Posted by PM80 on April 7, 2005, at 7:51:11
In reply to Re: They're working! » PM80, posted by fires on April 6, 2005, at 16:34:47
Yeah, I'm BP, more on the cyclothymic end of the spectrum. I've never been psychotic, nor have I been suicidal (even though I've been VERY low before) - maybe because my mom died when I was a teenager and death absolutely scares the bgeezers out of me. Things like restlessness, racing thoughts, very fast speech, and anxiety alternated or sometimes in conjunction with depression are my brain's m.o. So sometimes I'm hypomanic, sometimes depressed, sometimes "normal", and sometimes I'm in a mild-to-moderate mixed state.
Just to help things stay clear, I am seeing a therapist who is a PhD Pyschologist (can't prescribe meds). He works with my doc (not specifically a pdoc) with multiple patients. It is my impression, though, that she [my doc] knows her stuff when it comes to pdrugs.
Initially, near the beginning of my therapy I was put on Lexapro (an SSRI) which increased my anxiety and blood pressure and all that. I only took it for a few days, then stopped because of my body's reaction. Then my doc put me on Seroquel alone at 100mg/day, titrating up slowly. Well, I also cut back on drinking (which had been a 4-5 nights per week thing) for a few weeks and I was a bit(or a little more than a bit) manic for one therapy session. So I saw my doc again and we upped the Seroquel dose. It worked great for anxiety, restlessness, racing thoughts, etc, but I still got to some very low places just as often or more than before I took anything. Although, I was still drinking a lot, so that didn't help things. After about four months, I took my therapist's advice and went to my doc for something to help with my depression. My doc has completely ruled out SSRIs as a possible treatment for me, and would only try something like a tricyclic antidepressant as a last resort. So she put me on Depakote in combo with my seroquel. If the Depakote didn't work, her next choice was Stratera (I'm not ADD). Obviously, I think that the Depakote is working. I've been on this combo for about a month now, and I feel noticeably different.
poster:PM80
thread:480614
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050404/msgs/481046.html