Posted by detroitpistons on March 15, 2006, at 10:11:19
In reply to Re: Never thought I'd hear this....., posted by linkadge on March 15, 2006, at 9:52:07
> The only thing wrong with labling antidepressant induced mania as bipolar is that it can force a patient to take heavy, and perhaps unnecssary medication.
>Link,
I see your point, but at least the Lamictal I'm on is fairly benign compared to the antidepressants as far as side effects go. I don't like being a walking pharmacy (and I take far less than some of the other people on this board--I'm relatively lucky), but if the side effects aren't too bad, then I have less of a hangup.
> The thing that scares me the most, is that patients who have manic reactions to medications are often placed directly on mood stabalizers, before trying the grosly simplistic: simply tapering the antidepressant.
>That's what I thought. I expressed this to my doctor, but he didn't want to take me off of Effexor quite yet. But I do have reservations about this doing this. I'm scared that if I go off, I will sink into depression again. It always comes back.
> After lithium, things went downhill. I would also argue *against* the notion that a positive responce to mood stabalizers means that a person is bipolar. The reason being is that Dr. Manji's work again shows that lithium, depakote, and antipsychotics are able to block the behavioral reactions of mice to amphetamines and high dose antidepressants. I.e. you take a normal (non-bipolar) mouse, you can make it manic with drugs, and you can block the manic reaction with mood stabalizers and antipsychotics. Does that imply anything about the mouse, other than the fact that it has just got a "raw-deal"?
>Good point based on research. I will have to look up Dr. Manji.
> Think of it this way. You can induce a seizure in just about anyone with the right drugs. Why is is so inconcievable that a manic episode is not just a branch of the same phenomina ?
>Also interesting. Seizures induced in mice produced the kindling effect. The mice continued to have seizures even after they were artificially induced, if I remember correctly. That makes me think that antidepressants can possibly make people worse in the long run. This is up for debate.
> I think its one of the biggest attempts by psychiatry to sweep their lack of knowledge under the carpet.
>Another good point. So much is unknown. Psychiatry mostly uses the shotgun approach in my opinion. That's the best it can do at this point. The good thing is that research is being vigorously conducted to better understand the brain and mood disorders. But at this point, we are basically all guinea pigs. Perhaps in a hundred years, depression and bipolar disorders may have take the couse of polio--Once dangerous, but now conquered.
Marc
poster:detroitpistons
thread:620137
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060315/msgs/620572.html