Quote:
Originally Posted by MeeJenny2
When I was first diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia TN - my doctor put me on Neurontin for pain but after time, I started to build a tolerance to it. Needless to say, it never really did much and I still found myself popping Motrin thoughout the day. Eventually my dosage got to 900 3X Daily. The pain got to my moods and eventually found myself constantly depressed so a new doc had me include Cymbalta. It was quite a lift and I found myself making stupid and rash decisions...didn't feel loved by my family and ended up going on spending sprees. I even felt like a different person and started flirting with other men. I enjoyed the lift but it didn't do much for the pain. And with dosage up to 60MB x2 daily. I really became a different person to the point I wanted out of a loving marriage and didn't find my family very interesting. My hubby talked to my doc who tried to take me off Cymbalta but that was pure hell. Instead, I switched docs and had another one inlclude Lyrica on top of all that I was taking. 50Mg twice daily had me feeling high most of the day and I was really out of character. I started having an affair - ended up with a STD and that started my marriage in a downward spiral. I also found another new love for wine...even though I was not supposed to drink...all this, the motrin and now alcohol had me numb.
Now with a marriage in dispair, I've found that my kidneys are not working quite right and this new doc is telling me that the combination of all the pain meds is to blame. I also put on 40 lbs in the past year, lost most of my dear friends, my family and I look and feel like hell.
Now looking back, I wished my first doc had told my husband, sister, brother, about the potentioal mood and personality swings associated with any one of these meds, never mind putting them all together.
Not to scare anyone as these are probably good medications to help your condition but always ask a second opinion...and not alwasys from these sites...seek professional opinions. I've seen four different physicians, two psychologists and two neurologists and they all differ in opinion in side effects and effectivenss of these drugs.
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I think a lesson we all can take from this to read the info stapled to the bag provided by the pharmacy when we pick up our meds. They would have told this person of the potential side effects. I will read the Rx info every few pickups to see if they say anything new in the info. Nowadays, we have to take some responsibility for our treatments and Rx's by reading, internet researching, and asking lots of questions of our docs and people such as you find on these forums.
I take Neurontin in large doses and Methadone, but am well aware of all their side effects, even the nasty ones. I am very pleased with the results they give me, even though a couple side effects are a PITA (I research the best way to deal with them) and I probably need to get my Meth dose upped. But they are better than taking nothing; and supplements and vitamins alone are not the answer for me (full body SFN). There is no cure for my condition and I have learned to accept this and try to learn the best way to deal with and treat this disease, so as to have the best quality of life I can with the minimalist of negative effects to my family.
I am sorry for everything you have been through and am glad that you are putting your life back together as best possible given everything you have through and lost. My thoughts are with you.
Jay