Anyone extra sensitive to medicines?

[AmyB8484]

I often have medicines affect me in unusual ways, and sometimes the doctors don't even believe me, because it's not supposed to work that way. For instance, I take antidepressants and am bipolar - if I am even an hour late taking my prozac, I start to feel awful. The therapist thinks it's psychosomatic, but the thing is, I won't even remember I haven't taken it, and that's what reminds me I haven't. I know that prozac has a long half-life, so it's supposed to be weeks before you could even feel the difference, but how do I know my body isn't just responding to it differently, regardless of how much is in my blood?

This is just one of many examples of how drugs tend to affect me differently. Often, I will end up with that extremely rare side effect that's only supposed to happen in, like, 1 in 10,000. Once I took an extra-strength Advil, and I was high as a kite for 30 minutes.

I've read that people with Aspergers tend to be very sensitive to medications, and I try to tell doctors I've read that, and they say they've never heard of such (but these are not doctors who treat Aspergers, or psychs). I get so frustrated trying to get doctors to believe me on things, when I've been taking those drugs for years, the effects are like clockwork consistently, and nobody can really know what my brain is doing but me. Does anyone else experience stronger reactions to medicines? Am I the only one?

 

[Vanilla]

I'm not exactly taking anything, and when I take medication, it's rarely anything serious, but I do get rather knocked around when on anti-biotics. I literally feel like I want to just lie down, and sleep, through the entire course of taking them.

I've mentioned this to doctors before, but they're never helpful in that department. Because I have such a bad reaction to them, I now try to avoid them, and take probiotics daily (actually makes me feel great).

 

[Evy the Owl]

I'm extra sensitive to meds:

Abilify: Gave me anger outbursts and musclepain (one of the 'rare' side-effects)
'the pill': Severe moodswings, and when I skipped the stop-week I get hour-long cramps
Certain brands of risperdal give me constipation
Certain brands of methylphenidate only last 2 hours for me

Edit: I get really drowsy from painkillers too.

 

[AmyB8484]

I've never heard of antibiotics making one tired, so maybe that's the same reason why. I've also had such bad reactions to certain antibiotics that I just started lying and telling doctors I was allergic to them

 

[AmyB8484]

I'm extra sensitive to meds:

Abilify: Gave me anger outbursts and musclepain (one of the 'rare' side-effects)
'the pill': Severe moodswings, and when I skipped the stop-week I get hour-long cramps
Certain brands of risperdal give me constipation
Certain brands of methylphenidate only last 2 hours for me

Edit: I get really drowsy from painkillers too.

OMG, me too!! I've tried every bc there is, and the mood swings would be to the point of suicidal, and the one that didn't gave me such bad fatigue I spent 3 months almost always in bed, before knowing that was the cause, and it actually ruined a relationship I was in at that time.

I had a horrible experience with Abilify too! It made me feel so weird and zombie-like i freaked out, to the point I had panic attacks and began feeling suicidal.

And when you tell some doctors you experienced that, they've never heard of someone having that reaction, so they don't believe you or think its something else causing it, but the minute you stop taking it, you're fine

I had a bad experience with Ritalin too. A lot of things I take, instead of moderately working over the period of time it's supposed to, it all hits at once, then you crash and go to the other extreme, I imagine maybe like p who crush up painkillers to get high, so it all hits at once. I tried Wellbutrin. I was high as a kite for an hour, then suicidal after that. Also took Accutane, and half my hair fell out (grew back at least) which I think is
Like 1 in 100,000.

Its nice to know someone else has experienced the same with some of the same meds and I'm not alone

 

[Evy the Owl]

OMG, me too!! I've tried every bc there is, and the mood swings would be to the point of suicidal, and the one that didn't gave me such bad fatigue I spent 3 months almost always in bed, before knowing that was the cause, and it actually ruined a relationship I was in at that time.

I had a horrible experience with Abilify too! It made me feel so weird and zombie-like i freaked out, to the point I had panic attacks and began feeling suicidal.

I even had the lowest dose of abilify: 2,5 mg. I need very little of a med to make an effect.

 

[AmyB8484]

I even had the lowest dose of abilify: 2,5 mg. I need very little of a med to make an effect.

So do you ever build up tolerance, or does it stay that way?

 

[Evy the Owl]

So do you ever build up tolerance, or does it stay that way?

I don't seem to build up tolerance, I just switch to meds that do work for me. For example

- I switched to the brand risperidone, I take .75 mg of this. Works fine for me, no side effects
- Stopped with the pill, might switch to an hormone tube in my arm later. (since they give a very low and constant dose of hormones)
- it took me a few brands of antidepressants before I found the right one. No side effects either, besides some bladder trouble.

 

[Sander]

I don't really have side effects to any medication, only painkillers (500mg) don't really work well

 

[Loomis]

You may be a slow metabolizer of CYP2D6 substrates:

CYP2D6 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is an article on abilify and CYP2D6
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Abilify Monitoring Recommended

 

[Evy the Owl]

You may be a slow metabolizer of CYP2D6 substrates:

CYP2D6 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is an article on abilify and CYP2D6
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Abilify Monitoring Recommended

In simple English, what does this mean?

 

[Loomis]

In simple English, what does this mean?

The liver has enzymes that break down drugs. One of the most important enzymes is CYP2D6. Some people have very low amounts of this enzyme. It is an inherited trait. If you have low amounts of this enzyme a drug that is metabolized by CYP2D6 will stay in your system much longer. So a very small dose will last a long time and higher doses may be toxic.

If on the other hand you have high amounts of CYP2D6 you will be a fast metabolizer and drugs broken down by the CYP2D6 enzyme will work for a shorter period of time.

 

[Vanilla]

I've never heard of antibiotics making one tired, so maybe that's the same reason why. I've also had such bad reactions to certain antibiotics that I just started lying and telling doctors I was allergic to them

It's not that it makes me sleepy; it just makes me feel so sick, that I'd rather not have to remain awake, and put up with it. The last time I took them, I had to stay on them for two weeks. My body felt drained, and sluggish, and my head was swimming. I couldn't concentrate at all, and everything was making me feel irritable.

 

[Mary Lyn]

Dr Amy Yasko, a biochemist who treats autistic kids for their genetic defects, finds that most of them have the faults on the detox genes and also for methylation which can be helped with specific b vitamins and other nutrients. I have the MTHFR mutant .

 

[AmyB8484]

It's not that it makes me sleepy; it just makes me feel so sick, that I'd rather not have to remain awake, and put up with it. The last time I took them, I had to stay on them for two weeks. My body felt drained, and sluggish, and my head was swimming. I couldn't concentrate at all, and everything was making me feel irritable.

Oh, I see what you mean now

 

[AmyB8484]

The liver has enzymes that break down drugs. One of the most important enzymes is CYP2D6. Some people have very low amounts of this enzyme. It is an inherited trait. If you have low amounts of this enzyme a drug that is metabolized by CYP2D6 will stay in your system much longer. So a very small dose will last a long time and higher doses may be toxic.

If on the other hand you have high amounts of CYP2D6 you will be a fast metabolizer and drugs broken down by the CYP2D6 enzyme will work for a shorter period of time.

Wow, this is fascinating. I've never heard anything like it. Apparently the way meds work and the way the body responds to it is much, much more complicated than most people know.

 

[AmyB8484]

I'm not exactly taking anything, and when I take medication, it's rarely anything serious, but I do get rather knocked around when on anti-biotics. I literally feel like I want to just lie down, and sleep, through the entire course of taking them.

I've mentioned this to doctors before, but they're never helpful in that department. Because I have such a bad reaction to them, I now try to avoid them, and take probiotics daily (actually makes me feel great).

So do the doctors even believe you, or do they just not know what to do abt it?

 

[Salmongirl17]

Idk if this happens to me or not. I try to avoid painkillers (such as Tylenol) though, as I cannot feel much of ANYTHING for an hour or so after taking them. My own meds (strattera 60mg) can sometimes make me feel weird...? This only happens once every few months though.

 

[Judge]

The use of Penicillin could kill me. (Nearly did once.) I have to use alternative antibiotics such as Ceclor instead. Tofranil as an anti-depressant didn't do me any favors either...along with a list of others too depressing to want to itemize.

 

[AmyB8484]

Dr Amy Yasko, a biochemist who treats autistic kids for their genetic defects, finds that most of them have the faults on the detox genes and also for methylation which can be helped with specific b vitamins and other nutrients. I have the MTHFR mutant .

Wow, I'm going to read up on her, that is really fascinating. This is the first time I'm hearing about how there are differences in the body like that, and that there are real, valid explanations for a lot of these things