Posted by chemist on January 1, 2005, at 21:35:15
In reply to Stigma, posted by hotagent339 on January 1, 2005, at 15:35:54
> I am on Topamax and Lamictal. I hate the stigma of being labeled "mentally ill" (by my in laws) and am on it for anxiety. They think I am on it for bipolar because when you google it thats all you see. Can anyone tell me differently? There has never been a formal diagnosis of anything. My inlaws and I have been fighting for a very long time and I have written some mean emails because of my feelings towards them, hence their calling me mentally ill.
>
> And get this, my husband has also looked up the medications I am on and has concluded that I am bipolar. He has done his own search and thinks that I am mentally ill and agrees with his parents. I am a very high functioning person. I run my own successful business, run my household with a toddler, volunteer with 2 organizations, and recently finished college with a 4.0. Its making me so mad that these people are labeling me due to the medications that I am on right now. Isnt it possible that I am on them due to anxiety (which they have helped me tremendously in that department due to the amount of stress I am under!!!)
> thanks for your help. Happy new year
> Mollyhello there, chemist here...tell your family that topamax is a drug categorized as an antiepileptic: this is true, as the drug is approved for use as an antiseizure medication, and an adjunct to a primary one at that (hence the utility prescribed off-label for mood disorders being of questionable validity, to say the least)....lamictal was approved as - yes - an antiepileptic drug, and only recently as a augmentation for prolonging the length of time between mood swings (broadly defined) in patients suffering from bipolar I disorder: it has been used as monotherapy, yet alone or in combination with a primary med for acute mania, lamictal does not prevent or diminish the mood swings but does appear to attenuate the frequency.
tell the folks you're epileptic and ask your psychiatrist why you are taking antiepileptic meds of limited if not no use for anxiety next time you visit: there are alternatives that actually work, and have been proven to be effective over a long period of time...all the best, chemist
poster:chemist
thread:436389
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041228/msgs/436578.html