u/PurpleNo8532

Note: please only positive replies, I'm too fragile for any horror stories atm!

Hi! I am on day 2 of 150mg (Elontril). I have also been taking lexapro for years, but got this added due to severe depression (been trying to recover from burnout and health problems since February). I've never had severe depression before this. Of course, with anxiety comes some depression, but never like this.

I feel like my brain is my biggest opp. I am trying to recover from anxiety and chronic migraines and there is just a dark cloud saying what's the point. What's the point of anything. It will never get better and life is pointless. It almost feels embarrassing to have any good thoughts or moments. My whole body hurts and I have no energy or willpower. The only thing I have energy for is crying and anxiety.

I moved back to my home country temporarily to stay with my parents and have been here for months now, on sick leave from my work. I feel like I have lost all independence and unsure how to get it back.

All mental health professionals keep saying to try to do things that I used to like and make me happy, but it's so hard when there's this crushing feeling of darkness. Nothing brings me joy at the moment.

Will this medication help clear away the dark suffocating clouds? Let me try to get my life in order again? Help me become a functioning member of society again?

I would love to hear some positive stories!

Hi, I've been taking gabapentin 300mg for sleep and anxiety for about 10 days before going to sleep. I keep waking up with insane muscle pain, like I had done the hardest workout while sleeping. It's from my shoulders down to my butt, I've never been in pain like this before. The past few days I've barely been able to stand up.

Is it possible gabapentin is causing this? When it's supposed to help with pain instead?

Hi! I'm due to do my second Ajovy shot, but I've been thinking about the past month and realised my anxiety and my heartrate have increased considerably. I already had anxiety and a slightly faster heartrate before this, from the migraines and how bad they are, but it has gotten significantly worse over the past month.

I know it can be a complete coincidence, but has anyone experienced this as well?

I do want to try a second month as well as I didn't feel any relief from the first shot, so I want to give it a fair chance...

Hi! Yesterday I got botox for migraines and because I have insane jaw pain (tmj has been slightly dislocated for 15+ years and i've got arthritis on the right side bc of it) I told my neurologist to do it in my jaw as well.

Well it's been 48 hours and I'm having trouble opening my mouth. When I try to open my mouth, it feels like the muscle/joint is just ... short?? like it literally just won't open. I can barely fit a spoon in my mouth to eat soup.

It feels like when I first fully dislocated my jaw and couldn't open it.

Can botox dislocate my jaw?? Or is it a temporary side effect, should I wait for the botox to start working before I freak out? Has this happened to anyone else?

Hi!

I'm on my first month of ajovy but it hasn't done much and i have the worst muscle tension pain all over my face, neck, jaw, back of my head, shoulders so my neurologist just did botox shots as well.

I'm terrified because I didn't have enough time to overthink it and just did it so please can someone share their botox success stories? Preferably that it started easing the pain in the first 1-2 weeks or even less time🥲 I really can't handle this pain any longer.

Also, the shots were INSANELY painful, mostly because I'm so sensitive that I already pass out when ripping off a bandaid and can't even brush my hair. How did you manage the injection site pain? With cold?

Nothing scary please!! I am anxious enough already😭

Hi! The past two days I have had the worst headache starting from my neck, not my usual migraine feeling at all so no idea what caused it. Moving my neck hurt soo bad because it was SO tense and of course tense neck means vertigo for me and any random headache also triggers a migraine.

I got prednisone 50mg in the ER (after they tried ibuprofen and paracetamol... which i told them wouldn't work) and it made my headache like 30% better and I was able to move my neck again?? I googled that it is used to break a stubborn headache or a migraine but I had never heard of it before nor has my neurologist told me about it even though I have had a headache and tense neck every day for the past 3 months.

So now I'm wondering, has anyone treated their chronic stubborn vestibular migraine with prednisone??
I feel like a new world has opened up for me! Luckily I have a check in appointment with my neurologist about ajovy on monday so should I ask her about it? I'm just confused why i haven't been recommended or given this before, when i've begged for a medication to just end the horrible painful migraine cycle...

Hi! I've only started taking gabapentin this week, 100mg at night. I got it to help me relax and sleep better to help with my anxiety. I take it one hour before bed, and it makes me feel a little bit sleepier. I go to sleep, and then about 2 hours later I start waking up because a random body part twitches, like my fingers. Then fall back asleep, and my face feels tense. Fall back asleep, I got a cramp in my butt, etc. But also during these random wake ups and twitching, I feel slightly paralysed?

Is this normal? Do I need to get used to this medicine, is it like antidepressants that it has side effects at first and then calms down? Or does it mean gabapentin probably isn't for me?

Hi! I started tms yesterday, had my second session today for anxiety. Yesterday the treatment felt a bit funny, but not painful. When I got home, I felt tension in my forehead and jaw but it got better in a couple of hours.
Today the pulses felt sore, and I got really anxious during the treatment thinking something was wrong. I was told the place might just be a bit sore from yesterday. I've been so anxious the whole day now and got a worse headache as well.

Is it normal to be sore from it? I have chronic pain and tension in my head and neck anyway so I'm probably abit more sensitive anyway but just want to calm my anxiety a bit😭

Hi all! I have just been prescribed gabapentin 100mg but I have trouble swallowing capsules. Is it fine to open the capsules and mix the powder with a spoonful of yogurt or something? Does it taste absolutely horrible or is it going to burn my throat?

Hi! I've been struggling with swallowing difficulties and stuff getting stuck for almost a year now. After my gastroscopy a month ago, I haven't been able to eat any solid food as it triggers a cramp in my throat and esophagus. The cramp is so horrible that I can't even speak.

I have migraines and trigeminal neuralgia and super stiff neck, and as much as I don't like AI, I put it in my symptoms to Gemini and it said pregabalin may help. I tried amitirptyline for migraines and was hoping it would also help relax my throat but it somehow made it worse instead.

My barium swallow was fine and so was gastroscopy - it didn't show any damage whatsoever and all biopsies were negative. Sadly they don't do manometry tests in my country.
I tried diltiazem which helped the cramps in the esophagus but nothing for throat cramp. I feel like the problem is nerve pain and tight muscles that are triggered by solid food somehow. My throat also feels super dry, as are my eyes and nose, so was considering getting a blood test to rule out sjögren's syndrome as well.

I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems with a throat cramp and found help from pregabalin?

Hi!

I got my first Ajovy shot last week, but in addition to migraines I also have neuropathic pain. My doctor wants me to try pregabalin, but it mentions vertigo and dizziness as side effects...

I have only recovered from getting vertigo from trying venlafaxine for a few days a month ago, so I'm feeling very scared.

Has anyone taken pregabalin and what was your experience? Did it make your vestibular symptoms worse?

Hi!

My mental health has reached the lowest low and I'm considering EMDR therapy. I am slightly worried about triggering my migraines though.

Has anyone tried EMDR therapy and did it trigger any vestibular symptoms for you?

Hi!

I went to my neurologist today and she determined my migraines have turned chronic and gave me my first ajovy shot.

I am sooo scared of needles and that was also the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life. I honestly can't imagine having to do this myself monthly?!

I haven't looked into ajovy before so no idea how it works. I've heard a lot about emgality in this subreddit but unfortunately it's not available in my country.

I feel so conflicted, I almost don't want it to work so I wouldn't have to inject myself monthly but also all I've done the past few months is stay home and cry because of my symptoms.

Could someone who has gotten their life back thanks to ajovy share their experience?😭

Hi!

The past year I have been dealing with acid reflux from stress and burnout and none of the anti acid medications or PPIs worked. This whole time I also felt like my throat was tight, like someone was actively choking me, and it was hard to swallow and a few times I had small grains like quinoa get stuck in my throat resulting in a coughing fit. It kept getting worse.

So I saw a gastroenterologist who recommended an upper endoscopy to check that everything was fine. I had it in sedation and she took some biopsies to rule out infections, cut out a small 2mm polyp, and everything came back clear. No scarring from acid reflux even...

I had the endoscopy 3 weeks ago but since then I have not been able to eat. I can only swallow liquids but I am so sick of liquids and pureed soup, it's making me depressed. Whenever I try to eat solid food, I can feel it get stuck in my throat, like my throat cramps up and holds the food stuck in my throat. Over the course of like 1-2 hours I can feel like the cramp is going down my esophagus slowly and giving me chest pain.

I have had a CT scan with contrast and the barium x-ray swallow test which showed everything was fine.

My gastroenterologist said she has never seen anyone have a reaction like this before.

I have been very anxious, but mostly because of how difficult this has been. I have lost so much weight over the past 3 weeks and I am genuinely scared of just slowly dying from malnutrition.

No one has any idea why this is happening and my GP just dismissed it as anxiety. I am already on an SSRI for anxiety (been on it for years), I've tried lorasepam but it doesn't help the swallowing, just gets rid of the anxiety I have about dying from not eating and I've even tried xanax but it didn't help at all.

I have now developed some fear of choking and eating by now, and my appetite is at a zero. But the physical sensation came before the anxiety about this all.

I used to be scared of swallowing pills as a child, but I'm 30 now and last year I was taking magnesium tablets the size of half my thumb with no problems. Otherwise I haven't had any trouble with eating previously!

Has this happened to anyone else? How do you fix this? I am so desperate and I feel like I am going crazy.

Hi!

The past year I have been dealing with acid reflux from stress and burnout and none of the anti acid medications or PPIs worked. This whole time I also felt like my throat was tight, like someone was actively choking me, and it was hard to swallow and a few times I had small grains like quinoa get stuck in my throat resulting in a coughing fit. It kept getting worse.

So I saw a gastroenterologist who recommended an upper endoscopy to check that everything was fine. I had it in sedation and she took some biopsies to rule out infections, cut out a small 2mm polyp, and everything came back clear. No scarring from acid reflux even...

I had the endoscopy 3 weeks ago but since then I have not been able to eat. I can only swallow liquids but I am so sick of liquids and pureed soup, it's making me depressed. Whenever I try to eat solid food, I can feel it get stuck in my throat, like my throat cramps up and holds the food stuck in my throat. Over the course of like 1-2 hours I can feel like the cramp is going down my esophagus slowly and giving me chest pain. When I feel like the food first gets stuck in my throat, my whole body seems to tingle as well.

I have had a CT scan with contrast and the barium x-ray swallow test which showed everything was fine.

My gastroenterologist said she has never seen anyone have a reaction like this before.

I have been very anxious, but mostly because of how difficult this has been. I have lost so much weight over the past 3 weeks and I am genuinely scared of just slowly dying from malnutrition.

No one has any idea why this is happening and my GP just dismissed it as anxiety. I am already on an SSRI for anxiety (been on it for years), I've tried lorasepam but it doesn't help the swallowing, just gets rid of the anxiety I have about dying from not eating and I've even tried xanax but it didn't help at all.

I have now developed some fear of choking and eating by now, and my appetite is at a zero. But the physical sensation came before the anxiety about this all.

I used to be scared of swallowing pills as a child, but I'm 30 now and last year I was taking magnesium tablets the size of half my thumb with no problems. Otherwise I haven't had any trouble with eating previously!

Has this happened to anyone else? How do you fix this? I am so desperate and I feel like I am going crazy.

Hi!

I have been trying out preventative medications but lately all of them trigger true spinning vertigo for me. 😭

Amitrityline didn't cause vertigo, but a lot of other problems.

I tried Venlafaxine - horrible vertigo from first dose, I could only take it for 3 days before I got other mild serotonin syndrome symptoms as well and my doctor advised me to stop. Took me 3 days after stopping for the vertigo to stop

I also tried Lacosamide as I am also in a lot of pain and my neurologist isn't sure whether it's the nerve pain or migraines exactly or how they interact. I took the first dose in the evening as the side effect was drowsiness, and I ended up sleeping with my hand on the wall for some stability because I got vertigo again. That was on Monday and I still haven't fully recovered from that vertigo, I've had to take Lorazepam daily to try to exist.

My next medication to try is Atogepant (Qulipta) and I'm terrified. I don't mind the usual slight dizziness, but if it starts spinning in my head.... I'm out. Has anyone had vertigo as a side effect for Atogepant?

My problem is that I get the worst vertigo when I lie down to sleep. I can't sleep on my back since my occipital nerves are so triggered and sleeping on my side triggered the worst vertigo, so I have been sleeping on my stomach. But not even that helps anymore! I believe it's all due to my neck problems - i have a neck hump, C4/C5 protrusion, straight "military" neck, and muscles so tight they caused occipital neuralgia. I am constantly in so much pain, I can't even brush my hair too hard. I can't get massages anymore as well as they trigger migraines.

So another question is, is anyone else's vestibular migraine triggered by their neck? Obviously I know vestibular system gets its signals from muscles as well so it would make sense. But how do you deal with that? Would atogepant help with this pain as well?

I'm so desperate I am considering botox already, but because my neck is so unstable and weak, I fear it would make me feel like a bobble head instead and increase dizziness.

And also sorry I just need to rant for a second as well, but I am just in so much pain and one physio said that as long as the pain is there it means my muscles and nerves are irritated and my vestibular system gets wrong signals and I won't be able to get stable and live my life until the pain is under control. 😭 I had an upper endoscopy two weeks ago to check how my stomach is doing from all NSAIDs but I haven't been able to properly eat since then as well. I feel like the nerve pain has spread down my throat or maybe it's because of my neck, but food keeps getting stuck in my throat and I keep getting cramps in my throat and esophagus so I can only eat liquid food.

And now also dealing with vertigo as medication side effects, it has been absolutely debilitating. I had done so much vestibular rehab work and I had it pretty much under control as my last vertigo bout was in March. But this has made me feel like I'm back in the beginning. I can barely look at my phone again because it makes me feel sick, when in June I could already use my computer for the first time since March.😭 I don't know where to get the mental strength to keep going when my body is so weak and fighting against me. Especially now when I am struggling to eat and whenever I try to sleep, I'm met with vertigo. 😭

Tere! Ma ei tea kas sellist asja isegi eksisteerib, kuid otsin meeleheitlikult head psühhiaatrit.

Senini olen sattunud ühe juurde, kes kuulas mu probleeme 5 minutit, kirjutas 3 tugevat rohtu, ja siis pidas pika monoloogi ja lõpus soovitas enda koolitusi, ning teine psühhiaater oli ehmunud, et tean erinevaid antidepressante ja ütles, et tean sama palju kui tema (mis on hirmutav, sest varem töötas ta Seewaldis ja loodaks, et need arstid ikka teavad natuke rohkem).

Mureks on läbipõlemine, ärevus, depressioon. Perearst tõsiselt ei võta ja ise enam hakkama ei saa mitte kuidagi.

Kui kellelgi on olnud häid kogemusi kas psühhiaatriga või mingi keskusega, võtaksin kõik soovitused soojalt vastu. Selline psühhiaater võiks olla, kes päriselt kaasa mõtleks ja vaataks sind tervikuna kui inimest.

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone has tried lacosamide or atogepant?

My body didn't like amitriptyline nor venlafaxine, so my neurologist has recommended trying lacosamide and if that doesn't work, then atogepant. I asked for something with less side effects than the antidepressants. 😭

I'm one of the unlucky ones with constant non stop horrible pain which triggers the vestibular symptoms, so he said to try lacosamide first as it should take the pain away faster. Lacosamide is also significantly cheaper than atogepant, so seems logical to try it first.

I realise lacosamide is quite a new medication though - my neurologist said only 5 of his patients have tried it but it has worked really well for them when nothing else has.

Has anyone tried lacosamide? Any success stories?
Or how has atogepant worked for you?

Hi all! I took my first dose of venlafaxine (37.5mg) for VM and PPPD yesterday around noon, and throughout the day I got the usual slight nausea and stomach ache and slightly increased anxiety, but then I woke up at 2am with head spinning vertigo. I haven't had true spinning vertigo like this for months. 10 hours later I'm still spinning!😭

It has just taken me back to February when this all started and I had vertigo for a whole month and it's almost a trauma response, I just keep crying from fear. My GP said to continue with venlafaxine if possible and that it should subside, but would love to know if this happened to anyone else? I'm terrified of taking my second dose!

I knew dizziness could be a side effect of starting this, but has anyone else gotten really bad vertigo? And if so, did it get better in 2 weeks?

I have such high hopes for this medication to help with my anxiety, VM, and PPPD so I'm considering just taking lorazepam for the first week to help with the vertigo.

Please no horror stories about venlafaxine - I have put this off for over a month.

Hi! I'm supposed to switch from escitalopram to venlafaxine and I was wondering if anyone's done the same?

I've been on 10mg escitalopram for 7 years but need to switch to venlafaxine now due to chronic pain/vestibular migraines/vertigo/increased anxiety.

I've asked my neurologist, psychiatrist and GP the best way to do the switch, but everyone's got different opinions. I think the one that has made sense to me the most so far has been to start 37.5mg venlafaxine and remain on escitalopram 10mg for at least a month so I don't confuse the withdrawals and side effects. Then the second month drop escitalopram to 5mg and remain on 37.5mg venlafaxine for another month and then increase to 75mg... Another doctor said she sometimes recommends opening the 37.5mg capsule and taking 1/3 of the beads the first week, 2/3 the second week and the whole capsule the third week for a smooth beginning.

I am terrified of the switch since I've been on escitalopram for so long and it is a familiar medication. So would be very helpful to hear success stories from anyone doing this switch!