Panic attacks & serotonin syndrome

[Leggolasx]

Hey,

So my girlfriend was a regular mdma user until one time she decided to try 5-HTP and she got a bad reaction (serotonin syndrome) this was about 2 years ago now. Something must have happened to her then because now whenever she does any sort of amphetamine like adderall, actually a lot of things could cause it, it seems that even sometimes her multivitamin can give her a bad reaction in which either that night or one night within the next couple of days she will wake up to a panic attack which has exactly the same feelings as everything she felt when she had serotonin syndrome. I believe it has something to do with how serotonin acts in regulating sleep cycles and it's use when entering REM sleep. But I can't seem to find anyone else who has had the same experience, and worse luck with finding any form of treatment.

I hope anyone here can help.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I'm liking erstwhile-ED for this...

 

[Black]

apart from the initial incident with 5-htp it sounds just like panic attacks to me. they often occur when you're in similar situations you panicked before and can give similar symptoms. after a difficult acid trip at night at a party in a small forest (i had a cold and totally panicked thinking i couldn't breathe), i'd often panic when being at night in the woods in the following months with the anxiety causing some of the initial symptoms like difficulty breathing and slightly distortet perception.
since then i've sometimes had peroids of time panic attacks (every 2 years or so) each time caused by different stimuli but in and with different symptoms, but they were consistent in each peroid. nowadays i stop them when they first appear with some bromazepam and i'm completely fine again within just a few days.
i guess that putting some chemicals/medicines into her body could be the trigger for your girlfriend.

but for the initial experience... some people just don't react well to 5-htp and other substances. i have a family member who consistently gets symptoms just like you're describing from 5-htp, any kind of antidepressant that affects serotonin and (interestingly) beta-blockers. i suggest she should stay away from these..

I believe it has something to do with how serotonin acts in regulating sleep cycles and it's use when entering REM sleep.

i don't think so. that's not unusual for panic attacks. in my experience, when you live in fear of the anxiety starting again , then the first thing you do when you wake up is checking if everything's normal or if there is something off and sure enough that kicks off another panic attack.

 

[Pounds]

Hi,

3 years late, but I get the same thing. Was a frequent mdma user, and decided to take it before lsd a few months ago. I couldn't sleep properly for 3 days, it felt like there was a massive weight on my chest. I was constantly pacing around.

Just recently I was put onto citalopram, and on day 3, the same feeling happened again only with cold sensations rather than heavy weight. I had trembling too. Every time I tried to sleep, I would get vivid hallucinations.

I believe it is serotonin syndrome. Let me know if you've had any luck with treatment.

 

[ADubbs]

I had symptoms like Pounds and your GF for the first year after my OD, cold hands, shaking, couldn't sleep, wake up in panic attacks.....I was so fucked up for the first two months....still got some minor HPPD stuff and tinnitus 1.5 years later. Probably will never go away to be honest.