Posted by SLS on November 25, 2018, at 8:33:04
In reply to Re: I feel like I am brain damaged. Please read. » SLS, posted by PCB on November 25, 2018, at 0:14:59
Hi, Paul.
Thank you for such wonderful and helpful suggestions. You are right about everything.
:-)
Today is better - so far.
- Scott> Dear Scott,
>
> Your posts have kept me alive in the past when I was struggling. Hope this can even provide you with a fraction of the help you have given me over the past 20 years.
>
> For me, Nardil 60 mg left me hypomanic and then always pooped out. Only with lithium 450, lamictal 50 mg and decreasing Nardil to 50 mg, did it reliably always work. That got me 50% improved. What gave me another 25% improvement came from James Phelps Psycheducation and Layne Cornell's Bipolar and Alive. And I apologize, you are a seasoned veteran with mood treatments and probably have done this all before. But this is what worked for me
>
> 1. Stopped all caffeinated drinks/coffee
> 2. Sleep from 10 to 6 AM every night (use a Fitbit to track my sleep)
> 3. Meditate 10 minutes at 8 PM every night using Headspace App
> 4. Read positive books like Sully's "Miracle on the Hudson" from 8:20 to 9:00 PM
> 5. Gratitude Journal from 9:00 to 9:15. Write 3 three things that bothered me that day down but in a positive light. See how all things can be positive
> 6. Lights out at 9:15, meds at 9:30 and head on pillow by 9:45 to be asleep by 10 PM. Can use the yellow blue blocker glasses if needed
> 7. Fish Oil did not seem to help me as much as fish. I now eat a can of sardines for lunch and wild salmon for dinner. This has helped tremendously. This has been going for 1.5 years, my mercury level was undetectable 2 months ago.
> 8. Reading the Art of Happiness by Dialia Lama every 2 months or so
> 9. Vitamin D helped a little bit, but walking outside a long a I can stand helped me the most. I try to get least 1 hour of outside time even in the winter
>
> So from me, my foundation is nardil and a mood stabilizer. But I consider 8 hours of sleep same time every night, outdoor sunlight, fish high in omega and meditation as part of my daily medication as well.
>
> Hope even a fraction of this helps. Hey Scott, you have alot of people routing for you! Hang in there!
>
> Paul
> The Facebook Messenger Guy
>
> P.S. and avoid stimulating movies, news articles, pop culture and returning to church has help a lot too
>
>
> > The last five months have been agonizing.
> >
> > I discontinued Parnate five months ago because the improvement it produced was inadequate and well below 50%. Parnate seemed to be a dead end. I remained unemployable. Reading and memory impairments continued. I haven't read a book since 2001. I was taking Effexor 300 mg/day at the time. The last book previous to that was in 1987 while taking Parnate + desipramine. I rarely read anything at all.
> >
> > I experienced a horrendous rebound depression after discontinuing Parnate. Unfortunately, my impatience caused me to taper from 80 mg/day in only two weeks. Did this damage my brain? I don't know. After waiting two weeks, I began taking Trintellix. My depression lifted a bit, but then I began to feel weird. I was in a fog and didn't feel like myself. So, I moved on to Effexor. I reacted to it in a similar fashion at only 37.5 mg/day, even though I had been okay at 300 mg/day previously. I then went to my backup plan - Nardil. A few years back, I was taking 90 mg/day. My response was only partial, though. I again started taking Nardil a few weeks ago at 7.5 mg/day. By the time I arrived at 60 mg/day, I was again hit with weird cognitive effects that left me feeling incoherent and depressed.
> >
> > My doctor agreed that it made sense for me to return to Parnate and then go for TMS magnetic treatments. I am very scared. What if my brain has been affected by these drug exposures in such a way that I will be unable to tolerate Parnate? Will Parnate now produce a severe brain-fog? What then? Suicide?
> >
> > I have run out of ideas.
> >
> > Thanks for reading.
> >
> >
> > - Scott
>
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1102014
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20181024/msgs/1102172.html