Posted by Elizabeth on August 22, 2001, at 13:34:19
In reply to Re: Recurrent unipolar vs bipolar » Elizabeth, posted by akc on August 17, 2001, at 16:33:26
> It is easy to feel bitter. I had to get my therapist on the phone this week after our session just to make sure she understood the pain I am feeling -- I am convinced now she did, but on Monday, during our session, I sure felt that she was minimizing it with the "you are doing great" type talk.
I think that sometimes therapists are trying to help by being optimistic, but it ends up just feeling like they're ignoring your pain. OTOH, depressed people tend to interpret anything in the most negative possible way!
> My pdoc seems to be giving my the lithium as much for the depression as for mood stabilization.Yes, it has antidepressant (or at least, AD-augmenting) effects as well as being a mood stabiliser (antimanic).
> When we started the topamax, I stopped taking the lithium, and then had this episode. She blames the stopping of the lithium for the depressive episode, more than the lowering of the effexor.
Well, if you make too many changes simultaneously, it can be hard to tell what caused what.
> I did have a period of high anxiety, that she blamed on the increasing dose of topamax. I try hard to know why exactly she has me on stuff, but obviously, I am not clear.
Try and get her to explain it to you. I think it's very important that you be giving truly informed consent to all these medical interventions.
> I don't have sleep troubles all the time -- just when I am in an episode.
I've had sleep troubles all my life. My mother even has told me about some problems I had when I was less than 1 year old. My earliest memories of disturbed sleep are from when I was about 3 or 4.
> While I have had problems with cutting and such, my distorted thinking gets locked on images of self-harm. It is more than just wanting to cut. I get in a frame of mind that I can't shake the images at all. And it is more than just cutting. It is pretty disturbing, to say the least.
That sort of obsessive/intrusive thought might be helped by antipsychotics, yes (at least, that's what my gut tells me). Good luck to you.
> My pdoc has mentioned Geodon.
Really? I don't know much about it except for certain pharmacological differences from the other atypicals. What did your pdoc say about it? (Anything interesting?)
> > Nerd pride!
>
> RULESCheers!
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:74539
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010822/msgs/75958.html