Posted by Hombre on July 31, 2010, at 6:16:36
In reply to Re: Racing/Anxiety Thoughts, Need Opinion » Hombre, posted by morgan miller on July 30, 2010, at 17:00:16
> Hombre do you mind sharing what medications you are currently taking?
>
> Do you think you fall somewhere under the bipolar umbrella?Morgan -
I take 30mg Remeron, 150mg Effexor, and 100mg Seroquel, all generics.
Remeron alone had a strong but short-lived effect. Adding the Effexor added a lot of energy, but sleep was still a problem. The Seroquel seems to help with sleep and any tendency toward AD-induced racing thoughts or anxiety. I've never been manic or hypomanic off meds or drugs, but sleep and anxiety became serious problems along with difficulty focusing.
Now that I know what I know, I wonder if I could have addressed the sleep and anxiety with herbs, but I'm not going to rock the boat until I've had a job for a while and am comfortable facing a few potentially sleepless nights.
I should add that I exercise quite regularly, and it really helps with energy and calmness. I jog, swim, do tai chi/qi gong/kung fu and lift weights. I also do a type of meditation as part of my kung fu training - Google "zhan zhuang" for more details. It's more about developing sensitivity to seldom-used muscles and to develop relaxed, whole-body power, good for any physical activity.
I also think taking magnesium citrate at night with zinc helps me to sleep well. I try to take my meds by 9-9:30 and I'm out like a light about an hour later. I am able to wake up at around 6:30-7:00 depending on when I conked out. The nightly meds never fail to knock me out. I rarely deviate from the schedule and I always turn the lights down by 9pm or so and try to avoid too much computer-time too close to bed.
And lastly, as you know, I think the herbs have really helped to smooth out the jagged edges of the meds and to make me feel less medicated in general. I actually don't feel medicated at all, but for some constipation (addressed by the mag citrate) and some sexual SEs (addressed by the herbs).
As you can see it's a pretty comprehensive routine, but I stick to it because I've wasted too much time suffering and hating myself for not being who I thought I could be.
poster:Hombre
thread:956333
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100731/msgs/956542.html