Posted by Dreamerz on April 2, 2003, at 17:01:02
In reply to Re: Depakote dark deep depression » Dreamerz, posted by Ron Hill on April 2, 2003, at 13:42:56
> I'm sorry that you are having a hard time, Dreamer. I had similar results with Depakote when I took it about five years ago. It made me depressed and irritable (in addition to causing weight gain, hair loss, and rash).
>
> Further, I was like you in that lithium used to scare me a little. As it turns out, my fears were misplaced. For a low to mid-range dosage, lithium is very safe with few side effects (YMMV of course). In fact, lithium has some important neuroprotective actions.
>
> For many years I was stuck and could not find the way out. I’ll not bore you with all the details of my Rx history but, instead, I’ll merely share with you what is currently working for me in hopes that it might be of help to you in some way.
>
> I'm BP II and I'm doing very well on 600 mg/day of Lithobid (blood level of 0.4 mEq/l), which controls my hypomania nicely, and I take the OTC supplement Enada NADH (coenzyme 1) to treat my atypical depression. This is only the tenth week of my Enada NADH trial, so it is still too early to predict its long term effectiveness. So far, however, it's working remarkably well in treating my atypical depressive phase (lack of motivation, low energy, anhedonia, hypersomnia).
>
> Dreamer, your dx is BP II, correct? What is your Rx history and how did you react to each of your individual medication trials?Thanks Ron..
My dx is unspecified ( in UK -only get dx'd in hospital..I'm hopefully attending as outpatient -I'm waiting to see if my case is important/complex enough to get professional help)..I rapid cycle -I think the ultra kind. The efexor I take acts as a strong sedative and helps with anger/irritation..I suppose I get hypomanic but without efexor I guess I'd get manic--the angery hostile losing control blackout kind--I used to self medicate so I could sleep.
I've tried Depakote /Neurontin( good for anxiety~nice still take 900mg)/Lamictal(made me really irritable)/zyprexa( always hungry made me flat except thinking about food constantly)/all SSri's made me manic except for efexor.
I see my doc in 2 weeks so I'll see what he thinks ...Maybe after all this Lithium is the one :-)
Hope this makes sense...
poster:Dreamerz
thread:215241
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030402/msgs/215526.html