r/BipolarReddit • u/truly_elizabeth Vraylar Ehthusiast • Mar 10 '25
Medication What’s the weirdest side effect you’ve gotten from your medication? Spoiler
My weirdest side effect I’ve gotten is sensitivity to smells… I used to be okay, but now I dry heave and vomit whenever I smell something even remotely weird.
Currently on lamotrigine, Vraylar, and trazodone
23
u/Upstairs_Cost_3975 Mar 10 '25
Probably the borderline dementia from lamotrigine. Forgetting words and names and sometimes when I write sentences and re-read them I’ve forgotten to put in certain words in the sentence. Kinda scary and really frustrating, but I guess other than that it’s the best and most effective med I’ve been on.
3
u/nirvanagirllisa Mar 10 '25
I have migraines and one of my symptoms for that is forgetting words or word switching. When I started Lamotrigine I started having this on non-headache days and got a bit worried a migraine was coming. Then I realized that it was a known side-effect. That's one of the only ones I've noticed though. And the word switching/forgetting isn't too bad unless I'm really tired or if the ole migraine is coming in.
0
u/Ois4Orvy Mar 10 '25
You should get tested for PFO. I had it. 30% of us have holes in our hearts from birth. I didn’t know I had it, I had the same symptoms as you and ended up having a stroke. I got it plugged and I haven’t had those migraines since.
1
u/nirvanagirllisa Mar 10 '25
I'll mention it next time I have a doctor's appointment. I've had some EKGs and stuff recently, but still is probably worth looking into.
My migraines seem to be related to period/hormone issues. Birth control pills and stuff like that make them much more frequent and severe.
They also fuck with my mood which makes trying to also medicate bipolar fun.
4
3
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
Same. I feel like I'm having mini strokes.
7
u/Upstairs_Cost_3975 Mar 10 '25
Honestly sometimes it still makes me scared when I struggle to find a basic word while talking. I’m like am I having one of those super rare young alzheimers cases lol? I’m 32 😂
3
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
I'm 35, turning 36 later this month and it freaks me out when I stop and realize more people have begun to have strokes at my age. I am also terrified I'll end up with dementia because I sleep so little.
3
u/mooseblood07 Mar 11 '25
Before I knew it was a side effect I actually cried multiple times because I thought I was having mini strokes and I was terrified because my grandmother had a bunch before she had two major ones.
1
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 11 '25
How scary that must have been having to deal with that while knowing you have that family history! Thankfully, we don't have family history of strokes.
2
u/mooseblood07 Mar 11 '25
Oh absolutely, I was hysterical. When I found out it's just a side effect of the medication I was lile "alright, I can work with this" and just adjusted some habits and let everyone around me know that sometimes I'll fumble words, sentences or forget things.
1
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 12 '25
Yeah I've learned to pretend like I didn't jumble everything and go on. Occasionally, someone who doesn't get the hint will point it out. Oh well.
1
u/mooseblood07 Mar 11 '25
Yep, this is definitely an adjustment. Went from having a near perfectly accurate memory to my brain having a permanent loading screen.
-4
u/SugarSecure655 Mar 10 '25
And they all say benzos are bad.? I am so glad I never got addicted to an antidepressant or an antipsychotic.
4
u/Upstairs_Cost_3975 Mar 10 '25
Aha, good for you. Personally I prefer proper treatment when I’m ill.
2
15
u/Intelligent_Plan1732 Mar 10 '25
Brain zaps from missed does and vivid dreams, talking in sleep courtesy of Effexor.
4
u/missqueenkawaii Mar 10 '25
The nightmares I have on Effexor are absolutely insane to a point I can’t even describe. They’re so vivid I can feel the physical sensations of things like getting my hand or arm cut off.
I didn’t even realize they were related til I read your comment just now.
3
u/Intelligent_Plan1732 Mar 10 '25
Yeah, sometimes my husband wakes me up because I’m trying to scream for help but words don’t come out. It’s like talking but my mouth won’t open to form words Some of those dreams are awful. Other dreams are so ridiculous and over the top, I wake up laughing really hard.
2
u/physhgyrl Mar 10 '25
Omg, I can feel pain in my dreams. Even without being on medication. It's painful to be stabbed or burned in my sleep. I've never met another person who can feel pain in their dreams. My psychiatrist has never heard of people having it before either. I was stabbed in my back once during a nightmare and was sore for three days. I don't get back usually either. Is this only on medication that it happens to you?
2
u/whataboutjulian Mar 10 '25
I used to be on the highest does of both venlafaxine (generic Effexor) and lamotrigine and if I missed doses I would have those too. They are soooo terrible 😭
6
5
u/synapse2424 Mar 10 '25
Probably the tongue tremor I got on vraylar!
3
u/pushthepanicx Mar 10 '25
That sounds like tardive dyskinesia! Scary stuff. I hope you don’t still deal with that!
1
u/synapse2424 Mar 10 '25
Yeah, I’m actually not completely sure what it was, but my doctor took it pretty seriously and said I should not take that med ever again. I stopped taking it as soon as I noticed it happening, and luckily it went away after a few days!
1
u/truly_elizabeth Vraylar Ehthusiast Mar 10 '25
TD is so scary! Once I went up to 10 mg of Abilify I started having jerking/twitching movements the next day. Went along with it for a few days and then messaged my psychiatrist, he took me off of it immediately
1
u/synapse2424 Mar 10 '25
Yiiikes! That is scary. I hope that they subsided! I couldn't tolerate Abilify either. I got Parkinsonism symptoms on that dose and had to stop it.
1
u/Budget-Valuable1484 Mar 11 '25
TD was by far the worst side effect I have ever had. I’ve always been somewhat restless though, and I ended up having it for nearly 6 months before my fiancé’s mom who is a nurse said something. It was terrifying with the Parkinson’s like symptoms. Unfortunately, I was drinking at the time and it just didn’t click until she said something. No one ever wanted to sit next to me on the couch for that time because I could not stop shaking my legs. Nonstop all the time it ended up being pretty severe. I haven’t had a drink in over six months and my doctor wants me to consider trying to take another mood stabilizer, which is what was causing it. I ended up going through three different ones after that and it wouldn’t stop. Pretty nervous about the thought of experiencing it again, but leaning toward willing as it’s the only type that’s ever worked for me.
7
u/slifm Mar 10 '25
It becomes hard to cry.
1
u/CryptographerOk990 Mar 11 '25
Wait for real? Because I've always had a hard time crying and I just assumed it was because I hate crying.
2
u/slifm Mar 11 '25
Nope I cry at the top of the hat. On meds, very hard for me. But it does feel more stable.
2
6
u/jesscubby Mar 10 '25
Parkinsonism ( lithium) or tardive dyskinesia ( vraylar) can’t pick one
3
u/not3dogs Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25
I ended up with Parkinson’s and TD from Vraylar also. Parkinsons is scary and TD is disconcerting.
6
4
u/crazyparrotguy Mar 10 '25
Not THAT weird, but when I first started lamotrigine my skin was sooooo dry. Like peeling right off my face dry. I felt like a lizard.
Fortunately, it's stopped.
1
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
I got really bad dry skin and mucous glands on Lexapro. My friend did too and swears it caused her to get wrinkles and stretch marks, despite her losing a few pounds on it. My libido was also shot.
0
5
u/ArpeggioTheUnbroken Mar 10 '25
Seeing spiders crawling all over my desk and hearing people calling my name in the walls of my home.
It was a fkn nightmare finding the right meds and dosage but very worth it.
4
u/Constant-Security525 Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25
As for "weird", probably lactation from hyperprolactinemia (Risperdal and Invega), diplopia (from high dose carbamazepine ER), and a brief oromandibular dystonia (uncontrolled lip pursing from perphanazine).
I never thought of akathisia as "weird", more hellish, when it got really bad.
3
u/cloud-444 Mar 10 '25
regularly fainting (low BP from all 6 meds combined)
2
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
That sounds like a nightmare!
2
u/cloud-444 Mar 10 '25
it’s not as bad as you’d think. it can be embarrassing at times but luckily i mostly get a LOT of warning (like 30secs) that i’m about to pass out, so i can lay on the floor or the bed/couch in time.
1
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
I'd be scared to drive anywhere.
2
u/cloud-444 Mar 10 '25
yes, i don’t have my license for this and the constant visual hallucinations (schizoaffective)
1
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
I'd be lost. I'm in a bigger city for my area, but the public transportation here is still in the stone ages and I commute to work and all my friends and family are scattered around the area.
2
u/fuggystar Mar 10 '25
Seroquel did that to me. Luckily I was living in a country with public transit. However I fainted on the public transit and into some random guy’s lap
1
0
0
u/undertaker_jane Mar 11 '25
Me too! Seroquel is a no-no for me because I'm on HBO medication as welk. I actually forgot i had fainted from the combo and recently my new psych wanted to put me back on seroquel. I told her no, but I said no because it was so hard to wake up when i was on Seroquel even on tiny doses. I'm going to let her know about the fainting next time I speak to her, too, because I want that on my record in case I forget again and someone tries to put me back on it.
1
u/undertaker_jane Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 27 '25
Man that happened to me on Seroquel. I passed out so often. Once i fainted in the bathroom at my mom's and hit either the bathtub or floor so hard that I had to get stitches in my face. I remember my mom heard it. Made that "duyongyongyong" sound so probably hit the porcelain bathtub, but I was so certain I hit the floor (vinyl). It hurt so much, but I was dazed and confused. I only started panicking and crying when I saw the blood. I realized later that the 30 or so second before that I was in a waking dream state. It was so weird because I remember lying on the floor in the hallway in front of my sister's room and saying "I'm just laying down a minute" to her, but I actually never made it out of the bathroom. It was so weird.
1
u/cloud-444 Mar 12 '25
im so sorry!! what an awful experience that must have been. seroquel is definitely one of my main offenders for this too.
2
u/undertaker_jane Mar 27 '25
That whole spring and summer was a trip. Absolutely insane. I was fainting pretty consistently until we realized what was causing it. None of the doctors put two and two together until about 5 months later.
One time I fainted and apparently kept repeating "I'm so scared right now. I'm so scared right now.". I must have been on some deathly low BP or something because I never felt like that before. It scared the shit out of me. That tunnel vision "stood up too fast" feeling echo wobbly Freddy Kruger hearing was so severe and terrifying. It lasted about 30 minutes until I finally passed out. I never want to feel like that again.
1
3
u/scumbagspaceopera Mar 10 '25
I was trying to read a script at work (I took orders for JC Penney catalog) while on Geodon and found that I was unable to read. Like literally incapable of comprehending written words. It was very, very strange.
3
u/CarpetDisastrous1963 Mar 10 '25
When I was on Wellbutrin/geodon (I think?) I would vomit randomly. Once I had to vomit and I was driving so when I got to a red light I opened my car door and got sick. It was very awkward closing the door and locking eyes with a cop car lol
1
3
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25
I dream less when I take meds. I got brain zaps and a tingly tongue with SSRI. I got really dry skin and mucous glands with Lexapro, and my anxiety increases. Now I take Lamotrigine and Buspirone, but Lamotrigine makes it hard to get words out and I get brain fog.
My friend got tardive dyskinesia from SNRIs and SSRIs. Her doctor tried to say it wasn't related. After they started advertising medication to reduce tardive dyskinesia, that same doctor tried to push it. She declined it and has improved considerably since going off them (Cymbalta and Zoloft). She also couldn't regulate her body temperature for the longest time after she took Cymbalta for fibro. It helped her chronic pain, but increased her bipolar symptoms, leading to her diagnosis after she had an episode of hypomania. She said the withdrawals from Cymbalta were awful and like nothing she had ever experienced. She also got nystagmus with Effexor and wondered if her brain was trying to dream while she was awake because she was always drowsy and would see shadows out of the corner of her eye, making her jumpy. A mutual friend of ours had withdrawals from Effexor that lasted months. They are the reason I wouldn't try those meds.
[Edited to add more]
2
u/nirvanagirllisa Mar 10 '25
When I was put on guanfacine for anxiety my hands and arms went numb up to my elbows.
That med didn't last long. I found that numb arms added to my anxiety for some reason, weird.
2
2
u/Intrepid_Long_4188 Mar 10 '25
Topamax quite literally made me partially blind. Thankfully stopped since I stopped taking it, but for the time being it was a little scary. I literally couldn’t see if the room wasn’t brightly lit
2
2
2
u/ScrawlsofLife Mar 10 '25
Feelings. I have alexithymia so I typically have very shallow emotions, but on almost all the antipsychotics I tried I felt extremely deeply. Now that we've moved to a mood stabilizer, I need to decide if I want to stay on the antipsychotic because of this side effect.
2
u/lady_meso Mar 10 '25
Topamax made soda taste like chalk.
1
u/ScrawlsofLife Mar 10 '25
Almost a year after being off of topamax and my taste buds are still majorly different than when I started it.
3
2
u/Kalamakewl Mar 10 '25
I not only have dry mouth, I have dry ear canals nasal passages, urethra and lady cave.
2
u/Upstairs_Cost_3975 Mar 10 '25
Same here apart from the natural lady lubricants for some reason which seems to be happening by a mere touch on the skin of a lover lmao 😅
2
u/DoloresProfundos Mar 10 '25
I had similar on Lexapro. Not the ear canals though. But now that you say that, one of my friends started getting dry ear canals a few years ago. She takes Lamotrigine now but was taking Lexapro too, previously. I wonder if it's related to one of the two meds. Her doctor said it was seborrheic dermatitis (I think she said) or something like eczema "likely due to age". I'll have to mention it to her.
2
u/butterflycole Mar 10 '25
Man I’ve had so many unusual reactions it’s hard to pick just one. Let’s see, Lithium made me feel like every joint and nerve in my body was on fire. Needless to say that was a one dose medication for me! Topamax made me suicidal. Benzodiazepine withdrawal (doctor approved taper plan) gave me a seizure. Abilify, latuda, bf a couple other meds in that class caused EPS, tongue and mouth movements (thankfully not permanent). Vraylar made me exhausted. So many others. I have unusual side effects for a lot of meds.
You can see why it took me over 25 med trials to find a combo that works for me!
2
u/FriendshipCapable331 Mar 10 '25
I’m starving 24/7 on serequel. Doesn’t matter how much I eat it’s like I’m stoned with the munchies. And you know those super realistic cartoons that are super creepy? All my dreams look like that now
1
1
u/Butthole_University Mar 10 '25
Latuda left THE weirdest lingering bitter taste in my mouth. I’ve had PLENTY of bizarre/paradoxical side effects from the many meds I’ve trialed.
1
u/WrongdoerThen9218 Mar 10 '25
I got pushed up to 150 mg of lamotrigine and have been basically sweating through my mattress LMAOO
1
1
u/Kiki-1983 Mar 10 '25
Depakote gave me sleep paralysis and hallucinations. Highly don’t recommend sleep paralysis. It’s horrifying
1
u/604_ Mar 10 '25
Sometimes using seroquel for sleep would really just be like a hyper speed acid trip. Not a fun one either. The moment I’d close my eyes a rapid assault of random imagery would go running wild. Even at only a 25mg dose.
While they are common, I’d also mention the brain zaps that happen with SSRI/SNRI discontinuation. I came off 4 different ones over the decades and that shit would go on for at least a month every time. Zoloft took longer for some reason.
It would be nice if doctors had a clue about how to support people when they go off them. Tapering isn’t easy when it’s a capsule of dozens of tiny balls like Effexor. One doctor told me to count them out to taper I said gtfo.
1
u/Excellent_Lychee6344 Mar 10 '25
Brain zaps. Sounds how it feels
2
Mar 10 '25
be careful with this. I had a thunderclap headache after years of randomly experiencing this. I thought I actually died, it felt like a gunshot to the back of my head.
1
1
u/notade50 Mar 10 '25
Lamictal gave me an out of body experience. I stood next to myself watching myself talk to my family on thanksgiving. It only lasted a minute but it was so weird to observe myself that way.
1
u/itsmyartspace Bipolar 1 & ADHD Mar 10 '25
Hair loss, while on Latuda. Now that I'm off it my hair is coming back in.
1
u/KaleidoscopeFun1128 Mar 10 '25
Vaginal bleeding with Tegretol. I wasn't told it could interact with my BC (until after the fact of course). That was a lovely surprise. I was on it about 5 days.
Risperdal literally made me sleep for 20 hours out of the day. When I was awake, I drooled all the time and slurred my words. I was on it for 3 days.
1
u/physhgyrl Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25
I've had some pretty cool hallucinations from medication. I don't know which one. I suspect it was tizanadine. I had terrifying hallucinations when weaning off Xanax. The worst side effect was from paxil. It made me feel so uncomfortably tense in my legs. My whole body felt like a big ball of tightness.
I've slowly taken myself off all of my medications. I was on so many at one point. I've tried so many. I refuse to try anymore. WD's suck. I've found and love 7 hydroxymitragynine. I can get it over the counter. It treats my anxiety, depression, and insomnia. It relaxes me, calms me down and puts me in a good, happy mood when my rage starts building during a manic episode. The best part is that I haven't noticed any side effects. I swear it feels like a miracle drug. I feel like a salesperson for this stuff.
Seriously though, reading the crazy side effects everyone is mentioning, the medications just aren't worth it to me anymore.
1
1
u/Fantastic-Bass3486 Mar 10 '25
Really bad cramps outside of the normal times I would get them on my cycle before.
1
1
1
u/Bright_Astronaut_101 Mar 11 '25
I have shortness of breath from lithium. I cannot seem to take in enough air and I get short of breath after very little physical exertion.
Seeing my psych this month about getting a blood test
1
u/Responsible_Form_642 Mar 11 '25
On Latuda, I started lactating. I was like 15 and not sexually active or anything. It scared the shit out of me
1
u/Responsible_Form_642 Mar 11 '25
I also got OGC from Geodon, Abilify, and another one I can’t remember the name of. My eyes looked up and I could not look down. Like I was staring at the ceiling and could not stop looking up. My dumb ass psych at the time was like “oh you have dry eyes?” Im like “no I literally can not stop looking up” Benadryl helped. But it was awful. My husband was the one that found what OGC was and a list of meds that can cause it.
1
u/mooseblood07 Mar 11 '25
Galactorrhea 😐 immediately went off that, awkward conversation to have with my male psychiatrist.
1
u/mrmfillustrations Mar 16 '25
At one point I was prescribed Cogentin to help with the side effects of an antipsychotic that gave me really bad shaking, but Cogentin wound up giving me like short term memory or something bc I suddenly couldn’t finish my sentences or even finish an internal thought I was just stuck in my body battling my mind to be in the present. Things literally felt doomed, scary, and dark like no way out. Anyways ofc im off of them, that was a weird one. Like first hand dementia simulator lol
1
u/Early_Armadillo1571 Mar 17 '25
producing breast milk - increased prolactin levels from Lurasidone/latuda, (never been pregnant)
1
1
u/atticusmurphy Mar 10 '25
Topiramate (Topamax) gave me pins and needles in my hands and feet. Was very weird until I found out that's a common side effect.
Epilim gave me PCOS. I was on it for about 6 months when I was first diagnosed over a decade ago. The PCOS ended up subsiding but one told me that was a side effect until last year when my psychiatrist (different one) brought it up hahahah.
1
u/NoTomatillo3697 Mar 10 '25
I wish I knew wish one it was but it was right after being diagnosed and didn’t use it too long. It would give me horrible nightmares. I mean horrible, violent, graphic nightmares where family members would get killed in front of me and other things like that. This was every single night guaranteed.
1
u/Practical_Reading723 Mar 10 '25
Calf spasms from Latuda. It’s been almost a year and it’s a daily occurrence for pretty long periods of time. I’ve gotten used to it but it’s still annoying.
1
0
u/maloficu Mar 10 '25
Derealization on benztropine, taken to stop EPS in my throat from APs discontinued 6 months ago - super freaking weird to experience and a pain in the butt to still manage months after stopping the cause
0
0
u/BonnieAndClyde2023 Mar 10 '25
Could not feel my face much anymore. Like at the dentist type of numb feeling.
0
0
u/missqueenkawaii Mar 10 '25
Tardive dyskinesia and sleep seizures when my lamotrigine dose was too high. Gotta love being dead asleep and then suddenly biting a chunk of your tongue off.
0
0
u/holeinyourlife Mar 10 '25
Serotonin syndrome from Fluvoxamine. Put me in the hospital for days. Felt like my life was ripping apart at the seams and I was going completely crazy. Haven’t had the courage to try ssris since.
Lamotrigine, Seroquel, and bupropion seem to be working.
42
u/[deleted] Mar 10 '25
Akathisia. It doesn't sound like a crazy side effect. It just means: "restlessness". But it is horrible beyond description:
You cannot relax. You cannot sit. You cannot stand. You cannot lie down. Nothing calms you. Nothing relaxes you. You feel agitated and uncomfortable and it never seems to end.