Posted by holymama on July 5, 2004, at 15:44:14
In reply to Re: paxil cleared the static in my brain » holymama, posted by katia on July 5, 2004, at 13:04:51
Hi Katia,
Part of the reason why I want to try going off meds is because part of me will always wonder if my diagnosis is correct, and it's hard to make a decision to stay on meds (forever??) not knowing. When you went off your meds in January and became hypomanic -- did that help you in your decision to stick it out with med searching? I think that 'proof' that I am bipolar would help me, since I too was first diagnosed as depressed and only after going manic on my first antidepressant did I get rediagnosed as bipolar II.
I'll have to think about your point about being overmedicated. Right now I'm on 3 antidepressants, lithium, still hooked on an anti-anxiety pill to get to sleep, and then there is my thyroid medication...and that's nothing compared to what I was on 6 weeks ago, when I was hospitalized. What a mess.
WHen you went med free in January, did you try anything else? If I do it, I want to have another plan. I know that pre-meds I was far too depressed far too much of the time to try that again. I have a few ideas -- treatment with higher doses of thyroid medications, some serious homeopathy and nutritional supplements, shock treatments are not out of the question, my husband has even offered for me to move out while I try to heal myself (generous considering we have three kids under 6 he would have to take care of on top of working full time). Part of me really hopes the medication keeps me stable, part of me is really curious to see what I'm like off meds knowing what I do now about bipolar illness and ways to treat it. Any thoughts, let me know.
~~Autumn~~
poster:holymama
thread:362817
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040704/msgs/363253.html