms subside to assume the Lyme has died off? But at the same time you could be having windows and waves from protracted WD. It seem it would be very hard to know what is what (herx or a bad wave) and if the lyme treatment is working. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. As for WD syndrome vs Lyme Disease, it looks like a lot of the symptoms are the same but most of what I feel is definitely Lyme. I know this because I've had these crazy symptoms since I was 5. They increased and became dibilitating shortly after getting off of Effexor, leading me to initially believe that withdrawl was the culprit. Also, my mom was also diagnosed with Breast Cancer and I was experiencing stress everywhere I turned. Looks like it caused a Lyme flare up. No way of knowing for sure but my guess would be it's all or mostly Lyme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crista Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Thank you for letting us know about the Lyme info. Wishing you good healing, crista. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 That is very interesting that the symptoms increased upon withdrawal from effexor. Would you say the physical (joint and aches) symptoms increased and/or was it the psychological symptoms that increased? I have some strange neurological symptoms that don't seem to be mentioned on this site as normal protracted withdrawal symptoms, so I'm suspicious of lyme. I may get with a lyme literate doctor to try to sort it out, except that he will probably not be knowledgable about WD syndrome so I fear he will jump to a lyme conclusion. Guess I should just wait and see what he thinks. Also important to realize lyme can flair up with stress. How is the Marshal protocol going? Are you still experiencing herx or is that over? 2002? zoloft. Start of synthroid unknown. 2002? switched to paxil - Developed restless leg syndrome. stopped all caffeine which helped for many years. 2003? switched to effexor XL 75 mg. May 2012 began taper July 2012 stopped all effexor . Usual WD symptoms, lost excess weight, had more energy. RLS stopped immediately! Sept 2012 depression off and on, increasing. Tried tryptophan and acupuncture Dec 2012 severe anxiety began February 2013 used magnolia bark for anxiety - helped but developed central sleep apnea, so I stopped it by April 2013- stopped tryptophan, using saffron herb successfully and started HRT June 2013 doctor noticed bradycardia. I tried very small dose cytomel sev days for hypothyroidism but seemed to strain my heart. July 2013 stopped saffron due to slow heart and palpitations - did not help. July 2013 Increased synthroid from 50mg to 75mg. depression and anxiety improved. Heart problems continue. September & October 2013 - 2 month course of antibiotic for possbile lyme disease - mood and anxiety improved further. Heart pvc's flair up at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted January 6, 2019 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted January 6, 2019 Hi there, The staff at SA are wondering how you are. We'd love to hear how you are doing now. Would you mind dropping by and giving an update? Thanks. CC * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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