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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MomO3 on July 18, 2002, at 0:40:53
I have been obsessively researching for the last several months about ADD, BP, etc....
Lately we(the pdoc & I) have stepped into the forum of mood-stabilizers. For my symptoms (rapid cycling or mixed-states BP), Depakote should be first line according to everything that I have read.. I have gotten scripts for Neurontin and now replacing with Trileptal. Is it wrong for me to want a 'REAL' mood stabilizer that could stop this hell?
I quit Paxil and had a terrible depression... I also have large amounts of irritability and anxiety... For this I now have wellbutrin. Doesn't seem logical to me (my research indicated that Effexor would be a good candidate)... .the first time he prescribed Wellbutrin, I simply didn't take it (because of the irritability side-effect), so two months later he prescribed it AGAIN. I feel like I am being forced to take a med I don't want.
My current cocktail is Neurontin, Wellbutrin, Klonopin. I have been taking the wellbutrin for 2 weeks, the depression has subsided but now I hate my husband, my children, and myself for being such a monster. I think I have broken a tooth from clenching my teeth in anger, and I nearly got arrested in the airport the other day when I lost my temper with the woman at the Delta counter.
Aside from the weight gain, I feel like I should be taking depakote & effexor. - but now I am taking so much other crap it will take forever to get around to that. I am trying to let the professional do his job, but it seems he just keep coming up with weirder and weirder meds. Everything I've read says trileptal causes depression - I definitely don't need that!
Anyone taking this the Depakote & Effexor successfully? And what are/were your symptoms?
Thanks!!
Mom
Posted by Dinah on July 18, 2002, at 2:32:03
In reply to Doc not prescribing by DSM.. is this weird?, posted by MomO3 on July 18, 2002, at 0:40:53
Well, I have just recently tried that combination. But I doubt my results were standard. Effexor drop kicked me into an agitated hypomania (with a short but pleasant euphoric hypomania on the way up and on the way down).
But then again Wellbutrin sent me straight to agitated hypomania as well. In fact it was my first clear cut hypomania.
Perhaps my Depakote dose is too low to counteract such activating drugs. (I only take 125 mg Depakote a day.)
Don't be put off by my results though. Your mileage may vary.
Posted by judy1 on July 18, 2002, at 10:22:13
In reply to Re: Doc not prescribing by DSM.. is this weird? » MomO3, posted by Dinah on July 18, 2002, at 2:32:03
Yes- depakote should definitely have been tried first, (the big 3- depakote, lithium, tegretol) along with combos. In rapid cyclers, all AD's worsen cycling. Is he experienced with bipolar disorder- you may want to contact a University Psychiatry dept and ask for a recommendation. Take care, judy
Posted by oracle on July 18, 2002, at 11:09:22
In reply to Doc not prescribing by DSM.. is this weird?, posted by MomO3 on July 18, 2002, at 0:40:53
The DSM describes conditions not treatments.
Posted by missliz on July 21, 2002, at 2:01:40
In reply to Re: Doc not prescribing by DSM.. is this weird?, posted by oracle on July 18, 2002, at 11:09:22
If you don't feel like you are communicating with this MD, tell him so. If he's at all competent he'll be glad to clear the air. That said, depakote gets skipped over a lot now because it'll make you gigantic. Nuerontin and Trileptal are labeled for epilepsy, but I promise they arer every bit as much "real mood stabilizers" as depakote, which is an epilepsy drug appropriated fpr psych as well. Maybe the doc is trying to spare you a gain of sixty pounds or so.
I understand the enraged monster thing- have all the t shirts. Did you tell the pdoc this? He needs to know about it. It may be a drug reaction, and it may be that you have irritable mania while the drugs are trying to kick in. You wouldn't be getting the stuff if your brains weren't kind of scrambled and you weren't yourself. Psych drugs can take up to eight weeks to work and you may feel very different down the line. We all get neurotic about eating unknown drugs, it's frightening.
Do you trust your doctor? You have to decide this. The medications you listed are a totally reasonable combination and have minimal side effects as psych drugs go. Trust me, a lot of the new medications are easier to live with. If you never take depakote you haven't missed a thing, exept the fat and stupid effect. Call the guy about the rage, today, but remember you have to give these drugs time to rewire and heal up stuff.Miss Liz
Incidently, ADs do not nessasarily cause rapid cycling. Lotta BP II's do great on an AD and mood stabilizer. Untreated or undertreated BP illness can deteriorate into rapid cycling over time, and it takes more time to calm it down once the illness is treated appropriately.
Posted by missliz on July 21, 2002, at 2:11:44
In reply to Doc not prescribing by DSM.. is this weird?, posted by MomO3 on July 18, 2002, at 0:40:53
Sorry missed an important point- Trileptal is tegretol with an oxygen atom on its tail. This gets rid of some nasty side and drug interaction effects. It is a " real mood stabilizer". Take it. It's a good drug.
Miss Liz
My brains are acrambled too.
This is the end of the thread.
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