Bad reaction to antidepressant, covid and B12

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)? Scandinavia

How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?) Google Search B12 anhedonia

What is your current age, height, weight? 22, 1.70, 65

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Remeron and benzo

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 15 mg

What condition was being treated with the drug? Sleep issues

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 1 month on and off

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey/adverse reaction

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? after I quit

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? all of them. Akathiasia/restlessness, anxiety, panic, bran fog, sexual dysfunction, anhedonia, loss of emotions, bad dissociation and depersonalization

Sexual (I am female)
[x ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ x] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ x] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x ] Frequent urination
[ x] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Tried to stay away, but had to take benzo for bad akathisia

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)? No difference

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience? I am only getting worse. Covid was not good for me and reacted to B12 in a weird way

Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY

  1. Name of the therapy/substance: B12
    • Dosage: 1000 mcg
    • How often you took it: five days
  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ x]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ 5] Months [ ] Years [ ]
  4. Response when you started:
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ x]
  5. Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
  6. Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ x]
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I’m sorry you’re suffering like this. Where in Scandinavia are you from? I’m Danish

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Hey there @sofa,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your story with us. I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this. There are several more stories on the forum from people who at one point took mirtazapene and developed these awful symptoms. At least, judging from the specific drugs you’ve mentioned it seems Remeron is the big culprit here.

I wish I had a first-line treatment suggestion for you but unfortunately that is not the case.

Please make sure to inform the pharmacovigilance agencies in your area of these adverse events.

Given the striking overlap in specific symptoms of these conditions, many of us believe that PFS/PAS/PSSD are likely to be the same condition. My hope is that once a clear etiology or set of biomarkers is established for PFS through research that PSSD and PAS and similar conditions will not be far off.

Also, could you please share at least the date you (more or less) quit the drug? In our experience, a lot of people will still see improvements in the first couple of months after quitting the drugs. So if you quit somewhat recently there might still be a good chance you’ll see some improvements in the coming months. However emphasis mine that this is no guarantee, which is why some of us are here, unfortunately.

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