Posted by BarbaraCat on July 11, 2004, at 2:48:41
In reply to Re: Seroquel users: a couple of questions (HELP) » chemist, posted by cpallen79 on July 11, 2004, at 2:04:06
Have you considered you might be BP-II? Your recurring agitated depression might warrant further investigation. Agitated dysphoric depression has been the bane of my life but I always thought I had unipolar depression and never considered it might be part of the bipolar spectrum. I'd always considered bipolar 'mania' as the classic grandiose mapcap stuff, not the panicked agitated mixed states hell I experienced or the irritibility and pissed-offness. I'd been on SSRI's for many many years and they worked fairly well, but then the agitated depression broke through big time. Kept increasing the SSRI, got twitchy akathisia from too much, got no relief from the agitated depression, fell apart, and ended up hospitalized. Through this board and other research and self-reflection it became clear that my symptoms were pretty classic BP-II. I've learned the hard way time and time again that if I don't take lithium, no matter what else I take I'll eventually descend into a bleak agitated hell.
The thing with bipolar is that during the manic phase my thoughts can get very disorganized and my behavior looks very much like ADD. In fact, there are definite overlaps between the two disorders. My self medicating drug of choice during my younger years was speed. But throughout the years, stress took a heavy toll and pstims now send me over the edge. I may have been ADD and unipolar depressed at first, but I can't help thinking that high dose SSRI's exacerbated a latent bipolar disorder.
Lithium has worked wonders for me, although it's not the best choice for everyone. A mood stabilizer is critical for anyone bipolar if they take an antidepressant. Otherwise, SSRI's can easily kindle an agitated depression. This might be old news to you but just thought I'd share this in case not. When I hear severe agitated depression, I immediately think 'dysphoric hypomania' and bipolar mixed states. Very uncomfortable stuff - oh I know it well and am soooooo grateful that lithium works for me. BTW, trazodone was a great med for me while it worked. Put me to sleep, helped my depression, a great antianxiety med. Hell to wake up on but after a few jumping jacks and a shower I was ready to go. The problem was that after a while it too stopped working, probably because I needed lithium. And it does slow you down during the day, but if you've got agitated depression, that's not a bad thing. One thing you might try is taking L-taurine which acts as a natural mood stabilizer and might even take the place of a prescription med. - BarbaraCat
> Hey Chemist, thanks for the follow up. You want to know something wierd? The adderall actually calms me down! It's when it wears off that I'm not as well. I guess it tends to have a paradoxical effect on us ADD'ers. The lexapro lifted me out of the depths of severe anxiety/agitation. To make a long story short, I had a nervous breakdown in February due to severe stress (my guard was also most likely down due to a painful effexor w/d that I went through about a month prior to the breakdown) and i went into a nasty agitated depression with what can only be described as akathisia symptoms. That's why I'm so frustrated by the seroquel setback, I never want to go back to that place again, and that akathisia felt alot like the agitated depression I've been battling to overcome. I'm hoping Trazodone will do the trick for a good night's sleep. My PDOC wants me to avoid Benzos because we have some nasty addiction issues in our family and I think everyone's weary enough of me taking a stimulatnt for A.D.D. Guess I'm not sure what to do...
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:339744
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040710/msgs/364927.html