Posted by JohnX2 on February 26, 2002, at 0:25:13
In reply to Adrafinil NO, lithium + Remeron YES, posted by BarbaraCat on February 26, 2002, at 0:13:46
Congratulations!Bipolar II is such a tough ride.
What was your experience on lithium like?
I'm also bipolar II and have been through the
medicine wringer.
I think I have been a bit stubborn about going
the lithium route. I feel so worn down from all
the medicines I've taken and I just look at all
those side effects, but my pdoc seems really good
and is hot for the medicine. I've had this chronic
headache pain and I have about 80% of my mood disorder
under control mainly from Lamictal. I just don't know if
I want to trade off more side effects for more mood stabilization.
What do you think?Thanks,
John
> So, I got my shipment of adrafinil from the UK and started taking it hoping to have a taste of the miracle some of us had experienced here on this board. Prior to beginning the Adrafinil, I'd had a 10 year mediocre response from SSRI's and had recently gone on lithium and upped klonopin with just a teensy bit of Remeron (Remeron had pooped out badly and I'd been trying to see if I could do without AD's since they made me feel bad by themselves). All was going well, brain beginning to unfry, feeling pretty good, if still a bit delicate.
>
> After 2 days on Adrafinil I began to feel such an inner tension (one of it's reputed side effects). I kept at it for 1-1/2 weeks hoping it would get better. I kept spiraling into a very uncomfortable, agitated place, virtually undoing the soothing balm the new lithium/klonopin had been providing. It brought on a melancholic hypomanic state (no, this is not a contradiction). Needless to say, I stopped. This was about 3 weeks ago.
>
> Even after stopping, I was sobbing everywhere I went, and I believe that the agitation caused by the Adrafinil was enough to unbalance my poor chemistry. So I upped the lithium from 100 to 300 mg and started back on 30 mg. Remeron. That combo seems to be the ticket and I am feeling great. I think those of us tending toward the Bipolar II side should be VERY CAREFUL of strong norepiniphrine drugs. This has been a valuable lesson for me. Now I KNOW I'm BP-II whereas before I just suspected it. - Barbara
poster:JohnX2
thread:95539
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95542.html