[cyclecrash]

Hello everyone!

I'm just coming on here to whine, because I know you're the ones that will understand, and to see if anyone has any advice. I don't think I'll be able to keep this post too short. Sorry!

About two months ago I was having problems with anxiety. I had a week with a LOT of stimulation and stressors and then the anxiety was just uncontrollable. I felt terrible fear and was having panic attacks. My brain was "shutting down" in stressful situations. My neuropsych said that perhaps it was time to try antidepressants so that my emotions would calm down and allow my brain to heal better.

I started taking Effexor. Within two days I noticed a remarkable reduction in light and noise sensitivity, I was able to be in crowds or busy situations without anxiety and my brain was no longer shutting down! I had tons of energy and felt amazing. The only problem I was having at this point was I was getting headaches, probably because my brain wasn't shutting down.

The "energy" that I had kept increasing as the week went on and now I was no longer sleeping. Week two I was becoming so hyper I couldn't sit still and still no sleeping. I started to become manic and it get very frightening. I was told to come off the Effexor and started taking Cymbalta instead. I started feeling better after coming off the Effexor and started sleeping better.

I was still having decreased light and noise sensitivity and was still able to handle crowds and busy stores better. In fact, I had almost forgotten that these symptoms had been corrected by the meds. At around the 3 week mark of Cymbalta, I became extremely depressed and took to my bed for 36 hours straight, crying and taking pills to induce sleep. My doctors again told me I had to come off this medication.

I have been off the Cymbalta now for a week and all of the light/noise sensitivities and the inability to be in a crowd, dizziness, blurry vision, inability to concentrate, anxiety in stores, etc. has come back full force. I feel like I've gone back two months in my recovery. Even watching tv and riding in a car are bothering me again. I had forgotten that these were helped by the meds and had been thinking that I was finally well on my way to returning to a more normal state.

Because of my two scary attempts at meds I had decided to take at least a month to try to take no meds and re-establish a baseline for how I was feeling. It looks like there is no way I can go without meds if this is what I'm going to go back to. I am very frustrated and don't know what to do at this point. I know there have been some good recommendations for natural alternatives and I will try to find those posts and write down the options.

Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated! I had been progressing with my vestibular therapy, finally had my new glasses and could see well again (even they don't seem to be working as well anymore), I was finally socializing a little bit and was starting to be able to walk short distances and now I feel like it's all gone again.

Thanks for listening! My support group can only take so much "whining"!

I hope you are having a good day!

CC

[poetrymom]

Wow

I have nada to tell you in terms of what you can or should do. How horrible to get so far away from those awful symptoms only to have them come back.

I have no idea what you can or should take. The supplements I take for anxiety are probably not strong enough for your symptoms.

I guess the old metaphor / mantra we hear here is the key to it. This whole journey is a marathon, not a race.

Here's sending you positive vibes and prayerful thought.

pm

[DFayesMom]

I have mixed views on antidepressants. On the one hand, it can be such a pain in the butt to try to find the right one, but on the other hand, they can really be life changers. My father-in-law had two nervous breakdowns and was generally nonfunctioning until he found the right medication for him. Now he's been on Prozac for fifteen years and is fond of the Winston Churchill quote, "One pill a day keeps the black dog away!" I don't know where he would be without that medication.

As for me, finding the right medication probably saved my life 15 years ago, and I have returned to it several times since then, when I've been struggling, including now.

Then there's someone like my brother, who had terrible experiences on medication and just gave up on them. He's somehow managed to thrive without them. But he doesn't have PCS.

I went through a few medications before I found the right one for me. My husband went through even more and still hasn't found the perfect match. I'm encouraging him to go to a new doctor.

For many, depression and anxiety require medication to help correct a chemical imbalance in the brain, but like everything else having to do with the brain, there's not a simple one-size-fits-all answer, so finding the right drug can be a frustrating process. But if you feel you really need it, I'd keep trying. PCS can be so difficult to live with that I think it's worth it to take medication that can help you get through the day. That said, everyone has their limits. You'll have to decide for yourself it you've had enough of the roller coaster ride of trying new meds!

As someone who has allergies to many medications, migraines triggered by others and intolerances to many pain medicines, you really do have my sympathy. Trying to new medication for me is always a big gamble, but right now, I'm glad for every single medication I'm on.

[MiaVita2012]

CC~I am so sorry for this relapse you are experiencing.Obviously the antidepressant did have it's positives and negatives on you.I personally tried Cymbalta for a week and it was mean to me.Then when I got into psychiatrist that works with military TBI he put me on my Pristiq. Without this medicine I do not think I would of made it! My psychiatrist hit it on the nail with me.

I still have some down day's here and there but nothing like before and I can come out of the dark hole fast.Are they giving you any other medication for anxiety?Do you have a lot of pain or injuries from your accident besides the TBI?How is your fibromyalgia these days?Reason I am asking I was good on antidepressants but had struggles from pain and so I had to get help with pain from my injuries.

I would suggest that you try to tackle this from 2 aspects the mental and pain and see if that might help.It helped me a lot from focusing to my speech etc.

***And whatever you do if you do another antidepressant do not look up everything about it on the internet because it is not a one size fits all***

Hope and pray for you to find relief and better days to come

[Consider]

I was in the same boat as you Cyclecrash, SNRI's indeed made me manic. Plus Cymbalta, not only made me depressed but sweat like a pig, so imagine a 22 year old girl sweating on the couch instead of resting. Yuck! The scary thing of it all, I was taking Neurontin too. That combo sent me to the hospital, with anxiety being tenfold worse, and depression. I had to choice to stay or go back home, and I said I wanted to stay. There, they gave me Paxil (paroxetine), and I stayed for a week. When I got there, a kind neuropsych came in to evaluate me, and she looked at me, "You have one, but here's the good news, from what you have told me, it's on its way out. You have anxiety and it's slowing down the recovery." I nodded but smiled cause I was happy to hear it. She made sure I was in the best of care, neurologists came over to give me my shots, and I went to physical therapy every day while I was there at 7pm. In the mornings, they would wake me up early and give me a bit to get up. It took a lot back then, believe me. They catered to my healthy eating, and vitamin regimen. Later on, after the hospital I struggled with sleeping and the nausea that still woed me, my psych prescribed me Remeron, and emotionally, I was Elisa, and I was back. I smiled more often, cried when I needed to, I no longer felt numb. I felt real again. No more depersonalization. Today I am on the medication still to prevent a relapse of depression from my ADHD (inattentive). So cyclecrash, please don't give up just yet. You can do this, I know you can. It's your comfort, its your recovery.