[Guiness187055]

Does anyone find themselves with slurred speech as a side effect from the meds.

[~Christina]

Yes, lithium. Invega started doing that about 6-7 months on it

[1978dd]

Originally Posted by Guiness187055

Does anyone find themselves with slurred speech as a side effect from the meds.

Yes, from Klonopin

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Are you on lithium? That can be a sign of toxicity.

Otherwise my speech is slurred after I take my meds and until about 11 AM the next day. One of many reasons I don't drive in the morning.

Gabapentin does it to me, so I can’t take it while I’m at work.

[Standup2me]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Yes, lithium. Invega started doing that about 6-7 months on it

I had that same problem with Lithium. Oh, it was awful

[Guiness187055]

I am not toxic on lithium but my wife says I sound drunk all the time.

[Misterpain]

Unfortunately yes it's a a "running joke" with my friends they know how my pain is based on how slow and slurred my speech is, my speech can be somewhat fast on up to 100 micrograms of fentanyl an hour slow, at that dose you generally have time to go make coffee before I finish my sentence.

[Sunflower123]

I’m sorry you are having this problem with lithium. How frustrating!!!!

[Gabyunbound]

I get slurred speech sometimes, but I think it's because of dry mouth due to the meds (probably the combination of Seroquel, klonopin, and methadone). I'm an interpreter, so talk all day, and this doesn't help.

[CloserToTheMid]

when I took saphris, I would wake up with slurred speech. I was also not always safe to drive.

[Poppi]

I have found that gabapentin does this to me at times. It also makes me walk funny like I’m drunk but not. I don’t drink any alcohol. But I’m not messed up either.

[Guiness187055]

Went to the pdoc today. He said it's probably dry mouth from the lithium. I guess there are sprays out there for dry mouths.

[Misterpain]

Originally Posted by Guiness187055

Went to the pdoc today. He said it's probably dry mouth from the lithium. I guess there are sprays out there for dry mouths.

Yep there are sprays, mouthwash, and even lozenges YMMV but I carry a sugar free lozenge called aqua drops something about there melon flavor that just makes it feel like a better day , like I am spoiling myself. From what I th ave heard that using two products works best like usedbthe mouth wash in the am and then lozenges durihgbthe day .

[Pookyl]

Originally Posted by Guiness187055

I am not toxic on lithium but my wife says I sound drunk all the time.

The normal blood level ranges from 0.6-1.2
However, I do best when I sit at 0.8-0.9
Any higher and I start to act/sound like I'm toxic. Quickest way to drop the Lithium is by increasing your fluid intake.
Are you drinking lots of fluids?

[bioChE]

I occasionally get slight slurred speech. I blame the combo of Lamictal and Klonopin.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

If I take a large dose of Ativan

[RomanJames2014]

Yes I do. The meds can sometimes be a little sedative so I come off as having cognitive impairment. Once a customer at my job accused me of having a "palsy" of some kind. It also takes a second for me to move. My Brain says "move arm!" and then a second later my arm moves as if there is some sort of lag.

The only time a med has caused slurred speech was when I took too much once and when they caused night terrors and I was half awake, half asleep and trying to scream for help but it came out slurred like I was intoxicated. I have a bipolar family member who to my knowledge does not drink but nearly always sounds intoxicated and slurs......I think it’s from being over medicated big time. I hope you find a solution to this.

[Guiness187055]

The biotine mouth spray helped big time. It was from dry mouth from my meds causing me to slur

Yes, I believe some medications gave me slurred speech. Which one(s), I don't completely recall. My gut feeling tells me that it was just an issue when first starting a medication (like Geodon) or if I was in the hospital and they loaded me up with a huge dose of something when I was manic w/psychosis (and surely severely agitated), like Haldol.

I do remember that when I first started taking Geodon I found it very sedating. I recall when first put on it that my husband and I had our neighbor over for dessert or something and I started falling asleep sitting up. I ended up having to excuse myself. It was OK since my neighbor prefers my husband over me anyway. Eventually I got used to Geodon and it wasn't that sedating at all.

Also, one time my careless husband accidentally took MY evening medications in the morning instead of his morning medications. The two pill boxes looked similar. I knew the difference, but it was one morning when I didn't give it to him, which is our usual custom. The poor dude made it to work alright, but then he apparently started to slur his words and fall asleep, almost falling off his chair. He managed to call me and asked me to check what pills he took. Sure enough, they were mine. I had to drive to his workplace and take him home. At home he slept around 12 hours straight. Probably if I had taken my evening meds in the morning I would have just been very tired but manage, because I'm used to them. But he wasn't used to my large doses of Geodon and Seroquel XR.

Once I took my morning medications twice one morning. They didn't sedate me or make me slur words, but I felt very strange. I had to reduce some of my evening meds that night as a result.

Have you had your blood draw to check for lithium toxicity? I just read slurred speech is a symptom.

I’m getting mine checked in a couple weeks.

[Guiness187055]

My lithium level is a .6 just had it taken