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Oh, nothing better than a good glass of cabernet! Oh and now that they say it is good for your health, we dont have to feel guilty!
 
[QUOTE=crystalkk;48438]Beth,

Do you get all your meds filled at the same drug store. If you do they should have caught the bad interaction thing with the mix of the meds. I'm happy to here you are feeling better.[/QUOTE]



Thanks ... yes, I take everything to the same place. Since I take a gazillion meds, you'd think they'd red flag the problems. I found an online med checker, where you can list everything and it will show any interactions. Gonna use it in the future.

Cymbalta sounds good, thanks ... I'll check it out.

(And I agree on the booze, by the way, but alas have to stay away from it these days. :wink:)
BethU
 
questions about emotions

Hey to everyone,

I couldn't figure out how to start a new thread, so I just came here!

Today my emotions have been crazy! While I was at work ( as a nurse in a physician's office ) I burst out crying over NOTHING. Then tonight at the baseball field with my family, one of the coaches starting yelling at my 14 yr old about my 7 yr old's game, and I couldn't stop the crying again.

I have been on Zoloft for about 3 yrs, 100mg a day, then after my diagnosed on 6/3/08, my neuro increased it to 150mg every day. That has kept the emotions in check for the most part, so I guess I wonder if the ALS just sometimes explodes the emotions, or maybe my neuro needs to try something else. He told me in June that the 150mg daily dose might not be the right thing, and that sometimes they add another SSRI.

Or maybe, it's the full moon? I hope to rest good tonight and maybe feel better tomorrow.
A blessed night to all,
brenda
 
Hi Brenda,
I'm sorry you're having a hard time. Talking to your dr. is a good idea. Another possibility is that you may just need to give yourself a little more time to adjust to the emotional aspect of your diagnosed. When my DH was diagnosed last August, I went through a period of several months where I would burst into tears over just about anything, and always at the most unexpected times! I also felt like my brain was in a "fog".

Once I had a little time to get used to what was happening & what it all meant, I went back to my old self. Three months worth of anti deppressants didn't hurt either!:mrgreen: This is, to say the least, a difficult disease, physically and emotionally.

You are in my prayers.
 
Brenda

HI,

I feel bad posting as I have no diagnosed yet. But When all my symptoms started I had the over whelming crying. Let me tell, that is not me! had three kids and never even kinda got the baby blues--only joy. I always felt that I may be to happy & positive. So i started crying over everything! I would wake up and cry! Nothing had even happen yet! it was so crazy and our of character. (yes, it could of been the fear of als).

anyway my neuro put me on 20mg of lexapro. from what I hear that is alot? maybe she was worried becasue I have a baby and feared a post partum?
so lexpro dried up those tears and I do feel like my self again. I do feel a little tired with it. but I will take a little tired (or that could be due to 3 young kids) over blubbering non stop.

take care!

april
 
Hi BethU. You posted almost a week ago, so I'm hoping that you have made some changes to taking Zoloft. The symptoms you described are not typical, and to me (I'm a psychologist), sound alarming. I think you are probably on track that the Zoloft may be interacting with other meds. Have you talked to your Doc about the side effects and making changes? If not, PLEASE do! As for emotional lability, if that is the only symptom, I agree with the person who wondered why take an anti-depressant. I'm thinking emotional lability may be a normal reaction to a crazy disease. Are you talking with anyone about how you've been feeling nowadays? I'll keep you in my prayers. Take care!
 
Hi BethU. You posted almost a week ago, so I'm hoping that you have made some changes to taking Zoloft. The symptoms you described are not typical, and to me (I'm a psychologist), sound alarming. I think you are probably on track that the Zoloft may be interacting with other meds. Have you talked to your Doc about the side effects and making changes? If not, PLEASE do! As for emotional lability, if that is the only symptom, I agree with the person who wondered why take an anti-depressant. I'm thinking emotional lability may be a normal reaction to a crazy disease. Are you talking with anyone about how you've been feeling nowadays? I'll keep you in my prayers. Take care!

Thanks for the input! (And the prayers! I need both.) I haven't talked to the doctor, as I can't be understood on the phone, so have to write her a snail-mail letter and let her know.

I stopped the Zoloft when my feet and ankles started swelling, which was listed as a side effect ... I have heart disease and can't afford to retain fluids, as it brings on congestive heart failure.

The swelling went down after two days, but in the meantime I went into a DEEP depression for about 36 hours ... to the point where I was looking up ways to commit suicide, until I came to the part where it said you had to swallow 100 pills, and I started laughing. I would definitely die of old age before I could possibly swallow 100 pills! It takes me 15 minutes to get one down. I guess God looks out for us bulbar-onset types.

Then I remembered that those kinds of thoughts were also listed as a side effect of Zoloft. So I will tell the doctor that I'd better stay far, far away from the serotonin "uptake" types of drugs.

All the effects are gone now, and I feel human again.

The weepy stuff is not in response to the seriousness of the diagnosed. I've done some normal crying about that. But this is out-of-place and very embarrassing. Like, when I went to Kinko's to get a FedEx shipment straightened out, and burst into tears because the clerk was so efficient! Or when I put a cat in a cage to take him to the vet (this was a year before the diagnosed) and got literally hysterical because he looked so sad. Had to let him out of the cage and cancel the appt. because I couldn't stop sobbing about how sad he looked. (Note: I've made hundreds of trips to vets with cats in carriers in my life, and never had that reaction before. And, as I said, this was a year before the diagnosed, so it was not an emotional reaction to knowing I have ALS.)

I think the lability is part of the ALS neurological package, not a normal emotional reaction to a stinky situation.

Thanks again!
BethU
 
Hey BethU

I can certainly appreciate the crying outbursts! Just this morning, the rheumatologist I work for, who is also my doc for sjogrens, came to my desk "just to see how you're doing".
He is the most caring, kindest human being I have ever met and just looking at him, I started bawling! And it went on for about 45 minutes!
But I'm going to email my neuro at Indy now and see what can be done, since today is about the 5th time this week it has happened. I wonder if I'm just exhausted?
talk soon,
Keep the faith,
brenda
 
I use Zoloft and I find that it works great for me. I was taking Amitriptyline but it raised my Blood pressure and heart rate.

Jim
 
Jim-

Do you take Zoloft for emotional lability, or for depression?

John
 
I use it for lability. I would cry watching the news or laugh too much when my kids misbehave.

Jim
 
Jim, I think my husband and you would be two peas in a pod! LOL

I have to ask myself sometimes if he is being silly (he's always been a joker) or is this emotional lability? He gets upset and cries at stuff he would've never thought of crying about before.

The Emory Clinic is participating in a trial for Zenvia for Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA), (that's the fancy word for emotional lability) in patients with MS and ALS. They gave him a one page test that rates PBA and he qualified. Haven't talked with him yet about whether he will participate in the trial.

The PBA is caused from the neurological disease itself and can also be found in people with brain injuries. It can be quite embarrassing and cause people to avoid going out in public. Just another thing to add to list...:evil:
 
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The last trip I worked, I was standing outside of the gift shop in the lobby of the hotel, and there were these "chatskie" rabbit fur cats in various positions, i.e. curled up sleeping, or with a paw outstretched playing, and I stood there looking at them and started sobbing! it was awful. There have been a good many other occasions when I've started weeping, but this was the most absurd (so far!) and until this happened, I didn't think it was the emotional lability that I'd been reading about, because I haven't had any inappropriate laughing episodes, I'd just hoped it was "hormonal", after all, I am 52 ... ~ but the cats reducing me to tears was way beyond hormonal! I forgot to bring it up during my last visit at Hopkins, but I have an appointment locally with a new primary care doctor (I got scolded because I don't have one anymore due to an insurance change ~ just all of these specialists!) and the question is, should I ask for a prescription for something to control it? and if so, what seems to be the best?
 
Hi Rose ... I get weepy over stupid things too, mainly when someone is being unexpectedly kind. I even got teary over "Cute Overload" last week!

At UCLA, the neuro talked about Zenvia, which CJ mentioned. The doc said it was well tolerated by almost everybody and has very few side effects. She wanted to put me in the study, which is ongoing, but it turned out to be contra-indicated for heart disease, so I was disqualified. Hence the Zoloft, which was a Big Mistake.

But I think there are a quite a lot of possible meds that will control the lability. Probably everyone reacts a little differently, so you may have to try a couple till you find the right fit. (I haven't had any laughing episodes, either ... just the tears.) Your primary care doctor may not understand the lability ... I talked to mine today about my reaction to Zoloft, and she thought it was prescribed because this is a depressing disease! ... so you may have to explain that it's part of the disease process.

Good luck,
BethU
 
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