Mental Health Reactions when starting new medications

[Zero_faawks]

So I am not sure if this is the right area for this or not I actually just found this forum today and haven’t had much luck with my specific inquiry.

A bit long I apologize please bear with me lol.

All medications are generic versions I just hate typing out the chemical names.

6 months ago I was having suicidal thoughts on a near daily basis and in desperation I shared this with my work and I was placed on medical leave to give me time to rest and to start managing my with therapist and psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with ADHD and Major Depressive disorder. I was given some options on what to start out with in terms of anti-depressants. I chose to start out with Prozac based on the longer half-life Incase if forgot to take a dose or anything (my work can be very involved and sometimes I can get caught up in it and forget to eat let alone take my pills) anyway starting out everything was going great I noticed some mild side effects but they went away after a few weeks. I was started at 20mg and slowly moved up to 40mg which is where I have remained. When starting I had noticed mild sexual side effects which I know are common but over time those increased to super low libido and an inability to maintain or complete. (Probably a separate thread post)

During this time we started Ritalin which had little to no effect on my ADHD even at up to 30mg and I also did not notice any drug interaction issues. I was then moved to Adderall 10mg which is when I noticed the first issue. I was feeling more alert and focused and I wasn’t feeling exhausted after any length of sleep. To which I think OMG this is amazing why hasn’t my life always been like this. Then after the first few days I experienced an episode that internet research suggested as serotonin syndrome (I understand that with it being internet research I could be totally wrong about that). To which I basically felt like I was dying I was sick and sweating uncontrollably and my boyfriend mentioned uncontrolled tourette’s like ticks in my sleep. At this point only having been on a few days I stopped until I was able to reach out to my doctor. During this time my boyfriend also became sick so I thought hey maybe it was just a traditional sickness bug and no big deal. With my doctors recommendation I began the Adderall again did not experience and issue again until I brought up the sexual side effects and Wellbutrin XR was added to my prozac and Adderall. At this point I again experienced an episode of minor side effects amplified like crazy. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, chills, and a short 2 min episode of uncontrolled motion (think like a shimmy shoulder shake dance move but unstoppable) after intense panic I was able to get to sleep and woke up feeling drained and hollow but better. Again I took a small break from the newly added medication (2 days) and decided to try again. Since then I have not had any issues other than becoming easily sweaty during simple tasks and uncontrolled sweating while sleeping which is intermittent (4-5 times a week) and super annoying because it makes sleeping difficult.

So mostly I am wondering if this intense reaction at onset of adding medication is normal especially since after a small break I can start again without issue or if it is something I should be worried about.

Because of this I am trying to decide if I should try switching to another SSRI (even though I have responded well to the Prozac minus the sexual side effects) to combat the sexual side effects or if I should continue this route of adding medications to combat certain side effects of other medications.

I am only 6 months into taking any medications at all so some insight from people who may have been one this journey longer would be super helpful.

 

[cj]

It sounds like your really sensitive to stimulants. Have you talked to your doc about dialing back the dose?

 

[Stargazer]

Hey Zero!

Welcome to BL. Wow, those are horrible symptoms to experience. Sorry u had to go through that. You are obviously intelligent with a good head on your shoulders. With some trial and error, you will get there.

I know it sucks. But it's worth it. When you find the right meds, it's life-changing.

I didn't react well to Wellbutrin. Within 15 minutes of taking it, I felt really strange. Like, I was suddenly looking at myself from a distance. Then had an anxiety attack for hours. I had to fight the urges to chew on my lip, etc. Similar to meth tics.

I'm prone to anxiety and panic attacks. When I asked a therapist to prescribe it, she told me it probably wasn't a good idea, due to previous mentioned issues.

But, I wanted to try it. It seemed to really help others I had seen on it. We're all different.

Try not to get discouraged. I hope you come back to update us.