Posted by confused-in-tn on July 13, 2012, at 6:31:28
In reply to Re: weird meds and diagnosis, posted by novelagent on July 12, 2012, at 21:41:03
> Since you had forced speech before meds, you definitely would be a candidate for a bipolar dx. That just isn't explained by generalized anxiety.
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> Benzos, like klonopin or xanax, have a mood stabalizing effect. When I had forced speech from drug-induced hypomania, taking a klonopin elliminated it.
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> I would stick with the antimanic regimen, unless your bipolar isn't really a problem, and you simply have anxiety and the anxiety doesn't go away after months of the mood stabalizer. I'd give it 3 months. And if you have no mood problems, like your mood never goes up or down... it's possible you could just have a case of cyclomythia, which is ambulatory (no medical care needed) form of bipolar.
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> or maybe even a mild case of hypomania, which is below mania, and is a sort of high-functioning mania-- but you'd probably be engaging in risky behavior sometimes if you had hypomania. When I had it, I had a verbal fight with a subway booth agent, and then jumped the turnstile after she refused to accept the fact I had already paid my fare on the outbound side of the platform....
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> long story short, the subway car was eventually stopped, and about a dozen subway cops walked through the train. (I had a bottle of alcohol I had bought for a party that night, and luckily, I had these massive pockets in my cycling shorts that zipped open to conceal it. I knew they were looking for a guy with a bottle of alcohol), from the radio dispatcher). Close call, but that was not me, as they say-- I wasn't acting myself. Also had racing thoughts, forced speech, etc. sometimes.
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> Anyhow, it sounds like whatever you have, it's a pretty mild case, and the old adage one pdoc gave me once was "if it's not broke, I don't fix it." He was referring to all the meds my prior doc had put me on all in order to avoid putting me on klonopin, which worked for my social anxiety.
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> The way benzos work, however, is that 2mg of Xanax is equal to 1mg of klonopin. Some doctors don't know this, and even erwoid.org has it as 1mg=1mg, but I've seen the peer-reviewed Medscape iPad app's medication guide, and its comparison table lists it as 2mg of xanax=1mg of klonopin. So if you were on the proper dose of klonopin, it would work-- benzos work that way-- they don't have superior efficacy, where some benzos work bettter than other benzos; it's purely a dosing game.
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> Besides, who doesn't want a klonopin wafer? And klonopin Wafers are generic, too! =)
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> Man, I miss my klonopin wafers.... even though they're generic, Medicaid in my state would never justify the extra cost... oh well (I have Medicare + Medicaid, and medicaid in my state pays for benzos). Well, good luck; I don't know enough about your situation to know whether your mania requires treatment, but it sounds like you have a good doc, and maybe you can work with him and give him some time. Just keep in mind these meds take weeks and weeks to work; Aricept didn't work for me for 3 months.Really have never had real manic symptoms. My primary issue is anxiety. Xanax works well for me where nothing else has. Can't take most antidepressant as they increase my anxiety horribly. Mind you I am not new to this. I've been dealind with it forr probably 15 years and have been on my current meds for at least 5 years. That's why the new diagnosis of bipolar disordernstrikes me as odd. Granted it doesn't really matter what you call it if you treat it correctly (except for insurance purposes, in which case bipolar is the kiss of death...) Best to all.
poster:confused-in-tn
thread:1020562
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120630/msgs/1021247.html