Posted by aegle on July 25, 2007, at 3:45:26
In reply to Re: Patch decision - What to do?, posted by JohnSky on July 24, 2007, at 10:25:34
JohnSky, for what it's worth, I've found little value in a diagnosis reached by a psychiatrist backing into one based simply on your response to a specific medication. There are far too many uncontrollable environmental variables to slap a label of soft or Bipolar II on you if you've been asymptomactic for your 49 years simply because of your response to one medication.
I'd caution you to accept the foregoing as my personal perspective only. A simple Google search would help you find some quick and dirty diagnostic tools to help you evaluate your response to several bipolar II tests; if you have that "A ha!" response after relecting upon your response in an unmedicated state, you'll have quite useful information.
Again, FWIW, I was took Effexor ER at a dose of 375mg per day for 11 years. My own psychiatrist dabbled with the soft Bipolar diagnosis based on my reaction to that medication, though I'd been previously diagnosed as an Atypical Depressive (which includes the component of reactivity, a symptom frequently associated with Bipolar II.) I went through trials of Tegretol, Neurontin and Lamictal and others whose names I don't immediately recall to stabilize my moods while on Effexor.
Lamictal provided the best relief (a floor for depression and a cap for those rare times when the inability to sleep and wildly optimistic moods prevailed) for the longest period; the others had intolerable side effects. My point: even if you have no legitimate diagnosis of BP II, a mood stabilizer could be held in reserve as a useful adjunct to your medication regime. I'd wait until you see how you respond to the 9mg dose of Emsam, however.
I've been away from this group for the last two weeks due to outside commitments, but based on what I've read here over the last eight months and my own experience, there appears to be an inverse relationship between Emsam dosage and anxiety/agitation. An increase to the 9mg patch is certainly something worth trying to see if the anxiety is reduced.
Wishing you well with your decision.
Regards,
aegle
> Thanks for the info. Why do you mention bi-polar and using a lower dose of EMSAM if so? I have recently been diagnosed bi-polar because Effexor caused a major manic reaction in me a year ago and my doc said I must be bi-polar because of the reaction. No other medication has caused that reaction in me and I have never had a manic reaction in my 49 years.
> I read an FDA report that listed a manic reaction as possibility when taking Effexor.
>
> John
poster:aegle
thread:769334
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070719/msgs/771834.html