Posted by Sparkboy on April 3, 2002, at 19:54:46
In reply to I Second That Emotion » Sparkboy, posted by Zo on April 3, 2002, at 1:33:39
> For what it's worth, this bipolar person got a * strong* hit of bipolar off your post. .
>
> ZoThat's interesting, but in the material I have (a book chapter on the topic), I do have the history and constellation of symptoms that define atypical depression, and it also stated a connection to seasonal affective disorder. Mine has always had a seasonal component, worse in winter with low sleep, high energy episodes in April and October. I hope I didn't mislead Dr. Kramer in suggesting Parnate only "seemed" to work once. I did 2 retrials of Parnate at later dates and each time it would kick in, giving me the mental clarity, remarkable calm and emotional warmth I'm sure most people take for granted. It just doesn't last. I'd crash off it sooner each time. One time I was on Klonopin for severe anxiety and did a retrial of Parnate. When the Parnate kicked in after a week, I took the next dose of Klonopin and it about knocked me over (went off it cold-turkey). Parnate seemed to provide an actual correction, whereas my other meds have all been band-aid stuff in comparison. I went on Neurontin because of it's off-label rep for helping anxiety and it does help modestly for that. I realize Klonopin is a stabilizer also, but neither stopped the cycling or helped depression.
I suppose debating over a dx is academic as long we find the med that helps, but I would like to hear more about the bipolar "hit" you guys seem to be getting. My shifts have always been seasonal and fairly predictable and the standard bipolar meds were like water.
Thanks.
--John
poster:Sparkboy
thread:101517
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/101727.html