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Re: bleauberry - treatment questions?

Posted by bleauberry on December 6, 2009, at 7:30:46

In reply to bleauberry - treatment questions?, posted by RocketMan on December 5, 2009, at 16:03:39

> Hi bleauberry,
>
> I have read many of your posts and have noticed many of the meds you seemed to have tolerated/responded well to, are similar to mine. I'm a nervous depressive type and stray from anything too activating.

Yeah me too. Except I've discovered that it is not always that predictable...something that should be activating may instead be comforting, and vica versa. I do not believe in predicting based on general consensus or based on expected outcomes. I have personally seen that to be a flawed strategy.

> I'm wondering if you would mind sharing what your primary diagnosis is, and, what meds you are currently taking, if any. I realize you favour the holistic approach so maybe you have abandoned the main-stream meds for other alternatives.

I don't put much faith in a psychiatric diagnosis. That's because if you see 10 different doctors, you'll probably get at least 5 different or varying diagnosis. Diagnosis is very much subjective, and subject to human error and perception. I believe things are too complex to be neatly categorized into a single word description. Above all, I have not seen a diagnosis be of much help in actually choosing the ultimate meds that work. To me a diagnosis is fairly useless.

What I find more useful is to more carefully describe the depression or anxiety or whatever. For example, is the depression a doom and gloom? Is it a feeling of empty? Is it not sad, but completely apathetic and joyless? There are different flavors. The word depression is much too vague and generalized. To me, the symptoms are more meaningful and helpful. Is the anxiety heart palpitations? Clammy sweating palms? Easily startled by noise? Fear of people? Different flavors need different approaches. Anxiety is too general, as is psychosis, bipolar, and every other manmade word of idiopathic symptoms.

When you say I favor the holistic approach, that is true if you are referring to a comprehensive plan that involves all aspects of a person's life and not just prescription pills. If you are referring to a preference of herbs over meds, that is not how I feel. I can see how it might be perceived that way though. There are so many people here engrossed in meds only, ignoring the wealths that can be added to them from other sources, so I try to give holistic approaches more airplay, simply because they are otherewise drowned out or completely non-existent.

I think most people are stuck in a world of meds, as I was for 15 years, not realizing the picture is bigger than that...meds are a piece of a puzzle but only a piece. People often view it as the entire picture.

> I don't mean to be nosy, just curious as to your personal treatment plans.
>
> Thanks, Rick

My primary diagnosis is "Lyme Spectrum". Lyme disease itself is too general of a term. There are at least a dozen different potential organisms involved in Lyme, each with dozens of constantly mutating varieties, and the infections can mimic any and all psychiatric illnesses. Thus the frequent misdiagnosed psychiatric patient.

No doubt depression is my primary symptom. The organisms have maybe done organic damage. They have probably shut down or modified gene expression in the nervous system and immune system, directly impacting mood centers. For sure their normal excretions of waste and proteins play about a 95% role in my depression, because I have felt 95% remission in early treatment (when the organisms were initially paralyzed, but before their die-off with increased waste began).

What meds or herbs do I favor?

Anything that helps. No predictions. No ruling anything out. No staying with something that doesn't help. No adding something to something else that isn't working. Open-minded. Try the obvious, try the unobvious, try what would appear to certainly not work, as well what should work. All of them. Try things that seem unrelated. For example, if there is any truth to thousands of years of Chinese history, and there is, ridding the liver and kidney of stagnation should improve mood. But we only focus on the brain in USA. Anything and everything anti-inflammatory is probably going to be helpful no matter what. Anything and everything anti-microbial is probably going to be helpful. Simply because our diseased states of mind have made our bodies opportune breeding grounds for other problems to arise.

Favorite herbs:
A variety of anti-spirochete, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-Lyme herbs, anti-syphilis herbs (Lyme is a close cousin).

Nutritional Supps:
Zinc 50mg

Meds as needed (not continuous):
Amisulpride 25mg (pulls me out a funk in hours)
Ritalin 2.5mg-5mg(energy, mood, cognition, focus)
Advil (pain)
Milnacipran 6mg bid (tiny doses for a few days helps to reset things and pull me out of funk)
Nortriptyline 5mg (amazing pain reliever)

On standy:
Amitriptyline 5mg - 10mg
Parnate 2.5mg - 5mg

Absolutely horrible:
Lexapro, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Prozac, Remeron, Adderall, Modafinil, Wellbutrin, any antipsychotic.

Good for occasional emergencies:
Xanax
Klonopin

So, that's my toolchest at the moment. It is constantly in motion depending on how I wake up, how bad a Herx is at the moment, what the day's demands look like, and such.

If I were a doctor, my first-line prescriptions for depression would be almost exclusively one of the following:

Zoloft+Nortriptyline combo
Parnate+Lunesta


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poster:bleauberry thread:928214
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091206/msgs/928296.html