FayM: PGAD

[FayM]

Hi Everybody, 

 

I registrated because i have been sufferig from PGAD. I tried a couple of ssri’s, first was Lexapro but i was doing oke at that time and it wasn’t worth the side affects because i could function without Lexapro. So i stopped that (only took it for 2 weeks) after about 3 months i tried Zoloft because i was functioning but i still had a lot of anxiety problemen. When i started taking zoloft i noticed symptoms of PGAD, after 2 weeks i stopped with this ssri as well. But since then the PGAD stayed and it is really wrecking my life, i am sorry. I only took this for 2 weeks and now i have had PGAD for almost 5 months and there is not a lot to do about is. 

 

I was wondering what other people are doing for the symptoms. If you take medication what kind of medication. Does anybody think that starting with an ssri again can make a difference? 

 

I take clonazepam (rivotril) 0,5 Mg but it doesn’t do much. Also my anxiety is through the rough right now so i think i do need to go on some medication again (especially for social anxiety). 

 

Please let me know what your experiences are. 

 

Xxx Fay 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by ChessieCat
reworded expletive

[FayM]

Hi everyone, 

 

I am a 25 year old female, suffering with PGAD. I got this from taking Zoloft for about 2 weeks than i stopped it because it did not make me feel any better. Took it for anxiety but it made me feel depressed. Before taking zoloft i tried taking Lexapro for a while, i also only took this for a short amount of time (2 weeks) because i was doing Ok at the time but i thought i could do better with a little help of medictaion. However, i felt fine after stopping with Lexapro. But ever since i have taken zoloft i have PGAD/PSAS , it has been 5 months now and i'm still suffering from it. 

 

I now take clonazepam 0,5 mg to take the edge of (but it doesn't really help). And i also have an extreme overactive blatter (part of the PGAD). I sometimes use a Tens machine, which kind of distracts from the PGAD but does not make it go away. I am wondering if it would be helpfull to start with an SSRi again to see if this wil numb the symptoms of the PGAD, because this is unbearable. And i am still having anxiety, (even more than before i got PGAD) it's mostly social anxiety. Whenever i feel a little bit of anxiety my PSAS symptoms will also flare up, really bad. 

 

Please let me know what you are doing if you experience symptoms like these. 

 

Fay 

 

 

[mammaP]

Hi Fay, welcome to SA.   It is good that you only took the drugs for such a short time before realising they were not for you. It is much much harder to stop them after some time has passed.,   PGAD can sometimes be withdrawal symptom but for you it was an adverse reaction to SSRIs. It would not be advisable to start another drug, that can lead to more problems. How often do you take clonazepam?  How long have you taken it? 

Why did your doctor prescribe anti depressants if you were doing ok? They can be prescribed for many different reasons and some doctors prescribe them to everyone! 

 

I am sorry that you are still suffering after 5 months, this should settle on it's own but unfortunately there are no timescales so we can't say how long it will take, hopefully it will not be too much longer for you. Your nervous system is unstable because of the drugs but time really is a great healer , your body is adjusting and repairing itself all the time, eventually you will regain balance. 

It would be good to keep notes on paper about your symptoms, when they occur and when you take your clonazepam, it will be easier to see whether that has any effects. You can then post the list here. It is easy to forget but if it is on paper you can refer back to it. 

 

We ask all our members to fill in their signature, this makes life easier for us because we can see the drugs and doses at the bottom of every post and don't need to go back through a topic.  You can find instructions here... 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/12364-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

 

[FayM]

Hi MamaP, 

 

Thanks for your reply. I take the clonazepam every other day, so not all the time. The PGAD is really unbearable. 

 

I was doing ok when i first got Lexapro, i was functioning but still had a lot of anxiety. When i got Zoloft, the second time, i wasn’t doing ok anymore. It’s the zoloft i got the PGAD from. 

 

I hope my body will find a balance again. However i do need something to numb the symptoms because i can’t go any longer... like this. 

 

I have the option to go on Lyrica, or i can do a nerve block. I am not sure if i should go with anti epileptica or an SSRI. I read that going on Lexapro helped someone with PGAD. 

 

The PGAD flares up when i have anxiety. Keeping notes of the symptoms is a good tip thank you. I am trying to bare with this, but it’s really hard. I have it around the clitoris and also deep inside. Deep inside is the worst. 

 

If anyone has anymore tips they are welcome.. 

 

 

Fay

[ChessieCat]

5 hours ago, FayM said:

I take the clonazepam every other day

 

Taking a psychiatric drug every other day is NOT recommended.  It would be better to halve your current dose and take it every day.  The brain likes consistency.  I realise that clonazepam has a long half life but the level would be more consistent taking it daily.

 

Skipping Days vs Every Day Dosing Graph

 

SA is a site for getting off/lowering the dose of psychiatric drugs and dealing with withdrawal symptoms.  And this is what mammaP wrote:

 

13 hours ago, mammaP said:

 PGAD can sometimes be withdrawal symptom but for you it was an adverse reaction to SSRIs. It would not be advisable to start another drug, that can lead to more problems

 

If you reacted badly to one type of SSRI then it is possible that you may react badly to all SSRIs/SNRIs.

 

Please create your drug signature.  This is the preferred format:

 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature - ALL drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly?

• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 

• Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
• Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
• Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016.
• Link to Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

For members taking more than 1 drug (or if taking 1 drug and an additional drug is recommended by their medical professional) we recommend they use the Drug Interactions Checker

 

Keep Notes on Paper

 

Sometimes it can be hard to "feel" improvement.  Rating your symptoms can sometimes help you see improvements:  Rate Symptoms Daily to Check Patterns and Progress

 

SA recommends learning and using Non-drug techniques to cope

 

Claire Weekes is very good.  There are many YouTube videos.  Claire Weekes' Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System

 

It's also helpful to learn acceptance.  That this is how things are at this time.  Acceptance

 

Keep it Simple, Slow and Stable

 

Some members find they do well with fish oil and magnesium.  Try a small amount 1 at a time to see how you react.

 

Magnesium

Omega-3 Fish Oil

[Hopefull]

Hi FayM,

 

You obviously had an adverse reaction to Zoloft.

I got PGAD from Zoloft, after 3 pills.

The overactive blader, (frequent urination, burning and pain), is related to PGAD.

I had it. Sorry to say,  but there is no pill that can fix PGAD. 

It will go away in time. I am a living proof that it does.

Your nervous system is healing,  but it takes time. I also experienced stress induced PGAD,  after Zoloft. 

It does go away. 

I would not advise you to take anymore drugs. It could cause you more problems.  Cold sit bath can help to elivate the feeling of PGAD, pain and burning sensation. 

Take care,  Hopefull.

[cathyfrench]

Dear Fay,

 

I also got PGAD from Sertraline (zoloft) 9 months ago. Like you I have only started this SRRI when the PGAD (and tinnitus) started. I had been 2 weeks on 50 mg, got bad side effects brought the dose down to 25 mg, got a lot of violent withdrawal side effects then tinnitus, then PGAD. My PGAD was very violent with a painfull and overactive bladder. I went to a psychiatric clinic where they though I was having a psychotic break and hysterical conversion, they made me tapper sertraline, I think too fast and put me on an antipsychotic (riperidone) and I was transformed into a zombie (really better not to take an antipsychotic) then anafranil (an old tricyclic that seem to quiet down the PGAD but made my tinnitus spiked so I stoped it).

They put me on Xanax (3 times a day) and I was already on imovane. I got out of the clinic worse than when I entered it with a full blown PGAD ! I wish I have never accepted to be put back on Xanax and to take imovane. They are very addictive drugs , they make me drowsy and very depressed. They mask the PGAD but they don't cure it, on the contrary, I am geting interdose withdrawal wiht them (which mean more PGAD,more tinnitus,agitation,depression, crying spells) etc and now that I am trying to tapper them of course PGAD and tinnitus spike !

 

Lexapro, I didn't take it because it is an SSRI and all the antidepressants from the SSRI family can cause PGAD. However some women who have a pudendal neuralgia PGAD use it but their PGAD doesn't have the same cause as an antidepressant PGAD. 

 

I was lucky to find a good urologist, they are usually the ones who know PGAD and he sent me to a team of pudendal nerve specialists, they are very good, they know PGAD but not to the one caused by antidperessants. I got a cystoscopy and urodynamic testing done to rule out interstitial cystitis. I got a pelvic and lombar MRI done to rule out back, cysts and variscose problems. I am being sent to get a brain MRI because my pudendal nerve specialist suspects that my PGAD is neuro-vegetative. I also got pudendal nerve blocks. I think they helped with my PGAD a litle bit, I flared badly with them for 3 weeks but strangely after 3 weeks my PGAD quieted down. My Pudendal nerve specialist explained to me that  blocks can sometimes stop the  incorrect pain message to travel from our lower parts to the brain. 

 

My treatment plan :

Auricular tens and  tens on the ankles (they are specific tens that your pain specialist have to prescribe you) twice a day to stimulate the vagus nerve. 

Pelvic floor physiotherapy every week. In my opinion, it is what works the best. 

Auriculotherapy. My urologist is a great believer in it ( it  works well on pain management). I am trying acupuncture (very long process but my urologist believes in it)

I was offered to take lyrica but I refused to take it because a lot of people get very depressed with it. I was offered amithriptyline but I didn't take it because I am scared that it could make my tinnitus worse (it is a tricyclic antidepressant like anafranil). Amithryptiline and lyrica are the treatment of choice for pudendal neuralgia in France but I wasn't diagnosed with pudendal neuralgia, my pain specialist thinks my PGAD is neuro-vegetative. She is offering me another type of nerve blocks in the future.  I also met a great sexologist in Paris who was the only doctor who confirm that SSRIs and SNRIs can cause PGAD. He thinks they disturb the hormonal system and his approach is different.

I am trying homeopathy, I changed my diet to a non acidic diet. 

 

I still have PGAD but it isn't as violent as in the beginning,  I sometimes think that tinnitus is now the worse of my two withdrawal side effects. 

 

I hope you will get better soon. PGAD is a very nasty disorder but a lot of people on this forum got better but it took a long time, so I hope I will get better too. 

 

Take good care 

 

Cathy 

 

There is a good support group for women who have PGAD where you can find a lot of information on PGAD. In this group 20% of the women got PGAD from an antidepressant

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/980353255348348/

 

 

[Lzieb]

@cathyfrench, this Pgad journey is just begining with em. How are you doing. I had an adverse reaction to zoloft a month ago...this whole thing is new. I could us some wisdom on all of this and any type or doctors you recommend. I am hoping that it will go away like my other symptoms seem to change. we will see.  I see others have had theirs diminish or go away. thx