Psycho-Babble Medication | about biological treatments | Framed
This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | List of forums | Search | FAQ

Re: Bipolars---would you go nuts if your mood

Posted by whiterabbit on June 5, 2003, at 17:47:03

In reply to Re: Bipolars---would you go nuts if your mood » McPac, posted by Squiggles on June 5, 2003, at 16:55:09

After 6 months of feeling half-dead on 500 mg of Depakote daily, I decided to "go clean" - I stopped seeing my pdoc and threw my Depakote and Seroquel away. Three days and NO sleep later, sick with exhaustion, I dug the Seroquel out of the bathroom trashcan...I had just had to sleep, I had to. After the Seroquel ran out, the insomnia returned full-force and I began to experience panic attacks for the first time. I was definately in withdrawal...I felt like someone had taken my head and screwed it around on my neck a bunch of times like the propeller on one of those old-fashioned balsawood airplanes.
I became such a mess, I walked into a psychiatrist's office, someplace I had never been before, and begged the receptionist to have someone see me without an appointment. When she said that wasn't possible and told me to go to the emergency room, I wailed, "I already did that and they told me to come here!" (which was the truth - they gave me one Xanax and sent me away)and started bawling right there in the waiting room.

NEVER NEVER stop taking those psychiatric drugs without medical supervision. I can't believe how stupid I was to do such a thing.

In case you're interested in the rest of the story, one of the doctors was kind enough to see me right away and got me started on a fairly high dosage of Seroquel (first 200 mg and later 300).
Although I was a little offended to be prescribed an anti-psychotic because I didn't consider myself to be psychotic (which is untrue - later I found out that when I went to the ER during my panic attack, I told the doctor that I was so wound up because I had to shoot my dog. I've never shot my dog and I don't remember saying this), the Seroquel saved my life. I was able to calm down, start sleeping, and the panic attacks and horrible anxiety went away.

Interestingly, although I've been diagnosed as
bipolar, I was never prescribed another mood stabalizer after the Depakote. I did continue to have serious bouts of depression before I was started on Paxil, and occasionally I take 25 mg
tabs of Seroquel for mania/anxiety (because of my drug abuse history, nobody will give me benzos)
and it works quite well.
-Gracie


Share
Tweet  

Thread

 

Post a new follow-up

Your message only Include above post


Notify the administrators

They will then review this post with the posting guidelines in mind.

To contact them about something other than this post, please use this form instead.

 

Start a new thread

 
Google
dr-bob.org www
Search options and examples
[amazon] for
in

This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | FAQ
Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:whiterabbit thread:231713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/231746.html