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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by uncouth on May 28, 2012, at 19:15:43
I've posted recently about my problems with intractable insomnia. Well I did a quick taper off wellbutrin over the past week and a half (note: bad idea) and my mood plummeted into apathetic energetic depression, though the 30mg of namenda is disassociating myself from the experience. I saw pdoc today and we are going to start cymbalta to hopefully take over from wellbutrin, even though wellbutrin was one of the best meds i've ever been on. Problem is i couldn't seem to sleep, and even going off, sleep has improved only maybe 25%.
But i'm wondering if my fatigue and insomnia/early morning awakening could be endocrine? I'm seeing endocrinologist next week, and I started on 1/2 grain natural thyroid 4 mod ago (which doesn't seem to have done anything either way), but in the past month i've started to notice more worrisome symptoms. The only other thing I've changed is adding memantine, maybe it has something to do with it? But I'm dealing with what I guess is poor circulation because i have extremely cold feet all the time, and my skin is getting really really dry and itchy. So added to the fatigue and tiredness and insomnia, now this. Oh and the loss of appetite, and i've been throwing up every other day for the past week (maybe med related, maybe not)
The other suspect thing, which I posted about a few days ago, and I had my doctor look into (he didn't find anything) was these lumps i've started to feel more prominently in my abdomen. I have always had lipomas, so i figure that is what these new ones are, and they are just surfacing because i'm losing surface fat (yay!). But i'm also afraid it might be more than lipomas, and given these other cluster of symptoms, I'm afraid.
Anyway long story but quick question, are these symptom clusters (isomnia/fatigue, dry dry skin, cold cold feet, nausea / throwing up) indicative of anything adrenal, thyroid or anything else obvious? I got a 24 hour saliva cortisol test a few mos ago and things were relatively normal....I hope these lumps aren't tumors... :-/
Posted by Phillipa on May 28, 2012, at 19:39:42
In reply to Is this thyroid or adrenal? More problems..., posted by uncouth on May 28, 2012, at 19:15:43
Uncouth had you previously had thyroid levels checked? If not I just don't feel that taking a thyroid med is a good idea. You could have upset your endocrine system. Also I strongly feel that you should be checked out by a doctor. Might not be med related no idea. You need to be properly diagnose. Phillipa
Posted by bleauberry on May 29, 2012, at 17:04:18
In reply to Is this thyroid or adrenal? More problems..., posted by uncouth on May 28, 2012, at 19:15:43
I am not real knowledgable on the thyroid stuff but I think your symptoms do fit within that realm so it maybe should get more priority than it has been getting....more frequent visits, more testing, more adjusting. Could be pituitary, which controls the other glands, and there is a way to test whether it is one or the other malfunctioning.
I wish doctors could give us the answers you seek so we don't have to wonder.
Personally I would favor savella over cymbalta by a long shot. Since it is fairly new in the USA and is approved for fibromyalgia (even though it is an antidepressant across the rest of the world) I think maybe doctors don't think of it first. The cymbalta folks have massive marketing campaigns pushing it. Sometimes I see someone with a fairly decent result with it but it doesn't seem that often. I do remember reading somewhere else about someone who combined cymbalta with wellbutrin and it worked and then added savella to that and it was remission. There's an idea for you. Maybe instead of this med or that, maybe two or three. Not sure the memantine is doing anything good for you but you be the judge.
For the insomnia, I wonder what if you took very small doses of a variety of sedating meds all at the same time. I'm thinking something bizarre like maybe 6mg remeron, 5mg amitriptyline, 12mg seroquel, and one or two others. Looking for that magical synergy where the sum is greater than the parts.
I don't know, one of the side effects of high dose savella is sleep disturbance. At lower doses however I found it to be great for sleep beginning at about one week. It definitely felt like some endocrine stuff was being manipulated. A person in the clinical trials said after they were done (9 months) their body temperature problems had resolved. And of course since it does do some good in fibromyalgia folks, which is a bizarre multifaceted disease, we know it has some wide ranging impact in the human biology.
Posted by creepy on June 8, 2012, at 5:38:58
In reply to Is this thyroid or adrenal? More problems..., posted by uncouth on May 28, 2012, at 19:15:43
try a shorter acting version of wellbutrin? The IR one only hangs around in your system for 4-6 hours.
Posted by chumba wumba on June 22, 2012, at 0:31:13
In reply to Is this thyroid or adrenal? More problems..., posted by uncouth on May 28, 2012, at 19:15:43
Yes dry itchy skin, tiredness, and cold feet would be symptoms of hypothyroidism. But that doesn't mean you have it. Cold feet could mean that ambient temperatures are low or you have low bodyfat. Itchy dry skin could mean the humidity is low, or you have hard water. Tiredness could just be depression. A TSH test would tell you if you were hypothyroid. It's not an expensive test. Higher numbers >4.0 or so would mean hypothyroid.
Nausea and insmonia are listed as potential side effects of memantine. Maybe halve the dose and see if your side effects improve?
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