Reglan: Real People, Real Heartbreak

I was given Reglan thru IV 10mg x2 in the ER at Fulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain Ma, I came in with a stomach bug, I was not told the side affects on this poisoning Medicine, I went into a deep sleep for 8 hrs,doctors, nurses could not explain why I was reacting this way. They treated me like an animal, saying I was faking,that visit cost me over $12,000 on medical bills, head scan,body scan,all kind of blood work, they actually thought I was a mule, all test came back negative!!@ I'm currently suffering from Tardive Disconesia, my health is getting worse. I get seizures, twitching, restless legs syndrome, can not sleep, anxiety attacks, I can't control my body movement, mouth twitching, it goes on!!

I went to the ER last night for a sever migraine and the doctors gave me reglan with no warning of the side effects. In a matter of minutes my whole body felt jittery, I wanted to jump out of my skin, wanted to rip the iv out of my arm. I told my husband we had to get out of there that this was a mistake, I felt like I was losing my mind. I started to get freezing cold and my hands and feet were doing weird contortions. My legs were shaking and I kept rocking back and forth. It was horrifying, I have never felt more out of control of my mind or body in my life. The nurse came in and asked what I was feeling, she told me I was having a reaction to the reglan. Gave more more Benedtryl and then said nonchalantly "the last three patients I've given this to have had a similar reaction". Thank god for my husband who comforted me as best he could because to me it felt like these doctors and nurses were just doing a chemistry experiment. My legs continued to shake after the Benedtryl and today after being discharged from the hospital I feel jittery and anxious. Praying this goes away. I also told them I was breastfeeding still and they told me the meds they are giving me are okay for nursing mothers. When I looked it up on fda site this morning after nursing my son I saw that there is a warning for nursing mothers it may cause severe effects in the child. I am beside myself. Have no faith anymore in the medical system to make so many careless mistakes.

A few weeks ago I came down with the flu. The antivirals were causing me to vomit so I was prescribed metoclopramide. A few days later I was hospitalized due to further respiratory problems, and I was administered IV doses of metoclopramide during my two day stay. On the second day I started to get this intense feeling that I had to leave the hospital, I was anxious and just asking to be taken home. I thought that was all I needed but I couldn't be more wrong. I wad discharged and started feeling nauseated so I took an oral dose of metoclopramide. Little did I know the next few days would be the worse of my life. As time passed I felt more restless and anxious. I felt like I had to get up, like I had to move, like I had to do something but nothing I did would help. I tried watching a movie but I couldnt sit still, I tried going for walks but the feeling persisted, I tried taking a bath and relaxing but I simply couldn't. I couldn't keep a simple conversation, I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep. At 3am I still found mydelf struggling to say lying down, trying to calm down and sleep because I could feel how tired my body was but my heart rate was up to 120 per minute. I had to ask my parents to drive me to the ER to see if someone could help. The on call doctor gave me an ansiolitic and I was taken home where I could finally sleep. I woke up the next day and for a few moments I felt like very hating was alright but the it started again. I felt like no one could help me, I wondered if I would ever be myself again, if I would ever be normal again. I hated mydelf for going to the hospital because maybe if I hadn't I would t be going through that horrible time. I thought it was better to die than to live like that. I broke down in tears I could see how worried everyone around me was and there was nothing they could do. I was crying and crying because I felt like I couldn't do it anymore when I started feeling better. I started to calm down. I started to think clearly again and gradually I felt like the extreme anxiety was going away. That night I could sleep again and the next day was a lot better. I went to church for the first time in a long while and just prayed God could help me. Most of the anxiety was gone but I was still so scared it would come back, and it caused myself to feel anxious again. I learned to push those fears aside but in the next few days I started to feel depressed. Nothing I did fulfilled me. I'm a medical student and I felt like I could never go back to school again. I questioned everything I was doing and every detail about my life. I wondered if I could ever be happy again. Gradually those thoughts went away and I got busy with my daily usual activities. In a few days I was completely myself again and I can't be more grateful. You really don't know the value of something til you lose it and I'm my case it was mental health. I just thank God all of this went away and I have no sequels of my horrible ordeal. It wasn't until I could bring myself to research that I found many people who had taken metoclopramide that felt exactly the way I did. I would never for all the money in the world go through that again. Please be careful when taking a drug, especially the ones like which can mess up brain biochemistry.

I was astounded to see these comments. I thought that I was over reacting after both of my recent visits to the ER. My first visit occurred about a week ago. My parents took me in when I realized that my migraines were too severe to handle. I was given an IV of several drugs, including Reglan. Immediately after I was given these drugs I had a feeling of horror. I wanted to snatch the IV from my arm and run far away from the hospital. I felt jittery, and even had shortness of breath - a complete panic attack. My parents said it was all in my mind, but I knew it wasn't. I jumped up out of bed and left the room headed for the restroom. After returning from the restroom, it took what seemed to be an eternity for the doctor to come back to the room with a diagnosis and for me to be discharged.

My second bad experience occurred last night at the ER. I was having severe pains on the entire right side of my face and around my right eye. My face seemed to be boiling. At the ER I was given an IV, that included Raglan. Immediately after it was given, my anxiety attack began again. It wasn't as intense as my first experience, but I felt jittery and needed to get up. I went to the restroom like before. I had no relief. I wanted to get as far away from that place. After being discharged, I remained jittery for the entire night. I could not sleep well, and just felt institutionalized, but in my mind. I have never had such a bad experience. I was given meds during childbirth almost two years ago, and it was smooth sailing (aside from labor pains in the beginning). Something is not right with this drug, and even other drugs that we are being pumped with at the ER.

Now I am absolutely terrified of going to the ER. I don't want to ever have those experiences again.

My first and only time going to a GI doctor was back in 2004 when I was 24. I went because I was experiencing some bloating, and thought the doctor could possibly help figure out the cause. I left his office with a prescription for Reglan. That night I took a single dose, and my body/mind hasn't been the same since. I started to feel extremely anxious and depressed and started pacing the room. I felt like I was losing my mind. The next day I felt extremely fatigued and could barely function at work. I remember coming home and just crashing on the couch. Here I was only 24 years old and ended up having to go out on medical leave from work. My doctor did a number of tests (EEG, EKG, bloodwork) because she had no clue what the Reglan had done to me. The results showed that my estrogen and progesterone were extremely low, and my EEG showed some anxiety. My hormones eventually returned to normal (after many years), but I continue to have extreme fatigue, depression and anxiety. I refuse to live this way for the rest of my life (only 35 now), and have gone to many doctors since trying to get answers on what happened to me. I have yet to find someone who will work with me. If anyone out there has had the same experience and received successful treatment (Western and/or Eastern medicine), I would GREATLY appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,
Elizabeth

Hello everyone, I to had a reglan IV after going to the ER for a headache that I've had for about 2 weeks now. I originally wanted a cat scan but the doctor insisted that the radition was too much for me and may cause me consequences in the future & unless really necessary I shouldn't expose myself to such radiation, I am 23 years old. I've been having back pain for about a year & headaches on & off but this one just seems to be dull & annoying very irritating. The doctor said that reglan should calm me down & my pain. It really did nothing for me at all. I was nervous the whole time, I couldn't wait to go home. I got home & my headache got worse & I couldn't stop thinking. Now I see all of these negative comments about this medicine & I wish I would've known before. Maybe I was better off staying home????

I was given Reglan IV in the ER after zofran not working for nausea. About 5min after the nurse injected to medication I felt funny. I told my boyfriend i felt like I was laying on the floor the bed was so hard. I asked for extra pillows and a warm blanket because suddenly I was just so cold and uncomfortable...I thought it was just me and tried to comfort myself. I suddenly had severe anxiety and wanted to run out of the hospital. I called for the nurse and doctor...fortunately the doctor was well educated and informed me it was the reglan causing my symptoms and rushed the nurse to give me what i believe was cogentin IV which calmed me down and i FINALLY felt better. Anyway, the worse feeling ever and I will definitely NEVER take that medication AGAIN!!!

I am writing this to help people. When I first received Reglan I read these reviews over and over again, crying in complete desperation for one with a positive ending. This is one of those, although the beginning is not pretty. I went to the ER for stroke-like symptoms on January 15th, 2015 including a small headache. I told the nurses and doctors that I do NOT like pain medication because of the way that it makes me feel, and requested that they not give me any. A few moments later the nurse came in with what she told me was Benadryl and a Reglan, a "new regiment" they were trying. I was a bit concerned, simply because I am so sensitive to medicines. Little did I know this very next few moments would change my life. About 1-2 minutes later, the first thing I can remember saying is "I can taste it." It tasted like a copper penny. Almost immediately after this happened, I began to feel what I can only describe as complete horror. Dread. Panic. I felt like I was going to die at any second. I began to try to get out of my bed, and kept saying "I'm going to pass out" and was crying. I thought that I was going to use the restroom on myself (number 2) and began gagging. My heart rate shot up to 160 and my eyes were looking upward with no control, as if they were rolling back into my head continuously over and again and I could not make them stop. My mother was crying. I wanted to rip the IV out of my arm and go home. The only thing the nurse did was type on the computer and say "breathe in your nose and out your mouth." She was terrible, and careless. I do not know if she gave me the Benadryl or Reglan first. I have seen elsewhere that Reglan should be administered over a period of 5-10 minutes. I do know that she just shot it into my IV. I am also unaware of the dosage I was given. I only had this medication once. Over the next hour my mother says I was speaking gibberish, moving my arms and legs around, not myself. I don't remember any of this. The only thing that I remember is the nurse coming in with "something for nausea" and lying there unable to move. I prayed to God again and again. I was terrified. I just knew I was going to die. I thought I was never going to feel normal again. I could barely move or speak because I was so scared. I went to CT for my head and I was scared to death. I think I slept for a bit. I remember when the medicine began to wear off, I was still barely able to speak or move unless absolutely necessary. I was in shock with what had happened and still 100 percent full of anxiety. The doctor babbled off some ridiculous diagnosis and I left the ER, Not caring that my original symptoms were left uncared for. I wanted to go home. On the way to my house I was barely able to speak to my mother. I tried to explain to her how it had made me feel, but there was no words I could find to explain it. I told her repeatedly, "that changed my life. That was the scariest thing I have ever experienced before." To jump ahead, the following Sunday I went to church and got right with God. I was still fearing for my life, and experienced these horrid symptoms every day. Over the course of the first two weeks I was unable to eat, or be alone. I cried every day. I thought that I would never get better. I experienced the utmost extreme level of anxiety I believe possible (almost PTSD level) which over a few days turned to severe depression. One particular night I had a great Sunday, went to church morning and night, lead praise and worship both services, cooked tacos, and after my fiancé went to sleep I lost it. This was the scariest night of them all. My brain began to produce these thoughts and I didn't know where they were coming from. Just kill yourself. You can't live like this forever. Just kill yourself. I know better than killing myself, but my brain continued to tell me different. I thought I was losing my mind. I was absolutely terrified. I tried to wake up my fiancé and tell him something was wrong but he would not wake up. We live in the south and have guns in our home. I literally felt as if I needed him to remove them incase I did something I could not control, because I had none. That is the way I felt. I made myself lay down. Though I could not stay still I had such bouts of anxiety and panic my fingers tingled. I kept getting up and laying back down. I got a cool, wet wash cloth and put it on my head, laid down, tried to breath regularly and put his arms around me. He whispered to me "I've got you." And I made myself fall asleep. The next morning I cried thinking about the experience and feared it would happen again. Terrified, I called my mother and asked her to come to my house. I said "I am freaking out and I just really need someone to come here." She came immediately and I talked to her about what had happened. The only person I could tell who wouldn't throw me in a psych ward. I knew better than suicide, but I wasn't controlling my thoughts. I couldn't! She hugged me and told me that It was going to be okay. "Mind over matter." I had an appointment with a cardiologist and she went with. I never had an experience like this again. I did however continue to experience severe and almost constant anxiety, and because of that depression. I did not think I would ever get better. "I just don't want to feel like this anymore" I'd say as I cried and cried every day. I could not eat ANYTHING for weeks following. Only chicken noodle soup I would MAKE myself eat. I could sleep, though. I feel fortunate for that. I stayed in bed as long as possible (into the late afternoon) and immediately after getting up tried to find a way to avoid being alone. My mind would race while I was alone. The most constant thought being "will I ever feel normal again? Is this forever?" I became obsessed with online reviews of others with the same exact thing happening to them and read them daily. I just kept telling myself "mind over matter." I prayed as much as possible. I went to church every service I could make. I took Zofran for nausea caused by the anxiety, Prilosec and an Omega-3 vitamin daily. I did not want to be put on depression or anxiety medications. I am here mostly to say, it DOES get better. It has been 1 month and a day. Feels longer than that because every day was a struggle, I will not lie. I have just began being able to eat regularly again. I do not feel like I am going to have a panic attack at any second anymore. I do have anxiety, but very VERY little compared to the level it had been. A fraction of that. I feel better. I still have other symptoms from what is still wrong otherwise with my health, but the ones very clearly caused by Reglan are fading. More every day. Do not lose hope. When these feelings started becoming every day I would say to myself "I'm okay. This is not me. I can do it." No matter how hard that is, you MUST do it. You can make it. One dose of this medicine took and entire month of my life away from me. It should never be given to ANYONE, in my opinion. I am looking forward to the day that I am 100 percent back to normal, but I'm almost there. I hope this will help someone in the situation I was in. If you are struggling feel free to email me. saraelizabethesser@gmail.com
Mind over Matter.

I was prescribed reglan in January 2014 for gastritis. After taking it about a week, I started to feel jittery, so I stopped taking it. My stomach problems persisted and in March I had to have an EGD to determine what was going on. The scope revealed gastritis, esophogitis, a stomach polyp, and a hiatal hernia. My doctor then prescribed several medications, reglan among them. Since the scope was so bad, I decided to give reglan another shot. I began taking it on a Wednesday and by Friday I was having restlessness, anxiety, and heart palpitations. I ended up going to the emergency room late that night because my resting heart rate was 120 bpm. The ER doc told me it was a reaction to the reglan and to stop taking it. He said that I would feel anxious the next day, but then I would get back to normal. It's now 2 1/2 month later, and I still have bouts of anxiety and depression. I have had to stay with family because I can't handle being alone. Now I'm on Cymbalta (which I also hate). I have a history of depression, which I thought was behind me. Reglan has put a halt on my life, has inconvenienced my family, and has made my life hell. FDA, please ban this drug.