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Re: UPDATE II -- Diagnosed bipolar II » Greif

Posted by 4WD on February 8, 2006, at 21:14:35

In reply to Re: UPDATE II -- Diagnosed bipolar II, posted by Greif on February 7, 2006, at 22:04:13

> Hi Marsha,
>
> The chronology of my med use is pages long.

Mine too! Since 1986 I've been on meds.

My present daily dose is 2mg of Klon a 5mg of Lex. Lex or any SSRI will make me crazy by themselves. My thoughts will race, insomnia,anxiety are but a few of the side effects.

Yes, you sound like me. Some were worse than others. Prozac in particular was awful insomnia wise.

Nuerontin, Depakote, Lithium etc make me a bit too lethargic. Lamictal is great for depression but to get to 200 mg is impossible for me. No rash but have vivid violent nightmares. Takes care of the depression though. Very up.

It helped me too but gave me headaches and worse, it caused the muscles in my neck and back to be more tight and painful than they already were from the SSRI. Depakote seems to do that also.

> So If I take the Lex in the AM with .5 K and another .5 k later I can tolerate the lex. It took 6 months of 2.5 then 5 of lex every other day alternate. Now I dont even feel it. Img of Klon at night provides 6-7 hrs sleep.

I guess I could have stood the SSRIs better with a higher Klonopin dosage but I really wanted not to have to take Klonopin forever or much longer, even. At anything more than about 1mg a day, it makes me kind of airheaded and forgetful. And it gives me dry mouth (along with most every other med I've ever taken).

So presently I never get depressed nor anxious. I have taken 10 mg of lex recently but its to much. If Nuerontin works for you give Lyrica a try. My doc claims he is getting great results from it though it is not yet FDA approved for BP or anxiety so might have insurance hassle.

Neurontin was moderately helpful for sleep but not for the mixed states I was having.


> The good thing about Klon is that I (like most)dont build up a tolerance like other benzos. Its effects are more benign but who cares. Benzo withdrawl is no picnic but I have done it twice by subbing valium and doing a slow taper. I never plan on quiting Klon as long as I maintain the present levels of stability.

I'm really glad you've found a regimen that works for you. Can you get by on the 6-7 hours of sleep? I'd be exhausted after 2 or 3 days.

Yeah, I went through Ativan withdrawal, cold turkey (I was dumb) and I never want to experience that again.

> The anecdotal advise and sharing on this board is invaluable. I wish I had found this place 10 years ago when I was in crisis.

This site has truly been a life saver for me at times. The information here is invaluable. And some of the people are incredibly knowledgeable. I've been coming here off and on for about 2 years now.

If you havent already, try to remove caffiene and alchohol from your life. I have 2 German Shepherd dogs that I spend hours with daily...best therapy available.

I've completely cut out caffeine, haven't had any alcohol or any recreational drugs for almost a year and I have five cats. So I guess we're kind of on the same page.

Marsha


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