Posted by Ron Hill on August 3, 2002, at 15:27:58
In reply to Re: Colin Wallace - Lamictal, posted by colin wallace on August 2, 2002, at 14:01:40
Hi Colin,
> Incidentally,I wondered what dose of dep. did you take, and whether you experienced any eventualwithdrawal?(I'm at 400mg).
At the time (roughly two and one-half years ago), I think was taking 750 mg/day of Depakote and 40 mg of Paxil. A great combo if the goal is weight gain and apathy. I did a cold turkey withdrawal and the SSRI withdrawal killed me; dizziness, nausea, insomnia, etc. I was very depressed on this combo and the depression continued after withdrawal, but did not seem to worsen.
I had determined that meds were not for me and I would be better off trying to get back to where I had been all of my life prior to starting meds, which focused on a rigorous daily exercise program to keep the depression demon at bay. But the depression and apathy continued (and exercise never started) so roughly four months after quitting the Depakote/Paxil my wife insisted that I see a new pdoc and he put me on Lithobid for the first time. That helped, but did not resolve my depression so I began trying various SSRI's and other AD's as an add-on to the Lithobid. Similarly to your experience with AD's, they would work at first but then leave me high and dry with anhedonia and anergy. I played that game for a little over a year and then last fall my pdoc told me to try SAM-e. You know the story from that point on.
As an aside, here is my layman's hunch of why SAM-e worked wonderfully for five months and then started to induce irritability and flash rage: I wonder if long term SSRI use reduces dopamine levels in some patients and SAM-e functions to restore said levels to normal. However, once fully restored, additional SAM-e consumption becomes detrimental because it begins to raise the dopamine (and/or norapinphrine?) level(s) too high. Well there you have it; the latest Dr. Ron (a.k.a. Dr. BS) theory.
Colin, although I've posted the story here in years past, I don't know if I have ever shared with you how I was initially introduced to psychotropic medication six years ago by idiotic pdoc who, without conducting any formal testing or screening, decided I was ADHD and stared feeding me (a bipolar II) Ritalin and Paxil. I think he misdiagnosed me as ADHD based primarily on the fact that I was hyperactive as a child. I guess he was not a believer in the existence of Childhood On-set Bipolar Disorder (which is applicable to me). The resulting mania derailed my career and, generally speaking, screwed up my life. The mania felt really good, but all the while I was flushing my career etc down the toilet. I was single (never married) at the time and convinced that I could do no wrong. NOT!!
I'm happy to be on level ground with 600 mg/day Lithobid. I reiterate my story here periodically solely in hopes that a reader of the post might be spared the pain of this type of misdiagnosis.
-- Ron
poster:Ron Hill
thread:114841
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/115092.html