Posted by Walfredo on January 4, 2010, at 22:06:51
In reply to Help w/ atypical depression? (my first post here), posted by Walfredo on December 24, 2009, at 4:03:22
So, I'm starting Remeron tonight. I met with my "pdoc" (is that the term here?) today and we talked. Only had 1/2 hour. I asked straight up if there was a chance I could be Bipolar II. She said that was why she wanted to try the mood stabilizer. And as long as that was the rationale, my confidence in her is restored. If I haven't mentioned it here, I have a few tell-tale signs that might be consistent with a latent Bipolar II (poop out in ~ 1 year of working AD Paxil CR, robust response after only a few days @ 25 mg to Paxil CR that put me in an extremely energetic state, atypical features, etc) even though I say my working diagnosis is Atypical Depression.
So, anyways, I'm still on the Abilify 5 mg with no real impact at about two and a half weeks. I think it might be making me slightly more drowsy but no improvement and if I'm feeling any worse it's only marginally so. I'm adding Remeron starting tonight. I'm wondering if I should just jump straight to 30 mg. I have 15 mg tablets and she said to take "1 or 2" at night with the plan to go to 30 eventually but I guess wanted me to start at 15 to make sure I can tolerate it. I've heard the sedation can be paradoxically worse at 15 than 30 so I'm wondering if I should just go straight to 30 mg (why waste any time if I dont have to?), especially since the other side effects seem mild.
Still, considering I'm on Abilify which can amplify response to ADs (right?) maybe I should just stick with 15 to see if by chance that is an effective dose for me, especially in conjunction with the Abilify. Doc did say that 30 mg is close to the 25 mg equivalent of Paxil CR, which is what worked for me.
I'm also a little but concerned that I haven't given abilify enough of a chance to work on its own merits so the lines could get a bit blurred if I do see some improvement in the near future as far as which agent is responsible for it.
Anyways....just fishing for some feedback or tips for starting Remeron. Crossing my fingers that this might offer some real help.
Cheers,
Alex
poster:Walfredo
thread:930645
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100103/msgs/932531.html