Posted by med_empowered on December 20, 2005, at 6:07:55
In reply to Zyprexa makes me lethargic and stupid!!!!!, posted by kotsunega on December 19, 2005, at 21:14:06
In my experience, atypicals make you feel more dull and kinda stupid, perhaps also apathetic and "zombie"-like. I think it comes with the territory. Low-dose Abilify didn't dull me out too much, but it wasn't great, either.
Switching to Abilify might help. At the very least, you'll have less sedation, which is always a good thing :-) In addition, you won't have to worry so much about weight gain or metabolic problems.
Have you tried a benzo? Klonopin, daily or PRN, can be **very** helpful for bipolar people. Taken at the first signs of ((uncomfortable)) hypomania, it can act as a combo sedative/mood-stabilizer (with anxiolytic properties) and set things straight rather quickly. Adding Trileptal, Keppra, or Depakote (or a combo of those) could also help. Mania, even psychotic mania, **CAN** respond to just a mood stabilizer. In BP, the antipsychotics were traditionally used for short periods of times to quickly reduce agitation and get rid of psychosis. If you're not floridly psychotic, an anticonvulsant (or possibly lithium) could be sufficient to get rid of both the mood swings and the psychotic features that go along with them. Personally, I'd opt for Triletal or Keppra; these are pretty strong anti-manic agents that are cleaner than Depakote (depakote also tends to mess with metabolism of medications, which makes life difficult).
As for the Adderall...if you get rid of the antipsychotic, or reduce the dose, you should be able to reduce the Adderall dosage or use it less often (if you're doing it PRN). Then again..maybe not. Apparently, some people respond to amphetamines as a **mood-stabilizer**--oddly enough, some people in the midst of hardcore mania won't respond to Lithium, but dexedrine will calm them right now.
Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:590526
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051211/msgs/590601.html