Can medication be transferred through bed sheets?

[keaze]

Hi

I take 2000mg keppra, 200mg lamotrigine.


This is a question I've asked my doctor and he told me that he doesn't think so. I am finding absolutely no information online about transfer of medication from one person to another.

My girlfriend is prone to anger and mood swings, depression and sometimes crying.

Here is an exerpt from a very thorough scientific study: "The regulatory trials suggested that LEV (levetiracetam) influenced affect. Symptoms including agitation, hostility, anxiety, apathy, emotional lability, depersonalisation and depression were reported [...]".

When I think about it, her behaviour is very consistant with side effects from AEDs.

So I ask (and it sounds so evident to me, which is why i dont understand the lack of info): Is medication passed on from you to your significant other? Through kissing, sharing food, cuddling, having sex, and most importantly sleeping in the same bed (sweat contaminated with medication, absorbed by significant other's skin)?

If anyone can find an article or forum page about med transmission between people, I would be very thankful.

Or also personal experience, when you think about it, do you notice your significant other showing signs that he might be absorbing your medication somehow?


Slight precision, she is already prone to slight anger and slight instability, i'm not saying the possible med transfer is the only thing making her angry, but i'm asking if it possibly makes it worse.

Thanks

Matt

PS: Additional info. Maybe some will say "well if it does, it would be a very small trace amount". Well yes of course i agree, but i don't know if ya'll remember (i do). When i took my very first dose of lamotrigine (an insignificant 25mg!), I slept for a whole day! So even trace amounts of aeds have big effects.

 

[Frink]

I am thinking since keppra is mostly processed by the kidneys and excreted in urine, there could be a chance that some could get into your sweat and possibly soak into your sheets if you sweat a lot.

The problem would be how is she absorbing it? Your sweat, and the sheets, do not contain anything that would open the trans-dermal barrier to allow for absorption of the trace amounts of meds in the sweaty sheets.

Other possibilities for transfer could be saliva and or semen, but still only trace amounts.

What you describe as keppra symptoms could also be explained by depression.


*I am not a DR nor am I pretending to be.

 

[N Sperlo]

It sounds like you're more concerned with passing the levetiracetam over the lamotrigine. I'm of course going to say the same thing about the trace amounts. The minute amount you would sweat out should be extremely insignificant compared to even that 25mg. I wouldn't be too concerned.

Keep in mind lamotrigine is a mood stabilizer and will actually compete with the slight instability.

My suggestion, have her see a therapist. I was happily married for three years before my wife decided to see a therapist during a rough patch to find out she has bi-polar disorder. Guess what she's on. Lamotrigine!

I sincerely doubt the problem lies within you, but maybe in her brain chemistry. We all have our crosses to bear and she may have hers just like everyone else.

Have her see the professional.

Best of luck.

 

[resaebiunne]

You sound paranoid to me. Relax a bit and take a breather.

 

[masterjen]

Keaze: Ask your pharmacist about this. No one knows better than someone who has had training in the area of medications whether and how much medication is in various bodily fluids. And by the way, 25 mg of lamotrigine is not considered a "trace amount" or an insignificant amount

I agree with N Sperlo that a professional may be needed to evaluate what issues are going on with your girlfriend.

 

[valeriedl]

My girlfriend is prone to anger and mood swings, depression and sometimes crying.

These are things that can also be related with PMS. So does it seem to be going on with her all through the month or just once a week?

I talk both 3000 mg keppra and 650 mg lamotrigine. I don't think I've passed it on to my husband in any way that you've described. You are the male in the relationship though so unless you use condoms when having sex that might be the only way that you could be passing it on. Don't quote me on that though. It would be something good to ask the pharmacist about as everyone said. They seem to know more about the side effects of meds and how they react along with other meds more than drs do at times!

 

[SniffleCat]

If its possible, the amount would be so minute that it would be insignificant. Even you dissolved your medication in water and then soaked yourself in it, it wouldn't absorb enough to have an effect. It is a systemic drug, not topical. You wouldn't be able to fix a headache by taking a bath in tylenol.

 

[Nakamova]

Agree with above. AEDs have to be in high enough doses to pass the blood-brain barrier in order to help with seizure control, or cause side effects. The tiny amount you might sweat out and that she might absorb would have essentially zero effect.

That said, it is possible for someone's body chemistry to mimic or adjust in response to their partner's hormones. (e.g. when men have sympathetic Morning Sickness, or their testosterone levels decrease when there's a new baby.)