Posted by Noa on February 12, 2000, at 5:36:52
In reply to Re: Feeling drugged, anxious, and a little depressed, posted by JohnL on February 12, 2000, at 4:24:56
Thing is, John, I DO think the lithium has worked. In the weeks I have been on it, I have definitely seen a lot of improvement. It's just that suddenly I am feeling drugged/sleepy/sedated all the time.
As for the anxiety, I was tolerating it ok as long as my energy was coming back and I was feelign better. But with the onset of this drugged feeling, the anxiety is harder to take.
I also think some of the anxiety is psychological, having to do with my fear/panic about investing hope in the improvement only to be whallopped again by another major depressive episode, as I have so many times.
At the moment, a lot of my anxiety is about something similar--feeling discouraged about this loss of energy all of a sudden and feeling tired/sedated and not doing good work at my job. Also, some of the jitteriness seems to be a way of bringing in extra stimulation to my brain just to stay awake.
I really do need to stop the cafeine. I started a bad habit in past few weeks of drinking a lot of coca cola. As you know, I am thirsty all the time from the lithium, so you can imagine how much coke I can drink, where I used to stick exclusivelywith water. I have also started drinking different bottle juices, all of which have too much sugar. So my first step is to cut those out and see if it helps, and to cut out the coffee, too, which I had only started back on in the past 2 weeks. It is a bit of a chicken and egg question, but it is worth a try.
I also started lowering my serzone dose, although I need to tell my pdoc that. I usually don't make changes without consulting him first, but I really wanted to try this. I cut back just a tad--from 225 to 187.5. Although, I probably should try one change at a time, ie, wait till I get used to no cafeine again, and then decide if the decrease in serzone is warranted.
Another thing is, my pdoc did mention there is something I can take to prevent having to wake up to pee. I might ask him about this. I really miss the uninterrupted sleep, which I had only started having since starting apnea treatment in fall of 98. I really liked it--sleep had finally become satisfying.
Finally, I know I should start doing some exercise.
poster:Noa
thread:21187
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000209/msgs/21248.html