ravfem
12-22-2010, 02:23 PM
i am not a medical professional, but i have experienced something relatively new, that not many people know about...but let me tell you...they need to know about this. Please feel free to copy & post wherever you think it should be.
Serotonin Syndrome is a potentially deadly syndrome that can happen when someone takes 2 medicines that affect the serotonin levels. In my case it was a pain med & an anti-depressant, and i think this is the common link in most cases, it was tramadol (ultram) and paxil cr. i have taken both of these meds for 4+ years, but this just happened, so don't be lulled into thinking since you've had a good tolerance history, it can't/wont happen.
Almost 2 weeks ago, i started feeling like i was outside my body. Everything was delayed, weird....i found myself wondering, "is this really happening?" a lot. my sense of smell grew 100x stronger but only with certain things. They smelled the right way, only very intensified.
i drove long distances while in the throes of this...one trip i was on the road for almost 4 hours. i should NOT have been driving at all! i felt sorta high and like what i think an acid trip would be like....and like most intoxicated people thought i was fine to drive. :seeingstars: A very good, dear person helped me the 2nd time by talking with me on the phone while i made my way home.
i ended up going to the ER, twice. The first time, the dr was nice but treated me like a mental case...did some basic blood work and sent me home with a z-pack because my wbc was slightly elevated (isn't it almost always slightly elevated anyway?)...think he just kinda wanted to get rid of me.
The next morning, i felt much better. Come to find out that was because i was so sick i hadn't taken my reg meds for the past few days. But, i took them that Saturday. And was back in the ER on Sunday. The dr this time was obviously irritated with me....i ended up leaving before being discharged.
i came home and started poking around the net. Now, i have to say i'm not big on doing this in general, because there is sooo much mis-information out there. But, i came across this program that checks your meds for any possible interactions. And there, i learned about Serotonin Syndrome. Looked that up, and had over half the symptoms listed.
Went to my dr the next day and figured out a plan of care for getting off one of the drugs.
People, if you or anyone you care about takes anti-depressants and prescription pain meds (narcotic or not), PLEASE talk to them about this! If left untreated it can lead to death.
i never ever want to go through this experience again! It was pretty darn bad. Also....because it's a relatively new syndrome and ER docs can't be aware of every single thing going on, they usually are not aware of this syndrome, so really, if you end up in the ER with it, be prepared to show written proof of it!
This is the website to check your drug interactions....just load all your meds and it'll let you know what's going on.
http://www.healthline.com/druginteractions
and here are a few sites re: Serotonin Syndrome The first one is a joint effort with the NIH.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007272.htm
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1011436-overview
https://health.google.com/health/ref/Serotonin+syndrome
And PLEASE do NOT stop taking meds suddenly, ever!! Call your dr immediately so y'all can figure stuff out if you think you've got this.
Y'all be safe and take care!
rhonda
:hippie:
Serotonin Syndrome is a potentially deadly syndrome that can happen when someone takes 2 medicines that affect the serotonin levels. In my case it was a pain med & an anti-depressant, and i think this is the common link in most cases, it was tramadol (ultram) and paxil cr. i have taken both of these meds for 4+ years, but this just happened, so don't be lulled into thinking since you've had a good tolerance history, it can't/wont happen.
Almost 2 weeks ago, i started feeling like i was outside my body. Everything was delayed, weird....i found myself wondering, "is this really happening?" a lot. my sense of smell grew 100x stronger but only with certain things. They smelled the right way, only very intensified.
i drove long distances while in the throes of this...one trip i was on the road for almost 4 hours. i should NOT have been driving at all! i felt sorta high and like what i think an acid trip would be like....and like most intoxicated people thought i was fine to drive. :seeingstars: A very good, dear person helped me the 2nd time by talking with me on the phone while i made my way home.
i ended up going to the ER, twice. The first time, the dr was nice but treated me like a mental case...did some basic blood work and sent me home with a z-pack because my wbc was slightly elevated (isn't it almost always slightly elevated anyway?)...think he just kinda wanted to get rid of me.
The next morning, i felt much better. Come to find out that was because i was so sick i hadn't taken my reg meds for the past few days. But, i took them that Saturday. And was back in the ER on Sunday. The dr this time was obviously irritated with me....i ended up leaving before being discharged.
i came home and started poking around the net. Now, i have to say i'm not big on doing this in general, because there is sooo much mis-information out there. But, i came across this program that checks your meds for any possible interactions. And there, i learned about Serotonin Syndrome. Looked that up, and had over half the symptoms listed.
Went to my dr the next day and figured out a plan of care for getting off one of the drugs.
People, if you or anyone you care about takes anti-depressants and prescription pain meds (narcotic or not), PLEASE talk to them about this! If left untreated it can lead to death.
i never ever want to go through this experience again! It was pretty darn bad. Also....because it's a relatively new syndrome and ER docs can't be aware of every single thing going on, they usually are not aware of this syndrome, so really, if you end up in the ER with it, be prepared to show written proof of it!
This is the website to check your drug interactions....just load all your meds and it'll let you know what's going on.
http://www.healthline.com/druginteractions
and here are a few sites re: Serotonin Syndrome The first one is a joint effort with the NIH.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007272.htm
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1011436-overview
https://health.google.com/health/ref/Serotonin+syndrome
And PLEASE do NOT stop taking meds suddenly, ever!! Call your dr immediately so y'all can figure stuff out if you think you've got this.
Y'all be safe and take care!
rhonda
:hippie: