Topic: Does Rifampin cause emotional problems or is it. . .
nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
treating the bartonella and a kind of herx? I have been feeling very depressed and anxious. If anything stressful happens I feel I cannot keep a grip on things, not just emotionally but mentally as well. I have been taking Rifampin for two months, the first month at 300mg and the last month at 600mg with 500 zithro. What should I expect this drug to do? I do not feel much different than when I started it, just more depressed than usual. I still have hot flashes every night, my shins still hurt and I have trouble sleeping. My headaches are better. Maybe this drug is not the right one for me. I have been fighting this for a long time trying to remain optimistic but lately I feel very discouraged.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
That's a pretty big dosage, so I imagine it's hitting your brain real hard.
and certainly could be the herxing causing your misery.
Have you checked www.drugdigest.com to see if depression is listed in the side effects? I think Zith can cause depression too... plus insomnia. (one reason I'm awake at 6 a.m. Been awake for hours)
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Anxiety was a part of my herx when I started rifampin and zith combo. It lasted a month or so then subsided. I have heard many others with this same issue.
Hang in there.
-------------------- dar Posts: 95 | From michigan | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
I experienced anxiety and other emotional issues when treating bart with other than rifampin.
Posts: 69 | From So Cal | Registered: Jun 2007
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
Hopefully it is a herx. If I tell myself "this too will pass" I can get through it. I have to stay away from most people as anything they say that seems negative just sends me realing into depression. Currently a stranger I trusted lied to me and left a horse in my care that I found out she has dumped on several other people, picking the horse up in the middle of the night to avoid paying them anything. I am real worried about the horse. She is such a smooth talker that I was completed duped by her and then felt like my whole sense of reality was threatened. On top of that I had to put my sweet cat to sleep after he got very sick with an incurable disease last month. And I have a very old dog that cannot control his bowels. Then one of my horses stabbed himself next to the eyeball with wire. So there is just so much going on I cannot keep my mind wrapped around it all and I feel like I am just losing it. Add the anxiety that this drug killing bart causes and I am a mess.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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During my 12 weeks on Rifampin I had a really difficult time figuring out whether the crazy emotional issues and insomnia represented a herx or side effects of the med. But because of those and other intolerable issues (head feeling like it would explode, hormonal imbalance), I ended up quiting the drug nearly 4 weeks ago. Now, I am SO much better emotionally and my headache is gone!
Unfortunately, though, I again have symptoms that could be attributed to Bart or BLO, such as frequent nighttime urination, morning sticky sweats on my legs, calf twitching, slightly sore plantar fasciia. I may try HH again, as it seemed to somewhat alleviate those symptoms in the past.
After that? I don't know, beg my doc for Levaquin, Factive, Cipro..? Or maybe just suck it up?? Grrrrr...
-------------------- Increasingly ill over past 10 yrs; treating since October '08. Posts: 180 | From Philadelphia, PA | Registered: Oct 2008
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