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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Seizures - medication side effect?
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Seizures - medication side effect?
by cynthiaslb, Mar 27, 2003 12:00AM
I was prescribed 5mg Lexapro and 0.5mg xanax in December of last year. I slowly tapered up to 10mg Lexapro, and in February the psych upped me to 1 mg xanax/day and added 15mg/day Buspar. Exactly 1 month after I began the Buspar addition, I had a seizure. My psych said that it was xanax withdrawal (from tolerance), and put me on 1.5mg Klonopin/day, and I stopped the xanax.
The seizures continued to double each day, at one point I had about 18 in one day. My GP prescribed 400mg/day Dilantin, and stopped all meds, then put me back on xanax. The seizures continued for 2 weeks and are now intermittent. A neurologist advised that I taper the Dilantin and then taper the xanax.
What seems strange to me is that I continued to have seizures and milder convulsions for a week after I started the xanax again. I am also concerned because the GP stopped the Lexapro abruptly, and I am having very bad anxiety, migrane and tension headache, sensitivity to light and sound, muscle twitches and severe abdominal pain. I have also had vivid suicidal fantasies, which frighten me. Could this be withdrawal from Lexapro? Or am I having withdrawal from xanax because of tolerance? I am very confused, and I don't trust my doctors any more!
The seizures continued to double each day, at one point I had about 18 in one day. My GP prescribed 400mg/day Dilantin, and stopped all meds, then put me back on xanax. The seizures continued for 2 weeks and are now intermittent. A neurologist advised that I taper the Dilantin and then taper the xanax.
What seems strange to me is that I continued to have seizures and milder convulsions for a week after I started the xanax again. I am also concerned because the GP stopped the Lexapro abruptly, and I am having very bad anxiety, migrane and tension headache, sensitivity to light and sound, muscle twitches and severe abdominal pain. I have also had vivid suicidal fantasies, which frighten me. Could this be withdrawal from Lexapro? Or am I having withdrawal from xanax because of tolerance? I am very confused, and I don't trust my doctors any more!
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Mar 31, 2003 12:00AM
, Mar 31, 2003 12:00AM
Ask your doctor about Depakote to stop the seizures, as something more effective than Dilantin. It is very unlikely that this is still withdrawal from Lexapro or Xanax, given what you have said. Ask your doctor about continuing Buspar and Klonopin along with the Depakote.
