Posted by polarbear206 on April 8, 2002, at 20:49:45
In reply to Re: LAMICTAL usage for soft Bipolarity, PolarBear, posted by JeffH on April 8, 2002, at 12:30:01
> Laura,
>
> I have tried all of the above plus exotics such as amilsupride. Funny, a tricyclic/ssri was a future try. You symtoms closely mimic mine, with the exception of the seasonal aspect.
>
> I remember an early post about a depression called abulia or abulic depression, which I also found in an article about bipolar spectrum with by a John Hopkins doc. This lists all the subtypes of Bipolar II. Anyway, the trick was to take either the tricyclic or ssri in the morning, and the other in the evening. The doctor quoted said there are a minority that will only respond to this. I just thought I'd throw this in.
>
> Also, an earlier post mentioned going up slowly with the Lamictal because of of a therapeutic window, and some people responded only to a low dosage.
>
> I would switch doctors. I changed probably eight or so times, even traveling many miles. My current doctor in Tucson is 6 hours one way, making for an exhausting 12 hour trip. He trained at Havard with Stoll and others and is willing to try anything, including opiotes. He reads the articles I send in to him ( we even tried cortisol reducing drugs) and considers and even tries combinations I have picked up through Psycho Babble and other sources.
>
> Good luck. A treatment and a good doctor are out there, perhaps with the hard work most of us seem to have to do.
>
> Good Luck, Jeff
Hi Jeff!
Please keep me posted with your progress. I hope your current cocktail of meds works wonders for you!! Are you having any nasty side effects with the Parnate verses the other AD's you tried in the past? I just don't know how I would get through the washout period?? How did it go for you? To tell you the truth, thats what scares me the most!! I take the Imipramine and Paxil at night because when this illness is exacerbated, my mornings are the worst!! The fog starts to lift up as the day goes by. Thanks for your time!! Laura.
poster:polarbear206
thread:102360
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/102444.html