Posted by Chloe on June 15, 2002, at 22:12:30
In reply to Re: Abstract on Doxepin for Scalp Pain » Chloe, posted by Ritch on June 15, 2002, at 16:05:46
> Hi Chloe,
>
> So *that's* what that is! Got a question for you. You said it started when you were taking Neurontin+lithium. Had you ever been on lithium before without being combined with the Neurontin? I just wonder if the Neurontin might have precipitated it.No, I was on lithium for years in the '80's. Neurontin wasn't "born" yet! I never remember Li being drying back then...I had really thick long hair, and never had any problems with scalp or hair. I DO know that neurontin for me, is *extremely* drying. When I started it, I felt everything dry up. My mouth, my *female parts*, my skin. My body doesn't make ANY natural oils. Hence the 1 tbs FSO and 2000 mgs Evening primrose oil. That has helped some...
Whenever I increase the dose of N, I get increased burning of the skin and scalp for about a week. Then it seems to settle down. But then several weeks will go by, and I will run my hand thru my hair, and it will feel so brittle and dry. And I condition the hell out of it too...So I do think N was probably the culprit. But now my body is just so dried out and weary from daily meds. Because any new med or dosage change seems to start the scalp burn now...
>It's a good thing you have nailed it. It helps when it has a *name*!Yes, thanks to Fachad's diligent research. I wish the derm doc had just come out and said it was that. Rather than saying I don't have a rash, this something I need to bring up with my psychiatrist. GEEZ, I felt like a hypochondriac or I was faking the pain. It was rather uncomfortable, though brief!
>You are also very lucky you don't mind heavy-hitting sedative meds. The first psych meds I was prescribed (all at once, too), was lithium 900mg/day + doxepin 75mg/bedtime + amitripytline 25mg/bedtime + chlordiazepoxide 10mg/bedtime.
Just curious, why would you take amitrip and doxepin? Was there a reason for that one? That is alot of meds! You must have felt awful! Or at least not (hypo)manic!
>Needless to say my first night's sleep on that was rather, well.. heavy to say the least. Doxepin is weird in that you get whalloped pretty good when you start a given dose (say 25mg at bedtime). But, after a few weeks the daytime sedation does wear away quite a bit. I can't believe it was possible, but I was up to 150mg/day for a few weeks and actually worked around dangerous machinery! I don't think I could hack that now!
So far, I really like Doxepin, at my low dose of 20 mg. I will probably need to raise it, but I am going to try another night at 20 to give my scalp time to adjust, and let the blood level go up. Maybe 20 will be all I need, but I doubt it.
I have less orthostatic hypotension, less thump, thump, cardiac changes, less constipation, but oddly some heartburn. That ami is powerful in slowing down the gut! I am also glad to report, that *so far* I am not noticing a withdrawal or rebound of anxiety when I wake up on Doxepin. With ami, the alarm would go off, and perhaps startle me, and my heart would pound and race, though I am half asleep. And then I would be in a frantic nasty mood from the moment I was awakened, throughout the entire day.
With Dox, the last two mornings, I have awoken with dreams I can't remember, and I am glad and have some desire to get out of bed. My fear was that anxiety would creep in with dox's short 6-8 hour half-life. But today was so even, and I have been calm. Did this "calmness" wear off with the sedation in your experience with dox? Did you notice any rebound anxiety during the day?>I had to give up the imipramine trial. It just screwed up my sleep so badly. I was evidently not sleeping soundly, and it was triggering the early morning awakenings. Since I stopped it my sleep has improved steadily. But, I still feel the depression during the day.
Maybe imiprimine is just not a good TCA for you. I realized that Trimip. gave me a pradoxical effect. I had anxiety, insomnia, shakes, oh and EPS. It was very unpleasant. Didn't nortrip work well pretty for you?
>It looks like I am going to start a smidge of Effexor starting Monday (to be my sole AD-no more Celexa, etc.). Just 12.5mg first thing in the morning, and then let it wash out later on so it (hopefully) won't wreck my sleep. I got hypomanic and irritable on it before, but that was related to steroids I was taking. Also, I wasn't on Depakote at the time but subtherapeutic lithium instead. So, this will be the Effexor irritability challenge (to see if the Depakote will keep a lid on it).
Gee, I really hope you trial of effexor goes well. Perhaps with the protection from dep. it will be a more positive experience this time. Dep. is definitely better for the short fuse/irritability stuff. So you are no longer on a stimulant? I guess I have lost track a bit.
Shifting meds can really mess up my head. Usually I feel pretty on top of things. But I can't remember anything lately. I keep telling myself to write things down, but I forget everything looking for a damn piece of paper!Let us know how the Effexor goes. I hope it helps your sleep troubles, too...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you
Chloe
>
> good luck with the doxepin,
>
> Mitch
poster:Chloe
thread:108844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020609/msgs/109980.html