A Must Read - Medical Screening

                            Medical Screening for People with Psychiatric Complaints.

                                                                  1/15/2019

You don't need a complete blood work up when you develop psychiatric symptoms or start a withdrawal? Consider this..

⦁ Studies show that between 10 and 47% of those going to the psychiatrist for a "mental illness" actually have their illness caused by or made worse by a medical condition.

⦁ Of the 54 Cymbalta Withdrawal members who had "blood tests" run a total of 43 had at least 1 abnormal blood test result.

⦁ Of the 43 which had an abnormal blood test 13 discovered that it was the cause or a significant contributor to their mental illness and/or withdrawal symptoms and most of the rest did not mention if it contributed.

⦁ Rightdiagnosis.com has identified 754 medical conditions that can cause anxiety symptoms and 589 medical conditions that can cause symptoms of depression.

⦁ There are 11 vitamins and 10 minerals in which high and/or low amounts can cause anxiety and/or depression. There is also 6 amino acids, Omega 3 and 6, cholesterol and/or triglycerides, reproductive hormones, thyroid, parathyroid and pituitary enzymes that can cause these conditions.

 

All can be determined by a simple blood test.

Fighting Cymbalta withdrawal is bad enough but to add a medical condition to the situation can make it a lot worse. Considerable research has been done to determine how much of the Treatment Resistant Anxiety/Depression is actually due to a medical condition rather than a psychiatric cause (stress). By all accounts it is a significant cause of Treatment Resistance.

All it takes is a few samples of blood to be sure. Recommended list is located below.
 

                           Studies on the percentage of "mental illnesses" that are due to medical conditions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/28326870
A total of 947 subjects met our inclusion criteria, 14.6% having a final liaison diagnosis of organic mental disorder (medical causes not psychiatric causes).

https://www.alternat...ical-illness-2/
The reader should note that this article only covers standard medical causes of mental symptoms and does not include many other physical causes, such as nutritional imbalances and metabolic abnormalities
It should also be noted that some studies have shown that, when extensive testing is done, medical causes may account for substantially more than 10% of patients with mental symptoms (particularly Hall [reporting a 46% causal connection], American Journal of Psychiatry, 1980 and Koranyi, Archives of General Psychiatry, 1979).

 

 

Ex.-Johnson (1968) performed detailed physical exams on 250 patients admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit. 12% of these patients were admitted to the psychiatric unit for problems that seemed to be caused by physical illness
80% of these had been missed by physician before admission
6.6% were initially missed even after the admission workup
60% had abnormal physical findings

 

 

Ex.-Hall (1978) performed a detailed assessment on 658 consecutive psychiatric outpatients – 9.1% had a significant medical illness-

 

 

Ex.-Slater (1965) studied 85 patients (32 men and 53 women) diagnosed as having “hysteria” – follow up 7-11 years. More than a third proved to have organic disease

 

 

Ex.-Sox et. al. (1989) did a thorough medical evaluation on 509 patients in community mental health programs in California.- 200 (or 39%) had at least one active, important, physical disease, Staff at the mental health program was aware of only 47% of these. Research program discovered previously undiagnosed, important diseases in 63 of these patients. 14% had medical illness that was causing or exacerbating their mental illness

 

 

Ex.-Koran performed thorough medical assessments on 529 patients drawn from eight community mental health centers in California. 17% were found to have an organic condition that either caused or exacerbated the emotional symptoms for which the person was being treated.

 

 

Ex.-Bartsch et. al. performed a comprehensive evaluation on 175 clients from two Colorado CMHCs. A previously undiagnosed physical health problem was found in 20% of the clients. 16% had conditions that could cause or exacerbate their mental disorder. 19 clients had a metabolic abnormality (elevated calcium, etc.).
7 clients had a neurological disorder (memory loss, post concussion syndrome, etc.) 7 clients had an adverse medication effect. 4 clients had some other disorder, including cancer

 

Conservative estimates suggest that 10% of persons initially seen in outpatient settings for psychological symptoms have an organic disease causing the symptoms. This figure is higher in the elderly, in persons with certain diagnosis such as hysteria, and much higher in inpatient settings.

 

 

Bibliography is available at the end of the article.
 

       Conditions which Members have found that caused their mental health issues or made their withdrawal worse.

LDN
I felt like my body couldn’t take them any more, my testosterone had dropped and I wasn’t really feeling things.

Jenibee
"I was given Cymbalta for anxiety/depression way back then, which now it turns out I never actually had--I have a thyroid condition which went undiagnosed (until late last year) and that is what was causing my symptoms of anxiety and depression."

Sk8rmama24
It has been a battle, and I have had multiple healthcare providers tell me I am just having anxiety, or stressed, and one even wrote " ? hypochondria" in my medical record. I persisted though, and ironically, the doctor that referred me to a psychologist for hypochondria (on my first visit no less, with no exam or complete health history) also ordered some bloodwork and a nerve conduction test. My initial bloodwork came back with abnormal results and I wish I could have seen the look on his face when he reviewed the labs.
Long-story short, I have the antibodies and markers for an autoimmune disease, plus an acute Epstein Barr viral infection, which I never had before because I have no antibodies to it, just the early antigen testing and presence of the virus came back positive.

Hel
My specialist discovered the underlying diseases causing my POTS, which are Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and mitochondrial disorder.

 

sk8rmama24 Posted 16 September 2018 - 12:36 PM
As of September 7, 2018 I have been diagnosed with celiac disease; an autoimmune condition where ingestion of gluten, a protein, causes an immune response that leads to intestinal damage that results in digestive malabsorption and nutrient deficiency and malnutrition.

Posted by Vinpin on 10 December 2018 - 04:44 PM
Got preliminary blood test results back from the doctor - not the best. My main concern is my low white blood cell count, but I also have high cholesterol, low Vitamin D & B12 levels and a high potassium level.

needoffthisdrug0326 on 30 September 2018
I had some lab work last week and everything was normal except my iron was slightly low and my vitamin D was also low

Posted by Cjmansf on 24 April 2018 - 02:06 PM
Low vitamin D which I am addressing.

Posted by brzghoff on 14 April 2018 - 01:16 PM
i just started seeing it in my labs. thats how we found out I was vitamin D deficient

Posted by notsobad on 10 October 2017 - 11:55 AM in Nutritional Support
My vitamin D levels were extremely low...they've improved but are still low, so the doctor put me on a super dose for couple months. The day after taking 50000 IU of vitamin D3 I suddenly feel like a normal person, like I'm able to rationally think about my day and do activities without getting mentally and physically fatigued. Life just feels normal and not difficult.

Posted by MrsGriffin on 17 August 2017 - 07:43 PM
In addition to my serotonin being low, lab work revealed that my Vitamin D levels were low so I have been taking a Vit D3 supplement

Posted by fishinghat on 15 August 2016
If you read some of my previous posts you will note that I have dropped taking my magnesium lately. It got too high and my calcium too low.

Posted by okcarmen on 23 February 2013 - 05:02 AM
and I also have an incredibly low iron level. My iron level is 12 when a normal one is at least 128.

Posted by CatLover on 03 July 2016
It came back with a B12 level that was extremely low and I had Iron deficiency anemia so bad she almost sent me to the hospital to get the iron.

Posted by houseofmiro on 26 September 2014 - 06:58 AM
I now have to go and get B12 shots for the next month or so as my B12 and Iron levels have tanked.

Posted by Sufferinsilence on 01 February 2014 - 08:37 PM
not only is my iron count on a mere 8 when it's meant to be a low of 15 and hight of 150 making me achy dizzy and extremely tired and emotional I am feeling mostly all withdrawals from lack of cymbalta but my blood tests also reveal I have a virus of some sort,

Posted by melly on 20 April 2012 - 02:04 PM
I also forgot to mention that my blood pressure is up and my iron count is low.

Posted by Sam I am on 19 January 2011
Personally, I was told I was low on iron, so a natural source iron supplement worked for me there


Posted by Debbie M. on 20 July 2010
I got severely anemic and had to go on iron supplements. My reading was 9.

Posted by Junior on 08 June 2010
yesterday I was getting a blood test done because my iron count is a little low

Posted by Lindarrr on 01 May 2010
My doctor had me do some blood tests and found that I was iron deficient and had amaemia, which was probably why I was so sleepy and exhausted all the time. I ended up having an iron infusion

Posted by scarydays on 12 May 2013 - 04:14 AM
The test showed low potassium and they had give me lots of fluid,

Posted by Uriel on 06 November 2012 - 08:24 PM
There were other things like my minerals were all messed up so i was on potassium and magnesium . Its amazing what that drug screws around with

Posted by eearley on 11 July 2011 - 11:14 AM
He's had patients end up in ICU from withdrawing cold turkey. My potassium level was dangerously low and they gave me a mega dose to help bring it up, along with 2 bags of IV fluid to help with the dedydration.

Posted by tired08 on 15 April 2008 - 10:35 AM
However this particular doctor didn't deny that this could be caused from the cymbalta withdrawl. bad enouh that something could be wrond but not bad enough to keep me. I waa dehydrated and low potassium they gave me something for that and sent me home to see the cardiologist which is what I was trying to do before going to the ER.

Posted by Alicemarie on 26 April 2013 - 05:27 PM
By the 5th day I was in the emergency room. I seriously thought my body was shutting down. What they found at the emergency room was low sodium, chloride and calcium and a high lactic acid level (lactic acidosis indicates that your body is not getting enough oxygen.

Posted by Uriel on 21 October 2012 - 04:02 PM
The main thing my tests showed was I had no selenium this is what helps you sleep and no Lyzime which is natural lithium ,

Posted by Hel on 10 December 2018 - 06:49 PM
blood test showed abnormal thyroid, anemia

Posted by jenibee on 23 July 2018 - 02:40 PM
At this point, yes, we are presuming everything was caused by the thyroid issue....

Posted by Bkc26 on 16 July 2018
Withdrawal Symptoms:
Thyroid tests erratic

Posted by CatLover on 09 February 2017 - 02:32 PM
My thyroid levels are now perfect but my liver enzymes are continuing to rise. I now have to go get an ultrasound of my liver. Could the fatty liver be a result of the Cymbalta? I am sure the hypoT is, as I didn't have it at all until I weaned off Cymbalta.

Posted by jealbrecht on 27 September 2014 - 03:10 PM
I also started to take synthroid again (in the last week) since my thyroid hormone tests showed I was low T4 and my hair has started to really thin out (or is that another Cymbalta withdrawal symptom?).
I had labs done at the end of May, and last week - so 4 months apart. Over all cholesterol # is fine, but the LDL-P and small LDL-P have risen, along with glucose, but not bad on that. It was 90, now is 95. The Hemoglobin A1c is .1 above normal (that measure the body's ability to process sugar over the past 3 months.)
My thyroid is a little off, but we've been working on that with bio-identical meds for a while.

Posted by Amybc7 on 24 July 2014 - 05:18 PM in What are you feeling?
I'm taking a chance and reaching out there - does anyone else have issues with their Thyroid? This is a new deal for me - and sadly the challenge of regulating my thyroid coincides with my withdrawal.

Posted by ofarrells7 on 27 March 2017
but everything has come back normal except for a slightly elevated liver enzyme.

Posted by CatLover on 09 February 2017
My thyroid levels are now perfect but my liver enzymes are continuing to rise. I now have to go get an ultrasound of my liver.

Posted by Justoffcymbandwellb on 15 March 2016
my Prolactin levels are about 20% high on all the labs I've done recently

Posted by fishinghat on 23 June 2014
High estrogen and prolactin.

Posted by TWhil195 on 10 September 2014
My cortisol levels this time around were sky high

Posted by Goldie on 19 October 2008 - 10:43 PM
Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreaciated. My cortisol levels are high, but the doctors tell me everything else is normal

Posted by EBB on 21 August 2018 - 12:18 AM
We got the results and her estrogen is high and progesterone and testosterone are low.

Posted by pelycosaurus on 24 September 2011
I got my labs done and i have really high testosterone and low vitamin D.

Posted by Bulldog on 04 August 2009 - 02:11 PM
He ordered a testosterone test and found out it was very low. It was the answer to a lot of the issues I was having. Had a ton of blood work done and found out my testosterone is still low and that I am Vit"D" deficient and that my liver is reading high levels.

Posted by ratdog on 31 March 2008
I have found my thyroid is hypo, my testosterone is low, and have NO energy.
 

                                     Nutritional Blood Tests for Possible Causes for Anxiety and/or Depression.

Omega 3 and 6 (Special Request)

 

Amino Acids (Special Request)
to include...
Tryptophan
Threonine
Isoleucine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Tyrosine

Vitamins (Special Request)
to include...
C
*D
E
*B vitamins


Minerals (a CMP (Complete Metabolic Panel) will cover all of these except magnesium, iron, zinc and selenium.)
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Manganese
Selenium

Lipid Profile
Cholesterol
Triglycerides

Misc. (Special Request)
Choline
Flouride

Psychiatrists also often perform the following tests
Testosterone
Estrogen
Thyroid Function (TSH, t3 and t4)
Liver Function (ast and alt) (Special Request)
Parathyroid Function (Special Request)
Pituitary Function (Special Request)

Most common causes of issues
Low Omega 3 & 6 (Dietary)
Amino Acid deficiency in vegetarians
Low Vitamin D3 in the elderly and during withdrawal as well as Vitamin D3 toxicity in those on supplements.
Elevated level of minerals due to supplements or low levels calcium and/or sodium caused by withdrawal.
Zinc toxicity due to use of denture creams (Multiple lawsuits) and use of most psoriasis/seborrhea shampoos.
Selenium toxicity the most common toxicity from taking multivitamins.
Very low HDL cholesterol and /or high triglycerides from diet.
Very low reproductive hormones due to being on ssri/snri or caused by withdrawal from antidepressant.
Hypothyroidism and/or high liver enzymes due to withdrawal.
 

This is a really interesting write up considering all the evidence put forth. I can't say that I am surprised at the figures thou. Maybe it is just a case of being in the UK and the health systems method of dealing with mental health.

 

I think it was Noush who mentioned the fact that we cannot simply request a blood test over here. It needs to be requested by the doctor. So whilst all these tests would undoubtedly be useful in terms of ruling things out and getting the right vitamins, it will not be paid for by the state. It is a case of taking some form of anti-depressant and get out of my office. 

 

Sure we can go private, but oooh it is costly. Not everyone can afford to be throwing money at various tests that may or may not yield important information. But if the NHS would realise that they are spending more money on keeping us on pills for years than if they would diagnose correctly from the outset. I have seen it so many times whereby people will be palmed-off with this pill or that pill in the hopes that the condition - whatever it may be - will go away. 

 

For something so prevalent as anxiety/stress/depression you'd think there would be far more tax dollars/pounds put into it. After all, it is the highest cause of days off work - and when people do not work, money isn't being paid, thus taxes aren't being paid! 

 

But to quote Robert de Niro... "What'cha gonna do?"

I feel for you IUN. Different here. Just tell the dr you want it checked and why and if they order it then insurance pays. I have NEVER had a dr here refuse to have a blood test run if just to make me feel better. You guys over there really need access to medical care not just a factory line.

There are several more articles related to NAC being anxiolytic also. NAC stabilized glutamate production which in turn stabilizes GABA production it should be useful in treating benzo withdrawal. Benzo act on GABA receptors and during withdrawal GABA production is unstable. I though this might help the withdrawal symptoms.

Regarding the health service over here - yes - it is nothing like what people think it is. I would sooner have your system of insurance any day of the week. I pay monumental amounts of class 2 and class 4 national insurance, and another £250/yr for the wife whilst she is still subject to visa. I would opt for private medical but any issues that have occurred in the last 2 years are not covered - and most have clauses about mental health as they know how much it could cost them. You also have to declare whether or not you have a history of mental health which then excludes you from a myriad of other benefits. So all in all, a lose-lose situation.

 

I found some interesting articles on GABA - and a very useful post from someone at benzobuddies who went to great lengths to explain the goings-on. No doubt you will be familiar with it, but it sparked off an interesting thread;

 

http://www.benzobudd...wrKmA#msg886973

 

Presently looking into issues surrounding ceruloplasmin and the effects that taking Magnesium Citrate could have had on iron levels in the blood. Being a vegetarian, my iron is very hard to maintain, and deficiency in both ceruloplasmin and iron can also have a big impact on the effects of oxidated stress. Given that stress has always been the forebearer of my symptoms, I feel it needs looking into at every angle. This is why blood tests would be very useful. Maybe when things in my head have settled a bit, it might be worth finding someone to speak with further...

Well Done Sir!

A fantastic article which is a good read for anyone going through any withdrawal to understand the process. The only thing in there I hesitate on is the statement...

"Oh - and by the way - serotonin HELPS TELL THE NERVES WHEN TO RELEASE GABA AND GLUTAMATE! Ha!
So on top of needing GABA to make serotonin, you need serotonin to regulate the release of GABA into the system!"

Its not quite true and a little but understated. There are a lot of other factors that regulate the release of GABA but over all a 9.9 out of 10.

Thought there may be the odd mistake in it - but I really like the [...] where the poor chap can't think straight while he is on the mend. Bless him. 

 

Yes, it does help to know what is going on - just wish there was something, anything, that could speed the process up...

                            Medical Screening for People with Psychiatric Complaints.
                                                                  1/15/2019

You don't need a complete blood work up when you develop psychiatric symptoms or start a withdrawal? Consider this..

⦁ Studies show that between 10 and 47% of those going to the psychiatrist for a "mental illness" actually have their illness caused by or made worse by a medical condition.

⦁ Of the 54 Cymbalta Withdrawal members who had "blood tests" run a total of 43 had at least 1 abnormal blood test result.

⦁ Of the 43 which had an abnormal blood test 13 discovered that it was the cause or a significant contributor to their mental illness and/or withdrawal symptoms and most of the rest did not mention if it contributed.

⦁ Rightdiagnosis.com has identified 754 medical conditions that can cause anxiety symptoms and 589 medical conditions that can cause symptoms of depression.



⦁ There are 11 vitamins and 10 minerals in which high and/or low amounts can cause anxiety and/or depression. There is also 6 amino acids, Omega 3 and 6, cholesterol and/or triglycerides, reproductive hormones, thyroid, parathyroid and pituitary enzymes that can cause these conditions.
 
All can be determined by a simple blood test.




Fighting Cymbalta withdrawal is bad enough but to add a medical condition to the situation can make it a lot worse. Considerable research has been done to determine how much of the Treatment Resistant Anxiety/Depression is actually due to a medical condition rather than a psychiatric cause (stress). By all accounts it is a significant cause of Treatment Resistance.

All it takes is a few samples of blood to be sure. Recommended list is located below.

To be read again!

If only the NHS would do this... the amount of times I have asked for specific tests when at the hospital after blood is taken only to be told "you don't need that testing" or "if the doctor thinks it is needed, he will do it". 

 

We don't get a say in it - always has to be done privately, for which you will pay a huge premium.

I know a few drs that run some of these tests when a patient first comes in but most do not. So sad.