Posted by barbaracat on March 25, 2005, at 19:25:15
In reply to Re: Cymbalta - teensy weensy dose still working great! » barbaracat, posted by KaraS on March 25, 2005, at 17:13:37
>>Interesting that you think bipolars tend to be extremely sensitive to Cymbalta. I may be soft bipolar because of agitated depression. My last one was so severe and fit some of your description of mixed states in another post. I should have been hospitalized but I don't have health insurance. BTW, why do they call it "mixed states"? Does it refer to the combination of depression with anxiety?
**Yes, someone described it 'depression on speed'. Until recently, bipolar was described as the classic depressed/euphoric poles. But now it's evident that bipolar 'mania' can also be irritability, distraction, disorganization, racing thoughts, anxiety. So if you get depression with any of these 'manic' symptoms, you can have 'mixed states'. Mine is very anxious and bleak with anguish, despair and some psychosis. Especially at these times, I'm very sensitive to everything - emotions, news, 'vibes', meds, foods. I was on the verge of a mixed state when I started Cymbalta cause they stopped lithium while I was hospitalized. You can imagine how far out of orbit I went.
I'm Bipolar I because I've had some flaming manias with psychosis, but mostly depression. All BP's appear to be sensitive to SSRI's and the criteria for BP-II is having hypomanias that can be exacerbated by meds and primarily depression. So when you say you may be 'soft BP', you may indeed be BP-II, in which case you definitely need some kind of mood stabilizer. If you're getting mixed states, unfortunately they tend to increase with time but can be prevented with the right mood stabilizer. Mine really picked up when I hit perimenopause before I was on lithium.
Lithium works well for me, wouldn't be without it. I owe my life to Lithium and might have had a semi-normal life had I discovered my need for it 30 years ago. Others prefer different kinds, but all bipolars need some kind of mood stabilizer, period.
Here's a really good website that has alot of information. You can follow links forever once you start exploring and there are some good ones on mixed states:
www.psycheducation.org
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> > >>Now that I'm reading about your success, I'm thinking that I should give it another try going really slowly. I have the samples here. I don't really have much to lose.
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> > **Hopefully just your depression :-) You might want to start with just 1 pellet. Believe me, I felt it at 3, felt them kick in about 2 hours after injesting. I thought 'this can't be' but my pupils became dilated just as they did on 30mg. Now, 6 weeks later, I only notice a slight effect when I increase, but enough to realize these things are potent.
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> I was going to start with 3 pellets but now that you say that, I'll try starting with 1.
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> Do you have motivation on Cymbalta? I had none on Effexor or the SSRIs and I have none now. I would kill for motivation and the ability to leap out of bed in the morning to greet the day.
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> > Please keep in touch if you decide to try it. As more people experience this response I get even more amazed, and the word needs to get out. I truly hope others can benefit as I seem to be. - Barbara
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> Definitely. I live here :-) or should I say :-(.
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> Kara
poster:barbaracat
thread:475145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050322/msgs/475626.html