Posted by Tomatheus on February 16, 2014, at 18:40:53
In reply to Advice on which medication is best for my case, posted by kavinsky99 on February 16, 2014, at 17:02:18
Hello kavinsky99, and welcome to Psycho-Babble. Thank you for thoroughly describing your symptoms, your responses to medications, and the rest of your background. I am very sorry to hear that you were seemingly involuntarily hospitalized at least a few times as a child based on inaccurate information that your mother provided to those overseeing your care at the hospitals. I know that the mental health hospital units where I've stayed were at least at times not the most pleasant places to be, and I can only imagine how distressing it must have been to be forced to stay in the hospitals as a child. I will also say that I don't find it to be unbelievable at all that the hospitals in your country are filled with ignorance, violence, and abuse. That's not to say that I never came across caring and helpful staff members in the hospitals that I stayed at, but it did seem like some staff members and even some doctors at the hospitals that I stayed at belonged in another line of work.
I will start by saying that I only know so much about medications and that I'm not any kind of medical or mental health professional, so I would advise that you thoroughly research any suggestions that I make and to discuss anything you might take with a medical professional beforehand. As far as medications are concerned, well, it sounds like ongoing lithium treatment should be part of your treatment regimen. You wrote that lithium is the medication that you "most enjoy" and that you would "never be without it." Are you still taking lithium? Based on what you wrote, I can't see why you shouldn't be taking the medication (or the mineral salt, to be more accurate). It also sounds like you've responded fairly well to antipsychotics. Perhaps you might find it beneficial to try another atypical antipsychotic, like perhaps Seroquel, Geodon, Saphris, or Latuda. Finally, given your good response to lithium, perhaps other mood stabilizers (Lamictal, Depakote, and Trileptal come to mind) might be worth discussing with a medical professional.
The next point that I want to make is that even though it sounds like you'd benefit quite a bit from the right psychiatric medication(s), I think that utilizing some psychosocial interventions alongside taking psychiatric medications would almost definitely serve you better than taking the medications without any psychotherapy. Are you currently receiving psychotherapy? If not, what would your thoughts be on participating in some form of talk therapy? I don't know what country you live in and how accessible psychotherapy might be to you, but if it is accessible, I would recommend looking for a therapist. I don't know if engaging in psychotherapy would necessarily "obliterate" some of the symptoms that you described, but I think that you would benefit from sorting through some of the trauma that you've experienced with the right therapist.
The last point that I want to make is that I think that you might benefit from getting some blood tests done to see if you might have any non-psychiatric medical issues that might be contributing to your symptoms. Tests such as thyroid, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 come to mind. I visited an orthomolecular psychiatrist myself last year, and after the psychiatrist ordered a number of different tests, the results came back with my vitamin D level being insuffient and with me having a mild "pyrrole disorder." I've been taking vitamin D on an off over the past several months, and it's only been a little more than two weeks since I've started my most recent trial, so although I can't say how I'll benefit from vitamin D(3) in the long run, I am hopeful about my chances of noticing some improvements from vitamin D supplementation.
Well, that sums up everything I have to say right now. If I think of anything else that I would like to add, I'll do so later, but for now, I just want to wish you luck with your treatment.
Tomatheus
Has an affective psychosis with strong symptoms of fatigue, hypersomnia, and difficulty concentrating
Taking Abilify & supplements
poster:Tomatheus
thread:1060760
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140214/msgs/1060765.html