Normal. What is that really? Not even sure it exists or if it does, we are always on the road to "it". Today the road had a work sign on it!!
BOB WORKED FOR 4 HOURS TODAY!!!! THANK YOU, LORD!!
The serotonin symptoms are still there but very mild. He is doing so much better. Will update more later. Enjoy the day!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
One Week Later
Even though yesterday morning and afternoon were a bit rough for Bob, there is definite improvement. The syndrome symptoms are not as "forceful" and are not as frequent. When they do appear, they do not last long. Our doctor told Bob to only take the allergy med when needed. He took it again this morning. Looking back over the week, Bob took the med from last Sunday until Thursday morning. He did not need at all on Friday and then yesterday morning and this morning. I believe that is good progress.
My hope is to get Bob out of the house today for a bit. I would like to go to church but I know that might be a bit too much for Bob yet. We do need to get him around people more...it's been a long 6 months.
My hope is to get Bob out of the house today for a bit. I would like to go to church but I know that might be a bit too much for Bob yet. We do need to get him around people more...it's been a long 6 months.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
A Simple Treatment for A Horrific Syndrome
Sunday morning Bob work up with more shaking,jolting,muscles constricting and this time I saw that his eyes were dialated! He also told me his thoughts felt jumbled. I called our family doctor and he returned the call within minutes. After hearing it all, he said stop the fluoxetine. He then called in a prescription for cyproheptadine, an allergy med that blocks serotonin.
Within an hour we had the drug and Bob's shaking stopped a few minutes later. By the end of Sunday, Bob was back. He looked better and I could tell he was feeling better. He took the cyproheptadine for 4 days, 3 times a day. He has had a couple of mini shaking episodes but they lasted only a few minutes. Today is Saturday the 27th and this morning was a bit rough but nothing like before. He simply took one of the allergy tablets and calmness came. Our doctor said that it might take a few weeks to clear his system.
We had an appointment with the psychiatrist yesterday(Friday) and she apologized for Bob going through all that he did. In her defense, she never saw his shakes,jolts,muscles constricting or any other signs of the syndrome.
She is a good doctor and we plan on working with her during the next stage. Bob is now only taking 5mg of Zyprexa and 2mgs of lorazapam in the morning and 2mgs at night. She also said to take 1mg if needed during the day. Her plan is to add lamictol once the shaking has gone completely - which she too said could take weeks.
I am very thankful and praise God for Dr. Spencer the ER DOC. Also, our family doctor, Ambrose Peterman is in my opinion one of the best doctors available to us. He goes above and beyond and we know we can always count on him.
Within an hour we had the drug and Bob's shaking stopped a few minutes later. By the end of Sunday, Bob was back. He looked better and I could tell he was feeling better. He took the cyproheptadine for 4 days, 3 times a day. He has had a couple of mini shaking episodes but they lasted only a few minutes. Today is Saturday the 27th and this morning was a bit rough but nothing like before. He simply took one of the allergy tablets and calmness came. Our doctor said that it might take a few weeks to clear his system.
We had an appointment with the psychiatrist yesterday(Friday) and she apologized for Bob going through all that he did. In her defense, she never saw his shakes,jolts,muscles constricting or any other signs of the syndrome.
She is a good doctor and we plan on working with her during the next stage. Bob is now only taking 5mg of Zyprexa and 2mgs of lorazapam in the morning and 2mgs at night. She also said to take 1mg if needed during the day. Her plan is to add lamictol once the shaking has gone completely - which she too said could take weeks.
I am very thankful and praise God for Dr. Spencer the ER DOC. Also, our family doctor, Ambrose Peterman is in my opinion one of the best doctors available to us. He goes above and beyond and we know we can always count on him.
September 15th ER visit
After reading all about serotonin syndrome at www.mayoclinic.com the night before, I did not waste any time getting Bob to the ER. This time I was ready. They decided to do more blood work and a thyroid test. We waited. They had given Bob a shot, so now he was calm. But I was not. Serotonin syndrome was all I could think about. The only way to get better was to stop taking the fluoxetine.
Thursday was a long day and Bob wanted to keep on the prescribed drugs because he wanted to get better....the relief from the shot of adivan did not last long. By midnight, he was shaking. It was a very, very long night. What was I to do. Do I take him to the ER again? Poor Bob suffered all night long with his "anxiety"...it was so bad by 5am that I called 911. Why? I was exhausted and just did not know what to do and Bob asked me to. When the EMTs got here, they were so nice. They did not administer any drug but suggested that he take 2 more lorazapam. They stayed with us for a bit until Bob got calm. The calmness did not last long.
I called our family doctor and the psychiatrist. After talking with our family doctor, I really felt he too thought serotonin syndrome but he wanted to talk with the psychiatrist. We had an appointment with her at 2:30pm and again, she said it was not serotonin syndrome. She did give us a prescription for 20mg(remember Bob had been taking 80mg a day) of fluoxetine.
I called my employer who is a chiropractor and asked him for some advice. He gave me his thoughts and called his friend who is a pharmacist. The first thing he said when he heard the symptoms, serotonin syndrome. I ended up talking with him for a bit and he convinced me to get on board with what the psychiatrist was saying but to watch him closely. So I did.
Thursday was a long day and Bob wanted to keep on the prescribed drugs because he wanted to get better....the relief from the shot of adivan did not last long. By midnight, he was shaking. It was a very, very long night. What was I to do. Do I take him to the ER again? Poor Bob suffered all night long with his "anxiety"...it was so bad by 5am that I called 911. Why? I was exhausted and just did not know what to do and Bob asked me to. When the EMTs got here, they were so nice. They did not administer any drug but suggested that he take 2 more lorazapam. They stayed with us for a bit until Bob got calm. The calmness did not last long.
I called our family doctor and the psychiatrist. After talking with our family doctor, I really felt he too thought serotonin syndrome but he wanted to talk with the psychiatrist. We had an appointment with her at 2:30pm and again, she said it was not serotonin syndrome. She did give us a prescription for 20mg(remember Bob had been taking 80mg a day) of fluoxetine.
I called my employer who is a chiropractor and asked him for some advice. He gave me his thoughts and called his friend who is a pharmacist. The first thing he said when he heard the symptoms, serotonin syndrome. I ended up talking with him for a bit and he convinced me to get on board with what the psychiatrist was saying but to watch him closely. So I did.
September 14th another trip to the ER
After trying all we had, lorazapam, encouragement talking, deep breathing, we had to make another trip to the ER. The ER doc, Dr. Spencer, asked a couple of questions, saw the meds he was taking and said, it looks like serotonin syndrome. WHAT? What is that? He explained that too much serotonin can cause the symptoms we were seeing. A name, this thing has a name! And Bob was right, he could not control it!! They gave him a 2mg of adivan and the shaking stopped. Blood work was done at the previous visit and this time they did a few other tests.
Bob's psychiatrist was in the hospital and after she had a look at him stated, it is not serotonin syndrome. What?? No, I'm sorry, this now has a name and I'm sticking with it! But I listened. She encouraged Bob to stay positive and keep taking the prescribed meds. Home we went.
Bob's psychiatrist was in the hospital and after she had a look at him stated, it is not serotonin syndrome. What?? No, I'm sorry, this now has a name and I'm sticking with it! But I listened. She encouraged Bob to stay positive and keep taking the prescribed meds. Home we went.
Deep Breathe
Over the next few days I attempted to be Bob's coach to work through the anxiety. Thinking techniques, to baths, to deep breaths. They did seem to have some benefit but not long lasting. What was going on? Things just didn't seem right.
The shaking,jolting,constricting muscles seemed to be lasting longer and longer. Hours.
The shaking,jolting,constricting muscles seemed to be lasting longer and longer. Hours.
September 8th ER Recap
Bob was in great duress. He felt as though it was not anxiety but since that was what the medical community called it, so did he. The staff at the hospital was great and within minutes of receiving a 2mg shot of adivan, he was calm. They made an appointment for him to see a psychiatrist that evening.
The psychiatrist was in agreement with the meds he was taking but did decide to switch up how the fluoxitine was taken. He was to take both in the morning. 80 mg before noon. By the way, that is normally the highest dose given. She added pamelor.
We were exhausted.
The psychiatrist was in agreement with the meds he was taking but did decide to switch up how the fluoxitine was taken. He was to take both in the morning. 80 mg before noon. By the way, that is normally the highest dose given. She added pamelor.
We were exhausted.
Rewind to Saturday, August 27th
Let me just say this before I start, I'm trying desparately to catch up with myself. The past few weeks have been so full of emotion. Bob went through a few weeks of complete mental and physical anguish. On Saturday August 27th Bob awoke not feeling quite right. He had been seeing progress with the depression and Saturday was a bit of a set back. First of all, our dear son-in-law was here with us for a couple of days and Hurricane Irene was gearing up to give a wind and rain.
Saturday though was our PA grandson's 4th birthday and we were going to his party. But about an hour before we were suppose to go, Bob started to shake uncontrollably. I called our family doctor and we discussed what the problem could be. After all my finger pointing to meds, we thought it was probably just an anxiety attack. When I asked Bob if he was anxious about going to the party, he responded, why would I be anxious about that? Our doctor had called in a prescription for lorazapam, the generic of adivan. Waiting for the the prescription to get filled was horrible....I kept thinking about my 4 year old's request that I come to his party early, and how I said, you bet buddy! There I was, standing in CVS with his party to start in 15 minutes. At that moment, I think I started to HATE the disease that was consuming my husband. I wasn't torn with my obligation, I was just sad. But I had to dig deep, say a prayer and believe that my God would not leave me alone with this.
I called my son to let him know what was happening. My son-in-law offered to stay home with Bob so I could at least spend some time at the birthday party. As heart wrenching as it was to leave Bob for a few hours, I thought, when I return he will be better.
The next few days proved to be full of more shaking but on September the 5th things seemed to turn around. Bob was great on the 6th and 7th and was starting to feel as though he could go to work on Thursday the 8th. On the 8th he woke up with muscles constricting, shakes, jolts and just feeling terrible. The lorazapam was no longer working. Somewhere in the midst of all this, the fluoxetine was increased to 40mg twice a day. I remember sitting straight up in bed on night thinking, that is a lot of fluoxetine!
On the 8th we ended up in the ER.
Saturday though was our PA grandson's 4th birthday and we were going to his party. But about an hour before we were suppose to go, Bob started to shake uncontrollably. I called our family doctor and we discussed what the problem could be. After all my finger pointing to meds, we thought it was probably just an anxiety attack. When I asked Bob if he was anxious about going to the party, he responded, why would I be anxious about that? Our doctor had called in a prescription for lorazapam, the generic of adivan. Waiting for the the prescription to get filled was horrible....I kept thinking about my 4 year old's request that I come to his party early, and how I said, you bet buddy! There I was, standing in CVS with his party to start in 15 minutes. At that moment, I think I started to HATE the disease that was consuming my husband. I wasn't torn with my obligation, I was just sad. But I had to dig deep, say a prayer and believe that my God would not leave me alone with this.
I called my son to let him know what was happening. My son-in-law offered to stay home with Bob so I could at least spend some time at the birthday party. As heart wrenching as it was to leave Bob for a few hours, I thought, when I return he will be better.
The next few days proved to be full of more shaking but on September the 5th things seemed to turn around. Bob was great on the 6th and 7th and was starting to feel as though he could go to work on Thursday the 8th. On the 8th he woke up with muscles constricting, shakes, jolts and just feeling terrible. The lorazapam was no longer working. Somewhere in the midst of all this, the fluoxetine was increased to 40mg twice a day. I remember sitting straight up in bed on night thinking, that is a lot of fluoxetine!
On the 8th we ended up in the ER.
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