Hi all

I have a girlfriend who is suffering from immense pain from burning sensations and some type of mental disorder. She complains about her symptoms daily and is often contemplating suicide because she feels she can no longer continue surviving with her symptoms.

She believes this was brought on from taking the sleeping medication called Stillnox/Ambien (Zolpidem) about 2 and half years ago. She was taking Stillnox for about 6 months when one night she suddenly experienced an electric shock or zapping sensation in her brain, she says her mind started to speed up and her eyesight had been altered. She reacted in a psychotic way because she started punching holes into the walls and had to be shipped off to a psychiatric ward. Ever since this bad reaction to Stillnox 2 and half years ago happened, she has not recovered and has been in and out of psychiatric wards where they have been dosing her with anti-depressants and SSRI's like Aropax and Prozac, she believes the burning sensations was brought on by the Aropax while in the Psychiatric Ward about 2 years ago.

She is currently been discharged from the Psychiatric Ward which achieved absolutely nothing for her in terms of her mental health and general well being. Doctors and Psychiatrists had only tried prescribing her anti-depressants which has only exacerbated her burning sensations. She is currently taking 20 mg of Prozac every second day, she also takes Mirtazapine to help her sleep which gives her terrible nightmares.

We are also getting her to take natural vitamins like Vitamin B, niacinamide and fish oil but none of this stuff seems to help because she is still complaining constantly about the burning sensations and the state of her mind.

I don't know if anyone on this forum will be able to offer much advise but I thought I would at least try, I would be extremely grateful for any contribution from the members of this forum. I have just never heard of anyone suffering from such severe symptoms from taking Ambien 2 and half years ago? Why hasn't she recovered from this and why does it seem so permanent? She thinks she has permanent brain damage but I am honestly not sure. If anyone could offer any helpful suggestions or knows of anyone who has experiences similar symptoms, your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Kind regards

Mark

Hello and welcome, happy to see you have come to be with us, it a great place to be. As you can see we have a great number and caring fellow members here, where you have find a supportive and relaxing place. Have fun looking into the different forums. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

Click on the following, there you will find fellow members to assist you.

Survivors of Suicide:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum29.html

Please keep us up to date on your condition. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene

Hello Mark,
Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups although I'm very sorry to read the reasons you are here.

I can't personally help you with any information as I've never taken any of the medications that your partner has taken but there are two things that I wanted to comment about from your post.

1. I do know though that Aropax/Paxil can cause what are termed "brain zaps" but I thought that was usually when tapering the dose. I've heard some of the horror news stories about Stillnox as well.

2. Wondering why the doctor has her taking Prozac 20mg every 2nd day.

We also have a
Medications & Treatments Forum
Depression Forum

PsychCentral - SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome

The poor girl. I feel so badly for her having such terrible experiences. I hope you are able to find some information and support here to help figure it all out.

Thanks Lara

I know of or have read other members on this forum complaining about burning symptoms in their body. I am hoping someone here will be able to shed some light on this.

Stillnox is terrible, people have done all sorts of strange things from taking it and it can quite often lead to death. Horrible and dangerous drug that Pharmacies just hand over the counter to unsuspecting patients.

Welcome markashburner.

Mark, you could try the forum search feature.
You type in the keywords you're looking for and you can search forum wide or one particular forum. If the 'burning' sensation is actual nerve pain, then check the
Peripheral Neuropathy forum .

It sounds as if she may have been injured by one of those meds at least so getting her physically strong is very important.

The longer they treat her pain/burning as an ummm "mental" problem , then the longer she'll take to heal. Just my thoughts anyway after reading your 2 post.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/search.php

I'm up over my head at present with medical mistakes and misdiagnoses and maltreatment of family members by doctors where I live and I'm steaming mad about it all right now.

Hi Markashburner

Welcome and sorry to hear the problems your girlfriend is having.
To address specific problems you asked about – firstly I'm not a doctor – just someone who's had problems with medication reactions in the past and also have a chronic autoimmune condition. Like you I came here looking for answers.

To try and keep it short: The psychiatric medications and symptoms aren't something I know much about but from reading data safety info the Stilnox/Ambien seems it could be responsible for her initial disorder.

You say she's currently on both Prozac and Mirtazapine – these are both antidepressants – has the doctor explained why she needs 2 and have they/you looked at possible side effects and interactions?

From what I've read here on NT the burning sensation sounds like a form of Peripheral Neuropathy – there are over 100 different types of neuropathy and as many causes. And yes drug reaction can be one of the causes – including reaction long after meds have been stopped. Whether damage is due to the medication (or combination of meds.) or other contributing factors: diet, illness, injury, alcohol etc is difficult to tell. Treatment is usually based on first trying to find a cause (many never do find a cause and this may be labeled as idiopathic PN). Depending on cause improvement may or may not be possible. In your girlfriend's case it does sound like it may be drug induced PN. Sorry I can't tell you off the top of my head if it is curable - searching the forums for drug/medication PN may help to find if others had success and what they tried.

Finding a good PCP who is fully informed of her condition, willing to listen and work with her to help, would be another place to start. Try not to overwelm your girlfriend with too much information all at once – it may just confuse her more. Small steps – ask her at each new step if she is willing to try something. Do you have a support group in your area – talking to peers going through the same thing can help to feel less isolated.

Sorry my knowledge is limited but thank you for sharing your story. On a personal note you have already helped me – I've been taking Zopiclone (Lunesta in the US), sporadically for insomnia. Zopiclone's a 'sister' drug to Ambien, and although I was aware of the potential for addiction, I was unaware of potential severe side effects. Thank you for that.

Your girlfriend's lucky to have someone like you to support her. Stay strong for her. Please let us know how you and she are doing and just ask if you have more questions.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...s/a693025.html
Medline Plus - Zolpidem

[aka Stilnox in Au, Ambien in US]

http://www.news-medical.net/drugs/Stilnox.aspx