Can't taking 4 drugs used to treat mental disorders effect your brain in a n!


Question: My mother is in her late 60's, and suffers from trigeminal neuralgia. It's also called the suicide disease b/c it causes excruciating pain in the face and head. She is allergic to all forms of pain meds, so to alleviate the pain Dr.'s resorted to putting her on a combination of Zoloft, Topamax, Baclofen, and Trileptal. The Pharmacist said all can treat nerve pain but in addition they are also mood stabilizers like for bi-polar and/or depression.

Since adding Trileptal she gets aggitated quickly, & looses her temper at the drop of a hat. She's always had a quick temper but it's exaggerated to the point that if I take her anywhere she mocks almost every move I make, and I'm 40 yrs. old. She's loud & abrasive & it's hard to get employees to wait on us b/c they're scared of her w/ good reason.

Her pain hasn't gotten any better with the Trileptal, I can't continue to be w/her very often something doesn't give. What do you think? Has anyone experienced something like this?


Answers: My mother is in her late 60's, and suffers from trigeminal neuralgia. It's also called the suicide disease b/c it causes excruciating pain in the face and head. She is allergic to all forms of pain meds, so to alleviate the pain Dr.'s resorted to putting her on a combination of Zoloft, Topamax, Baclofen, and Trileptal. The Pharmacist said all can treat nerve pain but in addition they are also mood stabilizers like for bi-polar and/or depression.

Since adding Trileptal she gets aggitated quickly, & looses her temper at the drop of a hat. She's always had a quick temper but it's exaggerated to the point that if I take her anywhere she mocks almost every move I make, and I'm 40 yrs. old. She's loud & abrasive & it's hard to get employees to wait on us b/c they're scared of her w/ good reason.

Her pain hasn't gotten any better with the Trileptal, I can't continue to be w/her very often something doesn't give. What do you think? Has anyone experienced something like this?

Absolutely. Taking even one drug used to treat mental disorders can negatively effect -- even irreparably damage --your brain. It scares me to think that they have her on four. Any type of drug can be a danger but the psychotropic drugs are by far the worst. They intentionally target specific areas of the brain and cause abnormal functioning in order to achieve some desired result.

First off, I'm sorry that you and your mother are having to go through this situation. It must be terrible for both of you, each in your own way.

Second, the behaviour changes that she is exhibiting since being on these meds are not her fault. I know you realize this, I just wanted to reiterate the point. She is being controlled like a puppet by these chemicals in her system, and her ability to realize this may be significantly impaired.

Third, you are doing the right thing by trying to get her help. With all of these medicines in her body she may not be able to think clearly enough to get help for herself, or to even realize that she needs help. You should consider yourself her medical guardian, even if you are not legally so, and take it upon yourself to get help for her, even if she doesn't want it.

You have an URGENT situation here. Psychotropic drugs are dangerous...even deadly. I'm not sure what can be done for your mother, given that she is allergic to so many different pain meds, but that is an area that you need to explore very thoroughly. What would be ideal would be to find a non-medicinal therapy of some sort. I would make contact with some alternative medicine centers -- it may be that alternative medicines are not workable in this situation but these people may have an ear open to new approaches and therapies, and may be able to expand your options in that way. If all else fails, you may have to shoot for a less severe medicine -- just definitely try to stay away from the psychotropics.

You might try alternative medicine such as hypnosis for the pain. You should tell her doctor about the side effects of the trileptal, but it may just be hard for her to be in a good mood with the pain she's in.

Dana (M.S. Mental Health Counseling)

It sounds like she may have been Bi-Polar before she was diagnosed with this illness, if she was having extreme mood swings and anxiety, those are signs of having Bi-Polar, and Zoloft is a medication often given to help treat anxiety and/or depression. Topamax is definitely a medication given to treat people that have Bi-Polar Disorders as well (personal experience - I take 200mgs of it a day). I'm not very familiar with the other two medications you have listed, but it sounds like you need to be setting up and appointment with her doctor so you can discuss with him (her) what type of side-effects she's having with this Trileptal, because it seems like it is just causing the symptoms of Bi-Polar (if she does indeed have the disorder) to be magnified x 10. Aggitation, short tempers, being loud, abrasive and enjoying intimidating others are also signs of Bi-Polar.

I think that not only do you need to sit down with her doctor and discuss her new side-effects, but also the possibility that she may have Bi-Polar Disorder as well. Since she is already being given mood stabilizers, odds are he will do a few tests to see if she truly has the disorder and then maybe add an anti-psychotic or two. Of course it will be a trial and error process until he finds the right medications that work for her and in the right doseage amounts. Hopefully you can get her all taken care of and the process won't take to long to get her on the proper medication. Again, let me stress to you that ONLY a doctor can determine what is really wrong with your mother. Good luck to you both.





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