Posted by AlexCanada on September 16, 2012, at 15:25:28
In reply to Re: My diagnosis and what I take » AlexCanada, posted by phidippus on September 15, 2012, at 16:40:03
> >My doctor thinks I may have bi-polar even though >I've never been manic or exhibited any of the >symptoms.
>
> Sometimes mania can present as a bunch of anxiety. Do you experience any cycling in your mood?No. My mood tends to be consistently low, dull, low energy, poor cognition, poor interest, poor drive, poor motivation, poor ability to enjoy anything, some bit of on and off anxiety (usually depending if I take certain supplements/herbals etc). sometimes in the morning or late at night i may feel slightly better but there is no cycling.
> >I take Gapapentin for short term relief of many >symptoms
>
> Take it all the time. You're not going to build up a tolerance to it-it doesn't work that wayIt has the most potent effect for me when I start it up. Even 100mg can have a very positive effect but as the days progress 100mg ends up doing very little, then it's about 200mg making a positive difference, then 300mg and so forth. Then eventually side effects at 600mg a day become very annoying and much of the benefits don't present themselves anymore. I used to be able to take gabapentin 300mg twice a day about 3 years ago and it would continue to work well for me despite still limited interest. For some reason it eventually would not work as well beyond a certain point. Before it developed less tolerance. These days it develops tolerance quite quickly. I am also noticing the longer I stay on this Zoloft junk the less effective gabapentin is when I try it once in a while for some relief. Yet very little relief arrives.
If there is some trick for helping gabapentin prevent tolerance it would be very helpful.
> >valium 2.5mg 4x a day
>
> Benzodiazapines can compound depression.I'd love to not take valium if my overall mood would benefit but each time I've tried to stop valium I'd have some temporary benefit including cognition but eventually there would be very protracted withdrawal and possibly a mix of pre-benzo symptoms. I would feel very dark and dysphoric and intense anxiety would manifest itself. My cognition would be even worse as well. This would persist for weeks until i could not take it anymore and end up taking valium again and find it relieve those horrific symptoms. How much of it is withdrawal and how much of it is my most severe depressed state I am not sure but it is clear that withdrawal is a significant part of it due to how quickly valium can help if I didn't take it for a while. How horrific i felt without valium would be a bit of flashback to how painful being alive would feel when my strong melancholic depression + anxiety began when I was 18.
> >Zoloft 25mg
>
> Seems like Paxil or Parnate were better than the Zoloft. Why don't you take either one or even both again?Paxil was very beneficial for years but it wore off. I tried to start it again this year but it just made me feel dull, dumb, impaired, I couldn't stand it. Parnate worked well for about a year and a half. Beyond that it lost much of it's benefit. I end up feeling constantly tired when I was back on it for a few months this summer and it was one of the worst summers I have had in years.
I am day 10 on zoloft now. I been considering stopping it but am trying to give this mind numbing apathy inducing junk a fair shot. Paxil 10mg was the magic number for me. Even 9.5mg paxil to be more precise. What might be the equivilent dose for Zoloft?
> > Severely poor long term memory and ability to retain new knowledge
>
> Aricept can help with memory issues. So can Keppra.Thanks. I may have those in my list but I'll look into them again. Here in Canada it has become more difficult to order medications due to government regulations but I'll see what I can do.
> >Antero Grade Memory Loss
>
> You need therapy to learn to live with this.
>
> > Lack of emotions, Anhedonia, Dysphoria, Mind feeling blocked/cloudy, Severe lack of enjoyment, Lack of drive/motivation/desire/sense of reward, Difficulty relating to others and feel bit like a zombie, Severe difficulty being social (also partially due to inability to relate),
>
> Depresssion sucks.
>
> >Ritalin/Dex
>
> Some of your cognitive issues may be ADHD related. I'd recommend you get back on a stim.
>
> I wonder if some of your symptoms may be somatic. How have you fared in therapy?
>
> Eric
>
>Therapy has been worthless for me. It is more frustrating than anything when some of those therapists feel people like me should just ''snap'' out of it. Most of them just don't get it.
poster:AlexCanada
thread:1025108
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120912/msgs/1025808.html