It was the drugs that did it!

Matty332 · Post by **Matty332** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:31 pm

Hey folks,

Some of you may remember my constant posts worrying that my new CPAP treatment was exasperating my mental illness. It wasn't and I know what happened now.

It was the Zoloft -the SSRI antidepressant that I was on. I was having activation syndrome the whole time from this drug and I was blaming it on the CPAP. My psychiatrist has confirmed it and I have been getting mentally better every day since I weened off the drug. It was the one simple factor that was staring me in the face the WHOLE time. I am banned from antidepressants now.

So now my CPAP treatment is uncomplicated and now I just have the normal adjustment problems that everyone else has ! No more complications. I can work on really optimizing my treatment now.

I will post a post for newbies on three benefits I have seen since CPAP.

Thanks for everyone's help through all this - and your patience..

Papit · Post by **Papit** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:52 pm

Well that's good news, Matty. Happily, your doc seems to be on the ball. Keep us posted.

azpilgrims · Post by **azpilgrims** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:01 pm

My Doctor put me on Zoloft for Anxiety back in December when I was first diagnosed with the Polycythemia (then later sleep apnea), me and Anti-Depressants do not mix - thought I was going to go crazy and stopped taking it. The best way I have dealt with anxiety is by exercising each morning, walk a mile or two on the treadmill and good to go.

ameriken · Post by **ameriken** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:05 pm

Yep, them drugs is dangerous shit. They have a tendency to fix the problem they were designed for, and then they kill you with the side effects.

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:49 pm

Just goes to show that sometimes drugs can help and other times they just screw everything up.

Glad you got it figured out.

ems · Post by **ems** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:06 pm

Matty332 wrote:
It was the Zoloft -the SSRI antidepressant that I was on. I was having activation syndrome the whole time from this drug and I was blaming it on the CPAP. My psychiatrist has confirmed it and I have been getting mentally better every day since I weened off the drug. It was the one simple factor that was staring me in the face the WHOLE time. I am banned from antidepressants now.

Great news! And, being banned from antidepressants even better. You were very fortunate to have found such a good doctor!

VikingGnome · Post by **VikingGnome** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:02 pm

Some SSRI's give really bad withdrawal symptoms if you stop suddenly. I inadvertently forgot to refill my Rx for Effexor XR on a Thursday. The next day I couldn't get a refill because it was my last refill and I was one day too late. It was a holiday weekend with Monday off so Pharmacist couldn't get a refill from my doc till Tuesday. By Sunday, I felt horrible. Chills, then sweats. Involuntary jerking of arms and legs. Every time I was just about asleep and wake up with a violent startle almost like a seizure. My heart was racing and I thought something really bad was happening to me. I called paramedics to go to the ER. The paramedics said my blood pressure was 240/160 (stroke threshold). At the ER they didn't take much of a history, didn't ask me what medications was on because paramedics got all my med bottles out of my kitchen drawer. I had a total knee replacement two years ago and had exactly TWO hydrocodone left in the original bottle. The ER docs assumed I was a drug addict suffering from withdrawals. They even refused to call a cab for me. It was one of the worst weekends of my life.

When I spoke with my doctor on Tuesday, he said I was having classic Effexor withdrawal symptoms. I got a new Rx and got it filled. After two doses all the withdrawal symptoms went away. I didn't want to be on Effexor anymore because I NEVER want to go through withdrawals again. So over six months, my doc weaned me off Effexor and I started Celexa. Celexa didn't really help my depression but was available in generic so a lot cheaper. Then in Oct Effexor went generic so I hesitantly agreed to restart Effexor. Everything has been fine since then.

ems · Post by **ems** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:05 pm

Viking G... I'm so sorry you had to go through that! I find it unbelievable that the doctors immediately thought... oh, we have a drug addict here. Unfortunately, it's a story I've heard many times before.

If you decide in the future you no longer want to take Effexor, please taper slowly, as in 10% of your current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.

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