(I'm new here so please bare with me!)

I was put on Zoloft to treat Hypotension. Three weeks into this I began having seizures. One of my Doctors added a Beta-Blocker into my fourth week of zoloft, because my chest pains had not deminished. Then I was sent to a nuerologist. After countless tests and NO answers, he put me on Depekote. Within ten days my seizures changed. I no longer came out of them right away. The worst one - eight hours I could not move anything below my neck, but because I was able to cough when the Doctor asked me to, he believed this was all in my head and sent me to the psych unit of the hospital. This has terrified me. I can't think of any reason why anyone would fake this??????
The second time this happened I went to a different hospital. After I came out of it and talked with the Doctor, he also believed Zoloft started this. (After 4 different ones said NO WAY) I went off all meds, but the seizures have remained with me. (atleast 2 a week)

Three weeks ago I started back up on my beta-blocker, because my chest pains had returned (stronger). Six days into that and my seizures came on strong!!!! In three days I had a total of 17. I was admitted into the hospital for seven days. I was hooked up to the EMU for five days. I had no seizures during that time and was sent home. I have been off the beta-blocker for two weeks and have not had any seizures for almost a week and a half. What is the deal? Am I not going to be able to take anything now? I really need help. I'm not sure what to do? Or who I should see??

I don't have a clue, but good luck.

I believe all if not most antidepressants contain warnings about seizures as a possible side effect in people who have history of seizure disorder. I had been seizure free for several years without meds but when I tried amitrytaline 50mg I had seizures. When I tried celexa 20mg I was ok at 40mg I had seizures. So I take topamax along with any antidepressents and antiphycotics. Yes I belief Zoloft could do this to you. Easy enough stop the antidepressant and you will see if the seizures stop. If you need the antidepressant like I do take an anticonvolsant like topamax to prevent the seizures and live with it. Good luck!

I've been off the Zoloft since December (and all other meds). I'm still having a pretty rough time. I had my first seizure at work on Monday. I go back into the hospital at the end of the month. (EMU Unit) Maybe it wasn't the Zoloft I really don't know!?! I just know that there has to be a reason for this and its driving me crazy that the doctors can't figure it out.(especially since I had no prior seizure problems) Any suggestions would really be appreciated!


Thanks for listening/reading again. Hope all is blessed your way.

[This message has been edited by Lisa T (edited 02-14-2002).]

hi lisa,
i have seizures and have since 18 now 44. doctors don't know why i have them. i have grand-mal no meds can control, however i only have about 2,3 year. BUT, since i have been on Zoloft (4 months now) i have had a seizure once a month. so as of 3 days ago i stopped taking the zoloft and i will deal with my depression.
good luck..

hi i am new to this but i too have epilepsy. i had a brain haemorrhage 7 yrs ago which left me with temporal lobe epilepsy (i take tegratol for this) and a little anxiety. i went to the doctor nov 2001 and was given a script for cipramil i was highly allergic to the cipramil and kept falling over but not passing out. i ended up in hospital. a few months later i had a tonic clonic seizure then a few months later i had another that was on 2 jan this year. i did not suffer large seizures until i was given the cipramil. no-one told me that cipramil increases the chance of having tonic clonic seizures i found it out by chance when i looked up tonic clonic on the net. i hope you get better and stay of the cipramil i have never felt so bad as when i took the cipramil i would rather have temporal lobe epilepsy. i hope it all works out for you look after yourself best regards patricia

I am sorry to hear about your predicament. As I am writing this, I am going to have my first appointment with an epileptologist tomorrow. Hopefully, he will get my nocturnal seizures and daytime auras under control. Anyway, I now take 600 mg of Dilantin a night and 25 mg of Paxil CR (controlled release). Last time they checked, my levels are still low. I don't know much about how these drugs get along, but I know that the Paxil warnings advise against taking it with anticonvulsants. (It can affect phenytoin levels, they say.) Who knows. I don't even know whether the Paxil is doing any good; I only take it because my primary care doctor wants to believe -- or wants me to believe -- that this is all in my head. I am told that other physicians down the line will likely examine some growths in my brain as well as previous scarring from oxygen deprivation. Does anyone know much about Paxil and seizures? It seems like maybe it might be making things worse. As well, does anyone feel funny in the morning or after taking an evening nap following a dose (not counting seizures)? Thanks, and good luck to you all.

Also, I forgot to mention, that my counselor wants me to try a stronger medicine with a higher antianxiety-drug content. She feels that the Paxil CR isn't doing anything because it's mostly an antidepressant. I told her that I have read a lot of the stronger antianxiety drugs aren't safe to take with Dilantin. What do you think? I'm a bit worried about this right now, but like I said, I don't even know if the Paxil is worth the trouble.

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All of us has an angel, if only we know where to look.

Hi All,
In previous posts I have told about my nightmare with Prozac. Within a few days of beginning to take it I went into full fledged Statis Epilepticus (non-stop grand mal seizuring.) I was in one hospital for two days, and another for four while they tried to figure out what was going on. Finally they figured that it was the Prozac. None of the Doc's had ever heard about such a reaction! Be careful. Kathy

Lisa,

I read your post and it reminded me of my situation, although my experience wasn't nearly as devastating.

Many years ago, I started taking a beta blocker for my hypertension. I began having partial seizures, although at the time I didn't know what they were. Shortly after that, I started having tonic clonic seizures (at the time, they were still called gran mall). After I quit taking the beta blocker, the gran mall seizures stopped. I continued to have the partial seizures, but only about 1 every 6 months.

Last year, I had a bad bout with depression. They put me on antidepressants and the seizures started back full blown. I found out that the antidepressants reduce the threshhold for seizures so if you are prone to have them, you will, and more frequently.

I'm not sure why the beta blockers caused me start having seizure activity. If I'd known then that the damage was permanent (been 20 years now), I would have sued the company that makes Sectral. I feel they really should put out a warning about these drugs.

Cheri.

Hello! I'm still no where closer to knowing for sure if Zoloft was the cause. There is no family history of E and I had never had one before then. Now almost two years later I'm still having seizures. They are starting to be controlled (Dilantin 400mg). But my shaking spells and fainting episiodes are not. My life has changed so drastically!

Hope today is a good day for all of you!

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/angel.gif Lisa

Lisa,

This is just my opinion, but I think it has a lot to do with the Zoloft.

I have epilepsy. I'm 34 yrs. old. I've had epilepsy since I was about 14 mths. old. About a year ago at this time I was having trouble with my seizures. My neurologist perscribed Zoloft and it kept getting worse. My neurologist would increase the dosage and add other medicines and I started having seizures more and more frequently. It got to where I was having seizures every 2 wks. At that time, she dropped me as a patient. I weened myself off of Zoloft and I went almost 2 mths without having a seizure and went about 2 mths without a neurologist. Now I have a new neurologist and have gone almost 3 mths without having a seizure, which is the best I've done in almost 2 yrs. But it was when I start getting off the Zoloft that I started getting better. I couldn't function well either. I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't think of appropriate words, I couldn't remember things. Zoloft really messed me up. The best thing I ever did was get of that. It made a big difference.

I hope this helps.
Heather

I take Zoloft for anixety (that's what the drs think caus my seizures (we don't know yet). I heard that it will make you throw up if you eat grapefruit wile taking zoloft. If I understand you correctly I could be taking a medicine that my drs think is helping me but in reality it makes things words?

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Pearl201se11

[This message has been edited by Pearl201se11 (edited 03-19-2003).]

hi Lisa T,

WOW! i've been wondering if anyone else had been wondering about this!

i am a 36 year old female w/no previous personal or family history of seizures; i had a simple partial seizure-like thing 3 weeks ago while eating a chinese food brunch with friends. the factors are, i have been taking celexa for ~3 months, and had the dose raised just two days before the seizure, from 20mg to 30mg. i think in my case, the combination of four factors (they are: 1) the dose being raised, 2) the MSG in the food, 3) my empty stomach going into brunch, and 4) my getting my period the next day) was enough to lower my seizure threshold enough to produce the response.

i have found the SSRI-seizure connection to be a difficult one to prove; if doctors have heard about it, they don't like to admit that they've been advising you to do something without telling you of the risks, because then they are potentially liable.

however... there is a wonderful web article that i read; here's the URL: http://bupropion.com/wonderwell/. it talks about how when wellbutrin got a reputation for causing seizures in prone people, the company reformulated the drug so that the likely risk of seizures was brought down to below the likely risk of seizures when taking other antidepressants. now, i specifically chose to *not* take wellbutrin because of the seizure factor (even though i had never had one before). the data in the article is apparently quoted from a book called "Drug Facts and Comparisons," which in its 2000 edition gave the following risk levels (i think based on documented seizures in the test population, not based on predictions): Zoloft (0.2 percent), Luvox (0.2 percent) and Celexa (0.3 percent); prozac, paxil, and the new wellbutrin apparently carry a 0.1 percent risk.

i've been thinking for months, even years now that there has to be a better way to deal with depression than popping a pill every day -- as a good friend said, "you're messing with your brain." this morning, my husband and i started to outline a more healthy eating pattern for us to make sure that we're getting the amino acids and such that we need so that hopefully we can controll our moods without taking meds.

and i'm going to call my psychiatrist tomorrow and tell her that i want to stop the celexa, because a 0.3 percent risk is a bit too high for me, especially given that i've now had something close to a bona fide seizure. the last thing i want is to be taking more pills!

best of luck to all in getting through this.

twirlygirl

p.s. the thing that continues to get me is that i told the GP, the neurologist, etc. of my concerns, and they paid no attention to it. they hold a hammer, it looks like a nail, so bang. arrrrgh!

Pearl201se11,
Your dr is probably correct. This is my opinion, but I would get off of the Zoloft. It was the best thing I ever did. The change was so drastic, for the better. I noticed it immediateley. Everything I've ever read or heard, says it's dangerous to take with anticonvulsants. And it is definiteley, dangerous to take with Lamictal. I've also read, with some people, it can bring on seizures, even without anticonvulsants. Taking Zoloft was the biggest mistake I ever made. I may have ended up in the hospital if I hadn't gotten off of Zoloft.

I suggest getting off Zoloft. That's just my opinion. I know this doesn't happen with everyone. But after that experience, it just scares me and I don't like the thought of someone else having to go through that crap.

Heather

I was given a prescription for Wellbutrin SR for depression and ptsd. Wellbutrin is supposed to be just like Zoloft... (without sexual side effects I was told) It said in the pamphlet that you get at Walgreens with medication that the medication can cause seizures in patients, so don't take it if you already have seizures. I was given that medication anyways, Probably because I only have 2-3 seizures per year.
So yes, it very well may have been the medication. Maybe you are like me,and didn't know that you were going to have seizures until later in life... (I was 24.) I feel sad for you, it is hard to find something out that way. If I were you, I would look for a second opinion.

Good luck!

I was on Paxil for 4 months because I was depresed during a breakup. The doctors hand this crap out like candy. I quit after 4 months and was having dizzy spells. This was during the week so I started taking the Paxil again until a Friday so I could get through the withdrawl symptoms on the weekend.

I had my first ever seizure that next Tuesday. I have had 4 grand mals so far (anywhere from 7 to 10-1/2 months apart). I never had a seizure until I quit the Paxil. It is just too odd how it all happened. I just don't think it is a "coincidence". To this day, I still believe Paxil lowered my seizure threshold and is the reason I began having seizures. I am waiting for the day Paxil is proven to cause this situation so I can sue the piss out of em!

[This message has been edited by Phantom_309 (edited 02-24-2003).]

I am so there with you about sueing the pants off these people once it is proven. Or maybe we should just make the big shots in the pill industry try their drugs!!!! See if they mind the seizures. SORRY! But I have been thinking that for oh so long, thanks for having the guts to type it!!

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/angel.gif Lisa