u/Ok-Marionberry1213

33F, 5’5”, 175 lbs.

Prior smoking history: approximately 4 cigarettes/day on and off over 19 years (roughly 7 total years of active smoking). I also smoked cannabis leaf from Nov 2024-Nov 2025 and quit that Nov 6, 2025. Quit cigarettes Jan 29, 2026.

Currently on no medications or supplements because I seem to react poorly to nearly everything.

I stopped all psychiatric medications beginning Nov 27, 2025 after an emergency event at work where paramedics recorded BP 183/131 (MAP 148.3) after the first dose of epinephrine.

I would like to share my story and get some advice:

I am a 33F, mother of one child (age 17).

As a kid I experienced family violence and addiction. I ended up in group care.

I worked hard to complete my education and gain advancement in my career working in government.

I was on multiple medications for mental health conditions over the last 15 years. Some of these include:

-vyvanse, pregabalin, cymbalta, topiramate, guanfacine, clonazepam -just examples of more recent meds, I’d trialed many more previously. I was probably on vyvanse the longest (6 years).

I noticed a pattern: I would try a new med and need an antibiotic and then the new med would be discontinued. The pattern would repeat. The antibiotic would be for something like a uti. I now am getting the impression I didn’t have a real infection going on, rather it was likely a bad reaction to a new med being started.

I did really well on bio identical hormone replacement therapy, on 7 keto dhea, from 2021-2022. I could work and clean my house and exercise and have a life and see friends. I stopped it after running out of the prescription/not refilled due to cost.

I have struggled to work the last few years, and that coincides with an increase of medications (I was on vyvanse and cymbalta, and guanfacine and topiramate were added. I was taking clonazepam on occasion to try to function when I would spiral). I also dabbled into marijuana (smoking the leaf), from Nov 2024-Nov 2025.

Last spring I needed an antibiotic around May for some pain in my kidney/bladder area, and had to take another one in June. I think it was cefixime. I remember feeling VERY tired starting in May. The fatigue would come and go but was related to exertion. I just remember having much more stamina to do things around my home and yard work.

My skin became inflamed, with large greasy pimples around my temples/hairline, neck and chest. This was ongoing and happened before when I trialed cymbalta in 2021, I can see the same exact spots in the same places. But it got substantially worse in July last year. By August it was severe and causing goose eggs on my skin. I ended up on daily antibiotics from September-Nov.

Near the end of September, my dose of cymbalta doubled from 30-60mg. My skin became so painful. It was like something was popping out of my skin. The lesions would spread as well.

I also experienced severe air hunger along with the fatigue, and my GERD was so bad, I was uncomfortable and had lots of burps, and new nausea which is something I never experience, I have an iron stomach. It was debilitating. I also experience severe skin flushing.

I had elevated blood pressure for the last couple of years. I kept going to the ER last fall, about 5 times from Oct to Nov, because of how bad I was feeling. I kept crying to my doctor that I was scared to take my next dose of medication.

Around this time i was also using other sympathomimetic drugs, for example my puffer when I couldn’t breathe. I would also use senokot for constipation which I wasn’t aware changes ur body electrolytes balance. I also had been prescribed pantaprazole in the spring or summer due to my extreme gerd. I also started smoking cigarettes in August 2025.

I noticed terrible body odors, for example being on my period it would smell foul like rotting flesh. I also had way more clots and tissue, and found out in January it looks like adenomyosis. My breath was also so bad. Around certain days of my cycle, my eyes would get dark and swollen eyelids and sunken in underneath. It looked like allergic type shiners.

My GP wasn’t my prescriber, but I had seen him for my health concerns in Oct. I was afraid to go back to work, after a two year medical leave and being quite unstable, but he told me go to work, it will help. On Nov 6, I stopped smoking cannabis. I returned to work Nov 10.

In Nov, I also had to stop certain meds and reduce others. This was so that I could receive RTMS treatment for my depression. RTMS delivers magnetic currents to alter neuro plasticity. I stopped topiramate and reduced guanfacine and vyvanse. I had to stop clonazepam as well.

I started the RTMS on Nov 24. I continued to attend work. I had bad symptoms and talked with the care team at the treatment hospital. They recommended an epi pen, which I filled. They also recommended to stop the cymbalta. I stopped it Nov 26 (I had maybe two days prior to reduce the dose) and the doc added in escitalopram 0.5 mg. I had restless legs all night, and felt kind of floaty. I had also been chain smoking cigarettes, and I’m not a big smoker normally.

The next morning, Nov 27, I was at work and was on a video call. I felt extremely ill that morning. I noticed my face was getting redder. I struggled to keep my mouth closed to breathe, and was slumping forward in my seat and struggled to remain upright. I got up to visit the restroom, noticed my face in the mirror, was worried about my skin flushing so I took a quick photo of it. I then walked over to my supervisor and told her I didn’t feel well, I thought I was having an allergic reaction, and needed to use my epi pen.

A coworker administered my epi pen and 911 was called. They arrived within a few minutes. My first vitals showed my BP at 183/131. I received 2 following doses of epi on the way to the hospital, plus Benadryl. The paramedics were shocked I had just been prescribed epi two days prior, and told me that epi pen saved my life. I only felt better about 3 hours later when I received prednisone at the hospital. I had to stop working that day on due to my health.

Also after having the epi pen I went pee and I no longer had the urinary restriction I had been experiencing! That was a big symptom beforehand.

Since Nov 27 I have been deprescribed all meds. I was on benzos (Ativan/clonazepam) until Dec 6 so I wouldn’t seize out. I finished RTMS Jan 8, and experienced an rTMS setback dip that lasted a couple weeks. I also quit smoking cigarettes on January 29.

I began returning to work Feb 24. I noticed that it was exhausting even tho I was on an extremely slow gradual return to work. I was doing two half days per week to start. I never got up to more than three days a week, maximum of 5.5 hrs, but by 1pm I would have a hard time keeping my head and neck upright in my chair. I was in a full body flare from about March 24- April 3, and it was worsened when the Easter holiday caused me to work two back to back days in a row over two weeks.

During the flare, I experienced on March 24 a Dorsal Vagal shutdown, where I became like a statue, feeling “locked in” - even tho I was driving. I had just done some things at home before that. I was driving and it hit. I couldn’t turn my head to look at my daughter and I struggled to respond back to her. This has happened to me before.

I also experienced body tremors, shaking and knocking. My occasional eyelid twitch turned into a full-face tremor lasting two days straight.

I have been off since April 8th.

I drink tons of water and simple herbal tea (peppermint or lemon) with honey. I avoid histamine foods, eat more protein and less refined carbs, avoid dairy.

I had a massage with cupping which went ok but was itchy.

I also have been sleeping 12 hours a night or less if I had to work but I could stay sleeping it is so refreshing. I wake up and my skin looks calmer. As the day goes on the skin issues worsen, and are worse depending on my cycle.

I am no longer incapacitated by my cycle as much, but find that cycle days 24-28 hit hard for systemic symptoms, and days 13-15 for anaphylactoid type symptoms (I was on cycle day 15 Nov 27 when I needed epi). Also I’m happy to report the ungodly smells are getting better.

I am seeing a naturopath tomorrow. I see a different GP on Tuesday. I am not on any meds. I cannot even tolerate vitamins - I get huge inflamed pimples directly from it and my skin dumps out grease to the point I can’t even wash it out after shampooing three times, hair becomes thick with grease. It’s insane!

Please give me some hope that I am going to be able to work again one day!!!!

And if you have any advice I am super grateful for it.

Here’s a pic of me Nov 27 when I had an emergency at work, plus my vitals!

Including two pics of me a few hours apart when I have the allergic shiners. Also a pic of when the flushing gets really bad. I even got flushed writing this!!

Hopefully this is coherent enough to make sense of. Thank you so much for reading my story.

Edit to add:

I have had a lot of black squiggly lines in my vision since Oct (when I was the sickest). At one point I felt the whole room spinning like I was rocking on a boat. While lying down, wherever I focused the room just spun. I still get the shimmery lines from time to time when not feeling well. Had eyes checked, all good.

I experienced the sensation of rocking on a boat one time prior on June 21, paramedics came and didn’t want to take me, in the end they took me to ER and treated me for anxiety. Ativan did calm symptoms but anxiety is nothing new to me, it was not that.

For about 3 years since being on cymbalta I had intense squeaking in my face, to the point someone with me could hear it. It ramped up a lot in June of last year. I had lots of ear discharge and pressure as well.

I also accidentally left out that I experience quite a bit of laryngeal swelling. This progresses to voice changes/loss when I can’t interrupt it to calm it down. It will progress as well to an intense, visible tremor in my abdomen from there so I have to be careful to pace myself. I’ve always been told I’m quiet. When I was only several weeks old as a baby I had feeding issues due to a web of tissue in my throat blocking my breathing, I almost needed an emergency tracheotomy but they did a surgery to remove the tissue.