Posted by polarbear206 on May 2, 2002, at 11:46:16
In reply to Re: Help - yet another thread- Lamictal Cindy » polarbear206, posted by Cindylou on May 1, 2002, at 18:53:45
> Thanks for this post, polar bear!
>
> It is always encouraging to hear that others have experienced the same thing I have -- that I'm not alone, and that this bipolar II thing is a reality. Glad to hear you are doing well on Lamictal. Can I ask what AD you are taking?
>
> Thanks again,
> cindy
>
>
> > Cindy,
> > The very same thing happened to me after the birth of my child 13 years ago. It is bipolar 2. I had a hard time accepting this too. I'm even a psychiatric nurse!! I was able to get by on just antidepressants, but the soft cycling I was having was getting worse as time went by. Doing good on 75mg of Lamictal with a lower dose of my ad. It feels good to just feel "right".
Cindy,Of all the ad's i've been on, I feel more like "myself" on the tricyclics. I take Imipramine. The older drugs (MAOI's and Tricyclics ) work better for those with more serious endogenous depressions. Back in early february I started to spiral down. I added on a small amt. of Paxil to get me through the anxiety til I saw my pdoc. My bipolar is depression dominated. My highs are just increases in energy, where I can get alot accomplished and sometimes "nervous energy" (I'm sure you can relate to this) My lows are overwhelming fatigue, hypersomnia (sleeping too much) confusion and concentration problems. Every year in february I get worse. I also have seasonal variations. This time I really got scared!! My pdoc to put me on Lamictal. Since doing this I've been able to stop the Paxil and go down to 75mg of imipramine. I can't tolerate high doses of SSRI's. They really exacerbate my cycling and esp. the hypersomina. They really numb my emotions too whereas the tricyclics don't. High doses of tricyclics can also exacerbate mood cycling too, but if I stay at 100mg or below I do fine with this. There is a very broad spectrum to mood disorders. Mood stabilizers with bipolar disorers should be your main med. If an antidepressant is needed, it should be at the lowest effective dose. Ihope to be able to go down to 50mg of imipramine as I go up slowly with the Lamictal.
A good book to check out is "Why Your Depression Isn't getting better" By Michael R. Bartos M.D. It's about the epidemic of undiagnosed bipolar disorders. I think I'm finally on the right direction with the Lamictal.Laura.
poster:polarbear206
thread:104545
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104770.html