Mark Hackney (aka Rattlesnake) The LORD works in Mysterious Ways!

[ratlesnake75]

Hi & Blessings to ALL
I want to give thanks to all of you for your support over the last near 2 Decades. I went through a Horrible experience for the past 6yrs & I just got back to normal (well my normal, lol) about 3 months ago.

I was medicated by a sleep Dr. for my restless leg syndrome & REM sleep disorder & the medicine in which I was prescribed (Pramipexole) very slowly changed my sanity & brain functions for the worse to include, madness, rage, memory problems(forgetfulness), dizziness, over eating, impulsiveness, loss of self control, depression to the point of suicidal thoughts & last but not least a loss of passion/love for knives. I nearly lost my 27yr marriage because of my personality change. My wife thought I developed dementia as other family members agreed as well & even my neurologist couldn't rule out dementia. I underwent a "spinal tap", MRI scans of my Brain, etc. My last visit with the neurologist, who at the end, couldn't figure out why I was dizzy & was drunk feeling, only said that it had to be part of my REM sleep disorder because all my testing's came back normal. He was at a loss of why.

After all the Dr.'s got done with me, My wife & I sat down to communicate one day about 3months ago to try & figure out WHY this was happening to me as we had been doing all along. We even made plans to move to another location because I couldn't work anymore & she had to get a job from home over 2yrs ago. That one day, about 3months ago, I told her that I believe also it was my Sleep disorder like the neurologist had said & I started questioning whether it could be a Medicine that I was taking? This question was asked many times by my wife & I to each Dr. I seen, but all of them said in no way could any of my meds that I was taking cause my problems & of course all of them had my med list. We was assured on each visit to all my Dr.'s that no medicine that I was taking could cause my problems & thus it was left at that.

About 3-months ago, My wife & I started to look up the side effects of each medicine I was taking on wikipedia & low & behold we found that the pramipexole could change my personality. We both looked at each other in Aww & said NO WAY. I quit taking the pramipexole immediately about 3months ago & I started improving... I am currently still in the process of improving because of the long lasting effects over the past 6yrs of me taking that particular med. Its unbelievable too me that these Dr.'s who had my medicine list, who was asked by my wife & I if any meds that I am on, could be causing my problems & all them say NO. In the end, I lost 6yrs of my life but gained some powerful Wisdom (The LORD works in mysterious ways) and I appreciate the knowledge he gave to my wife & I to look into my medicine list ourselves & that my wife & I got CLOSER together than we have been in long time. This knowledge about medicines opened our eyes & hopefully my story will inspire someone else who reads this to take a closer look YOURSELF & not just take for granted what the Doctors say.

I feel very Blessed that I am improving & I got my sanity & marriage back on track. I also been slowly improving on my passion for knives again.

May Jesus touch your heart as He has mine

Kindest Regards & Blessings to all of you

Mark

[orvet]

An amazing story Mark! Thank you for sharing it! I have the same issues, severe restless leg syndrome and REM sleep disorder. I also take Pramipexole, but fortunately have not had such a severe reaction as you have had.
I have noticed some dizziness from time to time and have a little problem with my balance sometimes. Have the doctors giving you a different medication for RLS? I am curious as to how your RLS is doing without the Pramipexole?

Welcome back to AAPK! It's good to have you back! God bless you brother!

[Colonel26]

That’s sooo wonderful that you’re on the mend. I’ve witnessed similar stories in other people and it’s much more common than you’d think.

Good doctors who actually care and know their stuff are getting harder and harder to find. Lord willing He’ll lead you to one. Good for you taking your health care into your own hands.

[doglegg]

Hi & Blessings to ALL
I want to give thanks to all of you for your support over the last near 2 Decades. I went through a Horrible experience for the past 6yrs & I just got back to normal (well my normal, lol) about 3 months ago.

I was medicated by a sleep Dr. for my restless leg syndrome & REM sleep disorder & the medicine in which I was prescribed (Pramipexole) very slowly changed my sanity & brain functions for the worse to include, madness, rage, memory problems(forgetfulness), dizziness, over eating, impulsiveness, loss of self control, depression to the point of suicidal thoughts & last but not least a loss of passion/love for knives. I nearly lost my 27yr marriage because of my personality change. My wife thought I developed dementia as other family members agreed as well & even my neurologist couldn't rule out dementia. I underwent a "spinal tap", MRI scans of my Brain, etc. My last visit with the neurologist, who at the end, couldn't figure out why I was dizzy & was drunk feeling, only said that it had to be part of my REM sleep disorder because all my testing's came back normal. He was at a loss of why.

After all the Dr.'s got done with me, My wife & I sat down to communicate one day about 3months ago to try & figure out WHY this was happening to me as we had been doing all along. We even made plans to move to another location because I couldn't work anymore & she had to get a job from home over 2yrs ago. That one day, about 3months ago, I told her that I believe also it was my Sleep disorder like the neurologist had said & I started questioning whether it could be a Medicine that I was taking? This question was asked many times by my wife & I to each Dr. I seen, but all of them said in no way could any of my meds that I was taking cause my problems & of course all of them had my med list. We was assured on each visit to all my Dr.'s that no medicine that I was taking could cause my problems & thus it was left at that.

About 3-months ago, My wife & I started to look up the side effects of each medicine I was taking on wikipedia & low & behold we found that the pramipexole could change my personality. We both looked at each other in Aww & said NO WAY. I quit taking the pramipexole immediately about 3months ago & I started improving... I am currently still in the process of improving because of the long lasting effects over the past 6yrs of me taking that particular med. Its unbelievable too me that these Dr.'s who had my medicine list, who was asked by my wife & I if any meds that I am on, could be causing my problems & all them say NO. In the end, I lost 6yrs of my life but gained some powerful Wisdom (The LORD works in mysterious ways) and I appreciate the knowledge he gave to my wife & I to look into my medicine list ourselves & that my wife & I got CLOSER together than we have been in long time. This knowledge about medicines opened our eyes & hopefully my story will inspire someone else who reads this to take a closer look YOURSELF & not just take for granted what the Doctors say.

I feel very Blessed that I am improving & I got my sanity & marriage back on track. I also been slowly improving on my passion for knives again.

May Jesus touch your heart as He has mine

Kindest Regards & Blessings to all of you

Mark

Sorry for your experience Mark but so thankful you are coming our of it. I spent a week in May and the entire month of June in the hospital about 2 years ago with acute pancreatitis. Come to find out it was from Lisinopril (sp?), a common BP medicine. So glad you are back with us.

[bestgear]

Holy cow Mark - I’m so glad He led you back - this news made my day - Godspeed

[Mumbleypeg]

Sorry to hear of your ordeal Mark but glad you figured out the problem. In my experience the best resource for medication side effects and possible interactions is a good pharmacist.

Ken

[stockman]

Praise the Lord Mark, good news. Hope to see you again.

Harold

[1967redrider]

Glad you figured out the issue and have turned the corner.

[wlf]

Amen to all the above and God speed the recovery.

[Reverand]

It is great to hear that you found a solution, though it pains me to know that you suffered through so much for so long.
I will pray that you keep recovering, and that your story inspires other people who are struggling to not give up!

[C-WADE7]

I don’t remember the name of the medicine, but one of the first advertised restless leg drugs had people compulsively gambling, people who never had a gambling problem at all. It was found to have all sorts of weird side effects in behavioral change. Glad you are doing better.

[ratlesnake75]

An amazing story Mark! Thank you for sharing it! I have the same issues, severe restless leg syndrome and REM sleep disorder. I also take Pramipexole, but fortunately have not had such a severe reaction as you have had.
I have noticed some dizziness from time to time and have a little problem with my balance sometimes. Have the doctors giving you a different medication for RLS? I am curious as to how your RLS is doing without the Pramipexole?

Welcome back to AAPK! It's good to have you back! God bless you brother!

I appreciate all the kind words brother! A few more symptoms that I recognized were, short fuse temper, little patience, excessive talking & not being a better listener, I argued a lot (which is out of my character), disorientation, confusion & my balance got so bad that I could not walk a straight line at all. It was a VERY SLOW PROCESS over the years that this happened is why no-one was able to identify the cause & in which everyone thought I had dementia. One last symptom was I couldn't remember the names of people whom I have known for 30yrs.

Here is what I found out and is my personal 2cents worth about Pramipexole, it DEFINETELY works for RLS no doubt about it but that it is only a STRONG version of DOPAMINE. So I ventured into learning about DOPAMINE & its effects on our body. The last thing is that when DOPAMINE is affected so is your Serotonin levels & here is how I understand it to work. Both Dopamine & Serotonin try to level each other out like fluid motion, so if you increase dopamine, your serotonin level will drop and vice versa. So depending upon each individual state of mind(personality), is how its effects will be. I do take (Escitalopram - Lexapro), which is "Serotonin" & therefore I was lowering my dopamine levels which in my case led me to my next evaluation of my RLS problem.

Since INCREASING your DOPAMINE levels cures RLS, I took a strong look at my "Lexapro, serotonin) medicine & I cut it in HALF, theoretically giving me MORE DOPAMINE without using PRAMIPEXOLE at all & in my case it worked like a charm. I do still have just a little bit of RLS(cause I still take Lexapro) but you can look up how to increase your dopamine naturally & basically I just eat chocolate & ice cream or use a stationary bike to increase my blood flow to my legs before bed & NO RLS. If RLS still occurs one night out of 7, i use the WISE-MEN Healing balm & it works great ( https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Men-Healing ... hdGY&psc=1 )

In my case it was Lexapro decreasing my dopamine levels that led to RLS.

Sorry for being so detailed, Its my only way of thinking

Kindest Regards & Blessings your way brother

[ratlesnake75]

I don’t remember the name of the medicine, but one of the first advertised restless leg drugs had people compulsively gambling, people who never had a gambling problem at all. It was found to have all sorts of weird side effects in behavioral change. Glad you are doing better.

Yes Sir, This was the one, its just I was unaware of it, lol.
Blessings your way,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Thank you ALL for your kind words & support, its much appreciated & very welcomed.
Blessings to you ALL
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

It is great to hear that you found a solution, though it pains me to know that you suffered through so much for so long.
I will pray that you keep recovering, and that your story inspires other people who are struggling to not give up!

Very well said & Thank you
Kindest Regards & Blessings your way brother
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

[

Sorry for your experience Mark but so thankful you are coming our of it. I spent a week in May and the entire month of June in the hospital about 2 years ago with acute pancreatitis. Come to find out it was from Lisinopril (sp?), a common BP medicine. So glad you are back with us.
[/quote]

Very sorry to hear about this news. I have heard about this Lisinopril causing major problems
Thank you for posting this
Blessings & Prayers your way Brother!
Mark

[treefarmer]

ratlesnake75, what an interesting story! It's wonderful to hear you give praise to the Lord for allowing you to discover where you were! Seems like all of the medications we take have a long, long list of side effects.
Praying everything will continue to improve in you and your family's lives.
It's good that you can share your trials and possibly bless someone else who is having to ride that same horse not knowing how to get off.
God bless you.
Treefarmer

[bighomer]

Thank you for posting this, may the good Lord bless you and yours. Glad you're doing better.

[ratlesnake75]

ratlesnake75, what an interesting story! It's wonderful to hear you give praise to the Lord for allowing you to discover where you were! Seems like all of the medications we take have a long, long list of side effects.
Praying everything will continue to improve in you and your family's lives.
It's good that you can share your trials and possibly bless someone else who is having to ride that same horse not knowing how to get off.
God bless you.
Treefarmer

Aww WOW!! You are such an amazing writer & take the words right out of my mouth as EVERYTHING you said is HOW I FEEL. I do believe in our darkest hours we must turn to JESUS & give him our heartfelt thanks for all he endured for us. Personally, part of being a humble man is to let others see that that they are not alone & to share our experiences with one another will give all of us extra strength together.
Kindest Regards & Blessings your way brother
Mark

[glennbad]

Wow Mark, sounds like you (and your wife) have been through the wringer! I'm glad to read that you were able to figure out the cause and start to turn things around.

I'm also glad to hear that wife stuck with you when you were probably not at your best, and that this has made you closer as a couple.

[ratlesnake75]

Wow Mark, sounds like you (and your wife) have been through the wringer! I'm glad to read that you were able to figure out the cause and start to turn things around.

I'm also glad to hear that wife stuck with you when you were probably not at your best, and that this has made you closer as a couple.

Thank you very much and you are correct about us being able to come closer. Amazing
Kindest Regards & Blessings your way
Mark

[eveled]

Wow! What a crazy ride you’ve been on. Glad you are on the mend. It is a good lesson for all of us. My Grandmother instilled in my family a deep distrust of doctors. So I take it all with a grain of salt.