Posted by Peter on March 27, 2002, at 11:39:34
In reply to Re: time to taper adderall and add lithium-DARN! » Peter, posted by Zo on March 27, 2002, at 4:53:19
> I gotta say, I kind of disagree. In principal and in practice: If a med is working for you, the idea is to augment it with something appropriate to tone down the anxiety, or help with sleep or whatever.
> Already, I'm on Neurontin and klonopin to tone down anxiety and help with sleep. I guess I'm sort of sick of constantly augmenting one drug with another for the last seven years and still never being stable enough on any given cocktail, no matter how complex.
> Isn't it possible that what you're sensing is your body saying, Adderall works for me?!
> Adderall is an amphetamine and I'm an ex-cocaine and heroin addict. Even if it produced profound instability in me, I'm sure my body would still be saying 'Adderall works for me.' (-: No, but I see what you're saying; but I think that when weighing the pros and cons, though adderall has it's good sides for me, the cons win. On the whole, I'm only feeling good when the adderall is working on me, and I don't like the fact that I have to plan every day around when I'm taking it-that's why I know deep down it's better for me at this point to turn to something that can stabilize me with one daily dose. That's not to mention the physical side-effects: freezing hands (bad for a pianist like myself), dry mouth, high heart-rate.
> I am BPII, and the pstims have never added any instability, quite the opposite, esp Dex.
> Well, Dex is something I've looked into and discussed with my pdoc. He said once we stabilize on lithium, if I need a pstim again, we'll go right to dex.
> And why lithium? Why not Lamictal?
> I think my natural proneness to excessive anxiety is exacerbated by the thought of certain medications, and Lamictal is certainly one of them. I actually tried it once, but couldn't get the thought of the rash out of my head, so we stopped it. I realize Lithium has it's dangers also, but all in all I've learned it's alot safer and less 'heavy-duty' than people have thought over the years-it just gained a bad rep as a heavy, dangerous drug from all those years of it being used only for severe, hospitalized BP1 patients, before anticonvulsants were even thought of as possible beneficial drugs for BP. It's true it has a better track record for severe BP1, but it has also proven effective for mild BP cases and even unipolar depression. As long as I make sure I'm hydrated and get the proper blood-tests, my pdoc has assured me I will be ok. Unlike the anticonvulsants, it supposedly has no sedating effects, and I like the idea that it's just a mineral that prevents your mood from swinging too far one way or the other.
>Peter
poster:Peter
thread:100505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020327/msgs/100563.html