To make a long story short, I went to the ER twice a month ago because of severe anxiety attacks. The doctor put me on High blood pressure meds and Zoloft. I seemed ok for awhile but then about a week ago I had a couple of beers (like 2 or 3) and blacked out. I dont remember anything else, except that in the police report I was trying to get in a club (I guess I drove about 10 miles to this club, i dont remember), and got into an argument with some undercover cops outside, ran across the street like a maniac, threw a random punch at someone, then ran from the cops. When they caught up to me, I turned on them as if to fight them, and got tackled and near got my arm broken off. I spent the night in jail and got released the next day.
Im being charged with fleeing, resisting arrest, Public Intox (no breathalizer or test was done, they just assumed and said they smelled a strong odor on me), and disorderly conduct. I have no history of offenses, and I dont remember any of this, nor do I think it was because of alcohol. Do you think possibly it was a severe reaction to my meds?
I have been in a heart-wrenching custody battle as of late, and my ex set me off earlier that day, im wondering if it had anything to do with it and If I just literally went temporarily crazy that evening.
Is a way to plea my case to the judge? In the police report after I was taken down I was telling the cops they were being nice to me and just all out weird stuff.
I'm guessing the HBP med they put you on was Clonodine, which wouldn't attribute to anything you said. Here are the possible side effects for Zoloft: severe mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself, very stiff (rigid) muscles, high fever, sweating, confusion, fast or uneven heartbeats, feeling like you might pass out, agitation, hallucinations, fever, overactive reflexes , tremors, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, feeling unsteady, loss of coordination, headache, trouble concentrating, memory problems, weakness, fainting, seizure, shallow breathing or breathing that stops.
Thats a pretty complete list and there are some things in there that attribute to your actions that night. The problem you have with this is on every bottle of Zoloft given out by a pharmacy and every psych med for that matter there are 2 warning labels, one says do not drink alcohol while taking this med, the other says do not drive, operate heavy machinery, etc. until you know how this medication affects you and/or this medication may cause dizziness or drowsiness. That negates your claim that the meds were responsible for your actions. When you ignore the warning labels and do what they say not to anyway, you never know what can happen. Even if you say, there were no labels on my bottle, the pharmacy gives you a 2 page document that list every possible side effect and tells you in greater detail what you are not supposed to do while on this medication including drink alcohol. The D.A. will have this information and will shoot down any defense you try to make out of "the meds made me do it".
You might do better to claim temporary insanity do to extreme stress. What does your lawyer say?
I spent a long time talking with my doctor actually yesterday, and with my symptoms as of late and problems I have been having hes starting to think that I may have a bi polar disorder along with my anxiety issues. He stated that I more than likely have always had it and the zoloft may have helped to uncover it. I may have had a severe manic episode.
I'm not trying to attribute what happened to it, but rather... trying to figure out what happened. The fact that I only remember pain and people laughing at me is quite scary. He precribed seroquel along with my zoloft and Im not going to touch alcohol again for awhile. I havn't taken the seroquel yet (takes a few days for it to get authorized I think at my pharacist), but hopefully it helps.
My wife keeps telling me she is not sure what person shes going to come home to. I have terrible mood swings of highs and lows, contant thoughts of the fragility of life, boredom with life, irrational thoughts, etc...
You may have. I have BiPolar disorder, was DX'd 23 yrs ago. What you did the other night is not a normal Manic episode. Generally it does not involve harming someone, you don't "black out", and you don't "not remember it".
If you do seriously think you have BiPolar, you need to get under the care of a Psychiatrist not and M.D. M.D.'s think they can treat it, but they don't know much about it and they aren't very good at treating it. Psychiatrists are trained to treat BP, and some even specialize in it. BiPolar, especially rapid cycling (changing from depressed to manic frequently) can be really hard to treat, and regulate. Pdocs (psychiatrists) have more knowledge of medication management. Sometimes it takes several drugs and several kinds of drugs to manage BP and get you stable, and it can take months or years to find the right combination of meds. I take 6 medications daily to keep my BP semi-stable. There are also general life changes that your pdoc can help you learn that help.
I'm not trying to scare you with all of this, but BiPolar is a very serious diagnosis, it's a complete lifestyle change, living with Bipolar is a way of life, it affects everything you do. The faster you get properly diagnosed by a pdoc and get your meds and therapies going, the better off you are.
He was going to send me to a Psych, but went off and spoke to someone else (I'm assuming a senior M.D.), then came back and stated he was gonna put me on the med and see how it worked for me first before sending me to the Psych.
I'm bipolar. If a dr is rxing you seroquel you need to see a pdoc and not wait to see how the med works before going to see a pdoc. Depending on your area it can take a while to get in with a good pdoc. Take the seroquel and look for a pdoc. Do not drink alcohol on seroquel. Just a heads up you most likely will gain some weight on the seroquel. I gained 50 pounds but it came off once I switched meds. Just a heads up.
I'm bipolar. If a dr is rxing you seroquel you need to see a pdoc and not wait to see how the med works before going to see a pdoc. Depending on your area it can take a while to get in with a good pdoc. Take the seroquel and look for a pdoc. Do not drink alcohol on seroquel. Just a heads up you most likely will gain some weight on the seroquel. I gained 50 pounds but it came off once I switched meds. Just a heads up.
I just lost 35lbs this year, I sure hope not. But I keep a very active lifestyle.
I read somewhere that your body may have trouble regulating heat and its not advised to have vigorous exercise?
I never had trouble with heat on seroquel but I did have some awful dry mouth. Not sure if seroquel was the problem because I was on a lot of meds at the time. Best of luck to you.
Don't know any BP'ers that have a problem with heat. But, most psych meds make you gain weight and there's not really anything you can do about it. Even those of us who eat right, excercise, etc. still gain weight, it's just a side effect of the meds.
This is another reason you need to be diagnosed by a Psychiatrist, Seroquel isn't usually one of the first meds given for BiPolar, it is one of the ones that cause the biggest weight gain. A pdoc might very well start you on a different med with less side effects.
Went to jail, possibly because of medication? 
