no relief 24/7 is this normal?

[[ca...]]

my dad is on clonzezpam, efffexor and remron.  he is w/ dr. clonzepam right now.  he has been on meds for 1 1/2 yrs.  never should have gotten on them. he did bc would get bouts of no energy, lifeless, etc.  he was  a vitamin person  (almost too much)...he did 2 liver cleansers in month of each other and then i think thats when he started really feeling the no energy, lifeless hopeless etc...that's when he went to a dr. and they started cocktailing him and 7 ects.  this been since May 2008.  he does have bad hypoglocemia, so that may have been a part w/ all those vitamins he started feeling bad before deciding to take the meds.

 

saying all that to say....he never was a depressed person all his life.. just gets boudts of thos lifeless, feeling like can't handle life, feelings.  well, now, he has it 24/7 since he started the meds. the meds (antidepressants) never gave him an hour of relief.  that's why they started cocktailing and he tried over 18 diff meds.  so now he is w/d since we realize, if nothing helped and lifted you, then meds are not for you.  but now, since trying to w/d he has no relief, no windows.  feels:  disoriented, lifeless, hopeless, cant' handle life. hard time choosing what clothes to wear.  forces himself to go work out.  doesn't want talk to anyone.  doesn't want go to dinner, to church.  he is retired and 67 yrs. old.  to make a sandwich is hard for him b/c feels disoriented. 

 

like i said he would get boudts of those feelings once every couple of months for years but would pull through it w/o medicine.  he worked hard and tried to stick to hypoglocemia diet, but would not all the time.  do you think the above i mentioned is due to w/d and medicine.  i bve he is not the typ that can take meds bc they never helped in the first place.  some adcvide would be very helpful.  this was a man who loved to work out, couldn't get him to stoptalking...he would talk nonstop. very friednly, loved playing w/ the grandchildre.n.  now he can't stand to do any of that and is very negtive.  he gets so frustrated b/c he sees pp laughing working out havin a good time, and he can't have those feelings to do any of that.  he has no emotions.  on .25 clonezepam and 75 mg effexor in the AM.  .75 clonezppam and 30 mg (3/4 of the tab) of effexor in the PM.  any advice would be welcomed!!  thanks!

[[wo...]]

Hi Carla, I don't know why but Effexor and Remeron seem to add some really bad juju to the mix. All I can think is that maybe when he is tapered off of those that he will start to heal and feel better. I also think that the Hypoglycemia plays a role in how he metabolizes medication and also might add time to how he will recover from medication that is making him ill. Just my opinion of course. I think the both Effexer and Remeron effect dopamine to some extent and maybe this is why people who are on these medications seem to have a more complicated healing trajectory. Maybe read up or search the forum for threads on these two meds??? Odd that he is on both??  Does his doctor have any clue as to what to do?

 

Sending Good Thoughts Your Way WW

[Guest [Ju...]]

carlar-

 

he has no emotions.  on .25 clonezepam and 75 mg effexor in the AM.  .75 clonezppam and 30 mg (3/4 of the tab) of effexor in the PM.  any advice would be welcomed!!  thanks!

 

That would be accurate as these medications dull our emotions. Both the benzo and the A/D's. I took Remeron for about 5 1/2 months years back. It actually was not horrible, other then the weight gain and did induce great sleep as it is highly sedative. IMO, and that is all this is, your dad needs to taper one medication at a time(not sure how it is being handled at this time). Are you working with his prescribing doctor at all on any of this? These medications do seem to effect older people differently. If it where me, I would get off the Effexor first as I have heard just too many bad things about this and tapering it can be difficult for some, over a period of time and hold for a month. Then taper the clonazepam over a period of time. Then after a few months of rest, taper the Remeron, slowly.

 

There are no quick fixes to this but any movement down is progress. Again, this is JMO and I am not a doctor. However it is decided to taper, just know things will get better over time.

 

Just Breathe

[[ca...]]

thank you all.  yes, the doc. is tapering his clonzepam right now,  then will do the effexor.  he did reduce the remeron a while back. 

 

he just has no emotions.  there is no way he could even hold down a job. he doesn't feel like doing anything...nothing!  has no drive.  i guess pp are like this...but this is all day everyday!

[[...]]

Hi Carlar~

 

I can relate....this was me a year ago!  Have hope, it will pass as long as he gets off the benzos.  A year ago at this time I was a mess.  So much so that I went to the ER with the same feelings and would not leave until they sent me to a Psy./Beh. hospital.  Big waste of time and money!!!  They only gave me more pills and I really started to disappear into myself.  However, here I am a year later....off benzo's since Sept. 11th and doing well.  Still a little symptoms here and there but nothing like when I was on benzo's.  I am also a person who does not like to take presc. medicines, but I was selling my condo and had a few financial situations going on and went to the dr. to get something to take to get me through.  Boy, was that a mistake!  If I knew then what I know now I would have just gone through the move and realized it was just a part of life, but not the end of life!  Once your father is off of this poison, I know you will see  him get back to his normal self!

 

Joan

[[ca...]]

thank you Joan, that has helped me so much...of what you said.  I sent you an email if you don't mind.  I am so glad you are doing well.  I enjoy reading the stories of those of you that have healed and have come so far!  Amen!!  Have a great day,

 

Carla

[[ca...]]

he just keeps saying he feels like he can't handle life, can't make decisions.  he had this many years ago when i was 3.  doctor put him on valium (this was in the 70's..at that time that's all the docs did).  he was on it for 6 years and had to go to 6 diff hospitals to get off (b/c he no longer wanted to be dependant on drugs).  finally he did and when he came out he went to his friend's nutrition store and she says..it sounds like you have hypoglocemia.  as soon as he ate right that day, he perked up.  so from the 70's to now, he never placed meds in his system.  he would get boudts of those "feelings" that lasted 1-2 weeks, but would break out of it.

 

finally in may 2008 he took the meds....wish he did not, so against his will.  all those years, he tried to follow his hypoglocemia diet, but i know he didn't always.  he also took tons of vitamins and then 2 liver cleansers in 2008 and i think that just shocked his body and he just listendd to the doctor and took the antidepressants...and then they started cocktailing him w/ diff. meds.

 

gosh, what is this? what are those symptoms?  he is just afraid (and mom and i too)...what if they come up again after he gets off the meds?  he says he constanly thinking about how he feels and i guess he trying to figure out like i do.  i just tell him its the meds, don't worry about what happeend prior.  let's get off meds and see how you feel then.  this is so hard!!!

[[ma...]]

Remeron, is suppose to be sedating but I was too afraid to take it.  Anyway, I can't think of anything to say other than my thoughts are with you.

 

;)

 

Mary

[[da...]]

how old is he?