Change of meds

I was hospitalized about a month ago due to my meds. I was taking 2mg Xanax 4 day, morphine 15mg 4 day,prozac 40 mg in am and ambien 10 mg pm. What had happened was someone helped their self to over 3 weeks of my Xanax! I can't figure it out, only spouse and a few friends have been in the house.

I do have to say that I leave my meds laying on kitchen counter completely exposed. So I was going thru w/ds of 8 mg Xanax-kaboom. This was the worst w/ds I have ever had. I finally just fell apart at the seems and started telling whoever would listen I wanted to hurt myself. I ended up in the psych hospital. I needed to be there. The shrink said I was already having small uncontrollable seizures and the Gran Mal were on the way.

I was there 3 days, not so bad .But he changed me from ambien to restoril 30 mgs. This was a wonderful change. It stopped my mind from running a mile a minute, I was actually able to close my eyes and relax. I have had trouble with ambien since I started about 10 years ago. I would go thru cycles of no sleep for 6 or 7 days. I have not had the reaction since then. I am totally sold.!

Then they upped my morphine to 30 mgs ir 4 times a day and it has seemed to level everything off. I am mostly a hoverer here, but will actually post occasionally. My question is" can a side effect of Prozac make your anxiety worse?" I don't like large crowds, or get together with people I don't know.

I have even noticed that I have quit going to the grocery store, church or small get together with people I do know. Is this a new symptom I need to report to shrink. It is really limiting my day to day abilities.

Post Edited By Moderator (Blessedx8) : 12/26/2013 11:40:05 PM (GMT-7)

Hi Mrs. Fibro,

I'm sorry to hear about what you went though! That sounds pretty scary! But I'm really glad that you sought out help and ultimately ended up better off.

To answer your question about prozac & worsening anxiety: yes, any anti-depressant has the potential to cause worsening anxiety and/or depression (if you listen to the tv ads for some of these drugs, they will even have a disclaimer stating such, as well as the possibility for suicidal thoughts). I don't think it is all that common, but it is definitely is a real side effect.

Without going into much detail, I can say that I've personally been down that road -- not with prozac, but with a different antidepressant -- and it was quite a severe reaction and rather terrifying (especially since we didn't realize that it was the medication that was the problem until months later & in that time, the anxiety & depression kept getting worse and worse until it was utterly debilitating). You definitely need to let your doctor know, so that your meds can be adjusted & you can be tapered off the prozac if necessary.

I'm not sure if your prozac was recently increased (or started), or how long you have been off the xanax now. But also keep in mind, that worsening anxiety can be a side effect of xanax withdrawal, too (and part of me wants to say that it can be a normal albeit it uncommon side effect of taking xanax, too). It could also potentially be caused by an interaction between two or more of the medications that you are taking. Either way, you need to speak to your doctor about this as it is absolutely something that should be taken seriously. And having experienced this myself, I'd encourage you to talk to your doc sooner rather than later, because the anxiety won't get any better on it's own & can potentially even get worse.

Good luck! Hopefully a med change/adjustment will fix the problem!

Skeye

MF,

I am glad that you are feeling better. Just sorry that this had to happen. Most of the time, (I try my best anyway), I try to see the bright side of circumstances.

This was a heart-breaking and tough lesson, as it is for anyone, to learn about our meds. We so want to trust those in our family and social circle,...people we choose to let into our homes. We don't want to think any of these few would ever do something that would hurt us.

It makes the experience sting a little harder.

My Husband and I live alone, in a secluded and private area, and we're both not what you'd call "social people." So it's rare that we have people in our home. And as much as I trust our friends, and they trust us, we all have developed this unspoken respect for medication.

Mine are locked up and out of sight. And when my Husband had a LAN party (imagine a few geek gear heads gaming for 3 days straight and up at all hours of the night,...giggling!)...two of his buddies have some severe health issues and they had to bring 3 days worth of their meds. Hubby's known these guys since before college, so they go way back.

But even then, both friends brought lock-top boxes for their meds, and they kept them right on the computer desks they used, (they took over our computer room, where they set their computers up, and I got kicked to the outskirts so they could enjoy some "quality boy time!"). Well,...they never left their meds unattended.

Mind you, one of them included in his box his allergy meds, aspirin, and rescue inhaler.

I mention that because, bottom line, it doesn't matter "what" the medication is. Not everyone is going to "respect" your personal medication, and some may even presume you won't notice.

You'll be able to move forward with a new medication that seems to work better for you than Ambien (and you wouldn't have found out about it if this didn't happen). You were wise enough to seek help and treatment (and that could well have saved your life, and that's a very good thing!)

My point was even in a situation like mine,...I've learned that first: "I" have to respect the meds for them to be there for me and for them to work.

It's worth the investment of a lock box, it is worth your peace of mind, and it's worth it knowing that by keeping your medications protected, it will not only preserve your relationship with your prescribing doctors, but it could save your life.



M.

I invested in a lock box that stays in my room (mostly because we have four children between my husband and I). I had a similiar issue happen years ago with a so-called ex friend of mine.

It's true they probably won't replace the meds that were stolen...but if you had mentioned it to your doc, your doc could have given you other meds to treat the side effects of the lost meds. Does that make sense?

Also, it's just good to let your doc know if circumstances change and you stop taking something, whatever the reason :)