Misc Tachycardia, respiratory depression, what's happening to me.

[koalalemur]

Hello, I am new and very confused about some things, and have not been able to find any answers on the internet or on another forum I was on. I've also been to the emergency room three times this past week and they said each time nothing was wrong and it wasn't my medications.

First of all, I am on a number of medications, Depakote 500 mg, Gabapentin 800 mg x3, Valium 10 mg, Effexor 37.5, Levothyroxine 75.
I take Tramadol sometimes for pain, and Ambien for insomnia.

Last month when I was perscribed Tramadol at first I was on 200mg, but eventually I kept getting respiratory depression, and so I went down to 50 mg, which doesn't seem to make sense in the reverse. It was like it gave me less of a "buzzed" and pain relief feeling and more and more a not being able to breathe problem, but it never happened on 50mg, so I just took that.

For a while a couple months ago I was off Depakote because of some gastrointestinal problems it was causing, which rushed me to the ER. Then I was put back on it this past week. I was also off Levothyroxine for a while just because I was plain forgetting to take it.

Last saturday I went to a wedding, came home, took my Ambien, and then all the sudden I had a racing heart and I had to take an alpha blocker, but once I did the symptoms went away. Tuesday I took an Ambien, and the racing heart came back but no matter how many alpha-blockers I took it didn't go away and I was hooked up to an IV for fluids incase i was dehydrated, but it did nothing and they had to give me propanolol. Once they did, symptoms went away, and they insisted it wasn't the Ambien, even though I've read that can be a somewhat serious side effect. The next day I asked my doctor to put me back on Lunesta, but he said I had to go to a cardiologist first. Fine. So I got desparate for sleep and took one tramadol, which is supposed to only last 6 hours, but 12 hours of bad respiratory depression later I was awake pounding red bulls praying I wouldn't fall asleep and die. The next day was horrible but I got past the hump and then in the evening took my normal dose of Gabapentin. When it hit I got this really weird feeling, like dizzy, almost like an aura when you're about to have a seizure (Im epileptic), my legs went numb and my hands and feet went cold. I desparately searched on the internet for what that even meant since I've been taking it since 2012, couldn't find anything so I called poison control, they told me to eat and drink, try to get a nap, and that did help a little, but then about an hour in m heart started racing again, at about 132 bpm, and my husband drove me to the store to get a fitbit so I could track my heart rate, then we went to the ER, but I had taken a propanolol and by the time they admitted me to a room my heart rate was stable. They checked my Levo and Depakote levels and said they were fine, and insisted it wasn't the medication again. The next night i took a considerably smaller dose of Gaba, got some heart palpitations and chest pain, went to the ER and they said there was nothing wrong. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, but last night I took my Ambien again, and this time no heart palpitations or racing, but I had bad respiratory depression and stayed up the whole night again. I've been taking Ambien since 2010, and Gaba since 2012 and I can't begin to understand what's going on. Why am I suddenly having such extreme reactions that I've never had before? I couldn't find anything about Depakote or Levo doing this unless your levels are too high. Have I just fried my nervous system out? It's like all the sudden my body is super sensitive, and I can tell it's not just an anxiety attack (I wish). I see my cardiologist today, but I'm afraid the Ambien did something to me and will stay in my system and I wont be able to sleep tonight and I'll have to go to the hospital again. Has anyone else had reverse-tolerance happen? Is that even a thing?
Any feed-back is appreciated. I am so confused.

 

[burn out]

Youre on too many drugs.

 

[paranoid android]

Do not take Tramadol while on Effexor or any other SNRI, SSRI, Tricyclic Anti-Depressant, MAOI's or basically any other anti-depressant. Venlafaxine aka Effexor is a SNRI and Tramadol along with being a weak Mu Opioid receptor agonist is also a SNRI. Combining them can easily cause Serotonin syndrome which can be fatal. There is a clear warning on bottles and packets of Tramadol not to take it with Anti-Depressants or other Serotonic drugs so how your doctor missed that i don't know. He/she could have been responsible for you going to the ER for sure and your lucky that's as bad as it got. I would be fucking livid if i was you.

 

[koalalemur]

Thank you, I didn't know that actually no one told me, and oh I am.

 

[koalalemur]

yeah I know, I'm starting to realize that I just don't understand why all the sudden and how all these doctors are missing it. hopefully my appointment today will reveal something.

 

[Tinker55]

I had a PM professional suggest tramadol for break-through pain after a surgical procedure. I looked at her like she was crazy-my chart clearly stated that I had been taking Zoloft for a number of years and I was on a maintenance dose of Hydrocodone 10 mg. i told her I was not eager to add another med that affected serotonin and why did she think adding Tram would do much to increase pain relief? She didn't have a good answer for either issue. We skipped that one.

 

[SKR]

You may have hit the nail on the head - you've become sensitised, It may be time to start stripping back some of these drugs, first the amounts of course.....but if you've been on the same regime for 4-6 years maybe some of it is no longer required. Obviously epilepsy can be some serious shit in regards to seizures but there may be a drug or two that will cover your situation better and can replace the others?

I think those of us on multiple pharmaceuticals probably require some sort of detox every now and then as uncomfortable as it may be. I think I'm in this category also.

 

[SKR]

There are many drugs that have moderate to serious warnings regarding interactions and those factors ARE taken into account by prescribing Doctors but due to their experience with prescribing feel comfortable with the risks. This scenario is heavily dose dependant I think. It's not that all those Doctors are negligent (Some certainly are) it's just that for you the benefit may have outweighed the risks. But if you do some research and find something you think maybe pertinent to your case there is no harm bringing this up with your Doctor, this should always be encouraged.

 

[ErgicMergic]

Do not take Tramadol while on Effexor or any other SNRI, SSRI, Tricyclic Anti-Depressant, MAOI's or basically any other anti-depressant. Venlafaxine aka Effexor is a SNRI and Tramadol along with being a weak Mu Opioid receptor agonist is also a SNRI. Combining them can easily cause Serotonin syndrome which can be fatal. There is a clear warning on bottles and packets of Tramadol not to take it with Anti-Depressants or other Serotonic drugs so how your doctor missed that i don't know. He/she could have been responsible for you going to the ER for sure and your lucky that's as bad as it got. I would be fucking livid if i was you.

Holy shit, this! Mixing tramadol with serotonergic drugs can cause fatal serotonin syndrome, which is partially what killed Ol Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang clan. To be more specific, he died from mixing tramadol and cocaine, but it goes to show how dangerous mixing tramadol and other drugs that either are serotonergic or lower the seizure threshold can be.

 

[Treefa]

First of all, tramadol and Effexor should NOT be mixed!

Secondly, hate to be redundant, but you're on too many drugs. How many is too many? I guess that just depends how many you need....perhaps you're on the wrong medications, and you end up taking too many to manage side effects of the other medications?
Happens all the time, and doctors don't always pay much attention to drug interactions.

Since you're practicing polypharmacy, however, in the name of harm-reduction, I recommend you invest in a Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) to keep on hand. Helpful at illuminating possible side effects, interactions, and special considerations for various medications/conditions and how different meds can affect them.

 

[Speed King]

First of all, tramadol and Effexor should NOT be mixed!

Secondly, hate to be redundant, but you're on too many drugs. How many is too many? I guess that just depends how many you need....perhaps you're on the wrong medications, and you end up taking too many to manage side effects of the other medications?
Happens all the time, and doctors don't always pay much attention to drug interactions.

Since you're practicing polypharmacy, however, in the name of harm-reduction, I recommend you invest in a Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) to keep on hand. Helpful at illuminating possible side effects, interactions, and special considerations for various medications/conditions and how different meds can affect them.

^^This. Excellent point. OP, please run all changes in medication by a licesced health care professional.

 

[manboychef]

Her is some anecdotal evidence: I was seeing a psychiatrist that put me on high dose effexor, high dose xanax, high dose temazepam, abilify, seroquel, and lexapro. I felt incredibly crazed and just generally unhealthy. This doctor literally only spent three or four minutes with me...her waiting room was always full, and if I had a concern she just threw pills at it. There are doctors like this out there and should be sued for malpractice if only to put them on the radar of a review board. I later found a doctor that would actually spend time talking to me, he helped me taper of the meds and put me on zoloft so now I am only taking one psych med. He also linked me to therapy as well as other mental health services.

How many pills is too many? When the cure is worse than the cause.

 

[Ziiirp]

Her is some anecdotal evidence: I was seeing a psychiatrist that put me on high dose effexor, high dose xanax, high dose temazepam, abilify, seroquel, and lexapro. I felt incredibly crazed and just generally unhealthy. This doctor literally only spent three or four minutes with me...her waiting room was always full, and if I had a concern she just threw pills at it. There are doctors like this out there and should be sued for malpractice if only to put them on the radar of a review board. I later found a doctor that would actually spend time talking to me, he helped me taper of the meds and put me on zoloft so now I am only taking one psych med. He also linked me to therapy as well as other mental health services.

How many pills is too many? When the cure is worse than the cause.

So basically everytime with most pills. I never have read a success story when daily benzo ingestion was involved. Do you know any case, where the patient successfully withdrew from a daily benzo prescription and now feels better than before the "therapy" ?

 

[paranoid android]

So basically everytime with most pills. I never have read a success story when daily benzo ingestion was involved. Do you know any case, where the patient successfully withdrew from a daily benzo prescription and now feels better than before the "therapy" ?

I have been on Clonazepam now for i guess 10+ years with basically no side effects. My dose had been 6mg's a day from 2007 up until around January of this year. I am now very slowly tapering off it now with no issues. As for feeling better before the therapy you have to remember Benzos like basically most meds are not a cure they are a treatment to keep a illness at bay so there is always a chance of feeling worse after the therapy stops.

Personally i would rather go through Benzo withdrawal any fucking day over Effexor withdrawal. You could never pay me enough to subject myself to that medication or any other SNRI or SSRI. It gives me shivers just thinking about coming off that shit. The only anti-depressants i will take these days is a Tricyclic such as Trimipramine or Amitriptyline as i found them to not only not cause any withdrawal symptoms but also to actually work. I would rather have a barbed hook shoved up my cock then take fucking Effexor again