odd effect after stopping meds - related?

January 21, 2019 1:10 PM

YANMD. Recently I was sick with a terrible cold, and as a result of days asleep in bed, I inadvertently went cold turkey on my medication, of which I am prescribed many types. I felt so much better not taking it (I often have terrible nausea, hair loss, sore throat, tiredness that I know is due to multiple side effects, and my doctor knows this but shrugs it off) that I stayed off of it for a week.

I had literally no reactions or effects that I could notice. Also, I no longer had even a smidge of nausea, sore throat, tiredness, etc. In fact, I felt great!

my meds:
liraglutide
losartan
spironolactone
buproprion
sertraline
atorvastatin
a tiny buffered aspirin per my dr.

After about 7 days post cold turkey, my lower lip started to swell. And swell, and crack, and swell some more. I have never had anything like this happen, and hadn't injured it in any way.

My spouse thinks it might be cellulitis exacerbated by high blood sugar, or an allergic reaction. They are not a doctor, just concerned about my unhappy lip.

So I started taking the liraglutide again two days ago, and have taken Benadryl for two days also. The lip appears to have stabilized, but is still terribly dry and cracked. I have used up several lip balms, tubes of Blistex, and one little jar of Carmex on this lip.

Also - I've had no fever and no other symptoms. Just the weird single big lip. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. I do have a scheduled checkup next week so I will be discussing this with my doctor. It's just so odd.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

Those are drugs that treat several different life-threatening conditions, you can't just quit them cold turkey.

If your doctor is blowing you off when you raise concerns about side effects, you need a new doctor, but unilaterally just stopping a bunch of blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol drugs all at once without medical supervision could give you a stroke, never mind a swollen lip.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:56 PM on January 21, 2019 [24 favorites]

Type two diabetes, not type one, two antidepressants, two blood pressure lowering meds, maybe even two statins. Anyone who takes meds should read up on them, and their side effects. IANAD, IANYD, but it looks like you have two whole sets of meds you are taking, maybe the prescriptions lingered from one provider to the next. Ask questions, of your current provider. Nicely but find out what is up.
posted by Oyéah at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2019

I don’t know anything about those medications, but I have had my lip swell up similarly due to chronic urticaria (chronic hives) where the hives/inflammation gets into deep soft tissues (it can affect my ankles too). Just mentioning it because I would have never guessed hives could present that way if I hadn’t experienced it. In my case, antihistamines bring the swollen lip down to normal size.
posted by valeries at 5:44 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Couple comments deleted - OP says they already have a doctor appointment scheduled.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 6:01 PM on January 21, 2019

Please do not wait until next week to talk to a doctor, please call your doctor's office or your pharmacist tomorrow and ask your question of them. There is far too much going on here for AskMe to be able to responsibly advise you. If you wait until next week, you may cause yourself harm in the meantime.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:24 PM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]

I had the *same thing* happen to me with 2 anti depressants. I have been on them for about 20 years. I felt so good after missing the doses and am also wondering what's up. It's been six weeks now and I feel great. I do, however, have a doc appt tomorrow.
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 7:59 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Update from the OP:

After reading the responses here, I decided to resume taking my losartan, atorvastatin and a daily aspirin in the morning. The spironolactone was prescribed after my gyn's assistant googled it as a med to try to prevent perimenopause-related hair loss (it was not prescribed for any other purpose.) I have had unpleasant side effects since starting that one. My regular doc scratched her head when I told her about the raw throat I have had every day since taking that one. It felt like all the moisture was being wrung from my body.

I believe the antidepressants are one of the reasons I have been nauseated nearly every day for several years. I am not planning on resuming taking those at the moment.

I appreciate the replies. I'm okay.

posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:05 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

The atorvastatin may be giving you post nasal drip, causing your sore throat and nausea. It happened with my husband. His PCP switched him to a different statin and it went away. I'm glad that you've resumed your meds (or at least most of them) until you can see your doctor. Your pharmacist is a wonderful resource for discussing side effects and can sometimes really help with suggesting different times/ways to take your meds to counteract problems.

Best of luck to you.
posted by dancinglamb at 9:36 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used to take spironolactone for androgenic alopecia, I quit it cold Turkey without a problem, because fuck it, is only hair. On Spironolactone, I had to have kidney function tests every 3 months and then I had to take an ACE inhibitor to protect my kidneys - all for hair?! Not worth it. Are either of the blood pressure meds prescribed to protect you from the spironolactone?

I don't know why your lip swelled, it could be a complete coincidence, dry, cracked lips after a cold isn't so unusual though.

I would definitely discuss with your doctor which of your many medications are actually medically necessary though.
posted by missmagenta at 7:03 AM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

well, spironolactone is a diuretic. so that explains that side-effect.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:02 AM on January 22, 2019 [1 favorite]