Posted by Sabina on October 1, 2003, at 1:30:23
In reply to Re: BP2, FMS, and seroquel here » Sabina, posted by BarbaraCat on September 29, 2003, at 11:12:02
Hey Barbara and Bean (chicklet) both,
To begin with a side item, I wish you guys would consider posting on the social board so's I could feel freer about mentioning more non-med stuffs. I don’t want to be re-directed and it’s not so very bad over there. ;) Just a thought to think about?
Otherwise, sorry so disjointed a response, but I have been in a hormonal funk the past few daze.
Unfortunately, my hypomanic response to fibromyalgia is to push myself until I collapse in a heap and then can’t leave the bed for three days. I so seldom feel up to par that, when I am able to function enough to overdo, I do. I absolutely don't know when to say when. I’m working on finding a middle gear in my life. Fibro is my teacher. (I’m feeling philosophically optimistic tonight.) Back in the 40's, my grandmother was just considered crazy and/or lazy when she presented with the same (fibro) symptoms. Too bad I never really knew her, we’d have quite a talk now!
Like you, I believe that a lack of quality sleep is a prime issue with this condition. I dare anyone to live with as little sleep as I do at times and still manage to function properly, act normal, etc. I was dx’d w/ FMS in ‘97. Things went on fairly uneventfully (full time job, etc.) until a run-in w/ depo-provera (aka satan-in-a-syringe) last year, which began a flare-up of major, job and mind losing proportions. It was then that natural coping skills abandoned me and deep seated, long camouflaged chemical imbalances became unavoidable. It was all just too much to deal with at once.
Seroquel has definitely been the best option I’ve found so far, especially compared to the horrors of SSRI’s, which are routinely prescribed to fibro patients as a first line of defense, because god knows if you aren’t depressed when you're dx'd fibro, you will be soon enough just from dealing with it! Yes, Seroquel is the only thing I’m on...at the moment, apart from the occasional Xanax, Ultram, or Vicodin. I talked to my therapist about it just today, and I think that because I feel *so* much better than I did on Lexapro that I’m just now willing to admit that there’s still (much) room for improvement.
I’m just so thankful that I’m not actively planning my suicide or drinking almost daily as a coping mechanism, and that I'm rid of those demon racing thoughts (with me since childhood), that I almost don’t want to mess about with it. I feel almost like asking or trying for more or better would be ungrateful, in a way. Considering my dreadful history with psych meds (SSRI is a four letter word, as far as I’m concerned) , I’m more than a little reluctant to try anything else, even though my therapist has clients with fibro who’ve had great success with the Adderall. I do think I need something else, though what I don’t yet know.
I only seem to have serious (way too bad to pretend away) problems during certain points in my menstrual cycle. I’d *really* rather not get all strung out on some intricate cocktail that I may not need but one week out of the month, especially since I’m hoping to get pregnant next year and will have to go off them for awhile then, anyway. I’m planning to keep a journal for the next month, noting both emotional and physical problems to help me see any correlations and to help my pdoc make the best decision as to a second drug. Right this minute, I’m leaning toward Trileptil and/or Adderall, though I’d most wish for something I didn’t have to take full time. I already have to divide my Seroquel doses into four times a day to feel fully functional.
Half the time I feel like some neurasthenic Victorian lady, shutters drawn, sitting in a dimly lit room with orders to be quiet and not to read or think too much. I used to be so clever, overly think-y and creative. Now, I can seldom follow my own train of thought, much less anyone else’s. I’ve never tried Ambien, but good luck, certainly, with the au naturel approach. I know everyone’s so different, but I’ve had a very good response to Seroquel. So necessarily, it’s all the stuff I *haven’t* tried that terrifies me! No dry mouth here, and I can’t yet speak to withdrawal issues.
As far as other fibro measures, the water exercises have made more of a difference than anything else...by far and away. Even when I can barely summon the energy to straighten up the house, and can barely stand the idea of leaving the house, I can do this...mostly because I love the water so much. Did you happen to see my post on it? Even my husband has mentioned that I sleep better on the days that I go to the pool. Then there’s the sauna...oh so toasty on the old (oh so old) joints.http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030913/msgs/262093.html
Drifting off on Vicodin now...serious back pain tonight. Hope to hear from you again soon.
Bina
poster:Sabina
thread:238206
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/264631.html