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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by Phillipa on August 16, 2011, at 20:31:08
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 16, 2011, at 10:00:33
Phil what was original dx and what meds you on now and stable? Phillipa
Posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 13:52:55
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 16, 2011, at 20:31:08
original--major depression. added add to that 15 years later. 8 years or so ago, had mania, went to bipolar I.
on
lamictal 400mg
lithium 300mg
seroquel 300mg
clonazepam 1.5mg
ambien 10mg
will urge my pdoc strongly to add ritalin next appt. i know he's considering it.am i stable? 5 minutes ago i kicked a trash can into the kitchen and broke a glass.
yesterday, i called in sick to therapy appt.
i'm unemployed
i sleep 16 hours a day and only leave my apt if it's on fire or i absolutely have to
with meds and therapy, i'm no better off than a year ago.
Posted by floatingbridge on August 17, 2011, at 14:10:12
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 13:52:55
Given your stellar review, may I ask how the lamictal is treating you?
Ritalin. How might that be? Is it considered more 'stable' than dex or addy?
At least your posting :-/
> original--major depression. added add to that 15 years later. 8 years or so ago, had mania, went to bipolar I.
>
> on
> lamictal 400mg
> lithium 300mg
> seroquel 300mg
> clonazepam 1.5mg
> ambien 10mg
> will urge my pdoc strongly to add ritalin next appt. i know he's considering it.
>
> am i stable? 5 minutes ago i kicked a trash can into the kitchen and broke a glass.
>
> yesterday, i called in sick to therapy appt.
>
> i'm unemployed
>
> i sleep 16 hours a day and only leave my apt if it's on fire or i absolutely have to
>
> with meds and therapy, i'm no better off than a year ago.
Posted by jerseygal1 on August 17, 2011, at 16:29:24
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 16, 2011, at 20:31:08
Can you believe I had 10 good years on prozac, at varying doses, before it pooped out on me in May 2010! Since then, been trying to find something else that will work but having no luck. Tried to get the prozac to work again by dosage increases, stopping and restarting it, and augmenting but nothing did the trick. I have a theory about the poopout. At the time, I had hurt my back and was given steroids by the nurse practitioner at my primary doc's office.. I didn't know that steroids could cause psych issues, especially in those who are susceptible. Obviously, the nurse practitioner didn't either. I'll never touch steroids again if I can help it.
Posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 16:38:39
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by floatingbridge on August 17, 2011, at 14:10:12
i think lamictal is a great drug but it's been a while since i've started it and have had other changes along with it.
doc mentioned ritalin and i had long history with it but also took dex and adderal.
who knows what stim would be more stable, if any.
i'd have to go back 10 years on this board but every drug i've taken i've posted about here.
Posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 17:52:32
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by jerseygal1 on August 17, 2011, at 16:29:24
steroids are what triggered jane pauley's bipolar. she was coming up with new shows to do, a clothing line, etc. she was manic as hell.
Posted by floatingbridge on August 17, 2011, at 18:30:28
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 16:38:39
> i think lamictal is a great drug but it's been a while since i've started it and have had other changes along with it.
> doc mentioned ritalin and i had long history with it but also took dex and adderal.
> who knows what stim would be more stable, if any.
> i'd have to go back 10 years on this board but every drug i've taken i've posted about here.I'm trying to remember what it was aboutritalin that places it in a different category than the other two. Reuptake inhibition properties? Was on Wiki.
Posted by Phillipa on August 17, 2011, at 20:46:38
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 16, 2011, at 10:00:33
Phil it stinks!!!! I've been in archieves lately and found a lot stuff doesn't seem to be there anymore. Might be worth it for you. I still have no idea how depression and then mood stabalizer triggers mania? Doesn't make a lot of sense. Unless ad's are the problem to begin with? Maybe that is why the new DSM will have more new categories of bipolar? Phillipa
Posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 21:22:29
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 17, 2011, at 20:46:38
when amitrip was the first thing that worked on my depression, i told my current doc that i knew exactly when it started working. i said i was in my car and suddenly 'when i think of you' janet jackson song came on. the horns, the production was suddenly amazing to me. i told him the trees were brilliant, lol. and this is how the other half lives...yeah, the manic half.
he said, phil, i think you were manic. lolmy 1st effing doc should have known. i was unemployed, had a mortgage that i couldn't pay, was losing my gf and no prospects for work. when my then pdoc asked me how i was doing. great!!!!
i just imagine him thinking, well, i got him out of a wicked depression, who cares if he's batsh*t crazy?
Posted by Phillipa on August 17, 2011, at 23:06:48
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 17, 2011, at 21:22:29
Phil so you feel the ad's triggered the mania or it was there all the time? I'm sorry you are having so many problems. It sure isn't easy. I can only say that I support you well not financially can hardly support myself. Phillipa
Posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 8:18:22
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 17, 2011, at 23:06:48
first of all sorry i'm messing up this thread.
i think i may have been bipolar all along but i never was manic for weeks or anything, that i remember. but i know for sure i was depressed very early on. i also had a lot of irritability so who knows?
my mother told me a million times when i was growing up, you sure are moody. the pdoc that diagnosed me said almost the same words.
Posted by floatingbridge on August 18, 2011, at 8:52:33
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 8:18:22
You aren't messing up the thread.
I like your posts.
Posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 10:01:03
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by floatingbridge on August 18, 2011, at 8:52:33
dr called back just now. i asked if i could try adding ritalin because, even though i'm not in a total black hole, i have no drive or motivation to do anything. ex..take trash out, check mail, getting resume done after being jobless since january.
he will go over my records and call me later.
ritalin was a godsend to me in the past. he said it wasn't 1st line med for bp depression.why, when you tell a doctor, that so and so worked and worked well, do they still want to try something i have no history with?
if i tried ritalin for 30 days and it didn't help, there's no way i'd keep taking it. i'm just trying to save my life here or at least regain a life.
Posted by Chris O on August 18, 2011, at 13:45:17
In reply to What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by floatingbridge on August 14, 2011, at 16:28:57
1 year, in 2000, w/Celexa and Wellbutrin in combination, at what I now realize were very low doses (20mg/150mg respectively). Nothing in the SSRI world has really worked for me well since then, even at high doses.
Posted by Phillipa on August 18, 2011, at 18:17:42
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 8:18:22
Phil moody? What kind of dx is that? Phillipa
Posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 18:49:47
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 18, 2011, at 18:17:42
when i said i didn't totally believe i was bp she said, don't you think you're moody? i said yeah, but moody isn't necesarily bipolar.
anyway, i don't doubt my dx these days. had friends tell me stuff that reinforced the dx.
Posted by Phillipa on August 18, 2011, at 19:34:13
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by Phil on August 18, 2011, at 18:49:47
Phil I wonder if it's true that children do exhibit signs of bipolar early on with as you put it moodiness then at a certain age turns into full blown mania? And I don't doubt you at all remember way back we communicated one night back and forth when you were very manic and then you disappeared. Worried about you a lot. Phillipa
Posted by Zyprexa on August 18, 2011, at 21:52:20
In reply to What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by floatingbridge on August 14, 2011, at 16:28:57
My luck has been with zyprexa for the last decade plus 3 years!
Posted by Phil on August 19, 2011, at 6:42:09
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by Zyprexa on August 18, 2011, at 21:52:20
jeez that awesome.
Posted by Phil on August 19, 2011, at 6:58:30
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phil, posted by Phillipa on August 18, 2011, at 19:34:13
don't know, phillipa. i forgot one thing about amitriptyline. i stopped it after 3 weeks or so, cold turkey(didn't know)I woke up the next morning and called my mother at 7 am. I basically started telling her, as fast as i could talk, that i had figured out the secrets of happiness in the universe..7AM!
i hung up with her and my brother called..my mother had called him. i rattled on with more bs. we hung up and i started feeling clammy and my stomach was not doing well. i started to sweat.
my mind said, hey this feels like heroin withdrawal(i was guessing) i called my doc and he said *you can't do THAT*. he told me to take half a dose, call in sick and go to bed.
anyway, i know beyond a doubt that i was crazy manic that morning.
i wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?
Posted by Phillipa on August 19, 2011, at 20:24:15
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » Phillipa, posted by Phil on August 19, 2011, at 6:58:30
Phil if that is the night I remember no doubt about the mania. Glad you are better now. Phillipa
Posted by jedi on August 20, 2011, at 2:49:58
In reply to What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by floatingbridge on August 14, 2011, at 16:28:57
> Anyone here have luck for ten years with a medication? Longer?
13 with some breaks on Nardil, FB. Probably at least 11 years total. Breaks for other med trials, trying to avoid the side effects. Always back to Nardil and it has always worked for my atypical depression and social anxiety. Hate to think I'm a lifer, but baring major breakthroughs in psychopharmacology, that is probably the path.
Be Well,
Jedi
Posted by bleauberry on August 20, 2011, at 13:27:06
In reply to What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by floatingbridge on August 14, 2011, at 16:28:57
I can't remember exactly, but I think my longest run was somewhere between 5 years and 8 years. It all became a blur after ECT.
Anyway, during that time the meds were:
Prozac 20mg, Zyprexa 5mg, Adrafinil 300mg.Prozac and Zyprexa did a decent job on the depression and sleep, but did nothing for the lack of vitality, lack of joy, anhedonia. Adrafanil did a decent job on that, but not a complete job. During that whole time I was a top performer at my job, won lots of awards, highly praised, etc....but I never felt a part of anything. I did not have joy with my lifetime love...guitar...and in fact it sat in a closet all those years on those meds. I had zero spirituality. God didn't matter. All that mattered was how I felt and meds. So while I appeared to be overall in pretty good shape, and I scored remission on the numeric multiple choice depression questionaires, the drugs obviously did not restore me to human, but instead made me into something different. Which was good at the time because depression was worse.
Anyway, those 3 meds was my longest run. Prior to that it had been paxil for about 9 months before it pooped out, and I had been emotionally numb the whole time on it anyway.
Posted by Phillipa on August 20, 2011, at 20:00:54
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med?, posted by bleauberry on August 20, 2011, at 13:27:06
Paxil at l0mg for two years with benzos didn't numb me I was a productive worker and loved my job was also very happy and no weight gain at all. I went off only cause my Son was coming to live with us. When thyroid acted up again went back on paxil l0mg and still worked the same. Phillipa
Posted by susannah73 on August 22, 2011, at 17:06:45
In reply to Re: What was your longest good run on a med? » bleauberry, posted by Phillipa on August 20, 2011, at 20:00:54
5 years Effexor XR 150 mg. Worked great on my depression and anxiety.
Tolerable side effects if you never skip a dose or late on a dose. Skip a dose....forget about it!! Late on one...you better hurry up and take it. I've driven MILES & MILES just to go get a dose rather than wait til the next day and suffer the consequences. The "Brain Shivers" were not tolerable!!
Gradually weaned off for 3 months: First month at 75mg, second at 37.5mg, third at 37.5mg every other day. Still the WORST 3 months of my life.
Now looking for the next best alternative to treat depression/anxiety.
This is the end of the thread.
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