Bipolar Medications Can Be Dangerous

my loud whispers of hope

Here is the sad truth and reality about taking medications for a mental illness. I think any long use on the exact same medication can become problematic because they wreak havoc on your entire body and most importantly your brain.

I have now taken two medications that have nearly killed me for two different reasons. The first medication that nearly killed me last year was called Trileptal, used to treat bipolar. I was on the highest dose of that medication usually prescribed for approximately eight years.

The other medication that most recently almost killed me is Clonazepam (generic name). Well known as Klonopin (brand name). I have taken Klonopin for over 20 years to help control my anxiety, hypomania and mania symptoms.

I most recently learned of the severe, possible lethal complications for using Klonipin as long and as much as I did. I learned of the dangers of Klonipin use after researching Klonopin more extensively due to my overdose. I will write that information in another post, as this post already has a lot of information.

Last year, I developed two syndromes from taking Trileptal (brand name) or Oxcarbazepine (generic name). I developed two syndromes from taking this medication. One syndrome is called Hyponatremia and the other is called Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH). I was unaware of these conditions and that it was possible for me to get them, while taking Trileptal.

Hyponatremia can be life threatening and I got it from taking my bipolar medication, Trileptal, as prescribed for eight years. If you are on this medication for bipolar or other reasons, please be aware of the symptoms and make sure you get your blood levels checked often.

Many other medications should be added to this list, because Trileptal didn’t make the list of medications that cause this condition, as listed in the next article. However, Carbamazepine (generic name) or Tegretol (brand name) is often used to treat bipolar and it made the list. Many other bipolar medications are in the same class of medications, so I thought it was very important for me to help make you aware of this condition.

I had to stop taking Trileptal immediately and was never given another bipolar medication, as that was the last medication used to treat bipolar that I could take. I have taken them all and seem to be medication resistant or intolerant of the side effects. Some medications caused adverse reactions.

In May, of last year, I started taking only Klonipin to treat my symptoms of bipolar. After my overdose I realized that was when my decline began and my symptoms became severe.  I became angrier easier and more often, my isolation increased, I became depressed more often and my suicidal ideations increased requiring me to fight suicidal thoughts nearly every day for the last three months, before my suicide attempt. Actually, I had all the signs that I needed to get help, but will explain why I didn’t get it in another post.

I am talking about my situation to help you and hope no one makes the same mistakes as I did. Please do not do as I do or did.

Please let me be an example of what not to do and prayerfully an example and inspiration that we can overcome any obstacle in front of us.

Sometimes we cannot step over that obstacle in time, but we can catch up and eventually jump over anything in our way.

We can rise above, climb to the highest peak possible and conquer any obstacle that gets in our way of reaching for the stars and becoming a bright shining star of our own. I am on my way…

God and prayer and beautiful people are necessary and essential components to add to the recipe of survival, as well.

Thank you again to all of my wonderful, caring, loving, beautiful, fabulous blogger, Twitter and Facebook friends. You are all simply the BEST!

Oops. Sorry. I do digress at times. Now back to the topic for this post…

I never knew sodium played such an important role in regulating our entire body.

Sodium is one of the body’s electrolytes, which are minerals that the body needs in relatively large amounts. Electrolytes carry an electric charge when dissolved in body fluids such as blood.

Most of the body’s sodium is located in blood and in the fluid around cells. Sodium helps the body keep fluids in a normal balance. Sodium plays a key role in normal nerve and muscle function.

The body obtains sodium through food and drink and loses it primarily in sweat and urine. Healthy kidneys maintain a consistent level of sodium in the body by adjusting the amount excreted in the urine. When sodium consumption and loss are not in balance, the total amount of sodium in the body is affected.

Hyponatremia – Low Level of Sodium in the Blood

written by James L. Lewis, III, MD, Attending Physician, Brookwood Baptist Health and Saint Vincent’s Ascension Health, Birmingham

In Hyponatremia, the level of sodium in blood is too low.

  • A low sodium level has many causes, including consumption of too many fluids, kidney failure, heart failure, cirrhosis, and use of diuretics.
  • Symptoms result from brain dysfunction.
  • At first, people become sluggish and confused, and if hyponatremia worsens, they may have muscle twitches and seizures and become progressively unresponsive.
  • The diagnosis is based on blood tests to measure the sodium level.
  • Restricting fluids and stopping use of diuretics can help, but severe hyponatremia is an emergency requiring use of drugs, intravenous fluids, or both.
Causes of Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia occurs when the body contains too little sodium for the amount of fluid it contains. The body may have too much, too little, or a normal amount of fluid. In all cases, however, sodium is diluted. For example, people with severe vomiting or diarrhea lose sodium. If they replace their fluid losses with water, sodium is diluted. Disorders, such as kidney disease, cirrhosis, and heart failure, can cause the body to retain sodium and fluid. Often the body retains more fluid than sodium, which means the sodium is diluted. Certain conditions may cause people to drink too much water (polydipsia), which can contribute to the development of hyponatremia.

Role of Vasopressin

Vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) helps regulate the amount of water in the body by controlling how much water is excreted by the kidneys. Vasopressin decreases water excretion by the kidneys, which retains more water in the body and dilutes the sodium. The pituitary gland produces and releases vasopressin when the blood volume (amount of fluid in the blood vessels) or blood pressure goes down or when levels of electrolytes (such as sodium) become too high.Pain, stress, exercise, a low blood sugar level, and certain disorders of the heart, thyroid gland, kidneys, or adrenal glands can stimulate the release of vasopressin from the pituitary gland. The following drugs also stimulate the release of vasopressin or enhance its action at the kidney:

  • Chlorpropamide (which lowers the blood sugar level)

  • Carbamazepine (an anticonvulsant)

  • Vincristine (a chemotherapy drug)

  • Clofibrate (which lowers cholesterol levels)

  • Antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs

  • Aspirin, ibuprofen, and many other nonprescription pain relievers (analgesics)

  • Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)

  • Vasopressin (synthetic antidiuretic hormone)

  • Oxytocin (used to induce labor)

A frequent cause of hyponatremia is the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone(SIADH), which is the syndrome I had and occurs when vasopressin is inappropriately secreted in a variety of other situations (such as certain cancers, infections, and brain disorders).

Causes of Hyponatremia

  • Addison disease (underactive adrenal glands)Blockage of the small intestine
  • Burns if severe
  • Cirrhosis (formation of scar tissue in the liver)
  • Consumption of too much water, as occurs in some psychiatric disorders
  • Diarrhea
  • Drugs such as barbiturates, carbamazepine, chlorpropamide, clofibrate, diuretics (most common), opioids, tolbutamide, and vincristine
  • Heart failure
  • Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland)
  • Kidney disorders
  • Pancreatitis
  • Peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal cavity)
  • Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH)
  • Vomiting
Symptoms of HyponatremiaThe brain is particularly sensitive to changes in the sodium level in blood. Therefore, symptoms of brain dysfunction, such as sluggishness or lethargy (which I had severely and could barely walk) and confusion, occur first. If the sodium level in blood falls quickly, symptoms tend to develop rapidly and be more severe. Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms (thankfully, I am not really that old… just a little though).As hyponatremia becomes more severe, muscle twitching (my eye started twitching) and seizures may occur. People may become unresponsive, aroused only by vigorous stimulation (stupor), and eventually cannot be aroused (coma). Death may follow.

Besides my eye twitching and extreme lethargy, my body swelled up significantly and rapidly with fluid retention. My face was so puffy that my eyes were nearly shut and I looked like I was eleven months pregnant. I also had an irregular heart rhythm and my blood pressure was high, when I typically have a normal blood pressure.

Diagnosis of Hyponatremia

  • Measurement of sodium level in the blood
Hyponatremia is diagnosed by measuring the sodium level in blood. Determining the cause is more complex. Doctors consider the person’s circumstances, including other disorders present and drugs taken. Blood and urine tests are done to evaluate the amount of fluid in the body, the concentration of blood, and content of urine.
Treatment of Hyponatremia
  • Restricting fluid intake

Mild hyponatremia can be treated by restricting fluid intake to less than 1 quart (about 1 liter) per day. If a diuretic or other drug is the cause, the dose is reduced or the drug is stopped. If the cause is a disorder, it is treated.

Occasionally, people are given a sodium solution intravenously, a diuretic to increase excretion of fluid, or both, usually slowly, over several days. These treatments can correct the sodium level.

Severe hyponatremia is an emergency. To treat it, doctors slowly increase the level of sodium in the blood with intravenous fluids and sometimes with a diuretic. Newer drugs, called vaptans, are sometimes needed. Increasing the sodium level too rapidly can result in severe and often permanent brain damage.

© 2018 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA

Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH)

Written by James L. Lewis, III, MD, Attending Physician, Brookwood Baptist Health and Saint Vincent’s Ascension Health, Birmingham

The syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) develops when too much antidiuretic hormone (vasopressin) is released by the pituitary gland under certain inappropriate conditions, causing the body to retain fluid and lower the blood sodium level by dilution.

Vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) helps regulate the amount of water in the body by controlling how much water is excreted by the kidneys. Vasopressin decreases water excretion by the kidneys. As a result, more water is retained in the body, which dilutes the level of sodium in the body. A low-level of sodium is called hyponatremia.

The pituitary gland appropriately produces and releases vasopressin when the blood volume (amount of fluid in the blood vessels) or blood pressure goes down or when levels of electrolytes (such as sodium) become too high.

Secretion of vasopressin is termed inappropriate if it occurs when:

When vasopressin is released in these situations, the body retains too much fluid, and the sodium level in blood decreases.

Causes of SIADH

Many conditions increase the risk of developing SIADH. SIADH may result when vasopressin is produced outside the pituitary gland, as occurs in some lung and other cancers. SIADH is common among older people and is fairly common among people who are hospitalized.

SIADH has a long list of possible causes that typically require additional tests to uncover.

Causes of SIADH

  • Abscesses in the brain
  • Bleeding (hemorrhage) within the layers of tissue covering the brain
  • Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
  • Guillain-Barré syndrome
  • Head injury
  • Hypothalamus disorders, including tumors (rare)
  • Meningitis
  • Strokes
  • Tumors
  • Acute respiratory failure
  • Pneumonia
  • Tuberculosis
  • Brain cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Cancer of the small intestine
  • Surgery
  • Undernutrition

Symptoms and treatment of SIADH tend to be those of the low sodium level in blood (hyponatremia) that accompanies it. Symptoms include sluggishness and confusion.

© 2018 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/above/

Published by my loud whispers of hope

I share my story openly and honestly to educate others and increase the awareness of mental illness, reduce stigma, prevent suicide, to inspire, give hope and let God's love shine through me and touch you. I finished writing, proofreading and editing my memoir in January of 2019. I am in the process of sending my manuscript to agents and publishers that accept unsolicited maunscripts. I pray my words will turn into a book that will inspire and spark joy and hope in the lives of many. Recovery and healing are possible. I am living proof. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." ~Maya Angelou

23 Comments

  1. Oh my goodness, that is a lot of writing! Thank you for taking the time to erite it all out! Again, I must reblog this. There is so many ch to know. See, you are still here for a reason and a damn good one!

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    1. Yes. I always seem to have a lot to say. I talk a lot and thus I write a lot. Just so you know, I can’t take credit for all the words as I did not write all of the words, because the last two articles on the syndromes were copied and pasted. I copywrited them etc. So I didn’t write those two articles. That knowledge came from someone else, but I wanted to share it with everyone else. Thank you for more of your great comments to me. You sure have been on my side through all of this and before. You have been like one of my strongest cheerleaders through this. I love you for that… more than you could ever understand. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for so many reads and for so many kind and encouraging words and reblogging my posts etc. and thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and updating people. I appreciate you beyond words and measure. You are awesome. Thank you. One day I will catch up. I want to write a response to everyone’s comments. It might take a while, but I will get it done.. sometime. I must. It is the least I can do. Plus, I want to read other blogs too… especially yours. I haven’t brought myself to read my letter and all the comments… I have read some… enough to know what you did for me… Once again I have to say I love you. Sorry if that sounds strange, but I do. I am so thankful for you. I do wear my emotions on my sleeve for the world to see, as you can tell. Huge hugs. I pray your days and nights overflow with blessings. Love, Sue

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      1. It is because you wear your emotions on your sleeve, that I am learning about bipolar illness. I have mental illness, although a different one. It is under control now but I will never forget how it feels to not be in control of my own thoughts. You may not be the original writer of some of the words, but you are the one that researched the info and passed the info on, so I and others could read it and learn. That is why you are hear. I know it, I think you know it. Don’t worry about reading the letter you wrote and the comments people posted. We were all concerned. I’m sure it is unbearable to think about reliving that moment and that is quite possibly what it would feel like. I dont have twitter, it was one of your followers on twitter apparantly that got someone to your place in time. I love your writings. So many people need your words and insight. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Just make sure you get lots of rest right now.

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  2. Reblogged this on Rant and Reason and commented:
    Again, I must reblog one of Sue’s posts. “My loud bipolar whispers”. There is so much important information in this post, please read if you are bipolar or going through other mental illness issues. The post refers to medications and such that can be dangerous to your mental health instead of helping.

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    1. Yes I agree. I knew about Lithium and needing to have blood work done often but had no idea that Trileptal could put me in danger. My Psychiatrist retired due to his own illness about 4 years ago and I have been without a real Psychiatrist and any help for that long. I got my Klonopin from the County docs. I had seen a medical doctor many times for urinary retention problems a year ago, but they never checked my sodium level I guess, until I became severely ill and they had to figure it out. Duh. I knew something physically was wrong but I didn’t know what and they misdiagnosed me and than said I should go to physically therapy. Yep. I didn’t go to PT. Stupidest thing I ever heard. They didn’t know what was wrong so they just told me to go to physical therapy. I guess when they don’t know what is wrong they send you to PT. Not the best medical care here and our mental health care is now almost non-existent here and what we have is not good. I had to drive an hour away to get better quality care after my overdose. Right now, I am trying to go med. free because of learning how over medicated I have been for over 20 years etc. More on that information on a later post. I have learned a lot since my overdose… trying to figure it out and put the pieces back together and trying to understand. I truly reached a point of insanity, honestly I did. It was scary. Whew. I just thank God for saving my life, once again. My brain keeps trying to kill me, but God keeps saying NO! The title to my memoir is similar to that. It is the title of my written but unedited and unpublished memoir. Now I have more to add… hmmm… Thanks for all of your reads and love. You are awesome. I hope you are doing well and staying happy and healthy. Much love and huge hugs, Sue

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  4. As an RN, you never take a patient off a medication cold turkey if that person has been taking it for 8 years. This is probably why you became suicidal, not because of Klonopin. Bi-polar is a serious matter and for a doctor to stop a medication as you wrote here, is wrong. I’m truly sorry you are going through all this. I’m also a firm believer that sometimes, NOT all the time, we are able to heal our body/minds outside of mainstream medicine. My husband has issues due to Nam so I do know the necessity of medication when it is needed. You have BIG HUGS from me!!! 💖🌹💖

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    1. Thank you very much for your kind words of words of wisdom. I appreciate them greatly. I absolutely agree with you. I believe I have been over medicated for over 20 years and finally found out what Klonopin has been doing to my mind all of these years as well and 100s of ECTs I have had throughout my life. Yep. Wow. I agree with you and I am detoxing and feeling the painful and slow effects from over 20 years of abusing Klonopin and taking a severe overdose about 3 weeks ago. I am medication free right now and even though I still am feeling physically ill and weak and not 100% physically well, my mind is feeling clearer than it has been for over 20 years. I am not sure what it is or what I am feeling, but I can think clearer. What I thought was my racing rapid thoughts and brain due to hypomania was actually long term effects of Klonopin abuse prescribed repeatedly for years by my Psych. Now that it is working out out my system, it is amazing to be able to think clearer and almost one thought at a time. I am getting a new brain and I am loving it. I am just praying that what I am experiencing physically will not be permanent and is still the excess Klonopin working its way of of my system. Thanks again for your insight. Much love and hugs, Sue

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      2. Thank you. I am detoxing because I do not have a choice honestly. The doctor refused to give me any Klonopin, because I overdosed on it. Doctors know what happened, but no one seems concerned that I am detoxing from Klonopin. I even went to the ER since I have been home and they said I was fine and blood levels were okay so I guess I just keep working on this. No one has even given me any information on Klonopin withdrawal. I had to research it myself. I was even at Rochester Mayo Hospital which is supposed to be the best hospital around… so puzzling to me as well. I am kind of my own. Thank you for your words and encouragement and prayers. Have a great weekend. Hugs again, Sue

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  8. Yes I am one of those that can’t take meds at all for my bipolar. It is really hard and feels hopeless a lot but I refuse to die from treatment. Also a hard topic to discuss with others because a lot of people are misinformed about meds. There are somewhere around 2/3rds of us out here that meds don’t work for and that can be a little defeating. I almost lost my life once due to meds. I wish they worked for me but they just don’t. There is no one size fits all treatment for this. My mind might work different than yours even though we are both bipolar so we should not assume that what works for me will work for you. I guess the most important thing I can say is inform yourself and don’t give up!!!! It took me 10 years to figure out that I have to stay med free. Having bipolar is hard enough and I sure wish I could have that 10 years back knowing what I know now. Lol. But hindsight is an elusive animal!!! I like your post a lot. It makes we want to reassure others who are suffering to keep trying. I also feel that for me, it was a real epiphany to stop believing that my brain is defective. I had to accept that I’m simply different but not broken. There are so many of us out here. All brilliant in our own way. I struggle hard and sometimes it’s touch and go. Most of the time I am flying by the seat of my pants but I never give up hope!

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    1. Yes. I’m definitely one that meds were never effective for. Sorry to hear that you also had trouble with psychotropic medications. It makes the illness more difficult to treat and cope with that is for sure. I agree with you. Thanks so much for your valuable insight. I appreciate it greatly. You helped me a lot to know I’m not alone with having to be med. free to survive. I was never suicidal until I took meds. Also only suicide on meds. Meds and I do nit mix and I can never go on meds again either. O sure wish I knew what I know now 25 years ago. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. O just want to help others now never have to go through what I did

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  9. Oops. Sorry for some typos. I’m on my phone and make many more errors when on my phone. I was correcting my mistakes when I must have accidentally hit send. I hope you can decipher my comment on okay. Sorry again for my gibberish. Yes we can never give up hope. It first and will get better. I hope you are doing well. Have a happy, healthy and fabulous day. Hugs, Sue ❤😊

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