Posted by Cindylou on March 25, 2002, at 18:44:35
In reply to Anyone respond to subtherapeutic med doses only ?, posted by colin wallace on March 16, 2002, at 11:42:10
Hi Colin,
It's pretty late for me to respond to your post, and it sounds like things are working out for you okay by now, but I thought I'd mention that I did well on 5 mg. of Prozac -- but the good effects only lasted for 2 months, and then I "crashed out." I couldn't get the good results back by increasing or decreasing the dose, so I stopped the med. I tried it again a couple years later, and the same thing happened -- did well on 5 mg. -- then crashed hard after 2 months.For the record, I used Liquid Prozac -- much easier to measure out those low doses.
Anyway, I do respond to very low doses of medications -- probably 1/4 of the normal therapeutic dose. My problem is that I either can't tolerate the side effects, or the positive effects don't last. I am bipolar II -- it took 13 years to get to this diagnosis (I have always been treated for unipolar depression until recently.)
Hope you are doing well. Maybe I'll try that SAM-e one of these days. Can it be combined with Lamictal?
take care,
cindy> Prozac trial: I take one 20mg capsule, and within hours feel uplifted, a slightly dizzying or tipsy feeling, and music enters my mind so that I feel like whistling!Hmmmm. A (slightly)giddying state in which to go about one's ordinary life, but great for a Saturday night.Much preferable to feeling like crap-but needs some tuning down I think.
> Next day: 200mg Sam-e.Terrific- achieved just the right 'pitch', and life's back in focus.
> Next day: 20mg prozac- Yeuch...not fun at all! WAY overstimulated....don't raise your voice at me or I'll ******* pulverize you!!Snarl!Hmmmm.
> Must tone this down!Where's my genial good nature gone?? And the whistling...?
> Next day: 200mg sam-e- still far too strung out, but human and sociable again by the evening.
> Okay, try again.... two days washout.
> next day.20mg prozac- whistlin' dixie.
> next three days in a row-200mg Sam-e...nothing else.
> Fifth day: cautious 20mg prozac...wait for it...aah, a telltale foot tapping to the radio, a breezy 'hello' on the telephone.... a brief whistle and a tentative early morning stiffie, perhaps heralding....anyway, you get the picture here.
> Question: Can the therapeutic window of Prozac, or indeed any SSRI be THAT narrow? Can I really benefit from less than 5mg a day?Am I med. hypersensitive? This perhaps seems a plausible explanation.This may well explain my wholesale rejection of all things SSRI in the past.No wonder I turned into Hannibal Lecter on 150mg effexor.Pause for thought.Like the feel of prozac (at infant-like doses),seems to complement sam-e very well.But have to put up with feeling 'overly upbeat and stupefied' every fifth day, till things settle down.
> So, I wondered if anyone else has had a similar reaction/overreaction to Prozac , or another ssri.Anyone tried liquid prozac?? (didn't particularly like celexa either..)
> Just coming back down to earth..........
>
> (whistlin') Col.
poster:Cindylou
thread:98301
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/100103.html