i have been trying to ask a question of ROGER GOULD M.D. how can i stop chills that are side effects from my meds?

[medfree16]

but i keep getting a notice that all the questions that can be asked for the day have been used, that no more questions addressed to this doctor can be asked for that particular day. what do i do? i need to ask him about medication-related chills or sensations of cold that i want to cease. the medication i'm taking is a low dosage of geodon and perphenazine (20 mg and 4 mg), perscribed against paranoia, which i have not experienced for a whole year as my psychiatrist has continually allowed me to gradually lower dosage. but recently i have been getting these side effects of constant chills up my back that i want to stop and my own psychiatrist is absent due to sickness, flu or something, so he can't help me with the chills. i have read on the web that both the meds i'm taking can cause chills, as well as withdrawal from the meds i'm taking. my current situation is related to chills from taking meds and chills from withdrawing from meds as well. after gradually reducing 80 mg geodon/4 mg perphenazine by steps, over the course of a year, down to 20 mg geodon/4 mg perphenazine, i began to notice chills, but at first they were quite mild and manageable. i felt mild but manageable chills on 20 mg geodon, 4 mg perphenazine, then my psychiatrist let me take zero mg geodon and 4 mg perphenazine. upon one day of taking zero mg geodon and 4 mg perphenazine i felt terrible chills up my spine. so i started taking 20 mg's geodon again. that didnt help, still the chills. so on the same day i took another 20 mg geodon, still the same chills. so even when going from zero mg - 20 mg less than the previous geodon dosage of 20 mg's - to 40 mg geodon on the same day, i still felt the chills. for 2.5 weeks i've been taking the same earlier dosage of 20 mg geodon and 4 mg perphenzaine and still the same terrible chills. before i started taking meds, i never had chills all day long on any day of my life - the most was totally normal, at most a solitary chill up the spine lasting 2 seconds, which maybe would occur once in 5 years. once when i went to another psychiatrist who gave me too high a dosage of perphenazine, i had worse chills than now that actually gave me hypothermia and made me shiver uncontrollably. its not that bad now and i'm not shivering at all, but the chills are quite bad. also once maybe in the past year i had a urinary infection that made me have terrible shivering chills. before all these meds i never ever had constant chills, shivering or otherwise. i want the present chills that i feel to stop and i dont feel paranoid in the slightest. how do i stop the chills? if certain meds are against paranoia, not against chills, why should i be taking them to stop the sensation of chills up my back?! my goal is to come off of meds completely, not to switch to new meds or keep taking higher doses - that would undercut what i've been working on for the last year, which is to gradually reduce my meds, without resurgence of paranoia (which thank god has not returned), and for the purpose or end goal of being totally med-free.

[Paxiled]

I think Dr. Gould is on vacation.  To ask a question, just go to the top of any forum and there's a bar that says ask a question.  But all experts only take a few questions a day.  As to the chills, if you think it might be withdrawal, the remedy is to up your dose to the last one at which you felt fine, and taper more slowly.  If you do that and the chills go away, you'll know it's withdrawal.  Keep in mind your psychiatrist might not care about or know anything about withdrawal -- many shrinks don't.  If yours doesn't, find another.  That's the best I can do, but your psychiatrist should have someone on call if he's out sick -- they usually do.

[ilmbg]

I don't mean to highjack your thread, but you posted last so I will ask you.  How ih the devil does a person start a new thread?  I can only seem to reply, not ask a new question.  Do I have to do this only at a certain time- that seems useless.
I did read your post and so hope you will find the answer to make you feel better.  I wish I had answers to many things.
Thank you for helping me get started.

[medfree16]

i am now on 40 mg geodon, 4 mg perphenazine. i still have chills. i have no paranoid thoughts whatsoever, which is what the meds are against, just the chills are the problem. my psychiatrist doesnt know how to fix the chills. he is unacquainted w/geodon which he calls a recent psychiatric drug. i also had no paranoia on zero mg geodon and 4 mg perphenazine, just the chills. i tried 60 mg geodon and 4 mg perphenazine and that gave me worse chills. what do i do? i'm stuck in this situation. i can still think and function clearly and all that, but the chills are an extremely uncomfortable bother.

[medfree16]

yes my "shrink" (psychiatrist, not psychologist) doesnt know about chills side effects, but of the 2 medications i'm on right now, i had past experience of chills when on a high dosage of perphenazine. so i already tried lowering geodon from 20 mg to zero mg (with my psychiatrist's consent) and that didnt work, now i'm going to try lowering the perphenazine from 4 mg to zero mg and keeping the geodon at 20 mg. hope it works. on 20 mg geodon/4 mg perphenazine i used to feel very slight but manageable chills, but after taking zero mg geodon and 4 mg perphenazine for just one day, i feel terrible chills even after going back to the 20/4 dosage. if the 20 mg geodon/zero mg perhenazine dosage doesnt work, i'll make it 40 mg geodon/zero mg perphenazine, which is what my psychiatrist advises. when i was on 40 mg geodon/4 mg perphenazine earlier, i felt no chills whatsoever. i hope this plan works

[Jaquta]

I think what happens is that there is a limited number of posts the experts answer.  In this forum it is currently two posts per day.
When the experts are away (on leave, etc) some experts will block members ability to post questions on their forum(s).  Some experts won't and some won't even have a limit.
Usually there is a green bar with post question in it (similar to the post comment one but usually found at the top of the page and not the bottom).  To post a question click on that.  If the forum has reached its daily post quota it will have a message to that effect.
Times?  If I were to post a question on a busy forum (that was accepting posts) I would probably post around 8 am my time (New Zealand -Day Light Savings Time).
I don't know if any of that helps.
Most medical communities (just not all the expert ones) will be accepting questions.

I'm not sure about the chills.  Could you ring your doctor or local psych services for advice?
I don't like offering advice about medication.  That's something a doctor needs to do.

[medfree16]

ok, dude, i found it out. in your upper right hand corner is a phrase to click on saying "My Shortcuts." when you click it, it will show the category of a subject or group. mine is "schizophrenia." so after clicking "My Shortcuts" i clicked "schizophrenia" and then the "ask a question" bubble appeared. try clicking whatever is under "my shortcuts" when you click it. one of your "my shortcuts" sub-headings, such as "schizophrenia," "depression," etc., whichever, will lead you to a page with an "ask a question" bubble.