Bad brain symptoms and conditions

As many of you have I started Fentanyl for chronic back pain and neck pain. My nurse case manager suggested it as she had been on it for 3 years and thought it was great. I started out with 50mcg for 3 days each patch. First patch I was a little drowsy feeling but by the 2nd I was used to it and it seemed to help a little. Enough that I had increased my walking and was hoping to help strengthen my back. Now to the horror, my calves continued to ache. At first I thought it was from the extra walking but it would not go away. Then I had the sweats and would just soak a T shirt while I was sitting in my recliner, then I would freeze to death. I thought something was wrong with my air conditioner. Then trouble sleeping and just 1 thing after another until the depression and anxiety started. I am disabled and my wife is a nurse so I'm home along a lot so I hid it. I would sweat like crazy and shiver and be so cold then get so anxious that I would lay down in be to try to rest and paw at my covers and even my clothes. I was either too hot or too cold. I would pace the floor so anxious I thought I was going to loose my sanity. The silly thing is that I was not putting together as being the Fentanyl. Our son had been diagnosed with a very bad brain cancer about 6 months before and I thought it my be partially from that. I fought it for a couple of weeks behind closed doors, although my daughter had call mom and said what is up with dad? He is having some type of problem. Well, to try to cut this to a manageable sized document I finally had to wake my wife up in the middle of the night shaking, crying and pulling at my clothes saying I'm *** and I don't cuss like that. She had warned me not to try this med but I was desperate to be pain free or at least able to manage it and be half way normal. She got me to the doctor and at first they were gonna cut my 50mcg down to 25 for 2 weeks and then go to 12.5 for 2 weeks. My depression and side effects were so bad that they wanted to stop putting Fentanyl into me asap. So I went 3 days with the 25 and 3 with the 12.5. I have been climbing the wall since Wednesday and have none in me except the residual and hopefully it will be out in a week or so. I just want to say that my depression is something that I cannot even explain. I ball and blubber like a baby at times for no reason. I cannot even see or talk to my kids on the phone because I just come apart. I'm constantly beating my self up over my mom dying from Alzheimers as if I could have done something. I think of times when the kids were small and literally want to go back there. It's not like saying hey remember when we used to do (whatever) I literally want to go back there. I know in my mind that it is impossible but I just cry to go back to the farm where my dad and mom lived. Mom has been dead for almost 10yrs. The doc gave me Ativan to take the edge off a little and Clonidine for chills and sweats. I've been off of it (Fentanyl Patch) for 3 full days now and the depression is still unbearable but the other side effects are a little better. My body aches were pretty bad last night though as I think about it.
I just wish some one could tell my how long it will take me to get back to my self, good sense of humor and loves to have fun with my family.
Thanks
*****

Hello! I've been taking Lamictal for about 6 years now. I'm diagnosed as BP II and have the most difficulty with depression. I currently take 500 mg-- 400 mg at night and 100 mg in the morning. I have to say that Lamictal has been very good to me for the most part. As long as I don't put myself into extremely stressful positions-- such as my last job-- I do quite well. I also take a combination of supplements with Lamictal which seem to give the extra push that I needed to completely get out of my last depression. I take 1000 mg EPA (fish oil), B-100 Complex, Folic Acid, Cal-Mag, multivitamin (high quality, organic), Vitamin D (at least 1000 mg) and a few others.

I notice that when I take it at night if I don't go to sleep right away, my mouth and tongue will tingle. Sometimes when I take it in the morning, I feel foggy and dizzy and sometimes get vertigo. Every now and then the side effects seem to get worse, which I am not sure about. I started searching on the internet because I've been noticing that the "tip of the tongue" problem has been occurring more and more often. I often cannot think of the word I want, simple things even. As others have mentioned, I also have difficulty with memory. I am still very successful, currently pursuing a 2nd Master's Degree, but have noticed that achieving the same level of quality of work takes a lot more effort than during my previous degrees.

I do have some periods of anger/irritability and have recently been sleeping a lot, though it probably has a lot more to do with the time of year-- winter with less light-- than anything else.

I am particularly worried about my memory loss and inability to sound "well-spoken" in a setting which demands that of me. It is frustrating! I don't want to do any lasting harm on my brain. After increasing to 500 mg from 400 mg, I have noticed more of these brain issues, but I'm also doing so much better mood wise!

I'm a 37 yr. female. I was diagnosed with depression/anxiety about 6 yrs. ago.I take Effexor XR & about 3-4 mo. ago was prescribed 10mg. of Lisinopril for my high blood pressure.Med worked for that :)
My side effects from this med are the dry hacking cough at night.(Comes and goes) Loss of sex drive(even worse)
And about 2wks ago I started feeling really down.Crying, angry,withdrawn & having suicidal thoughts due to all the added feeling's.I had ran out of my meds(BP) and missed about 3 days.Best thing to happen :) 'Cause just a couple days ago it's like the old me returned!!! I'm HAPPIER, the depressed feeling's are GONE. I care about myself alot more than I have in a long time.Just bad brain zaps(on & off) from the sudden stop.
I've been reading on here how some side effects came on slowly,and I'm one of them this has happened to. I have MORE energy too now that I stopped.
I thought maybe my anti- depressant med. needed to be adjusted again(even took one extra pill) and that didn't work.It was my BP med making me feel terrible. Anyone who has depression should really watch for any added changes. I'm SO GLAD I found this website!!!
I thank everyone who has shared they're experience's.

I have been on Effexor XR since May 2007. I started out with lowest dose 37.5mg and then was increased to 75mg in June or July. Since then I have been experiencing weird dreams (vivid), fits of anger, compulsive behavior, suicidal thoughts and tendencies. I have asked my doc to take me off the meds because I don't like who I have become on them. But all they did was increase my med dosage to 150mg. I want to just stop taking it all together but am afraid of the withdraw symptoms if not slowly taken off of it. What should I do?? I would not recommend this antidepressant to anyone!!!

I was first put on Lexapro for anxiety/panic attacks and that was way to strong for me-I felt very tired and had bad abdomen pains. So my doc switched me to Zoloft. Bad idea. On Zoloft, at first i felt very bad brain fog and had a panic attack every day for at least the first two weeks of being on it and after that went away, i got a pins and needles feeling in my lips and face and hands sometimes too. I panicked about nothing and it gave me really bad moodswings. I would be slap-happy one minute and in tears the next. Or I was just a real B*tch sometimes too. I was very moody. All that went away about a month later and then I got HORRIBLE headaches, so she switched me from 25mg to 50mg. SO MUCH WORSE FOR ME! I had horrible horrible migraines every day i even had to call off work twice it was so bad. She switched me back to 25mg and the headaches still continued. I was on it for a month and a half or 2 months and i gained 10 lbs. at least. I went back to her and she finally took me off the medicine. I have been off it now for almost a week and feel terrible. I have brain fog very bad, feel dizzy and loopy when walking around, sever stomach pains, still eating more and gaining weight, i just feel REALLY out of it! I can not concentrate at my job! BUT MY HEADACHES HAVE VANISHED AND THE DREAMS/NIGHTMARES AT NIGHT ARE GETTING LESS SCARY AND LESS OFTEN!! I hope to lose all side effects within 2 weeks!!!!