Posted by cybercafe on July 4, 2002, at 3:56:57
In reply to Re: thank you, posted by EmilyAnn on July 3, 2002, at 21:55:45
> **Thank you for responding. I understand that you (and others) are not able to prescribe medication. However, my experience (and that of others I have spoken to) has shown me that too often Doctors do not take into account the patient's situation. For example, sometimes they
Yeah I know I can do something for others -- as long as they don't expect too much. It's really hard to tell how bad your irritability and irresponsible behaviour is and how it effects your life without seeing you in person. Also... one problem I also find is that besides leaving things out by mistake, all of us are somewhat selective about what symptoms we want others to know about -- i.e. suicidal behaviour, hallucinations, what have you.
Keeping that in mind -- it's great that you listen to what people say online, but you definately need to confirm things with your doctor first. Especially if it involves herbal remedies, ... since so many drugs can be fatal in combination, or have other serious side effects (exacerbate psychosis, cause suicidal agitation, etc etc)....
Anyways enough of a disclaimer from me! :)>deal with every BPII case the same as if out of a textbook rather than looking at the individual. So, I am hoping that I can get advice here...like what has worked for others. That kind of thing.
What would you like to know? I can't tell you what's worked for me 100%, cuz nothing has yet ;)
but I've only tried a few meds.Right now I'm taking Parnate and a little Gabapentin (I'm BP II as well)
The Parnate is good for me cuz I sleep way too much, and the Gabapentin I take so that I can sleep while on Parnate :) and it also works wonders for anxiety and agitation.
I find it less potent than benzos, but I seem to be able to tolerate life without them (both Parnate and Gabapentin offer anti-anxiety effects).> I'm not sure what augmentation therapy is. So, I probably didn't try it! I've been in therapy
augmentation just means you combine one medication with another.... or other times it more specifically means that you combine drugs that interact with one another -- "synergism" would be a better description here
since I was 14. I found a therapist (finally) that helped me, but I cannot pay for the sessions and my insurance benefits have run out for the year.
Yeah I hear ya :) I wonder if that violates the constitution at all?
Or if you could rob a bank, and plead not guilty by reason of necessity
> As for symptoms. Depression is my main problem. My lows are incredible bad. Effexor XR, I must admit, did help a little. I was ableYeah Effexor XR probably helped me improve like 40% or so. But I could sure do a hell of a lot better than that, I'm sure
to function a bit better on it; however, it stopped working all together. My mania (hypomania) manifests as severe anxiety and irritability, inability to fall asleep, waking up early in the morning and not being able to fall back to sleep, irresponsible behavior, etc... I
I get the anxiety and definately lots of irritability and agitation, .. but I always slept way too much
Did the mood stabilizers help with that at all?
If not, what does your doctor intend to put you on instead? Benzos, other mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics?>am able to control my behaviors a bit more. I think the recovery program I am in for alcoholism helps a great deal with that. But, the depression is the most debilitating aspect of my illness. It's hard to even get out of bed
Ahh... so that you can make the informed decision that many people often aren't made aware of -- drinking will really screw you up. And I'm not just talking about depressive effects of alcohol...
Alcohol prevents your liver from metabolizing medication for... I believe 56 hours minimum. That's 2.5 days. So if you are drinking every 2.5 days, or more frequently, you may as well just take no medication
Or to put it more positively -- stop drinking, if at all possible, and you might find yourself getting a lot better. Of course maybe you already have stopped, but I just don't want you to miss out if you havn't.
Your doctor should have a few means at his disposal to help you quit -- again, no offence if you already have :)>anymore. Even more difficult to leave the house. Often I do not go out as to avoid having a low or an anxiety problem in public, because it is embarrasing to have something wrong with you all the time.
Yeah this is something that I wish someone had told me about --- I was experiencing unbearable depression, and it wasn't until I was forced to leave the house that I realized it was in a large part due to sensory depravation :(
Don't worry, anxiety is probably one of the easier symptoms to treat if it is a big problem... if you have substance abuse problems, maybe your doc is reluctant to give you a benzo, but there are other meds available (possibly not as good, but a hell of a lot better than nothing)
> High dose of Effexor and adding Buspar (for anxiety...I was also taking Depakote at the time) drove me into the worst anxiety attach of my life. It was the worst mania too. I'm not sure what casued it...the increased Effexor or the Buspar or both because my old psych. said to make both changes at the same time.What?! ... I don't know the circumstance, but that does sound like a bad idea
> So now, I'm taking Welbutrin SR again. I took it before and it did not help at all (0%). So I just want to know what has worked with others so in case this does not work (again), I can discuss it with my new psych.I have never taken a med that hasn't worked at least 20%, conservatively, so it's not hard to beat that 0% you're getting. Of course I encourage you to give it a decent trial, a fair dose, a fair period of evaluation, possibly even a blood test ...
When Effexor didn't work for me completely (I hesitate to say it didn't work, because when a med works 30 or 40% and you are feeling like total crap you really appreciate that 30 or 40%) .. my doc decided to try an MAOI ... so I'm on Parnate now, and it's definately doing something. It's been about 4 weeks and I'm probably looking at somewhere between a 30 and a 50% response. (these numbers are non-systematic guesses of course).. and the dose can be increased, I'm sure
If you're looking for antidepressants, I can give you a long list of different drugs and strategies you can go over with your doctor
If you can't take an anti-anxiety med and get out and get rid of that depression, .. then perhaps you should try to find a way to predict whether it will work or not...
I don't know how many doctors know how to get a blood level done
I don't know how many doctors know how to use an EEG to predict an early response ...
probably worth looking into yourself, though...How long have you been on Wellbutrin for btw (this time around)?
> Hope that answers your questions. Thank you so much for taking the time to write me.
No problem .... sorry I can't be more help, .. I might just become one of those happy people who goes off and lives their lives and you never hear from them again
Or at least we can hope ;)Really though... I was surprised how much better I feel when I'm interacting with people... but it might just be me I don't know
poster:cybercafe
thread:111312
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111370.html