Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 1076862

Shown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 18, 2015, at 1:10:01

could this be a good option to add on, i read it's used for migranes, but pdoc a while back said ti's used to help thinking, but i've read various places on the web that it's a nasty drug.....

if adding to lamictal, i don't know, im on high doses, i don't think it would help add another mood medication......

but i've read topamax is a good mood stabilizer

anyone ever used it here before?

 

Re: topamax

Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 18, 2015, at 2:02:27

In reply to topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 18, 2015, at 1:10:01

Hi RJ.

>could this be a good option to add on?

For what purpose?

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 18, 2015, at 14:05:25

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by ed_uk2010 on February 18, 2015, at 2:02:27

just mainly for mood stablization, not sure, my doctor had said to add on to lamictal, because also she said it was for weight loss.... but ... topamax is not good for cognitive thinking, and with lamotragine at 400mg.......and still it's difficult to notice any effect.....

maybe just have it PRN for irrtible moods

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 18, 2015, at 14:06:18

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by ed_uk2010 on February 18, 2015, at 2:02:27

still it's silly because it's difficult to notice effects of most medications, it really makes me mad my body makes the resistance......

 

Re: topamax

Posted by baseball55 on February 18, 2015, at 20:34:53

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 18, 2015, at 14:06:18

> still it's silly because it's difficult to notice effects of most medications, it really makes me mad my body makes the resistance......
>
> You won't notice the effects of psych meds if they are working. You will notice the absence of symptoms (psychosis, depression, mania), but you won't feel them in your system usually, after some initial start-up side effects, like nausea or fatigue. That's the whole point of most meds - they don't create any kind of "high", unlike morphine or adderall or cannabis, so they don't become drugs of abuse.

But more generally, RJ, I don't quite understand why you are taking the meds you're taking. It's a pretty heavy-duty regime - high doses of mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics. As if you had severe bipolar 1 or psychotic depression with suicidal ideation. But you don't have these, do you?

It seems, from your own account, that your major issue is ADHD, that your p-doc refuses to prescribe stimulants because you once abused them and that, for reasons I really don't understand at all, you can't switch to another p-doc.

I think we could all be of more use to you if you could explain the situation more clearly.

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 19:10:31

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by baseball55 on February 18, 2015, at 20:34:53

well.....alot of my artchives are on the search engines, but im going to tell againg what happened, so.....but i don't want to go to personal about it

facts
1)started adderall when i was in middle school till i was 19, someone i live with told the doctor that i was abusing it, then i got pulled off....
2)got prescibed it various times after wards, but it came to a point where someone i live with told me i can't take if i live at their house, (im writing this in 3rd person terms for privacy)
3)went to various rehabs that was hell and it did not work for me, i just played along with the program to get out of it, and from then on went to psychatric hospital for paranoid things, they put me on zyprexa, and i did have paranoid, scared to leave the house, and thinking there where spirits in the house
4)current doctor, as long as i live with here....i cannot take any kind of psychostimulants, it's a crude way, but i've managed to function on bipolar medications, but they make it difficult to focus....
5)ok back to the simple terms, i can't tkae stimulants while i live at home, due to past abuse and this person has told me many times i can't take psychostimulants while im living here.....so i just said ok, and they put me on the current meds.....the paranoia stages i've had where intense...thinking everyone was part or new world order, and harrassed me on the roads and while i went into stores.

thats all......

i don't want to post this, and let everyone see, but thats just....what happened

lamictal i have noticed makes me spacy, but im not hyperactive.....but it's difficult to focus on bipolar medications.....

but it has been a bad time, during all these 5 years to learn how to think and cope without medication to help, i went idle for years from 2010 till now......and now im finally trying to reprogram my mind to be able to function ...i've improved on some cognitive thinking, and writing, but it's been not so good, but im tired of sitting and being afraid, it's kinda like learning to run with a foot that causes me to trip when i run, learning to run with a feet that are diffrent than others.....find out a diffrent technique to run without tripping

and learn how to think.....and ... in a way it's good, because adderall when wore off it left me feeling washed out, depressed, tended to take another one to avoid the depression wear off period......it's not like that how i am right now, i don't have washout periods, but still focus is difficult

r

 

Re: topamax

Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 19, 2015, at 20:26:22

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 19:10:31

Thanks for posting. Like Baseball, I've had difficult understanding what was being treated.

So, do you still have paranoid thoughts? Or not? Do you hear voices or have any other hallucinations?

Personally, I'm not keen on referring to Topamax as a 'mood stabiliser' because it hasn't been proven to be one. It would be more accurate to describe it as an epilepsy drug which is sometimes used off-label by psychiatrists. It can promote weight loss, but this may be at the expensive of quite a lot of adverse effects. It's not a first choice treatment if weight loss is the sole aim.

With respect to your ability to concentrate and think clearly.... this already seems to be impaired. Topamax would probably impair you further.

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 23:06:08

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by ed_uk2010 on February 19, 2015, at 20:26:22

just a general overall - the reason for being put on zpyrexa was because of paranoia, it was in 10, at a psychiatric hospital, i was on previous psychatrist that put me on geodon and zyprexs, but let me keep it short, so after the psychostimulants where discontinued thats when new stuff started happening, paranoia.......but it wasnt while i was on stimulants, it's because of vaious things, people talking about me, threw me into rehab and i got stripped of all my medicines, rehab is nothing but a program that shoves a messege that you have a problem, i can't stand rehab, i just play along with their program and get out

but no i don't have anymore paranoia, once in a while i do, but thats just social things, like people talking about me, not like i was where i was scared to leave the house because i thought the community i live in was after me, harrassed me on t he roads, thought they where giving flu vacinations that have a mind alteration chemical in them....well, let me just keep simple, no more paranoia, low energy, having a difficult time with depression and medication resistance.......zyprexa sedates me and it's not fun because i feel like sleeping all the time.....

what im being treated for right now is ... the schizoeffective, well just when i go in the session they ask me if im hearing voices or feeling the prescense of spirits, and what my mood has been like, but see this doctor already knows about my past abuse with psychostimulants, that class of meds is out, and so.....i just stay with the meds im on.....the only real thing i've noticed is the lamictal and zyprexa sedate my hyper active thinking, but it makes me more spacey rather than being attentive......day dream land big time

so....too many mood stablizers make natural things become drug controlled......i just thought to take topamax at night.....

that's kind what happened......stimulants where thrown out the window, and cannot take them while i live here.....mood stablizers doctors think would help hyper active moods.....

r

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 23:16:00

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 23:06:08

these are my meds:
Prozac 60mg
Lamictal 400mg
Zyprexa 20mg
Nuvigil 250mg

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 23:41:56

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 19:10:31

i know this is the 3rd reply, sorry about this, but mood stablizers make unpleasant emotions kinda go away....i've noticed that with the zyprexa....it's like ... everything is smooth controlled, you don't get hyper and super excited....the lamictal and zyprexa i think do this.....and if topamax was added it would just be ... everyday would be day dream land.....in way that's good, but it's tuning out reality.....

thats what.....so ill leave it at that....im sorry for too many posts....

thanks for replying though....

r

 

Re: topamax

Posted by baseball55 on February 20, 2015, at 21:18:00

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 19, 2015, at 23:41:56

> i know this is the 3rd reply, sorry about this, but mood stablizers make unpleasant emotions kinda go away....i've noticed that with the zyprexa....it's like ... everything is smooth controlled, you don't get hyper and super excited....the lamictal and zyprexa i think do this.....and if topamax was added it would just be ... everyday would be day dream land.....in way that's good, but it's tuning out reality.....
Yeah but the goal is not to make unpleasant emotions go away. Unpleasant emotions are part of life. They can be useful, in that they can motivate us to change situations that are unpleasant. Trying to create a state of mind in "day dream land" is a worrisome goal.
Assume you do have ADHD and can't, given your living situation and past issues with abuse, use stimulants to treat the ADHD. There are other approaches. Cognitive behavioral therapies are often used as an alternative to drugs. Have you looked into this? Have you looked into therapy of any sort?

I don't want to be dismissive of your other symptoms, RJ. but I do wonder how much the episodes of paranoia and grandiose delusions are reactions to the very circumscribed and long-onging life you are living with your parents and very few adult activities or relationships.

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 21, 2015, at 21:18:16

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by baseball55 on February 20, 2015, at 21:18:00


i have owrked with couple therapists.....the only one that was my faviorte and i will forget him, dr. moody, i'll always rerember his kindness and let me stay over time to talk about my thoughts, he was more like a friend, than a therapist......dr-moody whereever you ever you are where the best peron in my teenage year to talk too, never forget you

anyways....i do know i can change myself without anyone helping me, but i have 1 thing, i take a start but don't finish and lose itrest in a goal.....

so maybe babble could be a place to start a goal and not fail at it.....too many times

i just feel ost....i see people, and it's like i already know what....i know some how a realtionship will end, and it's like i play like a puppet, rather than being real......wear nice clothes and stuff....it's fake

yea....thats kinda it....but thanks for the response

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 21, 2015, at 21:26:11

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 21, 2015, at 21:18:16

well maybe not a puppet, but still even though i have friends, acutally i do have good social capabilites, i just need to force myself to get into relationships, and not play around, i do have good social abilities, they just need to be excersised.....and if people don't liek me, it is what it is.......

I reject people before they reject me.....

anyways, thanks for the post

r

 

Re: topamax » rjlockhart37

Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 22, 2015, at 15:53:03

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 21, 2015, at 21:26:11

Hi R,

So, do you have a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder? You mentioned schizoaffective in passing, is that 'official'?

I don't think you're resistant to Zyprexa. The issue is that your meds are not doing exactly what you want them to do, which is common. The dreamy state you describe after taking Zyprexa suggests that the effects are actually quite strong, but that the effects are not entirely desirable.

The fact that you are no longer paranoid leads me to believe that either a) your meds, especially Zyprexa, are working against psychosis, or b) your paranoid was associated with your misuse of stimulants in the past, and this is no longer occurring.

I don't think Topamax would help you. It doesn't really target any of the symptoms you describe.

Here's a question....

If you were to take a 'magic' pill which made you better..... How would you feel on that vs what you feel like at the moment? I'm not saying anything magic is available, I'm trying to understand what you want from any med changes/adjustments.

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 23, 2015, at 1:54:51

In reply to Re: topamax » rjlockhart37, posted by ed_uk2010 on February 22, 2015, at 15:53:03

mainly to think vary clear, the meds help agitated moods, things that bother me if i think about it too much.......but i don't want to let that interfere with my daily living, but i will think about something, past, problem, situation, and think that i can't do anything about it, and thats what causes vary unpleasant stuff......mind over matter is the way out of that and i have improved in someways.....

 

Re: topamax

Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 23, 2015, at 11:48:54

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 23, 2015, at 1:54:51

>mainly to think very clear

In that case, Topamax is likely to make you feel worse, not better.

Your Lamictal dose is rather high. Is there a reason you take so much? It could be impairing your concentration. The same may apply to your large Zyprexa dosage. Was it increased up to 20mg because you were still paranoid while taking more standard doses, or for some other reason?

 

Re: topamax

Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 23, 2015, at 20:08:06

In reply to Re: topamax, posted by ed_uk2010 on February 23, 2015, at 11:48:54

i've taken zyprexa for years, even before 2010 but it wasnt at 20mg.....it was given at 20mg for paranoia when i signed myself into a psychiatric hospital, thinking i was losing mind......i've rotated, been on depakote for a short while in the hospital, then my doctor first started treating the excessive slow energy with nuvigil, and later lamictal was given for mood swings, but mainly it was depression, they where going to use abilify first, but i said no because i've been on abilify and it deosnt work well with chemistry.....they used lamictal, and it wasnt increased to 400mg until i started having agitated mood swings.....and alot of it was because of the things that bother me, and my think about it then spiral in a electrical loop of dysphoria

i've had to learn to function and study, and do alot things without ADHD medication, and i have to admit yes i have had new symptoms like the paranoia and slow processing.....everything came to a halt when dexedrine was discontinued, and started new syptoms.....and those doctors really only cared about the discharge paper and last pay check than what it was going to do to me in the long run, not blaming them, but this is kinda what happened, but mainly because of person i live with, no stimulants in the house besides nuvigil or provigil, no matter what a doctor says, i can't take amphetamines in the house i live in.......so....from this point i've learned to function, and having to use other meds to stablize my mood rather than cognitive part.....

ill have to deal with this, it's hard to work with the doctor because .... basically they think im good on what have now....maybe ill get the prozac to 80mg to totally wipe out depression but we'll have to see.....

r


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