Reglan induced depression and anxiety

[Judy55]

My sister was on reglan for six months and started to develop depression and anxiety.  She has struggled with this for almost a year now.

She is on antidepressants and medication for anxiety.

Has anyone found any medications or treatments that have helped.

It seems to be uncharted territory and some of the journals I have read have indicated that what works on "traditional" depression and anxiety may not work on the reglan-induced problems.

I have also read that it has spontaneously gotten better in individuals suffering from this but only after the passage of quite a length of time (18-27 months in one article I read).

Any treatments or contact information on doctors that have been particularly helpful in the treatment of this condition would be appreciated.

[RZ67]

Hi. I hope you sister is better since the time you posted in March.

I feel like I went to hell and back with my severe depression and anxiety after taking Reglan. I took it for 9 weeks before I was able to figure out  it was the Reglan that caused it. I only learned that from other sufferers on the internet. The doctors don't know anything! Oh how they denied that it was the Reglan! I stopped right away and it got worse and was so intense for two weeks. I was ok after a good four weeks.

From what I learned from everyones journals is that it looks like if you have taken it for a longer period of time, it takes longer to get out of your system. But it DOES get out so have hope k? She will get better.

I'm pretty sure I found out why this medication causes the depression and anxiety. It suppresses the dopamine in our brains. Aaaahhhh! We need our dopamine to feel good! Oh if I had only known that it worked like that. I would have been all, " oh hell no I'm not taking that!" Sure would have been nice had they mentioned it.

So here's how I feel I got better; I used my Xanax a little more often to save me from having panic attacks and to help me with the continuous anxiety. BUT even though my freakin doctor wanted to pump me full of more chemicals, antidepressants. I refused because I felt like my body wanted to recover and balance off naturally. Also, all the antidepressants all had side effects that could increase depression, etc, etc. Besides, I've tried many of them for my usual panic disorder over the years and as far as I'm concerned they don't even work. I'm looking into natural ways now. But the Xanax or whatever she has for anxiety, definitely use that.

She will recover. Good luck.

[jen219]

I took Reglan over two years ago, and had the same problems with anxiety, etc...  A low dose of Effexor stopped the anxiety, but the bad news is that, two years later, I still need Effexor to keep the anxiety away.  I've tried twice to stop taking the meds, but with no success.  My doctor insists that there cannot be any long-term effects of this drug, but I disagree.  I wasn't like this before I took the Reglan.  I keep hoping that this won't last for forever.