Depression and anxiety

[Yakester]

After a car accident I was in (8 years ago) that was caused by sudden onset of extreme sleepiness, a side effect of mirapex, I was abruptly taken off mirapex and started on gaba. I then suffered from anxiety and depression. Would the abrupt cessation of mirapex or side effects of gaba be the cause of my depression and anxiety ?

[Parminter]

Sudden cessation of dopamine agonists is a very bad idea, and indeed it can lead to your symptoms. Your doctor should know this. It is not new knowledge. It has a name - Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome, or DAWS.

'The symptoms of DAWS include anxiety, panic attacks, dysphoria, depression, agitation, irritability, suicidal ideation, fatigue, orthostatic hypotension, nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, generalized pain, and drug cravings. The severity and prognosis of DAWS is highly variable. While some patients have transient symptoms and make a full recovery, others have a protracted withdrawal syndrome lasting for months to years, and therefore may be unwilling or unable to discontinue DA therapy.'

Drugs Aging. 2013 Aug;30(8):587-92. doi: 10.1007/s40266-013-0090-z.

cambridge.org/core/journals...

Good luck. I seem to have read, somewhere, that going back onto a small dose, then weaning off slowly, may help. Not absolutely sure.