Migraine

Well as my topic clearly states, I am becoming rather concerned. Yes I am callin my doc first thing in the morning, just wondered what you guys thought about this. I came out of the hospital on Wednesday. I am home and on Periactin an antihistamine, Nardil an MAOI, and Doxipen an anti-depressant. I didn't think much about what I was taking, only hoping that it would help.

Absolutely every piece of information I have found, says NOT to mix these drugs. I don't know why, but I know they don't interact well. My doc has been wonderful, so I hate to question him. But ontop of this info I found, I have been having some serious side effects. I have some serious fatigue along with very weak and shakey muscles, today has been the worst! I keep getting overheated and can't cool myself down. I was also in the ER saturday for urine retention. These are not tolerable side effects, so I know that I have to call him. I am concerned as I don't know why he would mix these meds. I don't know what to think about his treatment plan, or if he really knows how to treat me. I hate to say that, but I am just getting rather concerned. I need to be getting better, not sick in other ways!

Any thoughts, comments, or input? Thanks guys!

It sounds like maybe just maybe the periactin and the antidepressant might be conflicting. This is just kind of a guess. Periactin made my heart go all fluttery and made me have "antihistamine brain fog" in a very big way. I know it decreases serotonin levels. They gave it to me in the ER for serotonin storm after I tried to take a quarter of a dose of Maxalt. (Cuz my body reacted like I'd had a massive overdose)

Hi Alaura,

Have you gotten in touch with your doctor yet? If not, you may want to call your pharmacy and see what they have to say. I wouldn't quit taking either med cold turkey until you've spoken to someone first. I know with many of my meds, I had to taper down to avoid even worse side effects.

I understand if you're not comfortable with your doctor right now, he's new to you isn't he? If it were me, I'd ask him why he chose to prescribe these two meds together and see what he had to say. If I didn't like his answer, I'd be on a doctor search again. But, I'd give him a chance to explain himself. That's just me, of course.

Please come back and let us know how you holding up, and also what the doctor or pharmacist had to say. Forgive me for rambling, my head is hurting today.

Take care and good luck! Feel better!

Alaura, I hope you've had a chance to get in touch with your doctor by now. I hope he has a good explanation for you. And I hope he figures out what's causing all those side effects. Please keep us informed.

Thanks for the input guys! I called doc this morning but am still waiting on a return call. It will be a little while still cuz they just went on lunch. Then the nurse will call and then need to talk to doc and call back again. LOL lengthy process. I did call the pharmacy while I have been waiting. They said that the antihistamin was fine but there was a red flag with the MAOI and anti-depressant. They can have very serious side effects when mixed and I needed to contact my doctor

I guess that is what I needed to find out, but it has scared me a little. I don't know what doc's line of thinking is, but mine is not to have seizures and such! So I will at least be questioning this once I get a call back from the office. Thanks again for the input, this is all I know at this point. I will let you know once I hear back from doc.

Oh- on a positive note, my migraines have improved at least from this hospital stay So I am doing a little better besides these side effects.

Hey Alaura!

Do you get all your meds filled at the same pharmacy? I would think that if you did, they would have put a warning on either the antidepressant or the MAOI - or ask you about them! IMO - the pharmacy should have caught this too!

I always use the same pharmacy for this reason. I am always getting warnings about my preventives or antibiotics and my birth control.

If you are not using the same pharmacy for everything, it really is something to consider - it makes things much easier!

Alaura,

I'm having side effects to Cymbalta @ 60mg and Relpax. I called the pharmacy and they said that I should be concern that it's my health. They advised me to call my doctor that day.

My boss was a little upset that I was on the phone that much,but I was having server hot flashes and cold sweats within ever 2 to 3 min. back and forth. My head began to hurt (9) and I felt like passing out. of course BP was up very high.

I when home early that day. My doctor finaly called. Yes it is a long process which un-nervse me. She put me back to 30 mgs of Cymbalta. I still have some of the same side effects but not as bad.

I am going to discess with her about a different med with lesser side effects. I learn how important it is to stay well informed. Well that's my story. . .

Take care

Dutchess

Sorry about the typo's. Long fight with my head. But I won.

Dutchess

Alaura,
I hope that you have heard back from your doctor by now!!! I have always heard that you should never mix MAOI's with tricyclics; however, I'm not a doctor and know that they generally have reason for the exceptions they make.

That being said, it's your body and you know what you can tolerate. You know your body better than anyone else. I also know that one of the things that we have to struggle with is how all of our medicines interact and the resulting fear and anxiety that it causes. I'm so sorry you are going through all of this.

Please let us know what your doctor has to say!!



Cyn

Thank you guys for your input too! Yep I use walgreens and only walgreens. When I called the pharmacy today and asked if there was any reason to be concerned, I heard, " Oh, yea, right here is a reg flag." Why didn't they tell me that when I filled the med? That could have helped in the begining.

Cyn- You were right. It was an interaction between the MAOI and doxipen.

The office called me back and told me to discontinue the anti depressant, that I was probably having a reaction to the two meds. I am so glad they figured it out. Everyday I continued the meds, my problems were either getting worse or more things would pop up. It should only take a few days for the meds to get out of my system and for the symptoms to fade away. I am relieved this didn't get anymore serious before it was corrected. I was a little anxious with all of this, so I really appreciated the responses, guys! Thanks a ton

I'm SO glad that the office called you back, and that they were able to figure out what was going on.

I get my meds filled at one pharmacy for the same reason- it's a great way to have an extra layer of protection= especially when you're on a lot of different things- just to know that the computer or the pharmacist will catch any red flags allows me to worry about one less thing.... usually, anyway.

I'm happy that you caught it early, and I'm proud of you for calling your doctor and not waiting for things to progress! Way to go, Alaura!

I keep all my drugs at one drug store, BUT I still check what they put in the bottle and put everything into a web based interaction checker.

I'm probably the one in a million people that it's happened to, but I had a pharmacist fill two prescriptions and switch the labels - one was an antibiotic and the other was pain pills. It wasn't pretty!

Remember that pharmacies are very busy and the bottom line is that nobody cares for your health like you do!!

Thank you cyn and Jamie. That is one thing that I have learned. I have to be in charge of my own health issues in every way possible. LOL I have learned well from you guys, that I need to step up and not just wait for things to progress. THanks for the lessons too

Cyn what program do you use to put your medications in? I would like to use that as well. You really can never be too careful.

Thanks
Nicole

I go to http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php, but I'm pretty sure that Walgreens has one. You have to sign up on line with Walgreens but it's nice because you can look at all your meds and print out what you need.

Cyn