1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

constant discomfort with dry mouth on medication

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by Celatus, Nov 26, 2016.

  1. Celatus

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2014
    Messages:
    542
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    US
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I have mild to severe anxiety and depression, and for the past few months I've been on a combination of Paxil and Clomipramine, with Remeron for sleep. Originally, I had been taking Paxil and Seroquel for around two years. The main reason I took Seroquel was that for some mysterious and life-saving reason, it kept my digestive system almost totally in check (i.e. no nasty and frequent bowel movements). I saw several specialists beforehand and they concluded that I had anxiety/stree-induced IBS. Seroquel, on a relatively low dose of 25-50mg, was the single thing that actually worked, and made living a normalish life possible.

    Then it slowly but surely derailed my life. I found that the Seroquel made me so tired during the day it was borderline dangerous for me to drive, and consistently I failed to complete necessary work simply because I felt too damn tired. I missed classes regularly because it became too difficult to wake up. I even slept right through an exam and ended up having to withdraw from a class. Eventually, when I became stressed or depressed I would simply succumb and sleep around 14 hours a day. Occasionally I would even use it to avoid life in general during the day. This left me with even less time to get my work done, and made me even more anxious and depressed.

    Seroquel quite literally saved me from mental collapse in high school, but it became debilitating in college because I became so groggy. My suggestion for anyone taking Seroquel is to carefully consider that sleep will consume your life. This cycle quickly spiraled out of control and I ended up taking incomplete grades for my second semester courses while trying multiple antidepressants and medications in between. Every single goddamn day off the Seroquel, I experienced horrible, frequent and humiliating diarrhea. I found that Saphris, a newer antipsychotic medication, made my anxiety related ibs worse and caused nausea (it also made me groggy as fuck).

    In a stroke of luck, the antidepressant Remeron worked remarkably well for sleep without the next-day zombie effect. My psychiatrist ultimately ended up putting me on Clomipramine for its anticholinergic effects, and it helped immensely to keep my digestive tract mostly stable. I also take Klonopin for anxiety otherwise I shake like crazy for no apparent reason. For anyone struggling with anxiety-related ibs or frequent loose stools, Clomipramine is a remarkably effective medication and may very well change your quality of life for the better.

    HOWEVER, and here's the big annoying thing, I have absolutely horrible and near-constant dry mouth. I know that on paper, dry mouth doesn't seem bad. But when you constantly tote around a water bottle (and have to urinate much more frequently), can't fathom kissing another person, end up having to scrape plaque off your front teeth, and generally just feel uncomfortable the entire day, it becomes incredibly frustrating. When it becomes painful to talk, oral health declines, your tongue feels like sandpaper, and have general desert-mouth, it's just plain awful. The incredibly dry mouth also gets worse when I'm around other guys, and I've almost totally withdrawn from the dating scene because I feel so uncomfortable. When I was (somewhat) functional on the Seroquel, I had two 'flings' in the past, but I can't even imagine how embarrassing it might be kissing someone with such a dry mouth. Even smiling is uncomfortable as hell because my saliva is so fucking thick and I worry about the appearance of constant plaque buildup on my teeth.

    I got so fed up with this constant annoyance that I eventually tried switching back to Seroquel. And then I rediscovered quite quickly why I abandoned it in the first place, and switched back to the 50mg of the Clomipramine. Being so groggy that I can't get things done is simply too big of a tradeoff, and makes it nearly impossible to succeed academically or hold down a job. (I've tried 25mg but the dry mouth feels exactly the same even with half the dosage).

    So...I'm primarily interested in finding a medication that has the anticholinergic or ibs-controlling power of Seroquel or Imipramine/Clomipramine without the absolutely awful discomfort of constant dry mouth. My current and previous psychiatrist don't have many ideas here. :icon_sad: And yes, I have tried Biotene rinse and toothpaste. It works for about 15 minutes and then it's back to desert mouth. Chewing gum or sucking on sugarless candies seems even less effective.

    For others that take medication that causes very dry mouth, or perhaps have a similar experience with anxiety/stress related ibs control that was effectively managed with other medication, I'd be interested in whatever suggestions you might have or possible alternative medications you take.
     
  2. Really

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2014
    Messages:
    2,579
    Likes Received:
    753
    Location:
    BC
    Hi Bubblemonger,

    I can't speak about any medication (you might ask your pharmacist, they should know about options) but I'll share one thought for some relief.

    For the past couple of weeks I've been doing oil pulling with coconut oil before bed. (You can look it up.) I've been trying it for tooth whitening but I'm not convinced it's doing that but I have found that my mouth feels really nice and my morning breath is all but gone. I did a quick Google and it seems it might also help with dry mouth.

    If you decide to try it, note that for the first few days, I noticed that my cheeks seem to be "peeling" slightly (and this might just be me) but that has stopped and everything is very soft now. :slight_smile: