Posted by amber_spirit on August 5, 2002, at 13:32:58
In reply to Re: Dr Martin Jensen , posted by Denise528 on June 25, 2002, at 14:21:07
Well, I reached the 6 week mark with Dr. Jensen
and am currently on Synthroid 50 mcg, Depakote ER
1000 mg, and Seroquel 100 mg. I use 0.25 mg of
Xanax as needed for anxiety. Also, I have Stelazine
2mg for what I'll call "suicidal impulses" (it
seems to instantly take away the impulse). I found
that, for me, there was a response within 3-4 days
for each of the medications that I tried. Also, Dr.
J seemed to narrow in on "better" choices each time
and much more quickly than other doctors I'v worked
with. Whether that indicates the skill that Dr. J
has or the lack of skill of my previous pdocs is
something I'm still not sure of. I do know that he
was much more willing to look at all the classes
of medication as well as other causes (thyroid,
immune system, etc) than other pdocs I've seen.When I started the Depakote, the suicidal thoughts
were gone, within a day. It didn't really up my mood
but definitely made me feel more stable and made
suicide seem less "rational" than it had for months.
Unfortunately, because of job issues etc, I had to
leave CA right after we found the depakote. So, I'm
back in VA trying to do some "adjusting" on my own
while I wait to find a pdoc out here. I'm doing ok,
and feel very calm and stable (as opposed to anxious,
irritable, agitated, and suicidal) but need to find
something to help with the mood and energy. I'm
going to start adding lamictal today to see if it
helps. The lamictal was somewhat energizing and
subtly increased my agitation and anxiety when I
tested it. The thinking is that with the stabilizing
effect of depakote, the lamictal may give the mood
lift and energy that I still need with less liklihood
of being destabilizing than an AD.I definitely think it was worth it for me to take
6 weeks and go to CA to work with Dr. Jensen. I
don't feel I had the time to spend months on med
trials with doctors who dismissed all of my
physical problems as "psychosomatic" and made me
feel like it was my fault the meds weren't working.
I was getting increasingly fed up with medications
that made me feel worse and the liklihood of
suicide was great. I really felt that Dr. J or
ECT were my only other options.I just hope that you find a doctor who can work
with you effectively whether it be Dr. Jensen or
someone else. I do believe that he has a way of
analyzing medication responses that allows him to
narrow down the cause more effectively than the
standard approach and would recommend him highly.Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Amber Spirit
poster:amber_spirit
thread:109805
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/115312.html