Posted by BIGDaddyachmed69 on June 4, 2005, at 2:49:03
In reply to Progress Report: lithium, posted by yesac on June 3, 2005, at 12:40:22
> It seems like lithium is helping me a little bit. I've been on it about 5 weeks, went up to 600mgs a week and a half ago.
>
> I think that I'm slightly less agitated, slightly less depressed, a bit more calm and less distraught about everything all the time. Basically, it's exactly what you'd expect from a mood stabilizer: I feel more stable. My mood isn't all over the place--- it seems to be more even. I don't feel quite as flipped out as before.
>
> But I still don't feel good. Maybe the improvement will continue. I'm thinking of increasing my dose to 900mgs in a week or so and that might help more.
>
> I haven't been sleeping well lately, and it's so hard to get up in the mornings. Once I get up and get going I don't feel too tired, but I really have to drag myself out of bed, even at 10 or 11 AM. I don't know if this is related to the lithium or not, but it seemed like it got worse when I increased my dose.
>
> It sucks, though, that I feel like this is the best I can get. I have tried probably 30 different drugs over the past few years, and this is the best response that I've gotten... so it's not like I can just switch to a different drug and expect a better response. Or even add a drug and expect a better response. I just don't think those are options for me anymore.Well...perhaps if the Lithium doesn't work out, you could try Lamictal. It has more of an antidepressant edge to it than Lithium, in my opinion, and is still considered a mood-stabilizer. I don't know if you're bipolar or not, but I have read that Lamictal may induce hypomania in susceptible people. You could also try adding an AD to Lithium, as I did (in my case Paxil). I haven't been diagnosed as being bipolar, just a refractory case of depression...and the combination of Lithium and Paxil was one of the few cocktails that have helped me.
poster:BIGDaddyachmed69
thread:507319
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050601/msgs/507540.html