Posted by yesac on June 16, 2005, at 10:18:08
In reply to Re: I LOVE lithium, posted by barbaracat on June 15, 2005, at 19:58:38
> Hi Wonder Druggies,
Who are you callin a wonder druggie?! ;)
> Dumb questions, but have you tried lithium? My armchair theory is thus: if you are bipolar, especially bipolar I, you will benefit beyond your wildest dreams from lithium. If you are any other flavored bipolar, well, maybe yes, maybe no.
** Well here's the weird thing about that... I've heard that too-- that lithium works better for bipolar I, and anticonvulsants often work better for "non-traditional" types of bipolar, including BP II, BP NOS, BP spectrum, mixed states, and rapid cycling. But for me, and I am definitely not classic BPI, lithium seems to help me feel better and the other drugs don't. The other drugs being Depakote, Trileptal, Lamictal, and maybe others-- there's so many I can't remember!However, what I've recently discovered is that I need a low dose of Seroquel with the lithium to produce the desired results. I stopped taking Seroquel for a few days and kind of fell apart. But Seroquel alone wasn't enough... so it's like I really need BOTH. I wonder if I took S with those drugs they might then work for me. Or if I took lithium with any of those drugs.
>I think the gold standard of bipolar diagnosis is, if you feel better, i.e., more calm, more centered, more organized, more forgiving towards those you heretofore libeled traitors, if you sleep better, then chances are you are classically bipolar. The other meds are phooey as far as I'm concerned. I've tried most of them (mood stabilizers) and the only one, THE ONLY ONE that gave me my life back was lithium. If this is true for you, even a little bit, then you are bipolar.** Well, then, I guess according to the BarbaraCat Book of Diagnostics, I must be bipolar. Maybe I am, I still don't really know, I guess it doesn't matter that much. I'm just glad that something is helping, finally after all these years.
poster:yesac
thread:509665
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050611/msgs/513677.html