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Re: Question for Cindylou » alex01

Posted by Cindylou on May 1, 2002, at 13:51:20

In reply to Re: Question for Cindylou, posted by alex01 on May 1, 2002, at 6:05:08

Hi Alex,
Well, first of all I am VERY med-sensitive, and can only tolerate small doses of most drugs out there.

Specifically, I would get extremely fatigued and foggy-headed on SSRIs, to the point of "zombie-ness," and this feeling would not subside even after several months (e.g., Zoloft, Effexor, Paxil, etc.) The only exception is Prozac. If I started out low enough on Prozac (e.g., 2.5 mg.) I would do very well on it, but then crash after 2 months. I tried this three different times over the course of 10 years, and every time I would experience this crash after 2 months -- I would be left exhausted, couldn't concentrate or focus, feel "depleted" -- worse off than I was before I started the med. Increasing the dose did not help. (Basically, it broke my heart.)

With stimulants, again I can only tolerate extremely small doses (e.g., 2.5. mg of Adderall). I've tried most of them. They usually work wonderfully for a few days, and then WHAM!!!! I crash -- hard. Similar crash to the Prozac, but I feel even worse -- like i have the flu, or the worst hangover of my life. I try taking more, and it only makes it worse.

I tried Nortriptyline (the tricyclic), and at only 10 mg., I was so agitated I wanted to jump out of my skin! I could barely function due to the agitation.

Buspar made me feel very clouded-headed, heavy-headed, extremely tired, could not snap out of the fog no matter how much coffee I drank!

The antipsychotics made me extremely spacey and disoriented and exhausted.

The meds I've done okay with are:

- Klonapin, at small doses
- Lamictal, up to 75 mg.
- Serzone, but only up to 75 mg (too small a dose to help with depression, but it does help with anxiety)
- So far, Neurontin -- but it's only my 3rd day. I am actually very fatigued today, and it could be due to the Neurontin, I'm not sure.)
- Wellbutrin, kind of. I could tolerate it while on Effexor and Zoloft, probably because those meds made me so exhausted that nothing could cause me agitation! But when trying it without those meds, or with Lamictal, the Wellbutrin did make me quite agitated. This is a fairly normal reaction though.

Hope this is of some help to you! I didn't include EVERY med I've tried, because some of them I could only handle for a day and then I'd quit -- if there is a specific med you're wondering about that I didn't mention, let me know (I may well have tried it!)

I look forward to hearing how things go for you...
take care,
cindy


> Cindylou
>
> I was very interested to hear you mention that you had had unusual reactions to anti-depressant meds, and also that your doc had said that low energy, low motivation, sleep-alot depression are often bipolar II. I qualify with the depression stuff (plus have been manic of occasion) and have tried about 15 different AD meds without success and generally wierd responses:
>
> eg ssri's and serzone/effexor made me feel very blank which blocked out everything but I couldnt think, had sort of muscle cramp/seizures with big dizzy spells on bupropian, and a host of other entertaining reactions to lots of differnt ADs, including my now 9 month reaction to a small amounnt of amphetamine.
>
> Anyway, all of this to say I am interested in what sort of unsual reactions you have had on ADs. I am going to try lithium soon so interested in all background I can get
> Regards
> Alex


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poster:Cindylou thread:104523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104654.html