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Anxiety, depression meds with neuro lyme

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Posted 3/19/2017 2:11 PM (GMT -5)
My husband has chronic neurological Lyme. Current treatment is IV rocephin at llmd office 2 x a week. Waiting on pre auth to be approved by insurance company for picc line. He takes his supplements, detox with epson salt baths, coffee enemas, lemon water. But his anxiety and depression are getting out of control. He takes seraquel for anxiety and just started pristiq for depression. I know it takes awhile for pristiq to kick in, but just would like to know if anyone else takes this combo and how it works for them. Hoping and praying the IV abx daily will help. Thanks
Posted 3/19/2017 2:21 PM (GMT -5)
Welcome Lyme wife. Sorry about your husband!

Sounds like you are already pretty well versed on the path to healing, just want to point out our intro "New to Lyme?" topic in any case. There may be some welcome ideas in there for you.

Many here are or have dealt with anxiety and depression and it is so scary when it gets out of control. I've not had experience with seraquel or pristiq, but hopefully someone else here has, or is familiar with it.
Posted 3/19/2017 2:23 PM (GMT -5)
Many do have luck with herbs, minerals and amino acids for dep/anz. Blockage of specific minerals and amino acids are the causes. So what does western medicine do - give us chemicals LOL.

Without the Rx chemicals in ones blood you can try the minerals : Magnessium glycinate 400mg / 80mg and Lithium Orotate 5mg - not the drug, the mineral! Dont freak, it in the ground and in veggies.

Amino acids - 5-htp, gaba ect, there are more

Herbs - st johns wart, lavender, chamile, passion flower, valerian root - most of these make you tired though.

AND detox to open up the clogged methalation pathways- as they are not "flowing" right now.
Posted 3/19/2017 2:43 PM (GMT -5)
Hi Lyme wife - Sorry that your husband has Lyme disease, but am glad that you found us here.

Your husband is fortunate to have you supporting him through this. It's a long, tough road for you two.


Something important that you can help your husband with - is detoxing. He needs to flush out the toxins created by the die-off of the bacteria.


Is your husband on a daily probiotic? ...and liver support supplement?
Posted 3/19/2017 2:45 PM (GMT -5)
There's also a medication - Actigall that people take to protect their gall bladder when on IV antibiotics. Is your husband on that?
If not, maybe worth discussing with his LLMD.
Posted 3/19/2017 2:51 PM (GMT -5)
Girlie - he takes pearls regularly and a liver support for several days after the IV. Maybe he needs to take more often. He also takes methylguard B. , Magnesium, fish oil, vitamin D, epson salt baths and coffee enimas most days. I am having him try the foot baths tonight.

I do think a lot of the issues are the die off.
Posted 3/19/2017 2:54 PM (GMT -5)
I will ask about the actigall. Seeing llmd on Tuesday. Thanks
Posted 3/19/2017 3:27 PM (GMT -5)
You're welcome!


Yes, I agree - he is herxing from the die-off.

The foot baths are a great detox.

...and make sure he is drinking lots of water. Squeezing fresh lemon juice into some of the glasses is helpful, too.
Posted 3/19/2017 5:36 PM (GMT -5)
Hi there, I used both of those medications, at the same time. They didn't work, so the doctor added klonopin, then another medication, and another, and another......My body became physically addicted to the medication, that did not help, as my dosages were increased over and over (up to 500 mg of seroquil, and I weighed about 110 lbs). The meds zonked me for awhile (I was on these for about a year and a half to two years), but my symptoms kept coming back, which is why the doc increased them over and over. Finally, I decided to come off the medication, and did so with my doctor's okay and supervision. I tapered down slowly, but apparently not slow enough. I ended up in the hospital 3 times in 3 months.

The second hospital trip, I was slurring my words so badly and was shaking and seizing, my husband thought I was having a stroke. I could not even make a complete sentence, my right side was rocking, I couldn't keep my eyes open. We got to the hospital and my body broke out in a seizure. Terrible things happened. Worse time in my life.

I would say I wish I had never taken those drugs, but I learned my lesson, and for that I am grateful. I know that for some people they are useful, I also know that I wish someone would have told me that if you take certain medications (klonopin for example) you can literally die if you miss one dose. I was coming off of these medications under the supervision of the doctor who prescribed them, and never even knew the hell that awaited me.

I did NOT write these things to scare you, I only write them so that you have another side of the story. I would NEVER take ANY of those chemicals again.

However, if they help your husband, we all react differently to the same thing! And moderators, if this was a bad post, I'm sorry!!!!!
Posted 3/19/2017 5:55 PM (GMT -5)
I'm in the same boat with PantsFace. Right before I got Lyme I was seeking help getting off antidepressants. I'd been on just about everything for 15 years and they always ended up not helping for more than a few months. I could get by for years, but always just barely. I was told it was a chemical imbalance, probably hereditary, and I just simply must have AD's.

I know AD's can help some people, and if its temporary because of Lyme, okay. But I know mine were a nightmare to switch and come off of. I was suicidal from the withdrawal, worse than anything I felt before going on AD's. Like PantsFace said, I was addicted.

I started seeing a Naturopathic Doctor to help me recover my brain while tapering off AD's. It was hell but I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. I had to take 3000 mg of omega-3 a day, and that's difficult to do because most of the drug store fish oils only contain about 360 mg of actual EPA and DHA - the most important part. Even if they say "super potent", you look at the ingredients and realize they're junk. I can only get good quality stuff from my ND or online. maybe GNC. The same with my 5-htp and GABA supplements - I only take what my ND recommends, because the cheap stuff in the store just isn't trustworthy. I also made a complete 180 in my diet, cut out most processed foods, soy, gluten, dairy and learned that "healthy" "natural" and "organic" are just unregulated buzzwords that don't mean much, and everything has way too much sugar.

I say all that to say this: if he has bad reactions to the AD's, there are natural alternatives, but it will likely require professional help, not internet research and Walgreen's supplements - because you just don't know what's good quality, and if its not working because it doesn't work, or because you haven't gotten the right quality. And when the Lyme is over if he wants to get off the AD's, a naturopath can help with that too - I tried doing it alone and nearly killed myself.

Lyme (and Babesia) are causing me great depression, but I totally feel like it's different than the "chemical imbalance" I had most of my life. The weird crying spells and mood swings are not normal for my depression. This type of anxiety and panic is not something I ever had before Babesia. And on my good days, I feel better mentally than I ever have in my life. So I do believe that when the Lyme & Co are cured, I can live a life I've never dreamed of under the cloud of anti-depressants.

I also want to encourage you to hang in there. A patient spouse is worth a million times its weight it gold. I could not do any of this without my husband's support, even when we fight and he doesn't understand what I'm going through, I realize his importance in my recovery.
Posted 3/19/2017 6:00 PM (GMT -5)
Thank you pantsface. What a nightmare for you. That's a long time and a lot of different meds. My husband started seroquel around Xmas and was working very well. But the depression really started about 3 weeks ago. He has always had problems with these types of meds, for years. He had a genesight test done to see what type of anxiety and depression meds would be compatible for him. These were on the list that hopefully would work. He just started pristiq this past Tuesday. I know it takes awhile, but he is calling llmd tomorrow, about stopping.

Thanks for your input. I couldn't find any info on these 2 together. I just hope the IV abx will help with this.
Posted 3/19/2017 6:04 PM (GMT -5)
I use this drug interaction checker: I put them in and it came up as Moderate


/www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2796-12488,1979-1274
Posted 3/19/2017 6:10 PM (GMT -5)
Thank you babsbunny. I pray your better soon. I want my husband back to the fun great guy he used to be. We have a large family and great friends, however like most Lyme warriors this is not understood by those you would think should care the most and I am tired of explaining. No one really listens, but I do know and feel his pain. He does NOT want this kind of life. His llmd is also a wellness dr, works with a lot of hormone and cancer patients so we will ask about more natural ways to handle this. Thank you again🙏
Posted 3/19/2017 6:13 PM (GMT -5)
Thank you girlie... I will read this to him.
Posted 3/19/2017 6:34 PM (GMT -5)
I also wanted to say that yes, there are side effects and risk of dependence on these meds...but sometimes we need a little help until the infections are cleared...or at least starting to clear.

I went through a phase initially when I got lyme...anxiety with bouts of depression...each day...I was crying all the time...

I tried many of the natural supplements...to no avail.

Lucky for me, it was short-lived....but I couldn't have handled that for many more months...

My father was one of the unfortunate people who did develop a tolerance to sleeping meds and Ativan...it proved to be his eventual downfall. This was due to the Psych Dr. not recognizing that one must be tapered off these meds so very slowly.
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