[kgc7878]

Hi everyone, I posted this in the introductions forum, but thought I'd post it here as well. My symptoms seem to lead to some type of neuropathy, possibly autonomic? My doctor can't make a diagnosis.

I guess my main question is- has anyone heard of someone contacting these symptoms from an anti-depressant? Because it all started for me when I took a med called Viibryd.

Here's my original post:

Hi everyone, I just stumbled upon this site today and thought I would give this a shot.

I'll try to make this as short as possible. My Doctors and the Neurologist I've seen so far haven't been able to give me many answers. ALl of my symptoms started when I began taking an anti-depressant called Viibryd. It's a fairly new drug. Right away I began to feel numbness all over my body, but stupidly thought that could be a normal side effect. After about two and a half weeks I stopped the drug cold turkey, as it was making me very depressed.

That was early June. For months I thought the drug was still somehow affecting me, but now I've basically ruled that out. My symptoms are numbness, mental foggyness, fatigue, sexual dysfuntion, impotence, occasionally blurred vision*, increased urination*.

** These were the two symptoms that lead me to think it was autonomic neuropathy, although I know nothing about this, and hadn't even heard of it until a few days ago.

I was on the Viibryd for OCD/Anxiety, and the really strange thing is, my anxiety is GONE! Not decreased, but gone. The ocs symptoms have gone way down, but have increased a bit over the past month. Hunger and thirst is way down as well.

I've been told there is demilynation in my nerves, and had a Spinal Tap to test for CIDP, which I was told I do not have, as my protein count was normal.


This is all very new to me, and frankly I'm terrified. No one seems to be able to tell my what is happening or why it happened. I think my neurologist is doubtful that the Viibryd could have caused this, but there was nothing else. The symptoms started as soon as I began the drug.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

John

[mrsD]

Welcome to NeuroTalk, John.

Sounds frightening. I can't search around for you tonight, but I will do so first thing tomorrow.

In the meantime, can you tell us if you had a vaccine at that time, or what other drugs you take for other problems?
Were you sick at all? Virus, stomach flu?

Have you been tested for diabetes? Had a HbA1C test done?
Do you know your fasting glucose level?

There are drugs that may cause neuropathies. But this one is really new, and when that is the case it can take YEARS for reports to be made and collected.

This site does this:
http://www.drugcite.com/?q=Viibryd
You can click on any category to expand on it. (they are not available on separate addresses to link to here).

That site is a collection of FDA reports of side effects. Not all doctors by any means report either, so it is somewhat understating what might actually be happening.

Let me look around for you tomorrow morning. It is possible I won't find much however, but I will try.

[kgc7878]

Whoops I meant to say contracting* a disease, not contacting!

Thank you for your reply, Mrs.D, I really appreciate it.

To answer your question, I was not sick at the time, nor did I have any vaccines. I think that's what puzzled my neurologist too, becuase he asked me the same questions.

"Have you been tested for diabetes? Had a HbA1C test done?
Do you know your fasting glucose level?"

It's funny you should mention that becuase I was going to ask a question on that subject. I have not been tested for diabetes, or had an HbA1C done, or know my fasting glucose level. I don't know much about the subject...

But I've always just assumed I had low blood sugar, becuase I would become very irrtiable/angry when I went too long without eating, my OCD/symptoms would get much worse, and would eventually get headaches. I knew that wasn't normal, but had always just managed it. The really strange thing about this whole ordeal is how it more or less cured my OCD and anxiety, and I suspected that it may have something to do with the blood sugar levels/issues I had before. Or maybe not, I could just be grasping at straws, but with the Doctors not being able to diagnose, I've felt the need to start thinking outside the box.

[mrsD]

The reason I ask is that your symptoms all are typical of patients with some degree of impaired glucose metabolism.

Until you can get that tested out, try eliminating sugar and starchy carbs from your diet, and just do lean protein, fruits in moderation and veggies. Many people here find it helps minor PN type symptoms very quickly.

I looked up this drug in several places, and there is no data and lingering effects. There is a caution about stopping the medication suddenly. Also using it with OTC products with an MAOI warning, like cough syrups with DM etc, or other RX drugs with MAOI warnings.

You don't have to have frank diabetes to start with impaired glucose. Often low blood sugars precede diabetes for a while, and lows affect the nerves, by starving them. Swinging with high sugar will stimulate LOWS as you bottom out. This up and down is quite damaging to the body in general, and causes inflammatory problems too, because high insulin favors Cox-2 cytokine expression.

If you are using other drugs (including non-psychiatric ones) you can PM me for privacy and I'll look them up. Some drugs impair nutrient utilization, and absorption from the GI tract. ( you may have to post a short time longer before the PM
function opens up for you to use--this is for new members.)

[kgc7878]

I'm sure it was the Viibryd. Whether it just triggered somehting, or what exactly it did, I have no idea. I did however stop it cold turkey after it made me very depressed. The first day I stopped it, the numbness increased by a large margin.

I'm currently not on any medication, other than a 6 day supply of steroids (medrol) that I started a few days ago. Haven't noticed any changes so far.

Could you tell me what kind of tests I would need to ask for in order to determine my glucose level? Is it just the tests you mentioned in your first post? Honestly this is all greek to me. I'm trying to make sense out of everything.

Should I stay off of artifical sweetners too?


My Doc had said there was demilynization in my nerves, and that it jumps around to different places in my body. (I had some nerve conduction tests done)

But since this started, there have been a few times that my symptoms went away for a period of days, and I had been wondering if it could be diet related, or if it was just the natural course of the disease.


Anyway, thank you SO much for taking the time to respond. It's a big help

[mrsD]

Glucose tolerance test, preferably a 4 hr one.
This would show lows, at the 3-4 hr mark. Shorter tests do not.
Doctors often use a 2hr, which will not typically reveal hypoglycemia. The 2 hr only shows highs for diabetics.

HbA1C shows if your diet is high in carbs and you are having spikes after eating. It is an average of long term sugar utilization.

Fasting glucose is done to screen for pre-diabetes and diabetes.
In people with impaired glucose utilization, it may show lows at first and as years pass then it creeps up slowly to over 100.
This process is also called insulin resistance.

If you have had periods of remission of symptoms, then definitely something is causing that, and diet is the most common cause. So if you clean up your diet, you may see improvements. They will be slow but will sustain, if that is your issue.

[ginnie]

Welcome to Neuro Talk. This is a good place to stumble into. I did the same thing and never left. Actually your post caught my eye. You are the second to post about Viibryd in conjunction with PN of some kind. I don't know exactly where the other post is. The question was the same however. Mrs.D is correct, sometimes it takes years to discover a medication that causes that kind of side effect. I would not take the medication anylonger if I had any doubt. Report it to your doctor, and the drug manufacturer for sure. If I can find the other post, I will tap back to you. Sorry this has happened to you. NT will be here to support you. ginnie

[kgc7878]

Thanks you everyone for your responses. I'll make sure to bring it up to my neurologist, if I ever actually get in to see them again, that is. I'm currently in the process of getting started at a bigger hospital/teaching hospital for a second opinion. So far I'm not overly impressed the the office I've been going to, and not just because they haven't made a diagnosis.

Just over the past few days I'm noticing more muscle weakness and seeing weird colors. Pretty scary stuff. The symptoms seem to indicate some type of neuropathy, but I think what's throwing the docs is the lack of illness or vaccine preceding it.

[mrsD]

I think you should get some B12 testing, and Vit D too while you're at it. Optic neuritis can be one sign of low B12.

People vary in how they present with low B12 issues.
And that can be confusing.

This is our B12 thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread85103.html

Originally Posted by kgc7878

Thanks you everyone for your responses. I'll make sure to bring it up to my neurologist, if I ever actually get in to see them again, that is. I'm currently in the process of getting started at a bigger hospital/teaching hospital for a second opinion. So far I'm not overly impressed the the office I've been going to, and not just because they haven't made a diagnosis.

Just over the past few days I'm noticing more muscle weakness and seeing weird colors. Pretty scary stuff. The symptoms seem to indicate some type of neuropathy, but I think what's throwing the docs is the lack of illness or vaccine preceding it.