Re: Mysterious medication symptoms
Originally Posted by
Jojomoon
Hi everyone
to NMP,
This was after a year of trying various medications and therapies, feeling like nothing was really helping me.
Do you remember which meds were tried, how long you took them and at what dose? Also are you taking any other medications or remedies?
I'm currently 3 weeks into taking dulozetine at 60mg. I am experiencing the same symptoms I always have when taking antidepressants: feeling of being extremely cold, shivery and sore throat. It feels like I'm coming down with a cold/flu but it never goes away and is making me feel hopeless because all I want to do is stay in bed. This happened when I took sertraline and venlafaxine too so I know it is a side effect.
Feeling cold and shivery are not rare initial side-effects of serotonergic antidepressants (ADs). Serotonin is not just a brain neurotransmitter, in fact that's one of its lesser roles with less than 2% occurring in the brain. It has many other functions including in the regulation of blood vessel tone, constriction and dilation, and the heightened serotonin activity when first taking ADs can affect this. Some feel hot and with burning sensations of the skin (it uses about as much serotonin as the brain) and others feel cold. Pharyngolaryngeal pain, inflammation of the throat, is a potential side-effect of many medications, including ADs. It occurs in up to 10% of those taking duloxetine. In most cases all these side-effects diminish after a few weeks as bio-feedback mechanisms kick-in and serotonin synthesis and expression falls back to baseline, or well below it, however, they can linger for some.
I have spoken to my psychiatrist and he cannot give any explanation for this and said it is very unusual to get flu like symptoms when taking antidepressants.
Please help or advise what you would do in my situation xxxx
You may do better on an AD with a weaker affinity for binding to serotonin transporters. I see you have tried venlafaxine which is the weakest SSRI/SNRI reuptake inhibitor. How long did you take it and at what doses?
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The opinions expressed above are based on my observations and, where applicable, interpretation of cited data and are general in nature. Consult your physician before acting on anything stated.