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See also: antihistamines-for-withdrawal-insomnia-diphenhydramine-doxylamine-hydroxyzine ADMIN NOTE In general, antihistamines do not bring about dependency or withdrawal. However, if you are taking Zyrtec (cetirizine) every day, rebound itching is possible if you should miss a dose. You may wish to taper it as described below. Please note that the active metabolite of hydroxyzine, another antidepressant often prescribed as an anxiety drug, is cetirizine -- the same as Zyrtec -- and hydroxyzine may also need to be tapered for the same reason. ALSO: ______________________________________________________ After waking up Sunday morning with my sinuses totally blocked, I made a specific point to put on a breath right nasal strip last night. For me, it helps to use hydrogen peroxide to wipe my nose as that seems to help with the strip sticking and not falling off. This morning, I woke up feeling alot better than I did the previous night. Hopefully, this helps someone. CS

Hi, I went on a trip and got a cold Nasal congestion-runny nose occurred I took Sudafed for 2-3 days It worked well for the common cold, but several bad symptoms appeared I have like more confusion-agitation and anxiety The sleep is very bad, there is insomnia and very disturbing dreams Depression is stronger again. Can Sudafed cause psychiatric symptoms? The pharmacist said that it might make you a little drowsy, but did not warn about other symptoms

Because I am wondering if following my doctor's recommendation to do nasal irrigation was the cause of a sinus infection I can't seem to get rid of, I have did some googling and came upon this article. Interestingly, my former allergist who told me he was opposed to it, is quoted. As you will see, he has great credentials. What really struck me is he said the effect lasts about 20 minutes regarding moistening the sinuses and that has exactly been my experience. http://www.jonbarron.org/immunity/bl091117/natural-health-remedies-sinus-infection Obviously, all the standard disclaimers apply such as everyone is different and causation doesn't equal correlation, etc. But I think this is a perfect example of why we have to be skeptical of all treatments that seem very popular even if they aren't drug related. CS

I came off Ciprelex completely near the end of March 2018. A week or so later, I caught the cold that was then doing the rounds at my office. It was a HORRIBLE cold - a week of aches and chills, then a week of sinus and chest congestion. The cold eventually went away, but the sinus congestion didn't, and I'm STILL dealing with horrendous post-nasal drip. While I was on Ciprelex, I would occasionally wake up during the night feeling like my throat was clogged up. I would have to swallow several times to clear the block, or in bad cases, get up to take a drink of water. This didn't happen very often - maybe once every couple of months, and I don't recall it ever happening before I started taking the medication. I just found out about something called silent reflux or LPR, where post-nasal drip isn't due to what's coming DOWN out of your sinuses, but what's coming UP out of your stomach. I know I probably sound like I'm grasping at straws here, but is it possible being on / coming off Ciprelex has triggered silent reflux? All the medical sources I've read say that if the PND starts out of the blue when you have a cold, instead of being a slow-developing thing, it's probably a sinus problem. But none of the sinus treatments I've taken so far have worked, and it was actually only this week that I remembered having the throat clogging moments. Were those throat clogging moments actually the early stage of silent reflux, and coming off Ciprelex somehow made it worse? If anyone has any input to offer, I'd love to hear it. I'm at the end of my tether with the PND.

VIDEO WARNING about Fluoroquinolones: moxifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ciprofloxacin extended release, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin and ofloxacin Antibiotics with the WORST Side Effects (Dangerous Antibiotics) Fluoroquinolones Youtube video by KenDBerryMD I have included the transcript in case the video ever disappears or gets moved from its current location. Also, some people might find reading it easier than listening to the video. Transcript of video without timestamps (transcript with timestamps at bottom of post) I shouldn't have to make this video and you should not have to watch this video but when the level of the average doctor's laziness and or incompetence reaches a certain level then I have to reach out to you and say hey you need to be aware of this even though you're not a doctor and it's not your job this is very important this is about a class of antibiotics that are very much over over prescribed in the United States and in other countries that have a serious Black Box warning own the package insert and that harm thousands of patients a year that should not be prescribed for common infections yet still are each and every day I'm Dr Ken Berry a family physician let me explain what's going on to you so that you can be prepared to protect your yourself and your family in case your doctor is just not willing to do the job that they signed up to do there are currently six different drugs that are FDA approved in this drug class and I'm going to put a visual up so you can look at this maybe take a screenshot come back and watch this again later and write these down moxifloxacin ciprofloxacin ciprofloxacin extended release jimifloxacin levofloxacin andofloxacin these are the fluoroquinolones these drugs are very commonly prescribed by primary care doctors for such such inconsequential infections as sinus infections bronchitis skin infections and bladder infections urinary tract infections now first and foremost you should understand that the vast majority of sinus infections and bronchitis are caused by viruses which no antibiotic fights or treats or improves at all so 85 percent of the time if you have a sinus infection or an ear infection or a bronchial infection or a throat infection it's a virus no antibiotic on the planet is going to shorten the amount of time you're sick is going to fight the virus is going to heal you faster the average doctor should know this many of them seem not to know this at all so very commonly for a sinus infection either Levaquin levofloxacin or Cipro ciprofloxacin is prescribed for a sinus infection which uh 85 of the time is viral and the other 15 of the time if it is bacterial there are other less harmful less severe less powerful antibiotics that will treat the bacterial sinus infection just fine without all the disastrous side effects and complications that I'm going to tell you about in just a minute that come along with this drug class the same goes for bronchitis the vast majority of the time it's viral you don't need an antibiotic at all in the 15 percent of cases that are bacterial there are very inexpensive very safe antibiotics that will treat that bronchitis just fine without you having all the potential side effects that come along with the fluoroquinolones same goes for bladder infections and pelvic infections 85 percent of the time they're viral or fungal uh 15 of the time they are bacterial but you can take a much cheaper much safer antibiotic for them so the question becomes is why are primary care doctors why are Internal Medicine doctors Family Medicine doctor years OB gyns pediatricians uh gerontologists why are they prescribing this basically an a nuclear bomb when all that is needed is just a small caliber rifle why are they doing that well the majority of the time it's out of habit they've been prescribing Cipro for bladder infections for years or they've been prescribing levofloxacin for sinus infection for years that's just what they do that's the only tool that they know how to use in the toolbox many primary care doctors think that you expect to receive an antibiotic prescription if you have some sort of infection that you went to the doctor to get checked and indeed that is true with some patients they they expect a prescription for an antibiotic and they'll get upset if they don't get one now that does Place some extra pressure on the primary care doctor to prescribe an antibiotic but that still doesn't mean that they should and it definitely does not mean that they should prescribe one of these fluoroquinolones so every single drug in this drug class has a black box warning that the Physicians should 100 percent know about and should 100 of the time discuss with you before they write the prescription and before you accept the prescription fill the prescription and take the prescription so in this particular case all of the fluoroquinolones contain a black box warning saying that they they could potentially cause irreversible damage to tendons and to peripheral nerves so uh tendonitis tendon rupture peripheral neuropathy these things can not only happen but they could be permanent very very very concerning uh if you have myasthenia gravis then you absolutely should never take a fluoroquinolone unless it's given to you by a specialist after you've had the discussion hey I have mg are you sure I should take Cipro uh and them say yes I understand there is a risk but the benefits outweigh the risks so every doctor before they give you one of these fluoroquinolones they should have first of all have an internal discussion in their own brain whether they should be writing this prescription or Not For What diagnosis they've given you but every single patient who receives the fluoroquinolone should give informed consent before they take that antibiotic and what that means is that the doctor actually had a discussion with you hey this has got a black black box box warning it could cause permanent nerve damage it could cause permanent tendinitis I just wanted you to be aware of that I think you need this antibiotic do you accept the risks of this antibiotic to which the patient would either say uh yes or hell no and that's what informed consent means so how many of you guys have been given Cipro or Levaquin or avilox and you're like no the doctor didn't tell me there was a black box warning no they didn't tell me I could have permanent nerve damage from taking that so you were not given a chance to give your doctor informed consent to use that treatment on you I think that's kind of a big deal the only time you should be given a fluoroquinolone and accept one from your doctor for a sinus infection a lung infection or a bladder infection is if number one the doctor discussed this with you and you gave informed consent but and also the doctor said look there is no other antibiotic that this bacteria is susceptible to this is the only one that will work or your infection is so serious that I think it endangers your life therefore the the benefits of taking this fluoroquinolone outweighs the risks otherwise that you should never take a fluoroquinolone in an outpatient setting now if you're an inpatient in a hospital especially if you're in the Intensive Care Unit if you're close to death then of course we're going to pull out all the big guns as a doctor and we might give you things that have potential potentially significant risks just to get the benefits that they may give you because there may be no other antibiotic in the pharmacy that's going to save your life but if you're in an outpatient setting you went to a doctor's office or an urgent care and they give you levofloxacin ciprofloxacin any of the fluoroquinolones and they don't let you give informed consent and they don't tell you hey there's no other drug that will fix this if basically what happens is they're like I'm a lazy ass doctor and I don't want to really look anything up so I've been giving Cipro for years for sinus infection so that's what you're going to get that's completely inappropriate and borderline malpractice so the things mentioned in the Black Box warning are not the only disaster side effects that the fluoroquinolones are known for they're also known for muscle pain muscle weakness joint pain joint swelling psychosis anxiety insomnia depression Suicidal Thoughts hallucinations and then you can see from the rest of this chart several of the things now keep in mind that all the fluoroquinolones are very powerful antibiotics and so they're basically going to carpet bomb your gut bacteria and so you could wind up having C difficile Associated diarrhea or a whole host of other gastrointestinal symptoms from bloating to diarrhea to constipation to gut pain to cramping because you basically carpet bombed all of the nice friendly bacteria in your guts so I'm going to put the list of medications and these are only the ones that are FDA approved in the United States if you're in another country there's quite possibly other brand names that are not on this list and there may even be other fluoroquinolones generics that are not on this list so you're going to have to do your due diligence since it's very obvious from the number of prescriptions written uh that that pharmacies keep a tally up that doctors are still grossly over prescribing the fluoroquinolones for infections that they should never be prescribed for so I want you to memorize this list maybe even print this out and keep this in your wallet or your purse uh and then anytime you go to the doctor with an infection when they give you an antibiotic prescription you're going to look on this list and see if it's one of these and if it is you're going to have a discussion with your doctor at that point and say Doc why didn't you tell me there was a black box warning for this drug why didn't you tell me that this could cause Suicidal Thoughts is there not another antibiotic that you could have given me besides Cipro or levofloxacin is that really that's that's the one that you're going to give me and after that conversation I think from that day forward your doctor will perhaps be on his or her toes as they should have been anyway and won't make such a dastardly mistake again I put links to the FDA web side about the fluoroquinolones down in the show notes below please be vigilant we should be able to trust our doctors when we go to them with a complaint but very often we're not able to trust our doctors and therefore you have to be more Vigilant when you go to the doctor than you should have to be I'm sorry about that but I also want you to be aware this is Dr Berry I'll see you next time Transcript with timestamps: 0:00 I shouldn't have to make this video and 0:02 you should not have to watch this video 0:04 but when the level of the average 0:07 doctor's laziness and or 0:11 incompetence reaches a certain level 0:14 then I have to reach out to you and say 0:16 hey you need to be aware of this even 0:19 though you're not a doctor and it's not 0:20 your job 0:22 this is very important this is about a 0:25 class of antibiotics that are very much 0:28 over over prescribed in the United 0:30 States and in other countries that have 0:33 a serious Black Box warning 0:35 own the package insert and that harm 0:39 thousands of patients a year that should 0:42 not be prescribed for common infections 0:45 yet still are each and every day I'm Dr 0:48 Ken Berry a family physician let me 0:51 explain what's going on to you so that 0:53 you can be prepared to protect your 0:55 yourself and your family in case your 0:58 doctor is just not willing to do the job 1:01 that they signed up to do 1:03 there are currently six different drugs 1:05 that are FDA approved in this drug class 1:08 and I'm going to put a visual up so you 1:10 can look at this maybe take a screenshot 1:12 come back and watch this again later and 1:15 write these down moxifloxacin 1:17 ciprofloxacin ciprofloxacin extended 1:20 release 1:22 jimifloxacin 1:24 levofloxacin andofloxacin these are the 1:27 fluoroquinolones 1:29 these drugs are very commonly prescribed 1:32 by primary care doctors for such such 1:36 inconsequential infections as sinus 1:39 infections bronchitis skin infections 1:42 and bladder infections urinary tract 1:45 infections now first and foremost you 1:48 should understand that the vast majority 1:49 of sinus infections and bronchitis 1:53 are caused by viruses which no 1:55 antibiotic fights or treats or improves 1:58 at all so 85 percent of the time if you 2:02 have a sinus infection or an ear 2:04 infection or a bronchial infection or a 2:07 throat infection 2:09 it's a virus no antibiotic on the planet 2:13 is going to shorten the amount of time 2:14 you're sick is going to fight the virus 2:17 is going to heal you faster the average 2:19 doctor should know this many of them 2:21 seem not to know this at all 2:25 so very commonly for a sinus infection 2:29 either Levaquin levofloxacin or Cipro 2:32 ciprofloxacin is prescribed for a sinus 2:35 infection which uh 85 of the time is 2:38 viral and the other 15 of the time if it 2:40 is bacterial 2:42 there are other less harmful less severe 2:46 less powerful antibiotics that will 2:48 treat the bacterial sinus infection just 2:52 fine without all the disastrous side 2:55 effects and complications that I'm going 2:56 to tell you about in just a minute that 2:58 come along with this drug class the same 3:01 goes for bronchitis the vast majority of 3:03 the time it's viral you don't need an 3:04 antibiotic at all in the 15 percent of 3:08 cases that are bacterial there are very 3:10 inexpensive very safe antibiotics that 3:13 will treat that bronchitis just fine 3:15 without you having all the potential 3:18 side effects that come along with the 3:20 fluoroquinolones same goes for bladder 3:22 infections and pelvic infections 85 3:26 percent of the time they're viral or 3:28 fungal uh 15 of the time they are 3:30 bacterial but you can take a much 3:32 cheaper much safer antibiotic for them 3:35 so the question becomes is why are 3:38 primary care doctors why are Internal 3:40 Medicine doctors Family Medicine doctor 3:42 years OB gyns pediatricians uh 3:46 gerontologists why are they prescribing 3:48 this basically an a nuclear bomb 3:52 when all that is needed is just a small 3:56 caliber rifle why are they doing that 3:58 well 3:59 the majority of the time it's out of 4:02 habit they've been prescribing Cipro for 4:04 bladder infections for years or they've 4:06 been prescribing levofloxacin for sinus 4:10 infection for years that's just what 4:11 they do that's the only tool that they 4:14 know how to use in the toolbox 4:16 many primary care doctors think that you 4:19 expect 4:21 to receive an antibiotic prescription if 4:23 you have some sort of infection that you 4:25 went to the doctor to get checked and 4:28 indeed that is true with some patients 4:30 they they expect a prescription for an 4:33 antibiotic and they'll get upset if they 4:35 don't get one now that does Place some 4:38 extra pressure on the primary care 4:40 doctor to prescribe an antibiotic but 4:43 that still doesn't mean that they should 4:45 and it definitely does not mean that 4:48 they should prescribe one of these 4:50 fluoroquinolones so every single drug in 4:53 this drug class has a black box warning 4:57 that the Physicians should 100 percent 5:00 know about 5:01 and should 100 of the time discuss with 5:05 you before they write the prescription 5:08 and before you accept the prescription 5:10 fill the prescription and take the 5:12 prescription so in this particular case 5:15 all of the fluoroquinolones contain a 5:17 black box warning saying that they they 5:20 could potentially cause irreversible 5:23 damage to tendons and to peripheral 5:27 nerves so uh tendonitis tendon rupture 5:31 peripheral neuropathy these things can 5:33 not only happen but they could be 5:35 permanent 5:36 very very very concerning uh if you have 5:41 myasthenia gravis then you absolutely 5:43 should never take a fluoroquinolone 5:46 unless it's given to you by a specialist 5:48 after you've had the discussion hey I 5:51 have mg are you sure I should take Cipro 5:54 uh and them say yes I understand there 5:57 is a risk but the benefits outweigh the 6:00 risks so every doctor before they give 6:03 you 6:04 one of these fluoroquinolones 6:07 they should have first of all have an 6:10 internal discussion in their own brain 6:11 whether they should be writing this 6:13 prescription or Not For What diagnosis 6:15 they've given you 6:16 but every single patient who receives 6:18 the fluoroquinolone should give informed 6:22 consent 6:23 before they take that 6:25 antibiotic and what that means is that 6:27 the doctor actually had a discussion 6:29 with you hey this has got a black black 6:31 box box warning it could cause permanent 6:34 nerve damage it could cause 6:36 permanent tendinitis I just wanted you 6:40 to be aware of that I think you need 6:42 this antibiotic do you accept the risks 6:45 of this antibiotic to which the patient 6:47 would either say uh yes or hell no and 6:51 that's what informed consent means so 6:53 how many of you guys have been given 6:55 Cipro or Levaquin or avilox and you're 6:58 like no the doctor didn't tell me there 7:00 was a black box warning no they didn't 7:02 tell me I could have permanent nerve 7:03 damage 7:04 from taking that so you were not given a 7:08 chance to give your doctor informed 7:10 consent to use that treatment on you I 7:13 think that's kind of a big deal the only 7:15 time you should be given a 7:17 fluoroquinolone and accept one from your 7:20 doctor for a sinus infection a lung 7:23 infection or a bladder infection is if 7:26 number one the doctor discussed this 7:28 with you and you gave informed consent 7:29 but and also the doctor said look there 7:32 is no other antibiotic that this 7:34 bacteria is susceptible to this is the 7:36 only one that will work or your 7:40 infection is so serious that I think it 7:42 endangers your life therefore the the 7:45 benefits of taking this fluoroquinolone 7:48 outweighs the risks otherwise 7:51 that you should never take a 7:53 fluoroquinolone in an outpatient setting 7:56 now if you're an inpatient in a hospital 7:58 especially if you're in the Intensive 8:00 Care Unit if you're close to death then 8:02 of course we're going to pull out all 8:04 the big guns as a doctor and we might 8:06 give you things that have potential 8:08 potentially significant risks 8:11 just to get the benefits that they may 8:13 give you because there may be no other 8:15 antibiotic in the pharmacy that's going 8:18 to save your life but if you're in an 8:19 outpatient setting you went to a 8:21 doctor's office or an urgent care and 8:23 they give you levofloxacin ciprofloxacin 8:26 any of the fluoroquinolones and they 8:29 don't let you give informed consent and 8:31 they don't tell you hey there's no other 8:32 drug that will fix this if basically 8:35 what happens is they're like I'm a lazy 8:37 ass doctor and I don't want to really 8:39 look anything up so I've been giving 8:40 Cipro for years for sinus infection so 8:43 that's what you're going to get that's 8:45 completely inappropriate and borderline 8:47 malpractice 8:49 so the things mentioned in the Black Box 8:51 warning are not the only disaster side 8:54 effects that the fluoroquinolones are 8:56 known for they're also known for muscle 8:59 pain muscle weakness joint pain joint 9:02 swelling 9:03 psychosis anxiety insomnia depression 9:07 Suicidal Thoughts hallucinations 9:10 and then you can see from the rest of 9:13 this chart several of the things now 9:14 keep in mind that all the 9:16 fluoroquinolones are very powerful 9:18 antibiotics and so they're basically 9:21 going to carpet bomb your gut bacteria 9:24 and so you could wind up having C 9:26 difficile Associated diarrhea or a whole 9:29 host of other gastrointestinal symptoms 9:32 from bloating to diarrhea to 9:34 constipation to gut pain to cramping 9:36 because you basically carpet bombed all 9:39 of the nice friendly bacteria in your 9:42 guts so I'm going to put the list of 9:44 medications and these are only the ones 9:46 that are FDA approved in the United 9:48 States if you're in another country 9:50 there's quite possibly other brand names 9:52 that are not on this list and there may 9:55 even be other fluoroquinolones generics 9:58 that are not on this list so you're 10:00 going to have to do your due diligence 10:02 since it's very obvious from the number 10:05 of prescriptions written 10:08 uh that that pharmacies keep a tally up 10:10 that doctors are still grossly over 10:12 prescribing the fluoroquinolones for 10:15 infections that they should never be 10:17 prescribed for so I want you to memorize 10:19 this list maybe even print this out and 10:22 keep this in your wallet or your purse 10:24 uh and then anytime you go to the doctor 10:27 with an infection when they give you an 10:29 antibiotic prescription you're going to 10:30 look on this list and see if it's one of 10:32 these and if it is you're going to have 10:34 a discussion with your doctor at that 10:36 point and say Doc why didn't you tell me 10:38 there was a black box warning for this 10:39 drug why didn't you tell me that this 10:41 could cause Suicidal Thoughts is there 10:44 not another antibiotic that you could 10:46 have given me besides Cipro or 10:48 levofloxacin is that really that's 10:50 that's the one that you're going to give 10:51 me and after that conversation I think 10:54 from that day forward your doctor will 10:56 perhaps be on his or her toes as they 10:59 should have been anyway and won't make 11:03 such a dastardly mistake again I put 11:06 links to the FDA web side about the 11:09 fluoroquinolones down in the show notes 11:11 below please be vigilant we should be 11:14 able to trust our doctors when we go to 11:16 them with a complaint but very often 11:19 we're not able to trust our doctors and 11:21 therefore you have to be more Vigilant 11:24 when you go to the doctor than you 11:26 should have to be I'm sorry about that 11:28 but I also want you to be aware this is 11:31 Dr Berry I'll see you next time

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your sinuses. I have a post about this under symptoms and self-care that talks about it. There is a thing called non-allergic rhinitis. It often gets diagnosed as allergies but once allergy testing gets done they will turn up negative. Allergy medicines won't help it. It is actually a nervous system response. Instead of allergens you may be hypersensitive to irritants like pollution and dust and anything else that may be in the atmosphere. Since you're in withdrawal and your nervous system is hypersensitive right now it may be overreacting to various components of the atmosphere and triggering symptoms that mimic allergies. I'm not a doctor and can't say for sure this is what is happening but it is certainly a possibility as I go through the same thing. I use saline nasal spray to keep my sinuses clear of contaminants and it helps quite a lot. If it's really bad you can on occasion use Afrin nasal spray but you don't want to use that everyday because you quickly build up a tolerance and it can make it worse but in a pinch if you need a night's sleep it works for me.

If are having sinus issues that have no explanation and since withdrawal is autonomic nervous system dysfunction this pretty much explains it. The nervous system itself when dysregulated can generate these symptoms without the presence of an allergen or an irritant. Antihistamines will not treat it and well unnecessarily add to your medication load so unless you show allergies by either skin test or RAST blood test you probably do not need to treat it with anything other than plain old Saline and keeping your sinuses cleared out. If it's really causing you a problem then always get it checked out of course but during withdrawal this is a likely explanation for your symptoms. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6028164/

I have had another problem. I have been using nasal spray for years (xylomethasoline). Any time I stop it I get rebound symptoms. I wonder if there is anybody who uses nasal spray, or has some success in stopping it? It seems that my various meds problem usually start from some phisical illness. Such as abusing painkillers or nasal spray...

I was on Venlafaxine for about 8 years and got more and more sick over time, not realizing it was the drugs. Started with migraines. Eventually I started having trouble with my vision, flashes, but also my hearing. I have had tinitus since I can remember, but I think it got worse over he last few years. Pulsating tinitus, a pressure feeling in my ears and throat. I got more dizzy, ears started to click and rattle. One day I wake up and my right ear is half deaf, loud tinitus. I freak out thinking I have had some sort of a stroke. At the doctor they says its a eustachian tube problem, something to do with pressure. I used some nasal spray and next day was better. The weird symptoms made me freak out and put me in a downward spiral so I upped my dose of Venla. Dizzyness only got worse. They test me at the hospital, ears and eyes are fine altough I have some hearing loss and loud ringing in ears. Never been to loud concerts or anything like that, but my hearing is worse than a friend of mine who used to visit loud concerts and destroyed his hearing because of it. Kinda unfair. Doctor told me its just stress, its between the ears. I was the one to discover Venlafaxine is ototoxic, poison to the ears. I started tapering and the pressure feeling, flashing vision, dizziness got better and even went away(except for the typical dizzy WDs in waves). Havent had the deaf ear thing happen anymore either. Sadly enough I am now instead dealing with nasty WD instead of sideeffects XP, but at least the stuff isnt destroying my ears anymore. My tinittus and hearing loss are probably permanent, very frustrating.

Do you take medication when it’s at its worse? I afraid I will mess things up with antihistamines or nasal sprays but I can’t stay like this either. 🤷‍♀️

After reading through this thread the “allergy” symptoms that I can’t seem to get rid of for the last few weeks/months is possibly withdrawal symptoms. Fullness in right ear, dizziness, occasional ear pain in both ears, painful sinuses, pain behind eyes, nasal blockage when I lay down, occasional pain in teeth and gums. I’m afraid to take antihistamines bc I don’t want my nervous system to take a hit. What are you guys doing for this?

Ja-ja! I can't believe the 10Mg XR Melatonin tablets that are OTC here. If you can't sleep without 10mg you are hooked! Or have some serious problems. No one should be taking 10Mg Melatonin XR or IR. That's a lot. That will cause dependence! I have taken Valarian Root. Everyday for about a month. I didn't find it helpful. I was completely off medications. Again, everyone is different. What's in my drawer? 3Mg tablets, split in half (1.5mg) I never take them, as I usually have worse nightmares after taking them. Plus, they don't keep me asleep. What else is in here? 8mg Ephedrine for days when I don't sleep. Caffeine makes me anxious. Ephedrine does not. Weird? Ah, some behind the counter Pseudo-Ephedrine. 30mg for nasal decongestion. Vit B6 and B12, D3. And some Robo gel caps for a cough. Because I hate syrup. I'll drink it if I have to. Most Cough syrup has too many ingredients and makes me phlegm-up, cough and almost puke. Oh, I found some Benadryl, I very rarely take if I can't sleep. 25mg.

Hoping this can help anyone who is having trouble with breathing and regulating there breathing. I have found when i get into bed my breathing goes all out of wack, but a vicks nose inhaler really seems to help me. It calms my breathing down along with the fresh smell. I no it may sound stupid but worth a try eh?

Comments made by Alto on several threads about how she's gotten relief from stimulation to her vagus nerve with acupuncture got me looking into what those acupuncture points might be (Alto, do you get ear acupuncture or are there other body points?). Googling this I read that implanting a device that stimulates the vagus nerve is being used to help people who suffer from epilepsy and depression. That procedure is supposedly extremely expensive and of course invasive, so I've been looking up other ways of stimulating the vagus nerve. Apparently, you can do this just through deep, slow belly breathing. Click here for one method. Over the past year I have sometimes been able to do deep breathing, usually when I am walking, that leaves me feeling with a sense of relief and well-being. Almost like a bit of a high. Not a too-much-oxygen high, but more like a sense of deep calm and well-being nearing on pleasure (like swimming in the ocean and then lying on a warm beach). I can't always get it right, but right now I tried deep belly breathing and felt it again. I don't know how well it would work if I was deep in AM anxiety, but I'm going to try it. As soon as I stop doing the breathing the feeling disperses, but I think if I did this a few times a day I could probably get my anxiety levels down. Apparently you can also stimulate vagus nerve endings in your ear with your finger, by doing the Valsava maneuver, and by carotid sinus pressure (which can be dangerous). Google for more info! There is everything from how yoga helps stimulate the vagus nerve to interest in it in relation to Kundalini awakening. (Not sure what to think about kundalini awakening, but the link is a good read anyway.)

Hello everyone ! I have had allergies for trees and grasses - spring , summer , fall since I was a child. Started Paxil when I was 30 and a year after that started having sinus infections, sinus headaches and ear issues. And had sinus surgery which didn't help. After a fast taper 5 years later sinus system started running again. So I figured out that paxil had caused dry sinuses, dry eyes, and dry mouth. Started lexapro 15 mg 2 years ago. About 4 months after that started having dry burning eyes and sinuses , popping ears and dry mouth . Along with dizziness fog in hot summer. when cold weather comes have these sinus issues when temp drops. During allergy season this sinus burning aching is so much worse. Its like my sinus system is trying to work but it can't. I went to ENT and was giving more medicine and started me on immunization drops. It took me most of the summer trying to figure things out. When I would take the immunization drops, I would get dizzy and light headed. Then 9 months after starting lexapro I had mouth surgery for an infected dental implant. I thought dizzy fog was caused from infection but ? After tapering to 10 mg this last summer had a little light headedness but a lot less. So with what Im seeing and what you all are saying is this is a side effect of ssri ! ? I don't go to ENT or take allergy pills unless absolutely have to. I have found out that saline spray, saline flush and hot steam air helps like a hot shower. Thanks Guys !

Hi, I've been reading this thread about allergy symptoms and antihistamines because for the past few weeks I've developed very bad allergy-like symptoms and I'm wondering if they're caused by/exacerbated by WD. I've always had mild issues with frequent runny nose, to the point where I just got so used to it I didn't really bother treating it. But in the past few weeks, particularly since my run in with mirtazapine, I've experienced bad sinus pressure, headaches, clear runny nose, ear ringing and nausea every day. This morning has been particularly bad which is why I'm on here seeking answers. I was considering going to buy some OTC antihistamines (cetirizine is the most common one here I think), but of course I'm worried that it'll exacerbate my symptoms. Should I tough it out or would taking an antihistamine be such a bad thing? I never used to get headaches or any sort of sinus pressure unless I had a cold, but I heard that mirtazapine is a strong antihistamine so even though I only took it for 5 days I feel it may have triggered something. Every morning like clockwork I wake up, am fine for about 5 minutes and then the symptoms start.

I have been having a consistent pattern of symptoms in withdrawal that have been the most long lasting of all symptoms these 4 years, and I have always suspected that the rapid weight loss that put me on mirtazapine, the rapid gain on it, and the rapid weight loss post CT has aggravated what may have been preexisting vascular issues, triggering most of my chronic symptoms. I was on the website of a German doctor called Thomas scholbach and for the first time was able to find information that correlated my physical structure to symptoms, as well as get an answer for why I feel so much better when I move my body and breathe in certain ways.. I have left varicocele, hemarroids, head forward, away back posture, abdominal visceral sensitivity and tightness, leg paresthesia, sinus pressure, poor thermoregulation, and most of the time, I am symptomatic on my left side. Anyone else ? All my tests so far haven't indicated any issues, so either it's not the right tests or something else.. Here are the articles that correlated with my symptoms - Symptom checklist https://scholbach.de/gefaesskompressionsphaenomene-darstellung-fuer-patientinnen-und-patienten/checkliste-gefaesskompressionssyndrome#gsc.tab=0 Vascular compression syndromes - https://scholbach.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180324-vascular-compression-syndromes-own-website.pdf Treatment https://scholbach.de/behandlung-von-kompressionssyndromen#gsc.tab=0

See also: allergies-sneezing-stuffed-up-nose-sinus-antihistamines-and-what-to-use-for-allergy-relief For withdrawal insomnia, people often use Benadryl, a sedating antihistamine, to help sleep. It's often an ingredient in nonprescription sleep aids, such as Nytol, Unisom, Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, Midol PM and Advil PM. Info about Diphenhydramine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000704/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydramine The problem with is diphenhydramine is its beneficial sleep effect can wear off and it can go paradoxical -- it will keep you awake instead. So use it sparingly if you can.

The sinus and face pressure has almost stopped after a long ass time. I’m staying on the 5mg hoping it’ll level out for me. My anxiety has gotten much better but I still go into these weird funks for a week before getting a bit better. One thing I’ve noticed is if I miss a pill or even take a fraction less than 5mg all my symptoms come screaming back. What are you dealing with?

A question for those who are more experienced. Could these cortisol spikes (or some sort of dysautonomia related to adrenals) lead to a situation similar to an heart attack, or even a panic attack? I'm asking this cause since my last jump of medications I developed severe exercise intolerance (I had it before on and off but know the thing is insane). After a B12 shot last week things went really bad. Today I went for a hard walk for 20 minutes and after come back I developed some weird feelings like chest pressure, dizziness and my heart rate doesn't want to go down. My blood pressure spiked to 147/100. I panicked, and after some months I went to the ER. EKG and troponin ok, they wanted to gave clonazepam and I didn't accepted. I ended up taking a blood pressure medication and a beta blocker (I don't know if it was the right thing, it is a different hospital that I use to go). After three hours my heart rate was ok, but blood pressure was still kind of high (137/105). They send me home and now my BP is at the normal level. I know this event is similar to many crisis (which I refer as abstinence) I have during my taper. But it's becoming more common after exercises, so I freaked out. Last october I did the treadmill test and had the same kind of crisis, but they only said I had sinus tachycardia and, interestingly, during the test my blood pressure just went to 140/80. After I got home I spend the rest of the day feeling unwell and many hours with higher blood pressure than the test and tachycardia. Using all theses facts I was thinking about dysautonomia. But in dysautonomia we can start this sort of crisis that last sometimes hours?

My B12 level was ok (318, where the exam says minimum is 211) but GP thought it will be good some monthly shots to help my neurological system recovers. Bad option. Know I'm more than one week in a bad wave. Today I ended up at the ER after feeling very unwell after a 20 min hard walk. Chest pressure, high heart rate, high blood pressure and even diarrhea. The tests for heart were clear. They said it was panic, but I should see a cardiologist (I did a treadmill test last october and, besides sinus tachycardia, the test was ok as was the eco). I do think I developed some sort of dysautonomia during my withdrawal, but things were improving before the B12 shot.

@Catina7 I’ve also been getting headaches with nausea/dizziness. Mine starts out mostly like a sinus headache behind one eye and down one side of my nose. It’s usually on the right side but switches to the left occasionally. Maybe about 1/3 of the time I get the headaches, I also get hit with a wave of nausea, and I’ll get dizziness throughout the day. I’ve had a lot of the weird head sensations throughout withdrawal (tingling, numbness, pressure, zaps, crawling), but the headache has not been common throughout. I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what I could have done to set this off!

Hey im not sure if you are feeling the same thing as me. I have had a year of hell. I’m down to 5mg cipralex now from the original 20mg 1 1/2 years ago. most my bad symptoms have started to drift. The one that stays with me almost everyday is this weird head feeling. In my face forehead/sinus area. It always feels a bit full. I’ve gone for mris and X-rays and everything is normal. some days it’s so bad I just sleep it off and it dies down a bit. I would really like to know what it’s called and how I can treat it. Not sure if you have the same but you aren’t alone anyways.

Glad I found this thread instead of starting a new one (I already have another thread going which I guess could be combined with this one. In the last 3 years of withdrawal, I have identified drastic changes in heat/cold/humidity/pressure are the cause of most of my flares. Some observations - 1. A stable indoor temperature and humidity seem to have very little impact, and it is tied to the outdoors. Also, I feel that I adapt better when I am outdoors and moving than when I am indoors and resting. 2. The organs that are most affected are the gut, and the extremities (legs below the knee, hands from the elbows and head from the neck up). 3. The gut acts like a traffic director and I can experience that when lying down. When I lie down, I can feel the gut relax and move, and it moves, I can feel my legs and feet relax and my sinuses open up. When the gut is stuck, my sinuses get blocked, and my feet go cold, dry and my toes easily cramp. 4. My temperature sensitivity and regulation goes awry when the gut is stuck - I feel heat and cold in different parts of the body, can feel them well after I have been exposed to heat or cold. I have to rapidly switch clothes, dress up or down to adapt otherwise I overheat or freeze. 5. I have to ensure that I frequently lie down for 20-30 min especially after food, or if I have been on my feet for a while to get the gut moving. Otherwise, my symptoms can flare up when I do rest/goto bed. 6. Burping, gas, BMs, and reflux seem to a transition symptom when the body is switching between rest/activity, PNS/SNS, sleep/wake, supine/standing, hot/cold. 7. Another curious observation is that my symptoms are mostly on the left side - left toe cramps, left calf spasms, shin burning, left abdomen stuck/pain, left sinus blocked etc. I find that almost all of us seem to react to weather changes, but in withdrawal, the body seems to be having a harder time adapting to the change.. Each type of weather change has its own symptoms - 1. Sharp dips in temperature (5-10 deg or more) trigger multiple BMs, burping and gas and occur mostly in later part of the night (12-5). 2. Sharp spikes in temperature trigger overheating, reflux, and tactile hypersensitivity, and usually occur in the early part of the night (11-3am). In addition to these I can get sinus / head pressure, ear popping, leg paresthesia, cold feet, calf muscle pain/twitches, toe cramps, burning in shins etc. 3. On a day when there is both a dip and a spike, it is total chaos, and I can't sleep. It takes a day or two to adjust to large weather shifts. My big question is - Is this still withdrawal or some form of autonomic dysfunction (induced by withdrawal) that is causing gastroperisis like symptoms, which affects overall circulation through faulty vasodilation/vasoconstriction in the extremities?

I have this I have had it for 3 years now makes me feel awful I think some of my fatigue is due to it I was given antibiotics and nasal sprays steroids but they never did anything then had allergy test but nothing was found my sinuses are always full and cause me a lot of pain but I can breath ok I have no running of the nose but I have always had a constant mucus at the back of my throat been waiting over 2 years now to have a hospital appointment to see if there is anything they can do it’s very interesting that you have mentioned this