Posted by john anderton on May 10, 2007, at 16:08:07
Hi Everyone:
So I just got finished reading "Why am I still Depressed" by Jim Phelps, M.D. and got a very enlightening view to the dangers of anti-depressants without a mood stabilizers. He argues that AD's may "potentially" cause a permanent cycling in patients who are on the bi polar spectrum without and poentially even with a mood stabilizers My questions for you all are the following:
1. How many of you have had success with the use of anti depressants on a long term basis without them pooping out or agitating you to wear you quit the med or switch to a new one?
2. How many of you either with diagnosed bipolar or undiagnosed bp but maybe on the spectrum have had long term success on AD's with a combination of mood stabilizers?
3. How many of you successfully use just a mood stabilizer or combos of mood stabilizers?
4. It appears that the best mood stabilizers are lithium, which helps with classic bipolar 1, depakote which can help with rapid cyling and mixed states, and lamictal, which has some perpensity for bipolar depression in some people but just failed several test for the treatment of acute illness.
Do you all think that it is reletively safe to use anti depressants so long as a mood stabilizer is aboard?
This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I think that recurrent unipolar depression is a form of bipolar disorder...
Thoughts and comments are appreciated!
John
poster:john anderton
thread:757534
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070509/msgs/757534.html