Posted by Krazy Kat on June 6, 2002, at 12:14:48
In reply to Re: more on concerta » Krazy Kat, posted by Ritch on June 5, 2002, at 23:41:36
>> Well.. springtime hypomania is definitely over. I can tell because I am not buying any new music. I am listening to old vinyl instead.
Is this good or bad?
>> I start noticing things I hadn't noticed before, and I start marking times/dates on calendars and PLANNING things.
Yes, that's the first thing my husband said he noticed when I started Ritalin - I was "scheduling" again. I used to be responsible for scheduling in publishing, so the loss of that skill has been an evident one.
>> it doesn't feel like such a huge EFFORT to process ordinary tasks.
That's a little better for me, as well.
>> Moderate seasonal depression will be kicking-in by the end of the month and be in full bloom by mid July.
Do your meds help with this, or is this something you have come to work through on your own?
> Have your sleep "patterns" always been "wacky"?Yes. I imaigine all of "ours" have been. :)
>> Can you explain the "wackiness"?
Even though I get really tired after about 10 hours on Ritalin, I usually can't sleep. But, regardless and prior to the Ritalin, for about a month I've been falling asleep between 1:00 and 2:00 am and sleeping until about 10:00. Alarms do not wake me up. Or I turn them off.
Now this is less in hours than it was before, but the time frame drives my husband crazy. And he hates having ti wake me up. I feel "guilty", as if I should be sleeping 10:00 pm - 7:00 am. Maybe it's more of a relationship issue...
The great thing is I am not constantly afraid I will fall asleep during the day like I was on Topamax. I couldn't take the train home from NYC without having a panic attack the whole time that I would fall asleep and miss my stop. Ridiculous. Caffeine did nothing to help. And it took my pdoc months to accept that was a problem. That's when a Major depression hit, and I said "I won't take Topamax anymore and I'm going into the hospital if you can't fix this." ;)
It would be hard to convince me to try Effexor. I don't want to belittle its use, since I've seen posters here who benefited from it, but I just Know it would be a horror story for me.
>> I liked Serzone because it didn't send me pacing all around like SSRI's did.I recall having one of those epiphanies on Serzone one morning, feeling more optimistic than I had in years while walking to work. But then, that could have been a reaction to my seeking help. It didn't really touch my depression at that time, though.
>> Interestingly, meds that help with *mental* focus also keep my eyes straightened out.
That is interesting - I wonder if there's a physical connection?
>> That's what I am hoping the imipramine will do for me. I know it has been effective for ADD symptoms, and panic/generalized anxiety.
Ah, O.K. So this will be a good trial! I'll be intereseted to hear.
I haven't seen the Depakote guidelines you mentioned, but now I'm very curious. It certainly can't hurt to break up the doses. My pdoc was comfortable with my 1000mg at night and then 1000mg in the morning. I was taking it all at night to counteract the initial heavy sedation.
I'm not on ER. He wasn't "into" that option - I asked about it last time. I don't recall why he was against it. Maybe because he didn't feel it worked as well? I don't know.
Yeah, with his permission, I'd like to drop back to 1500 mg, but my blood level is low compared to others. My liver enzymes were up last time, not horrifically, but noticably, so maybe I can use that as an "excuse". It's odd, because I've taken it off and on for a year without there ever being an increase. AND, prior to that, I was drinking quite heavily at times, and tests were fine. So, I don't know.
I write too much in my responses to you. Sorry. :)
- kk
poster:Krazy Kat
thread:108313
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020602/msgs/108956.html