RosieKat
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Post by RosieKat on Dec 14, 2023 16:26:34 GMT
Please be very aware that very innocent-seeming medications can cause these changes. I'm beginning to suspect that it's more common than we realize, as I now have two (non-bio-related) relatives in my very small family who have had severe mental effects from non-psychiatric meds. If you know someone who seems to be exhibiting changes in behavior or mental status in the last 2 months or so, PLEASE check any meds they have added or changed in that time.
That's the TL;DR, but if you want to read more...
My daughter had a reaction to montelukast that gave her suicidal ideation. This was a while back, and the med now has a black box warning. Of course, at the time, we had to figure it out by deduction and took her off it. However, a week later, although we were already consulting with the psychiatrist and allergist, the police still insisted on holding her in a psych facility after seeing things she had posted while she was still on the med. (No one except the police thought she was in danger at that point, but I won't get started on that...)
In an ongoing issue, my mom is currently in hospital with some unknown issues. One is an unknown infection, so they were treating her with broad spectrum antibiotics. WBC was improving, but she rapidly deteriorated (in the space of less than a week) from someone who was 95% normal mentally for her age to someone who would have been diagnosed with full-on severe dementia. She could not tell the PT how many fingers she was holding up. Someone finally thought to take her off her antibiotic (which was cefpodoxime, for the record) and in the space of around 8 hours, she has dramatically improved mentally. She is still not her previous self, but there is hope she will continue to rebound and just have the normal mental disengagement of someone who is sitting in hospital for days on end. (We still don't know what the original problem is, so positive thoughts and prayers for her and for my dad are immensely appreciated.)
Anyway, all of this just drives home how every drug has side effects, and just because something may not be on the "common" list doesn't mean it isn't related. In my opinion, any new health issue that arises within maybe 2 months of taking a new med should mean that new med is scrutinized very closely. You may have to do your own research, or talk with someone who is good with Dr. Google, as in my experience, most doctors and pharmacists will just look at the handful of common ones. I'm by no means saying meds cause all problems, but that they need to be considered when problem solving. I hope this may help someone else.
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Post by malibou on Dec 14, 2023 16:46:04 GMT
I hope they both continue to improve from the drug reaction and that the health problem leading to those prescriptions are also soon a thing of the past.
We had a similar incident with my mom last year when she got a UTI and they put her on an antibiotic that caused a massive personality change that the Dr kept saying was just an old person problem. We pushed for a culture to get her on the right med for the infection and changed Drs as well. She is mostly back to her normal. The new Dr was curious about the intensity of the UTI and did a scan where a tumour showed up very close to her kidney. Though the Dr doesn't think the UTI and the tumour are related, he is glad he explored. It turned out to be NHL that arose outside of her lymph system. I also had NHL arise outside of my lymph system 20 years ago. Not a common occurrence.
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by anniebeth24 on Dec 14, 2023 16:46:09 GMT
I'll join you in this warning. A post-surgical antibiotic caused extreme anxiety and panic in me. Symptoms started about five days into the dosage.
Most bizarre experience of my life as I've never had issues with anxiety before.
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Tearisci
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Nov 6, 2018 16:34:30 GMT
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Post by Tearisci on Dec 14, 2023 16:47:18 GMT
This is really important to know and something to always check. My mom has gastroparesis which is a paralysis of the stomach so she processes food and meds very slowly. When she is given a painkiller, it takes so much time for it to process out of her system and it just renders her unable to think straight. The first time it happened, we thought she had had a stroke because she couldn't feed herself or think straight. Once the meds passed through, she became herself again and was lucid. Very scary!
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Post by jeremysgirl on Dec 14, 2023 16:47:26 GMT
Jen, it's scary. You must have been so filled with worry over your daughter and your mom. I send you my hugs.
As someone with a fairly severe mental illness, I swear that the wind blows sideways and it impacts my mood. Every single, little thing seems to swing me one way or another. I'm lucky in that most of it is very mild. But I'm just saying, I'm sensitive to everything. And antibiotics are a real "thing" for me too.
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Post by flanz on Dec 14, 2023 16:52:16 GMT
OOF! I'm very glad your DD and mom are doing better, and hope the upswing continues for your mom, as the removal of the drug is so recent.
I totally believe that anything, ANY THING!, can cause bizarre and very rare reactions.
I, for instance, experience severe psychiatric symptoms from ingesting oranges in any form. It's real and scary as F.
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RosieKat
Drama Llama
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Posts: 5,566
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Post by RosieKat on Dec 14, 2023 22:47:26 GMT
I, for instance, experience sever psychiatric symptoms from ingesting oranges in any form. It's real and scary as F. OK, I must admit that one is bizarre! (I'm not doubting you in any way, please know, that's just...wow!) I'm also a little horrified by how many people are mentioning this type of reaction to an antibiotic. I don't think I've ever heard of this as an antibiotic reaction, although I've never needed anything other than the fairly common ones and oral ingestion only. My daughter is doing much better, thank you. The allergist switched her from that med to another (it's for her asthma treatment) and it is pretty much under control. She has always had some mental health issues but they have actually been doing quite well since that incident, which was over 3.5 years ago now. And thank you for the good wishes for my mom. If this turns out to be the only cause of the mental issues, then at least we can all focus on the physical issues. I wish it magically took care of it all, but "some" is an acceptable start. I just hate it because my parents are about 3.5 hours away from me, far enough to make it have to be a journey yet close enough to feel like you should be able to pop in - and my kids are still in school and my son has to get driven to and from school, 45 minutes away, and I'm just overwhelmed and wanting to fix it all. Meanwhile, my poor dad is shouldering the load (gladly in the sense that he loves her more than his own life) but he is due for a surgery in about 3 weeks and is just rather lonely and worried. I was there this past weekend, and we'll be back in a few more days, but I wish the distance wasn't there. |
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scrappinmama
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Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Dec 15, 2023 0:50:47 GMT
Yes! I was prescribed a new medication several years ago. After 2 weeks, I had fallen into a severe depression. I finally put two and two together and called my doctor. They told me to immediately stop the medication. Once the medication was out of my system, I felt fine again. It was very scary though. I have experienced depression before when I was younger. But this was different.
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Post by kluski on Dec 15, 2023 2:19:35 GMT
This med has caused some weird moods in both me and my dd. I took her off of it but didn’t notice it in myself. It’s been years and won’t touch it.
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Deleted
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Nov 25, 2024 15:37:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2023 15:34:26 GMT
I'm sorry your dd went through that and that your mom is also experiencing that on top of ongoing health issues. I hope they can figure out her problems soon.
At 17 my dd was given an IV cocktail for a severe headache due to sinus problems (caused by her being on iv meds for RA). Almost INSTANTLY she started having a panic attack. They had to discontinue it. We then dealt with severe anxiety for weeks with suicidal ideation etc. It was awful. Honestly it was a good 2-3 months before she back to her normal baseline anxiety. She has mental health issues but at that time was doing quite well until that IV. I looked up what was in it and it seems this is not common with Compazine but there are people out there that have found they have the same thing. It's now listed on her allergy med list. And she is very careful to let her doctors know, DO NOT GIVE ME COMPAZINE.
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Marina
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Post by Marina on Dec 15, 2023 16:29:08 GMT
When my DS was in 3rd grade he was given Flovent for his asthma. He went from being a gifted reader (he read the 3rd Harry Potter in less than 24 hours) to not being able to read a single page in an hour. I received a frantic call from his teacher. We got him off the med and he returned to normal though his anxiety about reading took a little time to resolve. Our golden retriever and the 4th Harry Potter😊 helped him overcome that hurdle.
So yes I totally get this and I'm so so sorry for your family members experience.
I remember this med your dd was on. My ds took it under the brand name singulair. I remember hearing how it could cause aggression in young children.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 15, 2023 20:39:32 GMT
How scary for all of you, I’m so glad everything turned out okay and I hope your mom continues to improve.
I have bipolar disorder and so am used to very severe issues with depression. But a birth control pill (begins with an M I will see if I can find the name…it was Mircette) really sent me over the edge once. I was in a very bad place mentally. Had no idea that’s what it was but it came up with my pharmacist and she said it was pretty common. Very scary! I didn’t have any mood issues with any of the other birth control I have ever taken.
I understand the frustration of not living very close to your parents and worries about their health. Hope his surgery goes well and your mom is doing well enough to help care for him at that time.
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