Strange side effects - Side effects? Multiple changes in medication? benzo withdrawl?
Posted , 2 users are following.
I have had anxiety with panic attacks since I was a young kid. I started self medicating with alcohol in my teens, was drinking a fifth a day to stay even in my 20s, and have been in good recovery for about 10 years. I am now 37. I finally got on Prozac (60mg/day) about 10 years ago, with Lorazepam (.5 - 1mg) as needed, and things seemed to get better, but there was still some generalized anxiety and panic attacks every once in a great while, likely related in part to the alcoholism. About 3 years ago I started self medicating again with massive amounts of Benzos every day. Anywhere from 10 - 30mg of Ativan on a daily basis. This became another addiction that was active for the last 3 years. February 2018 I came clean with my doc. He currently has me on 10mg/day Valium help with the benzo dependence/craving. I have been following this instruction very well for about 2 months now. Also on 60/mg Prozac, and 60 mg Cymbalta in hopes of finally squashing the anxiety issues and fight the desire to self medicate. Been on this regiment for close to 2 months. We worked up from 20 to 40 to 60mg Cymbalta over about a month.
Now My Concern - For the last week or so I have had very odd, either side effects, or simply anxiety issues. I feel fine when I wake in the morning. By mid-morning I am having a very hard time focusing my vision. The best way I can describe it is like when you have drank too much and simply cant lock on to something in order to focus. At times large words 10 feet in front of me may be hard to read. This will get better and worse throughout the day When I close my eyes there is no noticeable issue. There is anxiety with this for the fact that it is unpleasant, but it does not drive me into a panic, which kind-of makes me think the meds are helping. I'd just like to know what is causing this, and if I should ride it out or ask the doc to lower my dosages. Has anyone else had similar issues on any or all of these meds? Is it at all normal to be taking 60mg Prozac AND 60mg Cymbalta at the same time? Is this likely just the effect of no longer taking benzos in high dose every day?
My thought are that it's either
--Post acute withdraw from benzos.
--Medication side effects. (I never had side effects with Prozac alone)
--A new way anxiety is presenting itself in my life!
Any comments would be welcome.
0 likes, 3 replies
jason_97037
Posted
kimberly45582 jason_97037
Posted
I think those of us who are on all these medications need to really follow a strict regimen of eating healthy and getting good quality rest. I find that since I started drinking 8 to 10 glasses of filtered water and learning how ti eat right I have been handling my medications a lot better and I have more energy. It made me aware of just how much coffee I had been consuming prior to starting my water drinking regimen...now I have 2 cups coffee with a little bit of honey daily instead of 8 - 10 cups like I was doing before. So sometimes we think that it's only medications interacting with each other that causes problems but a lot of the problems are our diets and bad habits. You don't have to be a food guro but staying on a good eating plan, drinking plenty of water and getting good rest is very beneficial. Wishing you all the best
jason_97037 kimberly45582
Posted
Thanks. I had meant to come back to this post but had a complete 360 and forgot about it! I think you are exactly right. For the record, I had stopped drinking and am active in recovery. Working with my Dr to strictly limit the benzos. The very uncomtorble symptoms have cleared up and I think lack of healthy habits, and other unhealthy habits that I wasn't even aware of, were the main reason I was experiencing issues. I too had been consuming massive amounts of caffeine as well as nicotine and not even thinking about it. Take away the sedatives, throw in an antidepresent, and keep the stimulants and poor sleep and eating habits and I think it all came together in the perfect storm of "I feel awful"! Ive cut way back on caffeine and almost quit nicotine all together and am trying hard to simply eat. I had been in a bad habit of just pushing through the day without taking time to eat, or purposely keeping my stomach empty to maximize effects of the benzos I was abusing. Now, a week or so after I originally posted I feel great. I've been resting, drinking water and eating, and getting excersize in when I can. That alone works wonders, and allows the good medications to help where lifestyle changes don't seem to work as well.
Just to prop your post again..! You are absolutely right. People experiencing these issues should really take a close look at their daily habits and make a point to cut out the chemicals where possible, and simply take care of yourself. It does work wonders. Thanks for your post.