Posted by colin wallace on July 27, 2002, at 15:56:20
In reply to Ron Hill and Colin Wallace, posted by johnj on July 25, 2002, at 19:10:20
Hi there John,
Yeah, our predicaments and symptoms do appear to have a great deal in common.I don't know if this has ever been suggested to you, but much that you report is very suggestive of bipolarism
(type 11 maybe?)I'm wondering if your doc. has had some inkling of this, as you seem to have been placed on lithium (albeit at a very low dose)at an early stage in your illness.Iknow the given rationale was to 'boost your AD effectiveness', but in the UK at least, one typically has to run the gamut of many AD's before this is tried for AD boosting purposes.
Docs balk at the mere thought of polytherapy here too.
I have to say that I've sometimes groaned when reading the assured pronouncements of a (very) few in pinning diagnostic labels on others without real knowledge or training, so I'll be the first to admit that my theory may be way off the mark.I may be talking out of my ass, as I'm out of my depth.
That said, I'll post this link which has been so helpful to me (I don't remember who posted it , and made the same suggestion to me some time ago, but it has been a real revelation I can tell you.)
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/index.htm
I now understand why I have reacted so badly to AD's in the past, and have simply been exacerbating my depression/anxiety by taking them, even when they appeared to help initially.
As far as zoloft goes, I discontinued because, although it worked superbly (once the first few weeks of worsened anxiety passed), I then suddenly grew extremely angry, restless and agitated on it- even at a mere 25mg.If you read one of my (erratic and unstable!) posts below, you'll see that this enraged mind- state could have cost me (and any another hapless motorist nearby)my life.
I don't blame the med in any sense at all.I think it's one of the best, believe it or not.
But not for a bipolar type depression.
As for myself, I took the plunge and took my depakote yesterday, and my now calm mindstate and clear(ing) head for the first time in two years has made me determined NEVER to touch another AD again.
My plan is to stay on this low dose (200mg, possibly up to 400mg) for a couple of months, and then tentatively add some lamotragine for an AD benefit.Lithium remains to be tried too, if needs be.
Right, have to dash, not least because I fell off my mountain bike today, and am now sporting a left tesicle the size of a well proportioned water-mellon.Was a little weak and uncoordinated fron the dep., but at least I'm not running around in a blind AD induced fury!
Check out that site and let me know what you think.Col.
poster:colin wallace
thread:113419
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020725/msgs/113940.html