Scopolamine and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Sur...
• June 12, 2020

For Nausea/Vomiting "I was on scopolamine while in the hospital for gastritis from post-gallbladder surgery and blood clot from pregnancy. At first, I noticed my throat swelling and extreme dry mouth. I told the doctor, and he didn't seem worried. Then, I noticed that I was getting very agitated and nervous. When I left the hospital, I was shaking like crazy. My heart would race all the time. I went to the ER, and they gave me drugs for anxiety and sent me home, but all they did was make me sleep. I would wake up the next morning with tremors. I finally had a major panic attack and started thinking people were out to get me. I was diagnosed with all the symptoms of extreme hyperthyroidism, but my thyroid was fine. I got to an internal medicine doctor, and he took me off the patch. My inflammation went down, but I came off the drug hard. My eyes dilated, and I had blurry vision for several days. I then started crying and physically crashed. It is going to take time to recover mentally what this patch did to me."

• Gig...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 5, 2020

For Nausea/Vomiting "Do not take scopolamine! It feels like it is poisoning my body. I was given the transdermal patch during an ER visit for un-retractable Ménière’s disease, vertigo, and vomiting. I had never heard of the med before. The doctor said it was a safe option that worked fast. It stopped my vomiting instantly along with making me so drowsy I couldn’t stand and had to be wheeled to the car. I slept for 48 hours straight, while just having the energy to make it to the bathroom. I removed the patch after 48 hours and proceeded to get dry heaves, a horrible rash on my hands and feet (like I had been burned). Anxiety, hallucinations, insomnia, eye pain, dizziness, body aches, and muscle spasms. Still in bed suffering. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I left the patch on for the additional allotted day."

• Blo...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 6, 2018

For Nausea/Vomiting "Had this with knee replacement surgery. Had horrible psychosis. Was hallucinating and paranoid and not aware of surroundings. Horrible feelings that I had no control over. Beware of using this drug. No one warned me of this as a possible side effect. Will NEVER use again."

• Ano...
• March 6, 2021

For Nausea/Vomiting "I've had a horrible experience with this patch. I had a minor back surgery, and the patch was placed behind my left ear, but no instructions were given. The day after surgery, I tried to go for a walk, but when I stepped outside, everything became extremely bright and discolored, and I was disoriented. I noticed one dilated pupil. I took the patch off after having it on for 32 hours. The next day, I felt incredibly weak, tired, dizzy, lightheaded, with blurry vision, anxious, nervous, and had a headache. I ended up going to the ER when the symptoms continued. They seemed to be clueless about all these side effects from the patch. It's day three now, and I'm still having issues. I tried to take a quick walk, didn't even go a block, and I felt like my legs were going to give out, and like I was going to have a panic attack. The last thing I need after back surgery is being dizzy and off balance. This medicine is dangerous. I can't believe doctors aren't more up to speed about the debilitating side effects."

• Ano...
• March 6, 2021

For Nausea/Vomiting "I've had a horrible experience with this patch. I had a minor back surgery, and the patch was placed behind my left ear, but no instructions were given. The day after surgery, I tried to go for a walk, but when I stepped outside, everything became extremely bright and discolored, and I was disoriented. I noticed one dilated pupil. I took the patch off after having it on for 32 hours. The next day, I felt incredibly weak, tired, dizzy, lightheaded, with blurry vision, anxious, nervous, and had a headache. I ended up going to the ER when the symptoms continued. They seemed to be clueless about all these side effects from the patch. It's day three now, and I'm still having issues. I tried to take a quick walk, didn't even go a block, and I felt like my legs were going to give out, and like I was going to have a panic attack. The last thing I need after back surgery is being dizzy and off balance. This medicine is dangerous. I can't believe doctors aren't more up to speed about the debilitating side effects."

• Chl...
• February 3, 2020

For Motion Sickness "Used the patch for a 2-week trip to Thailand, including bumpy car, bus, and ferry rides. I had no side effects at all for the first 6 days, and it worked wonders! I applied the patches in the evening before going to bed, but on the 3rd patch (day 6), I applied it in the morning. I felt tired and dizzy with some strange eye dilations. I realized it was probably the patch making me feel strange. I removed it as the “bumpiest” parts of my trip were over. For a little less than 24 hours, the dizziness and anxiety (likely from reading all these reviews) continued, and I wasn’t hungry, but no vomiting or anything close to what I’ve read in other reviews. After 24 hours of removing the patch, I felt completely normal. I drank LOTS of fluids throughout the day and kept moving, although I would have preferred to stay lying down. It was our last day of the trip, so we continued our plans of sightseeing, which helped take my mind off the side effects, and I felt normal much quicker than I expected."

• Bad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 5, 2022

For Nausea/Vomiting "My doctor had me place this behind my ear the night before surgery. When I woke up the next morning before surgery, I was so dizzy I nearly fell over twice, and I had a terribly dry mouth and sore throat. I had bad anxiety all morning (not from the surgery, I’ve had surgery before and never felt like this), and I started to get shaky, agitated, and feel sick. I asked the anesthesiologist if I could take it off, and he said yes. Within 30 minutes, I felt much better, and the nurses even commented on how calm/better I seemed. He said I probably should avoid that class of medication in the future."

• frm...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 23, 2023

For Motion Sickness "I got motion sickness on our cruise 2 months ago, and I tried Bonine and the oil, and both didn't help at all. So I tried the scopolamine patch, and it worked right away. Also, I notice it lowered my anxiety a bit during my cruise and helped me sleep a bit better during it as well. A month ago, I started having insomnia and anxiety and tried Benadryl and melatonin, and both didn't work for me, they just made my anxiety and insomnia worse. A few days later, I ran out of options, and it was getting to the point where I wasn't sleeping at all, so I put on another scopolamine patch to see what would happen. That night I got about 4 hours of straight uninterrupted sleep and was so relieved when I woke up and it was 4 am. Four hours went by in the blink of an eye! The nausea from my anxiety went away as well, and my appetite improved a bit. I really believe the scopolamine patch helps my anxiety and want some research on this topic. I wasn't the only one that reported it lowering my anxiety as well."