I swear, I post about all the side effects mostly so that it pops up in layperson’s terms when someone’s having weird side effects to particular medications. Which is my way of justifying that I am also whining a little. OK, a lot, but I think I am justified, since I am turning into the Mrs. FDA Black Box Warnings.
Today’s side effect was that my pinky fingers had basically glued together with my ring fingers, though it didn’t feel spasmy or tired from the effort. Just… stuck. Which my dermatologist noticed (not that they’re not real doctors, but fer chrissakes, it was so bad my dermatologist spotted it on walking in the room), right after noticing that the muscles of my neck and jaw were tense and clenched. She consulted my chart, saw that I’d just started the Abilify less than a week ago, and suggested I take a Benadryl, now. I did, since I have the handy-dandy faster-acting under toungue strips in my purse. In the meantime, she waltzed every med student in the place into the waiting room while I started to come down from yet another allergic reaction to my f*ing psychotropic medication. I heard her in the hallway, bringing another resident down to see me, say “it’s a very interesting and clear-cut hypertonic allergic response to medication, visible in neck cording and jaw tension. Plus digital fixation or closed spasm.” Or something like that. Just call me Grande Dame Guinea Pig.
But the benadryl? It worked. And I spoke with my shrink, who told me to cut the dose in half and continue with the benadryl. Because I’m not spazzy enough at my baseline, I need to add logy reactions to benadryl to the mix. My chances of ever attaining the middle name of Grace are shot forever.
Thank god I bought a quart of vanilla and a family-sized pack of twinkies. Sheesh.
I love that benadryl can work such magic (it seems almost as good as twinkies and ice cream!). I have at least 3 different uses for beandryl — (1) its intended use (2) a nightime sleep aid for me, (3) a sedative for my dog when we have to take longish car trips.….to all animal lovers please note this was recommended by my vet and is only for occassional use.
Benadryl,is a grat thing to have handy especially if you visit someones houst and they have something in th houst that trigger an alegic responce.My on sister uses a champor based lip baum and she had it on when she kissed me on my cheek,I’m alergic to champhor and it really caused me trouble.
I highly recommend being observed by residents and interns whenever possible. Imagine my delight when the interns filed into the room during my post-op cervical cancer check up. Interns. Plural. Crotch. Mine. Interns peering in my crotch. Girl, I say be grateful it was just jaw tension, not a crotch examination.
Dude. Dang. I’m so keeping you in my thoughts.
I have the middle name of Grace. Seriously. My name is Emily Grace. Want the Grace? YOU CAN HAVE IT.
My 17 year old stepson had a dystonic reaction with Geodon (for bipolar). His was so extreme that his whole body torqued to the right. His head was almost turned completely backwards–like something out of a horror movie. He had to get IV benadryl at the emergency room. They say this new class off anti-psychotics are not supposed to have this side effect as much as the old standbys like Thorazine, but when you read the anecdotal reporting, it’s quite common. Wonder if the drug trials for this class of drugs were sanitized like the ones on SSRI’s. Hang in there!
I’m sorry you’re having to put up with these nasty side effects. I only get bad side effects when I forget to take my meds in the morning. I get the feeling like my head is a glass jar with marbles in it, and when I move my head/jar, the marbles shift and make almost audible sound, like I can feel the sound but not hear it. It’s bizarre. There’s been times that Tom has looked at me and said, “What’s wrong? Marbles?” “Yep.” because nodding my head hurts.
And if I miss a dose of Wellbutrin, around hour 28 or 30 (when I was supposed to take at hour 24) I get euphoric. Which is great, until I crash a few hours later and cry myself to sleep for 16 hours and spend the next day or two getting back to middle ground.
The only side effects I have to put up with regularly are trouble getting to sleep and loss of appetite. I’ve taken Wellbutrin and Strattera together for so long, I can’t remember which one causes which effect.
Fun, fun, fun. Sorry to make a comment turn into an almost-blog-post!