Posted by laurenjb on October 8, 2005, at 18:38:28
In reply to Re: Lamictal + Lithium for soft bipolar, posted by Phillipa on October 8, 2005, at 18:19:14
> okay, I know there's biplar l, ll, lll. But what is soft biplar? Fondly, Phillipa
Sorry -- I'm just getting used to the terminology myself. I guess it's also called bipolar spectrum disorder and basically means that you're Bipolar II but your hypomania doesn't tend to last as long as the DSM definition. Apparently, there is a growing contingent of researchers who believe that many diagnosed with treatment resistant depression (like me -- about 30 meds tried and ect) actually have some form of bipolar disorder that might not quite fit into the accepted definitions. I don't have its web location, but the actual cite for an article the psychopharmacologist gave me is:
Journal of Affective Disorders 84 (2005) 251-257.
By the way, I have started tapering down on the Parnate (down to 30mg from 60) and started the Lamictal at 25mg, but have decided not to start the lithium until I talk to either my own doctor or the psychopharm. because I feel so resistant to it. I feel really overwhelmed by the change in diagnosis and by the idea of going on lithium so I decided that trusting my instincts and not being a good, compliant little patient wouldn't hurt me this time. I'm already pretty low so I figure I'll just stay here without the lithium side effects for now. Take care, Lauren
poster:laurenjb
thread:564349
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051003/msgs/564617.html