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Recovering from seratonin syndrome episode. Need help from unlucky patients who have had this!!!

Posted , 2 users are following.

Cleo1313
Cleo1313

My pharmacy made a mistake when filling my prescription last week. The label was correct but the medication ended up being trazadone instead of tramadol.

After a night that was crazy and terrifying I ended up having a seizure. The next day is a blur and I just remember being too exhausted to reach down to get a sip of water from a cup next to my bed. I have been improving each day but still feel pretty foggy and have trouble coming up with words. My psychiatrist said that I had seratonin syndrome caused by the combination of the Pristiq (that I have been in for 3+ years), tramadol (have been taking for over a year) and the culprit of causing the seratonin syndrome was the addition of the pharmacys mistake of trazadone. I have taken trazadone before with out any issues also.

My questions to those that have experienced this awful event. How long did the mental fogginess last? I have had this tingling/numb feeling going down both of my arms ever since this event happened. It comes and goes throughout the day but it's not getting any better (or worse). I probably get 25 + times a day where I have to stop what I am doing and shake my hands or wiggle my fingers to make it go away for a little bit. It also wakes me up at night but so do the scary as hell post seratonin syndrome "dreams" that feel way too real.

Thank you for any insight since there is limited information out there regarding this.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • sandy67
    sandy67 Cleo1313

    Posted

    Omg!!! I thought I had serotonin syndrome but doc is sure it isn't so I cant help but I hope you are going to sue them!!! That mistake should never have happened and actually could have cost you your life!!! Hope you are feeling much better soon x

  • sandy67
    sandy67 Cleo1313

    Posted

    It's strange you should mention the dreams though cos I get that too, they do feel real!! I have clonus and still have no answer as to why and can't walk now so after looking it up and seeing serotonin syndrome as a possible cause I put two and two together as I take citalopram and amitriptyline and asked doc if it could be that but he says no. Spent 9 days in hospital having scans and blood tests, still none the wiser

    good luck x

    • Cleo1313
      Cleo1313 sandy67

      Posted

      I am not a person who would consider legal actions normally but the pharmacy didn't seem to understand the extent of their error and summed it up to , we are sorry but mistakes do happen unfortunitly. What if this would have happened to a older person who wasn't able to understand what was happening or a child!!! I cannot even imagine the terrible outcome.

      I have learned many things from seeing many doctors and trying many medications for a autoimmune disease that was a challenge for the doctors. My best adivice is that if you feel you are getting no where with your doctor after trying to have a open mind about what they are suggesting , it's time to get a second opinion. The other advice is your gut feeling is pretty darn accurate so listen to it. Lastly is that a lot of medications come with god awful side effects and doctors don't understand a lot of these. So if you feel like it's the medication find a away to taper off and elimate the possibilities.

      You have to be your own advocate and learn what you can from reliable websites. It's hard to do when we are sick but I guess we have to be thankful there is good info available and support like this.

      Hang in there ?

    • sandy67
      sandy67 Cleo1313

      Posted

      The thing is yeah mistakes happen, but medication is supposed to be double checked and that was a blinkin big mistake for them to just try to shrug off!! I give out medication and it is checked by a second member of staff to ensure those mistakes don't happen. Let's face it, they have one job to do so to make a mistake that really could have cost you your life should be looked into. I wouldn't be going near that pharmacy again. I have problems with mine, but it's usually things like they have forgotten to put an item in, then insisted it was actually in the bag while I'm standing there in front of them checking (after numerous occasions of finding something missing i have learned to check before I leave)!! But that mistake won't do me too much harm- I have gone home and found I have no lansoprazole, or pain killers etc. I may have to go an evening without, may be a bit uncomfortable and annoying but I am not in too bad a state. But taking a completely different medication?!?! I actually can't get my head around that OR the fact they can try to justify it so carelessly. You have been through a dreadful time and it really does need investigating properly x

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