Posted by doxogenic boy on September 16, 2009, at 15:25:10
I have now used lithium, to potentiate antidepressive effect, for ten days. Last Thursday I felt better, but then, the anxiety came back in the afternoon/evening. There have been some mood swings (from depressed to less depressed during the day) but not a clear pattern of improvement so far. The anxiety can still be bad, also this day.
My pulse increased to 90 or more after adding lithium, so I had to reduce the Liothyronin (Cytomel) from 20 to 10 micrograms to calm it down. I have had to some extent lax bowels too, so the side effects indicate that the lithium dose could be sufficient. It is my plan to stay on this dose a month, so that I give a low dose a real chance to show if it is effective.
Do any of you have any advice or personal experience of how long I should try this and what to expect? My cocktail is mentioned below.
I am not very optimistic. I can't experiment with medication for ever, because every failed trial make life more hopeless, and when there are mental side effects, such as worsening of the illness, I can get new problems and worries which may not disappear when the medication is discontinued.
So, maybe a partial response is all I can get?
This is what I currently take:
1) quetiapine (Seroquel) 600 mg
2) liothyronine sodium (L-isomer of triiodothyronine (T3); Cytomel, Liothyronin)
10 µg (microgram)
3) escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro) 40 mg
4) tianeptine (Stablon) 150 mg
5) clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril) 1 mg
6) trimipramine (Surmontil) 100 mg
7) lithium (Lithionit, 330 mg lithium sulphate = 42 mg Li+, which is 6 mmol Li+)doxogenic
poster:doxogenic boy
thread:917371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090912/msgs/917371.html