I am not a softy when it comes to operations or dental treatments. Honest, anyone who knows me will testify to that so I was fine to have it pulled in the dentist with no more than the usual numbing injections.
The treatment is a tad Medieval, a lot of crunching and twisting and pulling.
The usual timing is 15 minutes. After 30 my dentist explained he was going to ask another dentist who had a background in wisdom teeth at the hospital to come and take over as he was having problems.
The problem was, the tooth had shattered and he couldn't get the root out....neither could she.
I was in that chair for one hour blood smeared all over my "bib" and face and the area in my cheek where the infection had spread had been injected directly into by the wisdom tooth expert with little to no kindness and once the numbing wore off, the huge hole that had had three dentists all drilling, pulling and twisting was the least of my pain concerns... my infected cheek that had been "hung on" by each of the dental technicians was in absolute agony.
I was told they had never had such a difficult wisdom tooth removal ...like, ever and that I had brittle teeth....that made me think about my bones in general and hormone balances..and dare I say it...Vitamin D deficiency! (lol)
I had been taking antibiotics for the infection which leads me on to the main point of this post.
Known as Flagyl in the USA and Metronidazole in the UK, this antibiotic was prescribed for me about a month ago for a different tooth infection.
Apart from the terrible indigestion, stomach upset and sore oral thrush I developed when I finished the 5 day course, I experienced THE most sever form of GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) the week I was taking it.I didn't make the connection at the time, why would I? It's an anti biotic and all of the official paperwork made no mention of depression, anxiety or insomnia.
I did find cases of people on the internet who claimed they had suffered anxiety, depression and/or insomnia whilst taking it but I just think sometimes it's nothing more than a coincidence that people jump to conclusions by spotting the anomaly in their lives and linking the two.
So I just finished the course and decided I must be suffering from imbalanced hormones or stress but I was a wreck...sat on the kitchen floor blowing snot bubbles with the dogs lead in my hand crying hysterically at the overwhelming blanket of anxiety that had consumed me for 7 hours straight.
I was crying, hysterical and all sense of logical thought process was out of reach for me.
That's not my "normal" behaviour.. sure we have all had moments like that but usually with a underlying trigger.
I felt like my mind was starved of oxygen.
The week had left a scar, an insecurity within me. Was I loosing my mind?
What WAS that? And more importantly....if and when will it come back?
Like any anxiety attack... the environment it took place in becomes an association trigger and for me, I assumed it was a female hormonal issue.
All I had was my monthly cycle to go off but I had never suffered this level of PMT before so I just put it down to "one of those things" and was thankful it past but still edgy about what had happened to me and would it happen again.
Fast forward 4 weeks and I find myself taking Flagyl again, this time for the impacted wisdom tooth infection.
With 12 hours of starting it, I had anxiety insomnia.. lead in bed mind and heart racing, wide awake with absolute fear and anxiety.
The next day, the depression and anxiety left me wandering around the house in my PJs.. crying and scared stiff with hand shaking, gut wrenching, nausea riddled anxiety and depression.
I rang NHS Direct and was told what I expected to be told, that there was no mention of mental side effects. Nothing mentioned in the paperwork.
Must be all my my mind...the nurse asked me if I had been suffering from stress recently..in other words... this is YOU not the drugs.
I went to my dentist today and asked him straight about Flagyl and much to my surprise he replied that it was a very powerful drug and it was well documented within their practise drug interactions and side effects.
I was shocked but relieved. I thought I was loosing my mind and not only did the official paperwork that comes with Flagyl back my theory up by not mentioning these apparently well known side effects but the Great British NHS also supported my theory rhyming off the "Usual Suspects" of common side effects I was already aware of.
But two attacks both occurring at the same time I was taking this horrid drug? Thats more than a coincidence.
Here are some quotes and links from user experiences:
Flagyl should definitely be taken off the market and sued for the pain and misery it has caused. Started my 2 a day dose on the first day I noticed within a couple of hours of taking the pill my hands started feeling weird, but eventually started going away. The second day was the same as the first except I felt jittery. By the third day I took longer for the hand feelings to go away,my anxiety was a lot worse which turned onto insomnia that night.. didn't sleep for a minute!!! I ended up throwing up at 5 in the morning on the 4 th day. I went to the ER with a pulse of 148 beats per minute and got something to calm me down and help me sleep. On the 5th day I cut myself off the poison called flagyl. Now 3 days after I still feel the side effects. DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICATION YOU WILL REGRET IT!! I recommend getting the mild cream.
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Severe near constant headaches, feeling of doom and paranoia, severe anxietyand panic attacks, depression, mood swings, can't concentrate.....and I'm not usually one to have ANY of these issues!, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss. To sum it up.....it feels like you are not yourself in ANY way! You feel as if you are going insane!
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My God! What an eye opener! I thought I was going mad! I am not normally a depressive type of person but have been in a very dark mood for days. I haven't been sleeping, I have withdrawn into myself. How can a anti-biotic make you feel so crap? I have been taking them for a week and was due to take them for another week after a Sinus Lift operation. My dentist has said I can stop taking them now. I feel sick, lethargic, uncommunicative, snappy and generally not myself. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I feel better already just knowing it wasn't me. Looking forward to feeling better in myself now. And looking forward to a good nights sleep.
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I just read all your comments and am relieved.
I have been taking metronidazole for giardiasis and have been feeling very out of the ordinary since. very teary, down, overwhelmed, feeling like i can't go on, life has no sense etc.
i have suffered from chronic fatigue so i know how it feels to be tired and overwhelmed a lot of the time, but i've never been this bad.
can anyone tell me, do you have other side effects, such as fatigue, nausea?
i am so over chemical drugs! never ever again!
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I know this is an old post, but I'll just add my two cents worth. I was also prescribed metronidazole for 7 days for a dental infection. They were 7 really, really bad days. Depressed, lethargic, tearful and just generally feel awful all the time. Halfway through the course, I KNEW it was the antibiotics but I had trouble finding any "official" material to back up my suspicions, only patient feedback online.
Soon, I'm likely to be faced with a similar situation, and I think my dentist and I are going to have a little argument, because I don't think I can go through that again.
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Oh my god such an evil antibiotic is metronidazole.I took it and got so depressed I was crying everyday, i had no control.I lost like a stone, as thedepression was so bad i didn't want to eat.My boyfriend came home early from work he was so worried and did not want to leave me on my own in case i did something stupid.Zithromax is another bad one, caused me bad anxiety.Sounds like im a complete fruit cake but my personality was completely changed on these tablets.
| Suicidal thoughts, severe neck pain, forgetfulness, stomach cramps, loose stool, unbelievable depression, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, horrible nightmares | This medication should be taken off the market. My GYN knew I suffered from depression and anxiety as she had treated me for both before!! Never was any warning given that there could be extreme psychological side effects from an antibiotic! I have never had anything like this happen and thank god for this website. Symptoms peaked on day 8..the day the treatment ended. This is my 3rd day off of this poison and I feel worse than yesterday. I am drinking as much water as safely possible to try and flush my system but I'm scared this depression will never leave. I was fine before starting the medication now I'm in hell. NEVER take this. |
| nsomnia, anxiety, nervousness, increased impatience (just me?), stomach pain, faintness/dizziness, loss of appetite, back/neck pain | First off, the drug DID help treat my vaginal infection (blah, sorry for the men out there). BUT the symptoms were definitely hard to deal with. I'm petite so drugs typically hit me hard anyway, and I was prescribed 500 MG twice daily for 14 DAYS! Yep. 14 days. The first few days I experienced nausea and an acute stabbing pain in my stomach. Then the insomnia kicked in. Around Day 8 I was actually awoken from my sleep from what I thought was a female voice warning me about a fire (ah, gotta love drug-induced hallucinations). I ran around the house looking for smoke only to realize there was nothing amiss. There was a growing sense ofanxiety/impatience/nervousness which heightened to the point of stopping my meds at Day 12 (under the advice of my doc). About a week in, I was hit with a cold/virus/flu that took me out of commission for a good while. So I'm uncertain if the flu-like symptoms were due to that or the meds. I also experienced back pain early on and neck pain later during my virus-time. All in all, this did help treat me, but at a high cost. I'd advise you to monitor your symptoms and consult your doctor if it becomes too much. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fGUxPBM3stYJ:www.drugs.com/sfx/flagyl-side-effects.html+flagyl+metronidazole+depression&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=safari |
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