Mostly healed- withdrawal syndrome from Prilosec cetyl alcohol ingredient?

[[ni...]]

I am mostly healed.  I did a long taper until 2016.  Live a full life now.

 

Back in 2021 I had a bad reaction from the covid Pfizer shot.  It brought in a few weeks of withdrawal symptoms and I recovered from that.l nicely.

I take 20mg Prilosec tablet daily for barrot's esophagus.  I decided to try the melt in mouth type.  I took it in the morning and then later that night withdrawal symptoms appeared for a few days.  I had a two day window with awesome sleep and now the symptoms are back.  Mainly burning skin, muscle twitching, lack of sleep due to hypnotic jerks.

The ingredient of the melt in mouth Prilosec contained 4 grams of cetyl alcohol.  I only took 1 pill.

I can live life with these symptoms like going to the gym, driving my car and socializing.  These symptoms aren't as bad as when I was coming off a benzo.  My big challenge is sleep.

Did I kindle? Am I screwed?  Hard to believe that little of alcohol did this but you never know.

The burning skin and nerve pain can be brutal.

 

Thanks for your help.

[[ni...]]

I should have looked at the ingredients.

Also my heart has been racing since last Wednesday.

There is a zero chance I'm going back on a benzo to stabilize and re-taper.

Should I just continue to wait this out?

 

[[Re...]]

Hello @[ni...], welcome to BenzoBuddies!

I approved your first post.

Unfortunately I have to go now, hopefully I will be able to answer to you properly very soon. 

Take care, 

RR

[[ni...]]

Thanks Reuben.

[[Re...]]

 

 

Hello @[ni...]

I am so sorry you are experiencing a flare up of symptoms. As I read here on the forums I ran into quite a few individuals who had temporary issues, like you are experiencing after feeling so much better. 

It is very encouraging to read that you have come so far in your recovery and are back to your life. This is tremendous progress and thank you for sharing this with us.
Medications may cause temporary increase in symptoms, however, it tends to be quite short lived. I am not sure if the cetil- alcohol is causing what you are experiencing, it is quite a common additive in many products. No, I believe this is absolutely not kindling and no need to taper again and I truly believe you will be okay.

However, in my opinion, it is very important to work together with your doctor and choose a medication that fits you and it is better to be careful when beginning a new therapy, if possible beginning with a very low - dose.
I think if you use the search function you will be able to find people's experiences with this group of medications and active ingredients. 
I hope members who can relate to this topic personally will way in soon and will share their experience. 

Take very good care!!
 

 

[[An...]]

3 hours ago, [[n...] said:

I should have looked at the ingredients.

Also my heart has been racing since last Wednesday.

There is a zero chance I'm going back on a benzo to stabilize and re-taper.

Should I just continue to wait this out?

Personally, I would continue to wait things out and see if you eventually feel better. Welcome to BB btw @[ni...].

You have been off benzos sine 2016, is this correct?

How long were you on them, what benzo, how much and for what medical condition?

[[Ma...]]

Prilosec is a PPI. I was hospitalized in Oct and they put me on a high dose of a PPI when I was discharged which almost killed me.

If you google reviews on drugs.com and you’ll see the negative side effects of them-honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t die from it.

It resolved within 6 weeks for me-and to reiterate, I wasn’t just experiencing withdrawal, I’ve never been so sick.

BTW, it’s not the alcohol but the drug itself. Well, in my experience.

I hope you can ride this out after everything you’ve been through and all the progress you’ve made.

Edited March 7 by [Ma...]

[[Si...]]

I found out recently that we naturally have a tiny amount of alcohol present in our bodies always.  So tiny tiny amounts probably don't do harm....

[[ni...]]

7 hours ago, [[A...] said:

Personally, I would continue to wait things out and see if you eventually feel better. Welcome to BB btw @[ni...].

You have been off benzos sine 2016, is this correct?

How long were you on them, what benzo, how much and for what medical condition?

Off since 2016.

Xanax, 3 months.  Became dependent quickly.  For anxiety.

[[ni...]]

7 hours ago, [[R...] said:

Hello @[ni...]

I am so sorry you are experiencing a flare up of symptoms. As I read here on the forums I ran into quite a few individuals who had temporary issues, like you are experiencing after feeling so much better. 

It is very encouraging to read that you have come so far in your recovery and are back to your life. This is tremendous progress and thank you for sharing this with us.
Medications may cause temporary increase in symptoms, however, it tends to be quite short lived. I am not sure if the cetil- alcohol is causing what you are experiencing, it is quite a common additive in many products. No, I believe this is absolutely not kindling and no need to taper again and I truly believe you will be okay.

However, in my opinion, it is very important to work together with your doctor and choose a medication that fits you and it is better to be careful when beginning a new therapy, if possible beginning with a very low - dose.
I think if you use the search function you will be able to find people's experiences with this group of medications and active ingredients. 
I hope members who can relate to this topic personally will way in soon and will share their experience. 

Take very good care!!
 

Thanks for the long reply.  I feel like hell but this is due to lack of sleep.

Something in that pill knocked my CNS out of whack.

The difference between this and my tapering days is I don't have head pressure at all.

Adrenaline, burning skin and sleep.

Hopefully this chills soon.

[[ni...]]

6 hours ago, [[M...] said:

Prilosec is a PPI. I was hospitalized in Oct and they put me on a high dose of a PPI when I was discharged which almost killed me.

If you google reviews on drugs.com and you’ll see the negative side effects of them-honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t die from it.

It resolved within 6 weeks for me-and to reiterate, I wasn’t just experiencing withdrawal, I’ve never been so sick.

BTW, it’s not the alcohol but the drug itself. Well, in my experience.

I hope you can ride this out after everything you’ve been through and all the progress you’ve made.

Thanks Mary.  I'll ride this out for sure.

I will not go back on a benzo.  I've been off since 2016, so no way I'm throwing that progress out the window.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[[Ma...]]

@[ni...] I encourage you to try Kefir. It’s a probiotic and natural antibiotic. It worked like an absolute miracle for me and cured every gut issue I had.

The hospital thought I had GERD-I did not. 🤦‍♀️

[[ni...]]

41 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

@[ni...] I encourage you to try Kefir. It’s a probiotic and natural antibiotic. It worked like an absolute miracle for me and cured every gut issue I had.

The hospital thought I had GERD-I did not. 🤦‍♀️

Thanks Mary!  I love Kefir!  Good stuff!

[[La...]]

12 hours ago, [[n...] said:

I should have looked at the ingredients.

Also my heart has been racing since last Wednesday.

There is a zero chance I'm going back on a benzo to stabilize and re-taper.

Should I just continue to wait this out?

Absolutely wait it out! Let me say it again…WAIT it out! You have much recovery under your belt. Seeing that you’re functional in every way you need to be, then it is a high chance that you soon will bounce back. You are not completely healed yet ( although close) so it’s not unusual for you to have some sensitivity waves. These are common at the end. The amount of alcohol is very small. I think you should relax your mind as best as you can and don’t let the stress of this minor hickup win. You will be alright! Believe that! 
Big hugs and well done on your recovery so far! 

[[ni...]]

1 hour ago, [[L...] said:

Absolutely wait it out! Let me say it again…WAIT it out! You have much recovery under your belt. Seeing that you’re functional in every way you need to be, then it is a high chance that you soon will bounce back. You are not completely healed yet ( although close) so it’s not unusual for you to have some sensitivity waves. These are common at the end. The amount of alcohol is very small. I think you should relax your mind as best as you can and don’t let the stress of this minor hickup win. You will be alright! Believe that! 
Big hugs and well done on your recovery so far! 

Hi Lady Den,

This same exact thing happened to me when I received the COVID shot on 3/15/21.  The first shot felt like I had a lot of energy.  I didn't think anything of it.  The second shot sent my CNS into hyper-excitability.  I recovered in a few weeks with random waves over the next few months but it added tinnitus to my left ear.  I still have it now.

Last year on 1/20/23, I had a wave after exercising on the stair master too hard.  That wave lasted a week or two.  I still recovered just fine and got back into my routine.

Now this happened after taking that different type of Prilosec PPI that melts in your mouth.  I only took 1 thank goodness.  I take a PPI tablet every morning to manage my barrot's esophagus.

One piece of information I forgot to mention.  The new PPI didn't last as long so I had a few hours of bad over secretion of stomach acid.  I got home in time to take a tablet before it got worse.  Maybe the hyper secretion did something to the receptors in the stomach?

Every time I knock my CNS out of whack, am I damaging receptors?

Currently my heart is racing most of the time due to my CNS being excitable.  Hopefully this slows down soon.

 

 

[[ni...]]

I got a hold of my benzos wise doctor from years ago.

He suggested Hydroxyzine temporarily when the random CNS hyper activity flares up.

It looks like an old antihistamine that has calming properties.  From the documentation there is no dependency issues.

Does anyone have experience with Hydroxyzine?

[[Ma...]]

I believe many do. It is used for anxiety, sometimes sleep, with a good side effect profile and generally well tolerated.

I hope it works for you!

Oh-Proponolol is often used for heart palps and other somatic symptoms…

Edited March 8 by [Ma...]

[[ni...]]

15 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

I believe many do. It is used for anxiety, sometimes sleep, with a good side effect profile and generally well tolerated.

I hope it works for you!

Oh-Proponolol is often used for heart palps and other somatic symptoms…

Thanks Mary!

I got a full night's sleep last night.  Just a headache and some minor nerve pain this morning.

I will be going to the gym today and running errands.

I think if my gaba receptors were affected directly I wouldn't be doing this stuff.  This was my biggest concern.

[[Pa...]]

I am still tapering so my experiences may be different. But I can’t tolerate any alcohol in anything due to sensitivity. 
 

that being said, with you healed and it being a small amount, it doesn’t sound like you’ve kindled. And it could be the med itself. From what I’ve seen on this sight, these things typically resolve in short period of time. 

[[ni...]]

3 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

I am still tapering so my experiences may be different. But I can’t tolerate any alcohol in anything due to sensitivity. 
 

that being said, with you healed and it being a small amount, it doesn’t sound like you’ve kindled. And it could be the med itself. From what I’ve seen on this sight, these things typically resolve in short period of time. 

Thanks for your input Padgee.  Definitely a wake up call for me that I'm not 100% fully healed yet. Although hopefully close after 8 years off. 

I will scrutinize everything that I ingest moving forward.

I wish you the best with your taper.  You WILL heal and be back to life.

 

[[ni...]]

Question,

When we get setbacks from other meds that don't directly affect gaba and our CNS gets put into hyper-exitability mode, does it do additional damage to our CNS? 

[[ni...]]

Update,

My blood pressure and pulse are finally getting back to normal.  This is a good sign that my CNS is settling down. 

It looks like my CNS hyper activity lasted around 10 days.  The last time this happened was January 2023 from over exercising on the stair master challenge.  Hopefully I don't do anything stupid again to trigger it.  I will scrutinize everything that I ingest, especially food and medication.

I exercised yesterday and my CNS was still starting to settle down at the time.  It seems during healeing, especially this far out, mother nature makes the decision on when to rev up or rev down.

Just know, even though I have these episodes once in awhile, I'm living a full life.  Don't get scared from my experience. 

 

 

[[ni...]]

Update: I continue to have wax and waning symptoms.  Some nights I get good sleep and others I get the hypnotic jerks really bad and only a few hours of sleep.

Some days I get adrenaline, burning skin, anxiety and some panic, although it seems like the force behind these symptoms are getting less and time goes on.  The first few days I couldn't sit still.  Now I can sit still in bed but I still have the restless and burning skin feeling.

It's amazing to me how 1 Prilosec melt in mouth pill can do this to me for the last two weeks.  It felt like I was in acute withdrawal for the first few days.

I guess I need reassurance AGAIN that I didn't kindle with that small amount of alcohol in the pill?  4 grams of cetyl alcohol which is far soluble.

I had the same reaction to the COVID mRNA Pfizer vaccine 3 years ago.  I recovered in about 4 weeks I think.

If I didn't kindle, did the medication still touch my gaba receptors somehow?

I completed my taper back in 2016.  8 years off and living life, although very challenging at the moment.

Sometimes the symptoms makes me want to reinstate.  I know better not to.  I never will.

Thanks for your support and reassurance.

 

Edited March 12 by [ni...]

[[ni...]]

I forgot to mention that my reaction to the Pfizer mRNA vaccine gave me mild tinnitus.  I was 5 years healed at the time.

I completed my taper in 2016.

[[ni...]]

56 minutes ago, [[n...] said:

Update: I continue to have wax and waning symptoms.  Some nights I get good sleep and others I get the hypnotic jerks really bad and only a few hours of sleep.

Some days I get adrenaline, burning skin, anxiety and some panic, although it seems like the force behind these symptoms are getting less and time goes on.  The first few days I couldn't sit still.  Now I can sit still in bed but I still have the restless and burning skin feeling.

It's amazing to me how 1 Prilosec melt in mouth pill can do this to me for the last two weeks.  It felt like I was in acute withdrawal for the first few days.

I guess I need reassurance AGAIN that I didn't kindle with that small amount of alcohol in the pill?  4 grams of cetyl alcohol which is far soluble.

I had the same reaction to the COVID mRNA Pfizer vaccine 3 years ago.  I recovered in about 4 weeks I think.

If I didn't kindle, did the medication still touch my gaba receptors somehow?

I completed my taper back in 2016.  8 years off and living life, although very challenging at the moment.

Sometimes the symptoms makes me want to reinstate.  I know better not to.  I never will.

Thanks for your support and reassurance.

Anyone?  I just need reassurance.