Riba rage and brain fog

[indyjo]

Morning Folks. I have a question about riba rage. I am unable to contain myself the day after my shot day. I have 2 young teenage boys who are challanging on a good day. Lately I have been losing my cool with them and saying and doing things that are crazy. I can't seem to make a decision about anything and they hear mixed messages constantly. I think of the awful memories I am providing my kids and feel so depressed.

They know that I am on a medication that has nasty side effects, but I haven't gone into detail. Should I?  Would taking an anti-anxiety drug on this day help?

Also I am experiencing brain fog that is scary. I actually lost time at work and this was a horrible feeling. I couldn't figure out how to lower my ironing board (something I do nearly every day). I walk into rooms and cannot figure out what I am doing. I feel really physically ill from the meds, however these kinds of side effects are the ones that interfere with life the most. Any advice?

[Lady Lauri]

  "I am at 49 pre "..... pre menopause, not 49 weeks tx.....just in case your brain fog was going on :}
                                                                     LL

[Lady Lauri]

indyjo, I was going to ask about pre-and/or menopause, but you covered that. I am at 49 pre so with that and tx.....getting worried! I have to agree with froggydan, maybe check on the combo of other meds. I am at week 4 ALREADY walking into rooms, often, and saying "WHAT was I doing". With all the sides, that rage and brain fog , I think, add to the physically ill.
Do consider telling them the many things that may go on. I sat my family down and told them a lot, they've followed my tx, and to NOT take me personal the next few mths. ('only' doing 24 weeks and bless you in 72! ) Mine are all over 20 tho. As long as you (we) apologize when it happens and assure them it's NOT them, we love them, it'll be okay. Feel better.
---------------------------------------------------------
Myown....I just read you were 2b, did 24 and relapsed in another post.  SO SORRY!  ( 5 mths. in on site, still learning about all).
I also really don't want to do AD's......but.... I WAS mean to ONE of my dogs today :{ And it's a 'rescue' pitbull pup, 5 mths., that took me a mth. to get not to cringe when you came towards her :{
( did NOT want a pit these days, but she is mine now, could not put her thru another adjustment). She adores me, runs next to my leg when anyone new comes in, sleeps with me and so on. Didn't spank her , can not, but was mean :{ She than spent 2 hours snuggled in bed with me getting babied and apologized to. At my side as I write. SOOO... I get ya' on the man can understand, the poor pups can't :}
In the AD topic.....always understood them to be for 'depression', now reading a lot for the riba rage, etc. They do help all that too? May be reconsidering!
                                           Nite all,   LL
          

[l-horn]

Oh yeah, brain fog. Two of my favorite tx sx's although, I think the variations of bowel movements on treatment is really the most interesting of all. Itching as well. I wonder what would happen if ALL FOUR occurred simultaneously.  I suppose you get an itch, forget to wipe your *** and then lose your temper, although that only happened to me a couple of times. Usually I'd just forget to wipe my *** but it didnt really **** me off that much but the cat found it highly interesting. I think that's what killed him.

[GrandmaA]

Have you lost weight? The first 24 weeks are the most important for not lowering the dosage. When I was around 31 weeks because I had lost 17 lbs. I convinced my nurses to lower my riba because I had lost weight (it is weight based therapy). I felt a little better after that. So I went down to 2 caps in a.m. and 2 in evening.  

I lost one "friend" while I was on tx because she didn't understand the side effects. I have since appologized and that's all I can do. I did my best. It's out of my hands. Finished 5 weeks ago 51 weeks.

Teens can be much more understanding that we realize. Be sure to tell them this is just a temporary situation and things will get back to normal after tx. and YOU CAN'T HELP IT!

[froggydan]

Yes, me too I explained all my family before I started treatment and then kept them informed (have wife and 2 kids 23 and 16) . They big enough to understand   and can give lots of support after all if they know what you:we live through. On the other hand I counted 5 different drugs you take plus the treatment...do you really need them all ? sometimes agressivity can also come from too much painkillers and AD's,sleeping pills...etc. Only you can tell if you need them all. I lost control more than once in ten months and i had to ask for forgiveness and explain it once more. Now people around me understand it better...Good luck also ;-)

[autumnhope]

I told my kids about sides before I started tx. We all went to the Dr. and looked everything up on the net together. I have 3 kids 2 girls 19,16 & boy 15. They know everything I do about tx. So hopefully when I cuss like a sailor and have fitts they know its the meds not them.
Good luck
Autumn

[Trish77]

I'll venture an opinion that it might be better to let your kids know about the sides so that they understand that it's not them AND it's not you that's behind all this weirdness that they see and that this is temporary.  It's okay to let them know what your limitations are for the time being and then they know what is fair to expect of you and what is not.  You can work things out between you.  Having said that, as ladywhy said, you know your children best.  While I'm not of the school of thought that kids should have everything dumped on them because "kids are resilient", it's not a bad education for kids to learn that families can get through things together and to learn to give as well as receive.  They discover coping skills that they can apply to other situations as they come up in life.  We'd like to protect them from everything but sometimes we can protect them too much, and protect them from the situations that help them grow into capable and responsible...and resilient...adults.  Tough call and in the end, you'll know your kids best.  Good luck to you.

[indyjo]

I am on Wellbutrin AND Prozac and I am post menapausal. I am also taking provigal, ambien, and vicodin. I am around week 30 of 72 (I have no memory - had to go look at refills left).  This is my second go-around and although I had problems the first time around it was nothing compared to this. My riba was increased from 800 to 1000 this time. Think 200 mg could make this much difference?  My Dr. told me to reduce to 800 secondary to Hgb of 8.4 (Took my first Procrit shot last night). However I don't want to decrease. I'm determined to reach SVR. I'm rambling I know. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

[ladywhy]

You know your kids best.. IMO, since they already know about nasty sx, why not educate them for their own good. Young teenagers, should be informed about this and "should" be able to give you some emotional support. Talk w/ your dr. about these sx...I imagine he/she will prescribe something to lessen the anxiety.
All the best!

[Myown]

Lately I have been losing my cool with them and saying and doing things that are crazy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is not uncommon. If you look thru the archives you'll find plenty of threads about riba rage and people mentioning things that you mentioned.

For myself, I didn't want to take Ad's, but I don't have children.If I had kids and saw that I couldn't control my emotions I would have taken Ad's. I wouldn't have wanted the kids to be upset. My husband was able to ignore my moods and things I said because he never lets anything bother him and he knows I don't stay mad. If I was yelling at my dog, believe it or not, I would have gone to the doctor in a minute to get Ad's....Not putting my dog before my husband ~I don't think I am~ Ha, but my dog would not have understood if I yelled at her and she is very sensitive so I wouldn't have wanted to put her thru that,,,which sort of leads me to believe that maybe I could have controlled my emotions if I really wanted to. But to me, capping the anger was too much work - easier to let out a "shut up you jerk" to my husband than to try to hold in the emotions and feel like I was going to bust at the seams. Just a suggestion, have your hormone levels checked. My progesterone was low and I was using cream and still am, but I had it checked again and the amount I was using wasn't enough. After upping the dose, I feel great - maybe you should have yours checked, but don't use the cream while on tx without first asking your doctor (hep doc)..

[dogsledder]

How far into tx. are you? I waited until week 20 to ask my doc for an AD and anti-anxiety Rx. I use Lexapro and Xanax. The Lexapro is daily, Xanax as needed (usually when work stuff overwhelms me) It has helped me. Others have other sx.  While I am not a proponent of extra meds, it is a personal choice. Maintain a good diet and drink lots of water. There are other responses to similar topic in previous threads in this forum.