Symptoms: Emotional blunting, cognitive impairment, insomnia, depersonalization/derealization, suicidal ideation, severe anxiety/panic, personality change, anger
My loved one was prescribed an SNRI drug to help manage neuropathic pain due to fibromyalgia. They were on this drug for a number of years, with little if any improvement in pain. In fact, they quickly transformed into a zombie, unable to get out of bed until the early afternoon, could no longer work, gained a lot of weight, developed dental sensitivities, among other issues, and their sense of humor started to slowly fade. I found myself often questioning what had happened to my dear loved one, the one with whom I used to laugh, joke around, confide in, and dance? I chalked it all up to the fibromyalgia.
Approximately 6 years later, they decided to come off the medication, as they noticed it was starting to cause more harm than good. According to their partner, they didn't take the tapering process lightly and had consulted with pain specialists for guidance. After a 3.5 week taper, my loved one surprisingly no longer had any of the original pain and discomfort from the fibro condition! But that's not all they lost in the process. They tragically lost their love, empathy, and affection for me and other dear family members.
One month after the drug had left their body, they suddenly became suspicious of our kind loving gestures towards them and would become irate over the smallest action we took or words we said. It was impossible to reason with them; their love for us was tragically transformed into anger and resentment. Two years later, they remain spellbound, with no insight into this change.
Our once cohesive family is fractured because of the damage that the drug, followed by the rapid taper, caused to their brain. We cannot get through to them. Not only did the drug exacerbate the original medical condition for which it was prescribed, but it destroyed an amazing person and close-knit family.