Posted by med_empowered on February 3, 2005, at 12:51:12
In reply to BP- periodic bouts of depression - any advice?, posted by olysi79 on February 3, 2005, at 11:28:14
hey! I'm a former trileptal user myself (my meds are in the midst of yet another change)...what's your dosage? I too sometimes had those bouts of intense depsair, etc...sometimes it would hit just when I woke up, kind of like a panic attack. I found Klonopin helped these feelings and panic, as well; its THE benzo for bipolar, since it has mood-stabilizing properties...it seems to help some people with resistant depression, though it can cause/worsen depression in others. I also personally found that the SSRIs just didn't cut it for me. Although shrinks love cleaner drugs for bipolar, I found I needed something along the lines of Effexor, Tofranil, or Cymbalta for relief. A tricyclic is the ultimate defense against misery before ect or maois; getting a shrink to rx it for bipolars is hard (more likely to activate mania), but not impossible. Switching to lamictal might help, but I personally think switching your mood-stabilizer is a big deal in bp. As for zyprexa...if you want MORE dopamine, cut it out completely. Its a neuroleptic, and neuroleptics clamp down hardcore on dopamine. In addition, stopping a neurleptic leads to rebound of dopamine that can cause all kinds of problems if the drug was taken continuously, long-term. Plus, if you factor in the risks inherent in antipsychotic use (tardive dyskinesia, akathisia, cognitive impairment), I think you'll also come to the conclusion that you're better off antipsychotic-free. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:452422
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050202/msgs/452460.html