Fuhgetabouddit: I need help

[Fuhgetabouddit]

I've taken both Zoloft and lexapro over a decade ago. The reason these were prescribed to me was an undiagnosed autoimmune thyroid disease which presented as extreme lethargy (CFS), fibro and a host of other seemingly psychological hang-ups. Mostly, what appeared to be ADD and not being able to follow through with things. After less than one week on Zoloft (it was a lie dose but can't remember, maybe 10?) I immediately noticed my already bothersome symptoms worsening and I stopped right then. No problems at all. I reported this back to my dr and she wanted to switch me to lexapro. Same thing, I stopped and no problems. I went on for a decade with my symptoms worsening until I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I was put on Synthroid and it didn't help at all. I did tons of research and ended up on a combo of Armour and Synthroid. I finally had my life back! Until this past August.

 

I got a skin infection which cultured positive for MRSA. I was given an injection of betamethasone and rocephin and given a script for Bactrim. I read up on bactrim and didn't like what I saw. A nurse friend also versed me on what to look out for if I were to have a reaction. On the first day, I noticed complete loss of appetite and jumpy vision. Second day, the WORST headache I've ever had in my life. Third day, dry eyes, dry mouth and bright red blood in nose. I quit on the third day. On the fourth day I was in the ER with breathing problems, kind of out of it and felt extremely dehydrated. I begged for fluids but the ER dr refused and instead, I got a shot of epipen, an Albuterol breathing treatment, another Betamethasone injection and instructed to go home and take benadryl.

 

And this is where the truly bizarre began. Shortly after returning home from the ER, I took 50mg of benadryl. I began coughing up phlegm (almost uncontrollably) for the rest of the night and also had an extremely strange smell each time I exhaled. This continued the entire night, I fell asleep. The following morning I awoke to chest pain, pain between shoulder blades and wheezing with trouble breathing. I went back to a different ER and got no help at all. Just told if it was a reaction it would pass in 7-10 days and continue benadryl. I took benadryl exactly as the box instructed and stopped taking it after 3 days. On the 4th day, I had what I could only describe as a near death experience. Extremely high heart rate, completely out of it, dry skin dry everything. I was rushed by ambulance to yet a different ER and had lots of bloodwork done. My potassium was a bit low, my TSH was 10, and my wbc was a touch elevated. He said he believed I might have lupus or Sjogrens and to follow up with my reg dr and I was dismissed. I felt I had no idea who I was or where I was. Those tests have since come back negative.

 

I now believe I am in withdrawal from either the steroid or benadryl or both. I had independent labs done and my morning cortisol (usually around 4, yes 4) is now over range at 22 and my thyroid labs do not make sense at all. It's showing low tsh (very uncommon for me) top of range ft4 (also extremely uncommon for me) and bottom of range ft3. Pretty common for me. My estrogen and progesterone are both low but showing estrogen dominance.

 

Seeing as how benadryl was the model for Prozac, I'm very worried and getting ZERO help from my drs. My symptoms:

Depersonalization/derealization, suicidal ideation, bouts of disorientation, dry everything, crying spells (SO unlike me), trouble concentrating, not caring about hygiene (even moreso unlike me), socially withdrawn, terror, cortisol rushes like I'm I'm descending on a roller coaster, loss of appetite, pretty much the gamut of psychological issues that withdrawing from an ssri could bring. Severe neck pain like a 24/7 crick on both sides, tingling, numbness, spasms.

 

Does anyone here have any input or suggestions? My life for the past 6 months had been stolen from me. I just want my life back.

 

I've searched and searched the internet for answers that could relate to the benadryl and I'm seeing people who took heavy massive overdoses and never had even close to the problems I am experiencing.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Oh, one very important note I forgot to add! My NP after hearing my symptoms wanted me to try effexor. After ONE dose of 75, my eyes took on this very psychotic look, like the Sandy Hook and Colorado theatre shooters!!! Beyond scared the crsp out of me and I never took it again. Racing thoughts, trembling, insomnia. It took about 2-3 days to get back to where I was before swallowing that pill.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Welcome to the site and that is some really awful experience you had. Somehow as I was reading it, attributing it to benadryl use seems spot on but good luck getting any medico to believe it. The precedent is there, though. As you said, Prozac and antihistamines are related in the distant past.

 

A lot of our members, when withdrawal symptoms strike because they went cold turkey off their meds or tapered far too rapidly for their bodies to adjust, experience symptoms that would be attributable to 'antihistamine rebound' because of the relationship of those drugs and AD's. I believe my protracted withdrawal was precipitated a year later after going CT off meds by my doc's suggestion to take atarax, a rx antihistamine because I had symptoms of sinus congestion. A big mistake.

 

The only thing we can suggest you do is stop all benadryl use and consider never using it or anything related ever again. Or any antidepressant either. I believe that your symptoms will eventually subside and you will make a complete recovery but it will take time. How long is anyone's guess.

 

How are you doing at the moment?

 

(I just saw your post, DO NOT TAKE ANY MORE ANTIDEPRESSANTS). Many of us now feel that there is NEVER any reason to ever try an antidepressant ever again and we have not had the experience you have describe. We just know they don't work.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Did you find SA by searching for derealization/depersonalization? If so I imagine you read our topic on that but if not I will give the link to it. I will give you several links which at this point might seem not very helpful but I think if you looked at this from the standpoint of someone who came off an AD precipitously, they might help you make sense of what you are feeling.

 

Emotional:

 

Anhedonia, apathy, demotivation

 

Derealization/Depersonalization

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Recovery

 

These supplements are often helpful as long as they do not cause you to feel ill) start with a low dose and increase slowly):

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker

 

King of supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

 

Are you asymptomatic for MRSA now or still being treated with antibiotics?

[Fresh]

Hi there Fuhgetabouddit ,   welcome to SA.    This site is loaded with information (both technical and anecdotal) and you're in good company with others who understand and have experienced your symptoms.

 

It sound to me like you have an extremely sensitive central nervous system and have reacted in a strong , negative way to most meds.  you've tried.

 

It would be really helpful if you could give more detail about when you were taking the steroid and benedryl , dosages , when you stopped.   You could also put all your meds. into the Interaction Checker at  www.drugs.com  and post them here if there are any interactions.

 

Your current symptoms sound just like withdrawal symptoms from ssri's.   I'm not familiar with WD from steroids , but others will be along to comment and offer suggestions.

I totally agree with CW -  I wouldn't want to take anything if I were you.  Just too risky.

 

Lots of people recover from withdrawal and it's very slow.    But it does come.

 

There are lots of threads on this site that may be helpful for you while you're recovering.  Check out "Symptoms and Self Care".

 

Good to have you here.

 

Best wishes ,   Fresh

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words, you absolutely do not know how much it means to me that there is hope.

 

At the moment, I am having very much less dramatic DR, the dp, it seems to be playing with me. One minute it's there and the next gone. My windows and waves are throughout the day rather than a good day/bad day, good week/ bad week.

 

I absolutely never intend on taking any of those drugs ever again and I am getting a bracelet that will basically say if you give me either of these types of drugs or the like, bad things will happen to you!

 

I've seen others say they absolutely had a dependency on benadryl and were laughed at by many docs. I did see that one guy had fairly similar symptoms as I and made a recovery 8 months later. He did wind up with MS and he attributes it to the benadryl but no one else will acknowledge such. Surprise! Believe me, my faith in drs was lost when I suffered massively for almost two decades with undiagnosed thyroid disease. It took me 2 years to get a dr to prescribe armour! Even in. The face of low free t3 on lab work. I'm one of those who can't convert t4 to the bio active t3. I bled for 11 months straight and became severely anemic bc of their stupidity. Ftr, anyone reading this with thyroid problems, stay away, far far away from an endocrinologist. My GYN treats me and it was all bc of the bleeding. I was nearly coaxed into an ablation but I refused by saying you tell me why I'm bleeding and I'll consider it. No cause for the bleeding could ever be found after poking and prodding invasively over months.

 

I have never ever had suicidal thoughts nor depressed in my life so ads have no place in my life whatsoever. The only reason I agreed to try them long long ago was bc I was only 21 and had no idea the lousy care being thrown about in the medical field. I'm 40 now. I was fooled once and that's all it took. I tried the effexor this time around bc I had already suspected benadryl and I thought it might dampen the symptoms. It definitely had the rebound effect and I am convinced I would have been committed had I continued even a 2nd day on it. It is some nasty nasty stuff and my heart goes out to all of you trying to break free from these chemical lobotomy drugs.

 

Thank you again for your input. My daughter who is a pharm tech, and my husband have faith I'll be ok but I am frightened that I will never ever be normal again. I see that this is part of withdrawal. I'm like all of you though, if I knew this nightmare was just withdrawal with a 100% chance of recovery at some point, I'd ignore it and wait it out more comfortably. My demeanor changes several times a day "I'm never getting my life back, I'm a burden on everyone, what is the point of living this way, I can't do this one more minute" to " going to beat this, I see a glimmer of my old self, i can do it". It's beyond crazy and frightening.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

I believe you absolutely will recover from this but it may take a long time and there will be a lot of challenges along the way. It is the insidiousness of the mental/emotional stuff that will get you, believe me it can get pretty bad but trust me, it is bearable. Read the links I gave you and they will give you a feel for what might come around.

 

Don't worry about the drugs thing from the other poster, we don't need that at the moment. Just use your thread here to ask questions, get support, entertain visitors (we are a chatty bunch and will stop in to offer our support and to commiserate!) and post whatever you feel like. Dump your bad feelings here too, its ok. And keep letting us know how you are doing.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you both again CW and Fresh; yes, my CNS has always been this way. To give you a clue, I can't take excedrin, I had a very bad reaction to Demerol during my 1st pregnancy (fever and rash, I had to be kept 3 extra days), very strange reactions to the epidural in my 2nd and 3rd (could not stand up way beyond the point it should have worn off, felt drunk) In the past I struggled with horrible sinus allergies and one HALF dose of childrens Allegra was all I needed. I tried adult Allegra in the past and I kept getting these episodes like the floor was dropping under me. Kind of like a falling elevator? By hey only lasted a couple of seconds but eerie nevertheless.

 

As a child I had cold urticaria (breaking out in welts after exposure to anything cold like weather, ice cream, drinks etc). I did take benadryl for that and aside from my insides feeling like they were hot and burning I don't remember any other side affects. But I had that allergy from birth into now if the weather is extreme enough. I'm allergic to the sun, same thing, welts. Oddly enough I have no food allergies except borderline chocolate and milk. I'm allergic to various pesticides and cleaning agents. So yes, exactly correct that I have a highly sensitive cns.

 

I experienced very brief moments of dp as a child and then especially around 8th grade when I was clearly hypo and just starting puberty (I was late in that area)

 

The cortisol bursts are getting less intense compared to even a month back but they can still be intense, morning is the most horrible, evening I almost feel normal but still quite off.

[Rhiannon]

Histamine is actually a neurotransmitter:

http://sepa.duq.edu/regmed/immune/histamine.html

 

And with the Rocephin and the few days of Bactrim there was also disruption of your gut microbiome which has a big effect on the enteric nervous system which interacts with the rest of the neuroendocrine system in complex ways.

 

You are not crazy. I do think your body will rebalance itself.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

I'm not sure about the MRSA systemically speaking, but the initial infection cleared up 3 days before I even started bactrim (the dermatologist insisted I take it).

 

I believe the reaction I had to that was bc people with autoimmune disease are not supposed to take sulfa drugs and the dr pretty much ignored that. Hashi is the first thing I tell drs before doing anything so I'm not sure why he ignored it.

 

I will most definitely keep my thread updated. My husband begged me to go on a drive today with the kids and even though I feel like I'm just floating through space and time, I feel that the only way to counteract this crazy anxiety and sudden agoraphobia is to face it head on and desensitize. It's uncomfortable to do this but each time I force myself out of the house, I feel a tiny tiny bit of the symptoms lift.

 

And please forgive my typos, I'm usually always on my phone.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

FG,

 

Have you made out a report to rxisk.org about your medication experience? The link is here. Your feedback will most definitely be welcome. There are other places too to tell your story if you are up to it.

 

Your thread here is a valuable resource too on these kinds of uncommon reactions. You are definitely at one of the extreme ends of the bell curve of human physiology. The stories here are mini detailed case histories that are searchable from the internet. The hope is that eventually doctors will look HERE before prescribing those drugs so casually and see the destruction they sometimes wreak in the unsuspecting population.

[Fresh]

Fuhget ,     For my own education , I'm interested to know how long ago you ceased the benedryl and the steroid , and what doses you had been used to.   Thanks.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you Rhi, I lurked around this site for days before posting bc I know this all sounds insanely impossible but I had confidence there would be members here who could help me wade through it all. Just like the reaction one guy said his dr displayed, disbelief and laughable, I know that's what I would get from the medical community. I mean if these drs won't recognize ssri withdrawal, I would surely be tagged as insane.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Fresh, both steroids were 4mg each and the benadryl was just as the box instructed, 25-50 mgs every 4-6 hrs not exceeding 300 mgs within a 24 hr period. Crüe first day was every 4 hours the second I cut back to every 6 and the third I believe I only took 3 doses that entire day. My last dose was on a Wednesday, 430 pm and by Thursday morning 10 am was when the insanity kicked up 100 notches.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Well, some few docs are actually coming around and more are getting an education in this every day as a result of our members hounding them for tapering drugs because they want OFF. There are a lot of pockets of civilians all over the internet who are taking matters into their own hands when medicine fails them.

 

Are you aware of the other drugs you should probably never take such as cipro, compazine, and some others that escape me at the moment?

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

I'll just leave you with some of the suggestions we try when symptoms get really uncomfortable (the 'high cortisol thing'):

 

room darkening shades, gentle exercise every day (slow walking tends to calm the nervous system), plenty of water but not to extreme, a nutritious diet, maybe stay away from supplements and 'weird' foods that sound like a good idea but maybe not yet (kombucha comes to mind), limit computer computer use in the evening.

 

There's lots more in the Symptoms and self care forum.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Yes CW, I will now have to be hyper-vigilant with respect to future meds. After this experience I think even so much as a spray of afrin would be a very bad idea lol

 

I just can't believe there are kids out there abusing antihistamines for pleasure???? It is anything but a pleasurable experience. These kids are taking doses upwards of 1200 mgs a day, not even close to what I took over 3 days and they are still alive. I think what Rhi said about the previous antib's had something to do with it.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

There is a poster here who had a very severe reaction from a nasal spray, when I think of who it is I will post the link. Her story is pretty scary, you may not want to read it but she is slowly getting better. It never hurts to gather all the information you can get.

 

Here it is:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7697-selmalady-how-do-i-do-this/?p=113380#entry113380

 

This is the link to the post where she mentions using Afrin. If you are feeling uncomfortable for any reason, don't read it just yet. You can always come back to it.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Oh my!!! Glad I have the intuition to Slash that from my regimen, afrin and goody powders have always been my mainstay for fighting the allergy headaches. I live in the soth so ragweed and pollen takes me out every season. i only took afrin one day a month bc my daughters head pharm said even three days consecutively could cause rebound. My headaches are very intense so I did everything I could to avoid that effect like the plague.

 

Oh and fresh, if this helps give you any insight, it was only after my very first 50 mg dose in which I noticed my already strange symptoms morphing into this.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Well stay away from it, not everyone can just up and use a nasal spray, can they now. If I were you I would forever and ever be cautious about any med a doc suggests you take. Start with a smidge and you can always work up if you get no reaction. A lot of people who have been sensitized react unexpectedly to supplements and other over the counter drugs.

 

Beyondmeds.com is a place you might also want to visit. The owner of the site is a regular contributor here. She has posted many topics in the various forums here and it took her six years to withdraw from a huge cocktail of meds.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you CW for all of the tips and info. You guys are really nice! My heart was always in mhelping others going through the whole hashi diagnosis and advocating better care, but I'm pretty sure when this is said and done, I'll be warning everyone I know about these psych drugs and the unknowing consequences. I could have easily ended up like this year's ago had I continued taking ads. I feel so bad for all of you bc I'm sure you were all at a vulnerable spot and trusted what you were being given. I've had to rearrange my thyroid meds for now, I've increased my armour and decreased my synthroid, being hyperthyroid and in withdrawal is double traumatizing. There's not much I can do about the cortisol at this point but my fear is that when it does drop off, I'll have none left. I already had an atrophied right adrenal gland bc of the taxing hypo. I told my family if I collapse to tell the medics to look at adrenals.

 

I may get through reading the link you posted without much trauma. This was so bad in September that I wrote out a makeshift will, I was that certain death was coming for me and soon. Once I learned I was experiencing dp/dr, I calmed down a bit but couldn't stop there. I needed to know the why behind it and the cocktail of meds I was prescribed made it hard to pinpoint. Until I read Prozac was modeled after benadryl. It all made sense after that. I just feel like a fiend now, I tremble and move in a jerky fashion, although I'm pretty sure it's not akathisia or anything like that. DT's sound pretty close. I take in huge deep breaths, the kind like after you've had a good hard sob. I freeze in a panic like state for no reason at all, almost like a deer in headlights. These are most of the reasons I don't want to venture out bc I don't want anyone to see me like this and think I am on drugs.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Well, if you peruse the symptoms forum you'll see some familiar ones I am sure. Thing is, they do resolve in time but the posters never remember to come back and say "Hey! I am all better now! It went away!"

[Fuhgetabouddit]

I'll be back, I promise!!!! This has been too traumatizing to ever forget. When my old humorous side comes out, I tell my husband that hopefully soon we can look back and laugh and laugh about "hey, you remember that time I got addicted to benadryl?" Lol

[Fresh]

Fuhget ,   I've plugged the drugs you've mentioned into the Interactions Checker at www.drugs.com.

 

Many of those meds have MODERATE interactions , even for far less sensitive folks. 

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Yes fresh, I was very concerned that the epinephrine with Albuterol posed significant risks. I guess the ER dr ignored this too.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

When you get settled in to the site, see this link for instructions on how to put a brief history of your drug odyssey in a signature, it will follow you everywhere you post on the site so we will know at a glance your history.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you CW, I will do that this evening. I just returned from my outing with the family. It was weird and my husband convinced me to get out to see the waterfall. That required a little bit of hiking and I could barely breath coming back up. Crazy to think just 6 months ago I was deadlifting nearly 200 lbs, curling 50 lbs and doing nearly 3 miles of hiit every other day. I've gone from the best shape of my life to basically lifeless. I feel like I'm on a 24/7 high, which I recognize as dp/dr which supposedly gets better but I don't like it one bit just the same. I just want my life back. I'm eating now, definitely not good choices but I know my body needs those calories as opposed to living on just a pb&j only everyday as I was a couple of months ago.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

And here it is, my lovely evening where nearly all of these crazy symptoms subside and I somewhat come alive to my near normal self. Walking around the house recognizing my belongings, being able to actually laugh a little, minimal vision disturbances, less shaking, looking at my family and feeling more connected, being able to get angry...this is all so unbelievable. If I were to meet myself 6 months ago and hear "that" person describe this to the old me, I'd say yeah that girl there needs to be on some kind of medication. Does anyone else here have this??? Where the better part of the day feels like the twilight zone and then evening hits and it's like you had been sleep walking? I'm pretty convinced this is cortisol related (as I said in the past mine was 4 in the morning but even lower at night). I was technically supposed to be taking hydrocortisone for that but I decided to take the natural approach and exercise to build it up instead. I'm very glad I've taken it easy and stopped exercising for the time being bc I could not handle it getting any higher than it already is right now.

[Wildflower0214]

Yes CW, I will now have to be hyper-vigilant with respect to future meds. After this experience I think even so much as a spray of afrin would be a very bad idea lol

 

I just can't believe there are kids out there abusing antihistamines for pleasure???? It is anything but a pleasurable experience. These kids are taking doses upwards of 1200 mgs a day, not even close to what I took over 3 days and they are still alive. I think what Rhi said about the previous antib's had something to do with it.

Funny you mentioned a spray of Afrin. This very thing caused a problem for someone on this forum. Her name is Selma Lady. She was also on penicillin at the time. Awful. I hope you feel better very very soon.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you jdm, yes I read her thread that CW linked earlier. I won't be taking that again. Of course, it had been many many months from the time I had last taken it until this started. Maybe spring? I'm thinking maybe March or April 2014 was when I had last taken it. I always used it very sparingly due to being warned by the pharmacist long ago that it can cause rebound sinus issues.

 

Thank you for the well wishes. I'm trying to read as many personal stories as I can, there is a lot to consume. I'm relating to many other members symptoms here. The only thing I see a difference in is that mine started less than 24 hrs after my last dose of benadryl. The first month was bad, but the 2nd-4th month was ten times worse and now since beginning feb, I almost feel like I am back at month one. Which I'm hoping is a good sign.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Last night, even though I was getting a much needed window, was terrible.

 

My husband is fed up because I can do nothing. I'm trying my very best just to STAY ALIVE at this point and he just doesn't get it. He has no idea what this feels like, I am in a mental prison!

 

I can't begin to count the number of times as I'm crying and need a friend and just want this to be over that he asks in a very irritated tone "what exactly are you feeling? tell me what you're feeling!"

 

I've told him over and over, it feels like my brain is broken, it feels like a lava lamp with all that goop bumping about, it feels like my brain is doing cartwheels. I have such a horrible sensation of head pressure. It doesn't hurt at all, it's just very uncomfortable. Like my brain is outgrowing my skull.

 

He told me several weeks ago that he was giving me until summer to get better. This is so unfair because I did not choose for this to happen and I also have no control over the way my body reacted to these meds nor can I cantrol the healing of it. If I could, I would have been over this the moment it happened.

 

This whatever it is happening to me on top of the pressure to get back to normal is wearing me down and I feel like I just can't go on one more minute.

 

I've even stupidly considered taking a 1/4 dose of children's allergy med just to see if the symptoms subside. Reading that others have considered this with SSRIs out of pure desperation gives me a small push NOT to do this and erase that very dumb idea out of my mind. So don't worry, I won't dare do this, I know in my heart that my old self is much stronger than that.

 

I just want peace and some semblance of my identity back. I honestly cannot believe at times that I can still form coherent sentences.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

*Topic titled 'Akathisia vs tremor' merged from the symptoms section.

 

Please forgive my ignorance on all of this. I'm just really scared right now that this isn't going away.

It's crazy because if I did take an actual AD like you all, I might be a little more comfortable in knowing what to expect and why and have a little more hope.

My question is about the various movement disorders. Mine seems to mimic that of being chilly, even though I'm not. Like instead of a teeth chattering chill, it's like an all over body chattering. It's definitely internal. I DID have definite chills in the very beginning, but over about the course of a week, it changed to what it is now. Would this be classified as tremor or more along the lines of akathisia? This is one of my symptoms that does not seem to be getting better. It even seems to be affecting my head.

The tinnitus has been the most noticeable change so far, and has gone from a very loud non stop hissing to changing tone several times per hour and not quite as profound.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Petunia
added note

[mammaP]

And here it is, my lovely evening where nearly all of these crazy symptoms subside and I somewhat come alive to my near normal self. Walking around the house recognizing my belongings, being able to actually laugh a little, minimal vision disturbances, less shaking, looking at my family and feeling more connected, being able to get angry...this is all so unbelievable. If I were to meet myself 6 months ago and hear "that" person describe this to the old me, I'd say yeah that girl there needs to be on some kind of medication. Does anyone else here have this??? Where the better part of the day feels like the twilight zone and then evening hits and it's like you had been sleep walking? I'm pretty convinced this is cortisol related (as I said in the past mine was 4 in the morning but even lower at night). I was technically supposed to be taking hydrocortisone for that but I decided to take the natural approach and exercise to build it up instead. I'm very glad I've taken it easy and stopped exercising for the time being bc I could not handle it getting any higher than it already is right now.

You could be describing me there, I get better later in the day and am at my best when everyone else around is going to bed, in the mornings I just can't get going

until lunchtime most days. Many of us here are the same and improve as the day goes by, it is something to do with cortisol, there is a topic on it in symptoms and self care.  I don't know if anyone has suggested it yet but if you could get a copy of 'Anatomy of an epidemic' by Robert Whitaker for your husband to read it might help him to understand a bit more. 

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you so much for the reading reference. I had a very strange feeling it was cortisol related back in January so I had my morning cortisol tested. It was 22 with upper limit being 19.

 

So it's definitely a shock to the system in someone who before all of this had a morning cortisol of 4.

 

I just thank God I'm a bit of a research nerd, because until I tried to go with my gut and take a logical approach, I simply thought I was going crazy and had no idea why.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

FG,

 

This really belongs in your thread even though on the surface it looks like it is inviting a discussion of 'x' vs 'y', it is really very pertinent to your particular situation. There is a lady who had a very good akasthisia blog. Look at this topic.

 

In searching for topics on the board, see the tips in the Read This First topic in the main forum. An alternate way to search the site, the search facility is a tiny bit lame.

 

By the way, the fact that the tinnitus is changing is evidence that the tremor is going to change too. Darn symptoms, just when you get used to them they change or go away. Yo will find this happens a lot. And the feeling that all this is permanent? That is a symptom too. You can't help it, It gradually fades though. But it is a symptom nonetheless. It is a type of 'thought' movement I call a 'perseveration'.

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Thank you CW, I'm so sorry, I'll get used to this forum set up sooner or later. I seriously don't have my full deck of cards right now, following directions escapes me.

 

Thank you for your input. ????