Posted by SLS on March 21, 2008, at 10:02:50
In reply to Re: Trileptal Dosage » SLS, posted by Ron Hill on March 19, 2008, at 21:51:16
> I hear what you are saying, Scott.
I hear what you are saying, too. I have a great respect for your powers of logic and observation. You know yourself better than I do. If you have already tried a higher dose of Trileptal for an extended period of time, you have thus already tried my suggestion. I am relieved to know that you pulse the drug only rarely.
Have you ever tried nifedipine or nimodipine? The NIMH was looking into these CA channel blockers. I think the results of nimodipine were disappointing, but they tried using it as a monotherapeutic treatment.
By the way, which antipsychotics have you tried, and at what doses?
- Scott
>
> I've been taking Trileptal for four years. Throughout this time I held steady at the higher dosage. However, I recently reduced my Trileptal dosage because it seemed to be holding me in my depressive phase to some extent. Only on very rare occasions have I found it necessary to pulse up my Trileptal dosage.
>
> I never get manic, and the only time I get hypomanic these days is if I use sleep deprivation to snap myself out of depression.
>
> Consistent sleep habits are where I have been failing badly for the past several months. And, you are absolutely right; to the extent that I allow myself to keep erratic sleep times and, thereby, screw up my circadian clock, the more instability I invite into my rapid cycling.
>
> -- Ron
>
> -----------------------------
>
> > > 300 mg/day Trileptal (Note: Trileptal is my antimanic med. If I get hypomanic, I jump it up to 600 or 900.)
> >
> > My knee-jerk reaction to this is that it is the worst thing you can do with this medication. Pulsing any psychotropic is considered counterproductive and often yields treatment-resistance. Perhaps more important is that allowing the mania to appear at all just reinforcing the cycle. After mania comes depression. Stop the mania, and you might also avoid the depressive rebound that occurs during a switch from mania to depression. Since Trileptal is so useful to you episodically, it might act to penetrate your cycle and prevent mood swings if used chronically. It very often takes 6 months or longer for mood-stabilizer treatment to effect a significant reduction of ultra-rapid cycling.
> >
> > Great post, by the way.
> >
> >
> > - Scott
>
>
poster:SLS
thread:818442
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080316/msgs/819184.html