My wife has suffered from depression for several years now and has been on so many different medications that I believe have caused more health issues. Her doctor had her taking Geodon to help her sleep along with Zoloft for depression. She started to gain weight and became even more reclusive so we found a specialist out of town to check her Thyroid. She was diagnosed with Hypothyrodism and told to get off the Geodon because it causes weight gain and possibly Diabeties (he was pretty upset that she was taking Geodon and believes she's been mis-diagnosed). Sure enough, she's pre-diabetic and now also taking Byetta and Metformin. All these medications really have me worried. She's now experiencing diarrhea frequently and stomach pain often lately. She also takes Lamictal, Valium (as needed only, which isn't very often), and currently Doxepin to help her sleep (most recently it was Ambien then changed to Doxepin), and Simvastatin for Cholesterol control.
She's eating very good since all this has come out. She's starting to lose weight but hasn't had any energy to exercise very much, which we know is extremely important. She still has problems sleeping at night and can't seem to find anything to help with that. Recently she was taking Ambien but was having to take 25 mg's to actually sleep. This would cause her to sleep until mid-noon the following day and be lacking energy to do anything.
All of this has me so worried that sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and listen for her breathing, checking if she's still alive. Imagine that for a moment, it's horrible. I've been so stressed and worried endlessly for so long now that I've even had an anxiety attack myself at work and now fight that every day in social environments.
Any advice anybody can lend would be so greatly appreciated, you might have answers we so desperately searched for.
A little more info. My wife and I are both 41 years of age. She quit drinking alchohol, doesn't smoke, and we're eating healthy or atleast trying to as much as we can. There is some history of depression, diabeties, and fibromialga (spelling?) in her family. We live in a small town where many of our local doctor's are rumored to not be very exceptional.
Also, at this very moment she has a bad headache and is wanting to take Imitrex. Once again I'm worried, can she take this considering the other medications she's on?
Thanks again for any help you can lend,
Heath