Aa
Just starting
Hi, my name is Mary and I justed started the treatment, I had my first injection on friday and I've been taking the pills everday. I have suffered from depression before in my life and I'm a recovering drug addict.The side effects I've experienced so far are stomach aches, heartburn and extreme agitation. I started Paxol today and my greatest fear is taking out my feelings on the few people I have left emotionally supporting me. My emotions are overwhelming and I am getting professional counselling but is just doens;nt seem to be enough to deal with all this.Any suggestions on how to keep my emotions in check, thanks is advance for your suggestions!!!!
MB: SSRI's are also all problematic
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If you're talking liver toxicity, SSRI's like Prozac, LexiPro, etc -- are routinely dispensed by liver specialists and liver clinics -- both prophalactively and during treatment -- to help people deal with treatment related depression, mood swings, "riba rage", etc. Can you point us to any source by a liver specialist that says to avoid SSRI's during treatment?
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If you're talking liver toxicity, SSRI's like Prozac, LexiPro, etc -- are routinely dispensed by liver specialists and liver clinics -- both prophalactively and during treatment -- to help people deal with treatment related depression, mood swings, "riba rage", etc. Can you point us to any source by a liver specialist that says to avoid SSRI's during treatment?
ps...of the 2 I'd recommend ativan over temazepam. Both work for short term high anxiety, but ativan is far easier on the liver. Unless you have no liver damage shown on your biopsy it's a safer bet as Temazapam takes longer and it is harder to clear the liver whereas ativan does clear well, and causes no oxidative distress.
SSRI's are also all problematic, you may want to read up on tricyclics and tetracyclics before deciding on an SSRI. Some of them, Prozac especially, but others as well are NOT liver friendly. The tri/tetracyclic family are not as strong but don't do as much liver damage. As with everything in here, do your homework, and remember opinions will vary.
mb
SSRI's are also all problematic, you may want to read up on tricyclics and tetracyclics before deciding on an SSRI. Some of them, Prozac especially, but others as well are NOT liver friendly. The tri/tetracyclic family are not as strong but don't do as much liver damage. As with everything in here, do your homework, and remember opinions will vary.
mb
mary, welcome to the forum, hope your tx goes well.
It's good that you got on an anti-dep early, but that may not be enough.
You may want to see if short term your doc would add something like ativan or temazepam to deal with the aggitation until the Paxil has time to build up.
I know my first couple months were horrendous, I was waking up with my whole abdomen quivering and acting like Jello gone wild. I could not stop the spasming, and the feeling of being completely undone was overwhelming.
Even though it's hard to get off of all these things later, it may be neccessary to give yourself permission short term. Remember there is a huge difference between a therapeutic dose for a very real condition, and using something just to get high.
Now is one of the few times in life you may actually legitimately need certain drugs, its what the drugs were made for is times like these. So bite the bullet and ask for enough to mitigate your symptoms so you can at least function at some level.
I'd never used anything before, but now I'm on both an anti-dep, and a tranq. and glad of it...it was either that, or stay in bed all day crying....not much of a choice.
These tx. drugs do mess with everyone....we just have to learn to mess back until life is at least bearable. Wish you the best.
mb
It's good that you got on an anti-dep early, but that may not be enough.
You may want to see if short term your doc would add something like ativan or temazepam to deal with the aggitation until the Paxil has time to build up.
I know my first couple months were horrendous, I was waking up with my whole abdomen quivering and acting like Jello gone wild. I could not stop the spasming, and the feeling of being completely undone was overwhelming.
Even though it's hard to get off of all these things later, it may be neccessary to give yourself permission short term. Remember there is a huge difference between a therapeutic dose for a very real condition, and using something just to get high.
Now is one of the few times in life you may actually legitimately need certain drugs, its what the drugs were made for is times like these. So bite the bullet and ask for enough to mitigate your symptoms so you can at least function at some level.
I'd never used anything before, but now I'm on both an anti-dep, and a tranq. and glad of it...it was either that, or stay in bed all day crying....not much of a choice.
These tx. drugs do mess with everyone....we just have to learn to mess back until life is at least bearable. Wish you the best.
mb
The Paxill helped me greatly....but things definitely are not all rosey on treatment.
I'm an addict to...there are alot of us in here who are sober now and are paying the consequences of our past, you are NOT alone.
The best thing you can do is have an honest heart to heart talk with the people who are close to you. My family was warned - so one night when i LITERALLY yelled at my daughter (who has had chronic lung problems all of her life and almost in fact died 3x) that she should shut up she was breathing to loud.....they turned around and looked at me and laughed and said "man this stuff makes her REALLY crazy" or something to that effect and walked away. Well that made me even MORE mad but...I got the point and went off and waited till the anger went away.
The meds can make you angry at an ant that crosses your path - but it usually goes right away a few minutes later.
The DEPRESSION is something completely different - the interferon can do amazing things and cause severe trouble so you have to make sure you report it to your doc right away if you start to have troubling bad thoughts.
There are lots and lots of things that can help you out during treatment. Learning all you can from this forum and the experienced people on it is one of the best pieces of advice you can get. The more you know the more you can help get rid of any situation before or as soon as it comes up.
Get a copy of every single test result that you have as soon as they come back. Most NPs will send them to you right away. Learn how to read them (by posting in here people will explain which numbers to watch and what they mean). Drink lots and lots (half your bodies weight in ounces) of water and liquids to help with the sides.
And mostly - ask questions. The more you ask the more you will know and the better off you will be.
Having people in here who UNDERSTAND to talk to and ask and whine to and moan to and cry to and then laugh with and be friends with helped me MORE than any other single thing that I did.
I had two different strains - my numbers were bad so I had to extend to 72 weeks - i had very drastic side effects.........yet I made it and have been cured for almost two years because the people that were in here would NOT let me give up.
You can't ever repay that in a billion years (which is why I'm still in here trying to help...that is all we can really do.
Ask questions!
Good luck!
I'm an addict to...there are alot of us in here who are sober now and are paying the consequences of our past, you are NOT alone.
The best thing you can do is have an honest heart to heart talk with the people who are close to you. My family was warned - so one night when i LITERALLY yelled at my daughter (who has had chronic lung problems all of her life and almost in fact died 3x) that she should shut up she was breathing to loud.....they turned around and looked at me and laughed and said "man this stuff makes her REALLY crazy" or something to that effect and walked away. Well that made me even MORE mad but...I got the point and went off and waited till the anger went away.
The meds can make you angry at an ant that crosses your path - but it usually goes right away a few minutes later.
The DEPRESSION is something completely different - the interferon can do amazing things and cause severe trouble so you have to make sure you report it to your doc right away if you start to have troubling bad thoughts.
There are lots and lots of things that can help you out during treatment. Learning all you can from this forum and the experienced people on it is one of the best pieces of advice you can get. The more you know the more you can help get rid of any situation before or as soon as it comes up.
Get a copy of every single test result that you have as soon as they come back. Most NPs will send them to you right away. Learn how to read them (by posting in here people will explain which numbers to watch and what they mean). Drink lots and lots (half your bodies weight in ounces) of water and liquids to help with the sides.
And mostly - ask questions. The more you ask the more you will know and the better off you will be.
Having people in here who UNDERSTAND to talk to and ask and whine to and moan to and cry to and then laugh with and be friends with helped me MORE than any other single thing that I did.
I had two different strains - my numbers were bad so I had to extend to 72 weeks - i had very drastic side effects.........yet I made it and have been cured for almost two years because the people that were in here would NOT let me give up.
You can't ever repay that in a billion years (which is why I'm still in here trying to help...that is all we can really do.
Ask questions!
Good luck!
Welcome to the forum. I hope you also check the archives for threads related to the issues you raised. I am personally a huge fan of these archives, which are an amazing resource to me.
I made lots of plans to keep me occupied during treatment, to channel the pain, boredom, fatigue, isolation and frustration. I adopted new, lie-in-bed hobbies, watched movies, tried to go for walks by the water and planned for some mini-adventures, like going downtown for coffee. All this helps sometimes but the meds can take over and put me into a zone where I just want to take it out on someone.
I've never been treated for psychological problems and I'm fifty-eight. I'm on week 17 of treatment and I've become the world's worst old harridan. My nickname used to be Ms. Sunshine, so it's especially dramatic. My tongue is certifiably vicious and I don't know how such words find their way out of my mouth. It's liberating, in a way, (my nurse kind of cheers me on) but very damaging to all but the most forgiving. My doctor said the worst side effect of treatment is divorce!
My husband tries to contain the damage by restricting my phone conversations with the kids (after I laid into my son's fiancee about the guest list) and taking most of the heat himself. It's a point of honour for him that he'll stick by me even if he hates me by the end of it. (Mind you, he's adept at not tuning in, from years of practice.)
I know I should try some meds to counteract the new me but I'm stupidly stubborn and intent on cutting off my nose to spite my face. I hope you'll be smarter than me and seek medication that will help you curb your tongue, so you can focus on staying on treatment without paying the high cost of alienating your loved ones.
As for the agitation, I don't know if you mean physically shaky, which I had at the beginning, or the psychological kind.
I made lots of plans to keep me occupied during treatment, to channel the pain, boredom, fatigue, isolation and frustration. I adopted new, lie-in-bed hobbies, watched movies, tried to go for walks by the water and planned for some mini-adventures, like going downtown for coffee. All this helps sometimes but the meds can take over and put me into a zone where I just want to take it out on someone.
I've never been treated for psychological problems and I'm fifty-eight. I'm on week 17 of treatment and I've become the world's worst old harridan. My nickname used to be Ms. Sunshine, so it's especially dramatic. My tongue is certifiably vicious and I don't know how such words find their way out of my mouth. It's liberating, in a way, (my nurse kind of cheers me on) but very damaging to all but the most forgiving. My doctor said the worst side effect of treatment is divorce!
My husband tries to contain the damage by restricting my phone conversations with the kids (after I laid into my son's fiancee about the guest list) and taking most of the heat himself. It's a point of honour for him that he'll stick by me even if he hates me by the end of it. (Mind you, he's adept at not tuning in, from years of practice.)
I know I should try some meds to counteract the new me but I'm stupidly stubborn and intent on cutting off my nose to spite my face. I hope you'll be smarter than me and seek medication that will help you curb your tongue, so you can focus on staying on treatment without paying the high cost of alienating your loved ones.
As for the agitation, I don't know if you mean physically shaky, which I had at the beginning, or the psychological kind.
Hi Mary ... and welcome ...
The one side affect that you just mentioned that I have concern about so early in treatment is your "extreme aggitation"....and that already your "emotions are overwhelming"" !! please take a breath...you just started the Paxil...it takes time to work..remember EARLY RECOVERY.."one day at a time" sometimes "one minute at a time" If you have a "program" this would be a GOOD time to step up the meetings...
PLEASE keep you doctor informed of your feelings--your Paxil may need to adjusted or you may need to add another anti depressant w/it...
***for your stomach aches...MAKE SURE you EAT when you take your Riboviran!! you must eat with the pills! that will help with the heartburn too-- if you still have heartburn --call the doctor-- they can recommend something like Pepcid for you..
Stay in touch with us to let us know how you're doing..
Dorsey
The one side affect that you just mentioned that I have concern about so early in treatment is your "extreme aggitation"....and that already your "emotions are overwhelming"" !! please take a breath...you just started the Paxil...it takes time to work..remember EARLY RECOVERY.."one day at a time" sometimes "one minute at a time" If you have a "program" this would be a GOOD time to step up the meetings...
PLEASE keep you doctor informed of your feelings--your Paxil may need to adjusted or you may need to add another anti depressant w/it...
***for your stomach aches...MAKE SURE you EAT when you take your Riboviran!! you must eat with the pills! that will help with the heartburn too-- if you still have heartburn --call the doctor-- they can recommend something like Pepcid for you..
Stay in touch with us to let us know how you're doing..
Dorsey
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