He lives in a smoky, depressed, high stress area, and we'd like to fix that.
November 28, 2007 10:19 AM   Subscribe

Mr. Jalapeno is on Chantix, Plendil and he's also had his dosage of Wellbutrin raised and mirtazapine/remeron added.

His doctor obivously prescribed all of this. What kind of weird interactions can we expect? Will the anti-depressants and the anti-smoking cancel each other out or make his already strange side effects worse? What about the blood pressure medicine? It seems like he's just throwing everything together to make this unusual cocktail that makes him grumpy, tired, unable to sleep, hungry and nauseous.

Note: I know you're not a doctor, but his doctor seems entirely too careless about side effects. He's almost 35, overweight, bp is normally 160/120 and he's very tense a lot of the time.
posted by mitzyjalapeno to Health & Fitness (14 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
get a second opinion? If you're not happy with the care you receive from your doctor, find a new one, assuming that's an option for you.
posted by missmagenta at 10:28 AM on November 28, 2007


Your pharmacist is another source of information about medications. Go in person with all the prescription and over-the-counter containers.
posted by Carol Anne at 11:00 AM on November 28, 2007


I'm glad you're being really careful. I know a few people whose doctors and pharmacists have overlooked side effects and interactions. I'd definitely follow up on this if you have concerns. Even just talking to a few different pharmacists might help.
posted by salvia at 11:17 AM on November 28, 2007


Best answer: Mr. Jalapeno sounds like me 8 months ago (sans Welbutrin, but on Celexa at the time, but very overweight w/ high bp). (this is a good thread regarding Chantix experiences. Disclaimer - I posted a few entries there..I just updated as well). I can't comment on the Wellbutrin interaction, but overall, the Chantix experience was worth it.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 11:31 AM on November 28, 2007


Best answer: I am an umpteen-years Wellbutrin user. I would assume Mr.Jalepeno will be getting generic versions of Wellbutrin. If so, I would advise him to shop around in order to avoid generics made by Teva labs. Bad stuff, there. Many reports of adverse reactions to this particular manufacturer's product.

My son, also a Wellbutrin user, got a prescription filled with Teva generic and it was like he took a deep-depressant, not an anti-depressant. As soon as we got him on another manufacturer's product, his mood turned right-around.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]


Seconding the Teva thing. That shit is evil. I was put on Wellbutrin for Fibro. When I took the Teva, I had a constant headache and thought seriously about ways to kill myself.

I'm not suicidal. I know I'm not suicidal. I knew it had to be the drugs. I had to jump through 3 weeks of hoops, and pay an assload of money to get the "real" thing...and it's like night and day.

I've heard good things about the Watson generic, but I've been too afraid to try them.
posted by dejah420 at 12:58 PM on November 28, 2007


Response by poster: A new doctor is not really an option, because of a tight budget, and a loss of insurance next month. I'll get in touch with my pharmacist again, especially about the generics issue.

Thanks!
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 1:49 PM on November 28, 2007


I've heard good things about the Watson generic, but I've been too afraid to try them.

The Watson's are good. If you can get your hands on the Sandoz or Eon Labs generics, even better. We've jumped our prescriptions from pharmacy to pharmacy, chasing the right manufacturers. Unfortunately, Teva's crap is so fucking cheap, it's what everyone seems to carry.

If you have a Costco in your area, try them. They seem to stock multiple manufacturers...at least their online service does.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:55 PM on November 28, 2007


The Plendil isn't helping control his blood pressure? (160/120 is NOT controlled) How long has he been on it?

Personally I had problems when I started on Wellbutrin SR with panic attacks, but a couple of weeks of clonazepam got those under control for me, and it seems as though the Remeron should work for your husband with that sort of thing. In fact, taken at night, the Remeron *should* help him sleep and make him hungrier/less nauseous.

If these things aren't working right and he's having adverse and/or intolerable side effects from one or more of the drugs, go back to your doctor. FWIW, in my limited (i.e., I'm not a pharmacist but one day hope to be one) experience, it doesn't sound like your doctor is being careless with his prescriptions. None of the drugs fight with each other (bupropion and Chantix are both smoking cessation drugs, but work differently)

Oh, and about the Teva generics, it seems as though the only form people really seem to have a problem with is the bupropion XL (the once daily, not twice daily version).
posted by eldiem at 8:51 PM on November 28, 2007


Oh, and about the Teva generics, it seems as though the only form people really seem to have a problem with is the bupropion XL (the once daily, not twice daily version).

Those have been the only ones getting the media attention. I've spoken with others who had been using the Teva generic for the ER version of Wellbutrin, and they described similar issues.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:11 AM on November 29, 2007


Response by poster: Actually the Plendil is not controlling his bp but lowering it. He started out around 210/160. His doc said it was amazing he hadn't already had a stroke. He's done a couple of blood pressure studies and it seems like Plendil worked better than anything else.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 8:29 AM on November 29, 2007


I would urge you to watch your husband's behavior carefully on Chantix. A friend of mine who was taking it this past year had a bizarre reaction to it after a night of moderate drinking and during his blackout, was banging on his neighbor's door after a fight with his girlfriend resulting in his being shot and killed instantly. It was a huge story here locally; I knew this guy for about 18 years and never saw him get violent, but when he drank about 6 beers after taking Chantix for a week, he became bewildered, didn't know where he was, began screaming at his girlfriend and then struck her and ran next door. It's all in the article. I'm talking I went to church with this guy and he was NOT violent, ever, and his personality on the drug completely changed. There have been many instances of odd or disturbing behavior when Chantix is combined with either antidepressants or alcohol, and some users experience heightened thoughts of suicide as noted in this Wall Street Journal article.

If he begins to report really vivid nightmares, suicidal thoughts, or acts violent and "out of it", he needs to stop taking it IMMEDIATELY and in my opinion it wouldn't be a bad idea to call an ambulance if things get weird.

I don't know, I'm pretty anti-Chantix having seen a frield die while on it. Maybe I sound alarmist, but to me, better safe than sorry.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:40 AM on November 29, 2007 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: that sounds terrifying and unbelievable. Hopefully, this is just something related to your late friend's personal chemistry. Either way, I'm sorry to hear about him.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 11:01 AM on November 29, 2007


Response by poster: Update: Mr Jalapeno tried the Chantix, and he made it about 10 days into the program. Then he started to lose his temper, a lot, over ridiculous things. That continued for four days, then his blood pressure spiked (~220/~170) and he quit the Chantix. I guess he's in the small percentage of people who do not respond well to Chantix.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 5:30 AM on December 12, 2007


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