I am the parent of a 19 year old recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. She takes abilify, seoquel, xanax, limictal, and topomax. Recently, her heart rate has been super high. Resting rate has been 104. Today she was rushed to er with rate of 157. It went down while there and they say to go to the doctor, as her ekg was ok. Does anyone know if this is common with these drugs? She is only 19 and other than the amount of these meds she is taking, there could be no other cause. Recommendations are so appreciated. Thanks to all. I am thinking a medical evaluation? We are worried.
Never had experience with this one. Its a question for a md. I would think ER dr would have mentioned if this were the case, but we have neve had this side effect. We did have an issue with topamax reacting kinda the same way, heart rate went up on 100 mg., first day. Abilify and seroquel should not have this effect. I wish I knew more. Maybee someone else will know more.
I have read that anti psychotic meds can cause heart issues but that it is rare. We are hoping to get insight this week and just keeping her low key. Thanks for your thoughts!
I don’t recall the numbers however my son’s blood pressure and heart rate where usually pretty high when they checked him at his intact meetings. I do believe that the medications can contribute to this. Sometimes if he stands up to quickly and hasn’t eaten then he gets dizzy. His Clozapine causes this. I would recommend getting a complete physical done with the family doctor. My son’s GP noticed higher numbers however has also stated that they are within normal range considering the medications he is on.
GABA is a nuerotransmitter for the heart muscles. Nuerotransmitters used for things other than just the brain. There is almost no knowledge of what Psychiatric meds actually do in the body and almost all medicines create other problems somewhere in the body. xanax blocks the Gaba but so does abilify and seroquel
Also all those meds can cause Tarditive Dyskinesia, which can be internal sometimes like inside the internal organs instead or in addition to outside.
Antipsychotics are also known to produce pituatary tumors in the brain that push on certain regions release all sorts of hormones in the body. This is why Risperdal causes gynecomastia because of tumors. So imagine what kind of effect increasing arbitary amounts of hormones in the body can do. For one prolactin causes bone loss, hairloss, permanent labido loss, and other serious body altering effects. Hormones are telling our cells to do shit we have no idea what they are saying.
Everytime you add a medicine in my opinion i think you should think of it as amputating a piece of your bodys internal structure. meds bulldoze your body to fix minor defects in the way certain regions communicate to each other.
i know we cant help having to take medicine but if her doctor can reduce or eliminate even one of those medicines it could help, you should be getting hormones tested, liver enzymes tested and white bloods cell counts tested as well.
I cant wait until DBS surgery is availible, the problem with meds is they dont just go to the brain parts that need help they go everywhere. DBS is electrical, hasnt been even tried yet for schizophrenia but is used for depression with almost no side effects (sometimes seizures though because surgeons can cut too much brain out)
Thank you so much for your thoughts. So appreciated.
No problem, I only know so much about it because I researched the hell out of each drug while I have been recovering some of the damage this shit has caused to my own body. I have TD, gynecomastia, major issues with my brain involving short term memory, even simple stuff I used to be able to do quite quickly like make a mental map for purpose of giving directions I cant do. all this from just TWO MONTHS on Risperdal. My heart is with you I cant imagine what your daughters going through having to take SO MUCH MEDICINE.
What suprises me the most is that they arent working on any medication in the Pharmaceautical industry for schizophrenics. Not one antipsychotic being researched right now, like “oh they have to take their antipsychotics so why improved on the product, not like well lose customers” mentality.
I hope she gets better. I think every doctor who prescribes this stuff should give a letter to the patient, and speak with the family about the various issues these meds cause including RISK OF DEATH. Literally your heart can just stop. Scary poisons, many doctors are actually starting to think the psychosis in some is safer for the patient than the meds are.
My daughter has TD also. This is why they put her on topomax. She has also had serious gut issues since birth. I guess now they are finding a correlation between mental illness and stomach issues? The meds hurt her stomach. They have gone as high as they can with seoquel and abilify for her. She is having major issues with memory. Most of her issues outside of voices which have never stopped even on the cocktail she takes are social paranoia, serious anxiety and depression. I guess memory loss is also part for the course on these meds? Sometimes her friends almost start crying when they see all her pills. Funny thing is, she was super social and happy until senior year when all hell broke loose. I hate the meds but have to admit it is a relief to see her more stabilized
What is gynecomastia? Please forgive my ignorance. I am new to all of this
Also par for the course. Sorry for my typo
Are her thoughts violent or scary? If I had insurance I would probably be trying to get an MRI on my brain to make sure the Pituatary Tumors werent that bad. I bet they cause tuimors in other areas too like the motor coordination areas and this just hasnt been reported yet. Benign tumors still might need to be taken out one day if im not mistaken. The main thing about the meds that I think would cause memory loss is the fact that the shrink the brain 10% and cause sporadic damage in all areas of the brain. Im a month and a half off all medication, and when I go to say things to a friend ill use wierd words and cant even make mental maps.
Sounds crazy and wierd but you might want to look at a potent form of CBD oil (not the stuff you can get online but the prescription kind, and not the pot plant itself with the THC in it) as a serious option after you get through this. It sounds crazy since it comes from marijuana and has a stigma, but there is a chemmical called CBD that doesnt cause psychosis or highness or whatever but is literally an extract that causes the psychosis to go away. Kinda makes sense that a pot plant that makes you see things, might also have a chemical in it to wrap up those hallucinations. I looked it up and its side effect free although it still causes sedations like the regular antipsychotics that are around now,
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/scienceresearch/specialtopics/womenshealthresearch/ucm247699.pdf
gyencomastia is male breast enlargement. I was only on Risperdal for 2-3 months and I have woman like breasts from the medicine. The reason boys and girls get this is because tumors form in the pituatary gland when you take Risperdal, and push on certain areas of the brain secreting the hormone prolactin. So basically I have chemicals in my body telling itself im pregnant, even though I mentioned to both doctors I Went to that I Was not interested in Risperdal specifically because I saw on TV the ads about gynecomastia. They prescribed it anyway (go figures with their risperdal posters all over the wall in the nurses office. I only continued to take it because I was psychotic and thought the only the CIA would advertise a medicine causing male breasts its probably to scare the russian spies from joining the CIA (obviously all crazy stuff)
Bottom line is I cant trust a psychiatrist anymore and do my own research on all meds extensively for hours before I take one (including looking up desperate complaints about the various antipsychotics that might be on forums, probably familiar with all the “rare” side effects at this point)
BTW has you daughter started compulsive gambling LOL apparently a side effect of Abilifiy. Why the drug companies are satisfied with their current antipsychotic collection and not doing more research is beyond me.
This video sounds like its glorifying pot, but if you think about it why is the plant so popular? Well its unique as heck thats why
I am so sad and sorry for all your side effects. The meds scare the heck out of me. No, I am not horrified by your recommendation nor opposed to cannabis. Funny thing is we thought about it initially for her anxiety and psychiatrist told us it would make her delusions worse. Her cheeks would get flaming red and she no longer wanted social interaction. Her voices are always negative and sometimes tell her things about people that scare her. I know of at least two. A woman that had always been present and she used to see. And a man. They both tell her she sucks and have made her suicidal in the past. She was a cutter when it started. Funny thing is they did find a huge cyst in the base of her brain. She thought it was the culpritbut her neurologist insisted otherwise
We took her to have it evaluated and they insist it is not her issue. They likened it to a " mole" and said many people have them
Different med’s can affect different people differently. For example, I can take any amount of Trazodone and nothing happens to me. If some people just take 50 mg they are knocked out for twenty hours. It could be that your daughter is super sensitize to one of the drugs she is taking. My best bet is that it is Abilify. Abilify can have a good effect, but it tends to hype up some people.
Funny. Someone thought it also may be seoquel. I guess it can also have that affect and they raised it two months ago to 700
I guess both can amp up heart rate?
I think all antipsychotics run the risk of doing this especially at higher doses.
i actually think ill try this stuff if my psychosis comes back the low thc kind is approved for kids for seizures in florida but maybe i can get it off label because on pubmed sounds like this stuff really works, even though it might be one sided in the studies
T.D. scares me because sometimes it can be permanent. But all these anti psychotics have side effects. They give cogentine for side effects but even then most people suffer. Weight gain is the worst. I am sure heart rate goes up with medications too. Everyone is different. Good luck. Hope you tell the psychiatrist, They might have to switch her medication.