Hello,

My name is Barbara. I think I am 52 years old but I am not positive. I have been treated for psychiatric disorders since 1968 and have been on every known anti mental medication like Valium, Ritalin, Prozac, and many more that I can’t remember since then. I was first diagnosed with ADHD combined with Dysthymic Disorder in 1992. I had taken Ritalin 10 mg three times a day along with an antidepressant cymbalta and Buspar for about six years but earlier in 2007 I was having difficulty with deadlines, failing courses in college and was kicked out of the school for dropping below a 1.0 GPA. My physician prescribed Straera, then Adderall XR 20mg capsule SHI once a day along with Citalopram HBR 40mg once a day. I improved in some areas except for school work which is still suffering from tardiness and lack of concentration.

Before the Adderall I was taking Vyvanse 40 mg but I don’t remember why it was changed to the Adderall. Two months ago the pharmacy switched the Adderall XR to Amphetamine salts ER 20Mg cap. I have become very easily stressed, I haven’t been in any of my online classes for three weeks, and I have missed important assignments, and am becoming ill from some unknown source. I sleep most of the day away, when I finally wake up to work on school or job related paperwork I fall asleep at my desk and some times collapse to the floor. My blood pressure is way too high, I am unable to prepare meals for myself and so eat what ever I can find in the kitchen when ever I can.

My back and legs are in constant pain with swelling of the ankles and knees. I sweat profusely day and night; I get stomach pain every time I take my medications or eat a meal, followed by either constipation and or diarrhea. I am very agitated and disorganized to the point that I can’t remember what I am supposed to be doing at present nor do I remember anything I did yesterday. My family members are very anxious about my mental state and the amount of pain I am experiencing. Mind you I take Naproxen 500mg twice a day, Celebrex 200mg (when needed), Tramadol HCL 100mg four times a day, Hydrocodone-APAP 7.5-500 TAMAK, and Mirapex 0.125mg 3 times a day just for the pain. I also take Zolpidem Tartrate 10mg and Nortriptyline HCL 50mg to sleep at night which should last only eight hours a day but at times can last for days while on others I remain awake no matter how much I have taken. Twice I have been rushed to the hospital from collapsing in a classroom and being unresponsive to EMP personnel and recently my doctor sent me to the ER thinking that I was having a heart attack. It turned out to be a severe case of acid reflex.

I have allergies and take Singular 10mg once a day, Guaifenex PSE 600 mg twice a day, Zyrtec at bedtime during the summer and Xyzal 5 mg at night in the winter. . I take Lisnopril 10 mg once a day for my blood pressure, Klor-con 10mg for unknown reasons, and 324mg of Ferrous Gluconate three times a day for iron deficiency. I was supposed to take Nifedipine ER 30mg for my blood pressure but the first week of taking it caused me to bloat out three to four sizes and I gained over twenty pounds in one week.

I forgot to mention that I have been diagnosed with Acid-reflex disorder and irritable bowel syndrome. For these I take Mirapex with 8oz. of water daily and I am supposed to be taking Protonix twice a day. However my insurance company MVP has ordered my physician to prescribe Prilosec OTC twice a day which the pharmacy was ordered to change to Omeprazole DR 40mg capsule twice a day. While the Omeprazole manages the acid reflex it does nothing to help with the constant stomach pain and diarrhea which, I believe, the Protonix did control. Actually my insurance company has been dictating the treatments for my medical needs and which medications I am to take for some years now.

At the present I am on twenty medications. I am in terrible pain from the neck to my toes, I don’t eat proper meals, I sleep most of the day, and I am very depressed. I have been experiencing delusions and dreams, both night and daytime, of events out of reality and at times I dream of murder and suicide, I would assume from watching too much CSI and television. I am unable to read books or the computer any more; I can’t concentrate on any tasks especially my school work at Kaplan’s Online University. Recently my vision has become blurry and I am having headaches and earaches. My mouth is constantly dry and I am very thirsty all the time.

As much as I love and trust my physicians I wish that there was a clinic with a Dr. House where I could go to for detoxifying and proper analysis of my physical and mental health. All I want to do these days is to become clear headed, healthy, and able to take care of myself so that my daughter can live her own life and not be responsible for my well being.

I have not mentioned that I also have been diagnosed with arthritis in my hands and spinal chord with stenosis in the lower, middle, and upper back as well as my neck and to top it off degenerative spine through out the lower lumbar region. I refuse to have the spine and neck fussed or have rods installed the length of the spine and neck. When I feel up to it I try to walk two to four miles a day partially with an 18° incline plus some stretching and bending exercises I was taught in physical therapy. However this routine is becoming more difficult to achieve every day.

I think I have covered most of the bases, I know that I am not your patient and that you are limited by ethics to advise me but I would like your professional opinion concerning the medications I am taking, their interactions with each other on the overall grand scale, and some advise I can pass on to my Doctors and pharmacist. I would be happy to supply their names if this letter were private. But since it is not I await hearing from you directly in the near future.

Sincerely yours,

Barbara