Posted by Leighwit on April 25, 2002, at 16:36:38
In reply to Re: Is Dysphoria an Actual Diagnosis? » Leighwit, posted by Ritch on April 25, 2002, at 12:43:18
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> I have bipolar and sometimes I get "mixed" features which could be described as "dysphoric" whether you could say that I was "hypomanic" or "depressed". It is almost like I have five different states: Euthymic (rare!), Depressed (lethargic-anergic), Hypomanic (bubbly-friendly), Hypomanic-dysphoric (predom. anger-rage), Depressed-dysphoric (predom. agitation/anxiety). There isn't a separate "condition" called dysphoria all its own. If you check out the list of traits or features for major depression or mania you will see them listed in there. So, technically you could be unipolar depressive and have angry, anxious, agitated features that accompany the depression. Different antidepressants tend to have their own "profile" or ability to treat various traits. Some AD's are quite agitating. I found Wellbutrin and desipramine to be the most agitating AD's I have ever taken. Remeron and Effexor, while killing anxiety quite nicely, unfortunatley made me angry and hostile. A lot of your trouble could be too *high* of a dose of WB. Also, sometimes it works better to take lower doses of an energizing AD along with a low dose of a sedative AD (at bedtime, ie.) I found low dose combos of TCA's and SSRI's to work rather well. I would like to try reboxetine (low-dose), but hell will probably freeze over before its available here in the US.
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> MitchThanks for your input, Mitch. I thought the very same: that the Wellbutrin dosage might be too high. I've gone from the max. daily dosage to only 150 mg in the a.m., and unfortunately my agitation hasn't diminished one bit. A low dosage of Celexa did seem to take the edge off the WB, but I gained a lot of weight and my endocrinologist insisted I discontinue it. As soon as I stopped Celexa, the steady weight gain stopped. As for Reboxetine, I took it here in the US (through a teaching hospital in Chicago) but it didn't do a thing for me. In fact, I found it as agitating as Effexor. WB, while I'm having problems with it, has been much easier to tolerate than either Effexor or Reboxetine in my experience. I've had a better response, and less irritability until very recently. I'm hesitant to discontinue or switch from WB ~ yet I feel like I'm settling for miserable results only because I'm not gaining weight or laying on the couch all day.
Thanks again for the feedback.
poster:Leighwit
thread:104108
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104129.html