Posted by SLS on March 1, 2005, at 17:21:41
In reply to SLS? yooo hooo..., posted by Spriggy on March 1, 2005, at 15:43:55
Can you describe in a bit more detail what are the symptoms of your illness? How do you sleep? How is your appetite? Do you feel worse in the morning? Anything you describe would be helpful.
> 1) I had akathasia and need NOt to be on an SSRI again. EVER. He was pretty emphatic about that one.
> 2) We could try out a SNRI like Cymbalta but he said, " there's a possibility you will have a similar reaction."Very possibly
> What I experienced on Wellbutrin...
Did you try Wellbutrin without Lexapro? What were the results?
> 1) There is a possibility you have Bipolar 2 (dad with bp)
What are the symptoms of your father's illness? What was it about his symptoms that led his doctor to diagnose him as bipolar?
> and you may need mood stabilizer.
If your father truly is bipolar, you probably should proceed under the premise that you fit somewhere along the bipolar spectrum. Mood stabilizers might be helpful.
Lamictal is known to possess antidepressant properties, and might be the right place to start. I would not worry too much about the rash. Starting low and increasing gradually provokes a reaction very infrequently. Although the titration schedule recommended can be frustratingly slow, it can be well worth the wait. You might want to make 200mg your target dosage.
> I am still on low dose Klonopin ( today am actually skipping the morning dose to see how I do without it until bedtime).
How much are you taking? In what ways does Klonopin help you?
> I am still feeling a bit strange, having some minor agitation/restlessness.
How do you account for this?
> It is apparent to me I am cycling.
How long do you spend in each of the phases of your cycle?
> ANYWAY (am I rambling? maybe that's another symptom?), WHAT would you suggest?
Have you tried Remeron?
If you are intolerant of the SRIs, perhaps it is time to explore either a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) like nortriptyline or a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) like Nardil.
> Would Lamictal alone be beneficial for the mood instability and depression?
Lamictal can help improve depression and reduce rapid-cycling. However, it is not a good drug to treat mania. I doubt it would prevent an antidepressant-induced switch into mania. If you were to add Depakote, you would need to reduce the dosage of Lamictal by half.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:465034
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050227/msgs/465106.html