Posted by Racer on November 3, 2005, at 18:38:32
In reply to Suggestions wanted on treatment resistant patient, posted by Towervu on November 2, 2005, at 12:34:31
>>lexapro 30 mgs; remeron 45 mg, geodon 40 mgs; lamictal 300 mgs; klonopin 1 mg; adderall xr 30 mgs.
That is certainly a lotta pills there. I'm hardly a meds genius, so most of what I'm going to say is based on ignorance and my own experience, rather than knowledge. With that warning, here goes:
I've never tried Geodon, and only know that the people I've known who've taken it have all ended up more depressed and gaining weight. Again, that's based on second hand ignorance, if you will.
Remeron sent me so far over the edge, with frightening rage -- very, very unlike me -- so I hardly managed a week on it. I was feeling so nuts, I only remember wanting to die if I was going to feel that way for any length of time. {shudder} If you've been taking it for a while, you'll know your own reactions to it, but if you're leaning more towards depression now, such a sedating drug might not be the best choice, wouldn't you think? I don't really know, though.
And now the reason I'm really taking your time here: both Lexapro and Lamictal knocked me out and increased my depression a very great deal. The Lamictal was more of a tease -- gave me a couple of days of feeling as though it was going to work when I got near and then into the therapeutic range, but then just yanked the floor out from under me -- I went from kinda icky (that's a technical term) to hiding under a quilt on the sofa in a couple of days. And I mean only my nose sticking out from that quilt, and tears coming out instead when I would try to talk to anyone -- cats, spouse, dust bunnies... I certainly couldn't manage to contact anyone else. The Lexapro wasn't even that activating for me -- I couldn't have cried if I'd wanted to. I certainly couldn't talk. I was near catatonic -- I felt as though I was trapped way deep inside my body, without being able to communicate with the surface. If either drug has actually worked for you, that's great -- but if this is just a case of your doctor adding something because your depression is breaking through, I'd look very seriously at these two.
If I were spinning the meds wheel, I think I'd can the Geodon -- which I'm assuming you're taking for anxiety, rather than psychosis? -- and switch the Lexapro for another SSRI that might work better for you. Seems as though Adderall might not be the first choice for someone suffering anxiety, but Provigil can be helpful for some people. Personally, it augments my ADs and can even brighten my mood on its own. And then I'd see about weaning off the Remeron and Lamictal unless there are compelling reasons to stay on them.
By the way, any reason you didn't go back on the imipramine? Often, the TCAs will work again if you restart them. Or, at least that's what my pdoc told me way back when.
poster:Racer
thread:574526
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051031/msgs/575111.html