Posted by Warped on December 21, 2014, at 20:02:55
In reply to Re: Add anything to help with the EMSAM wait...., posted by Amee200 on December 21, 2014, at 19:26:26
I actually like being on the EMSAM, so that's why I would prefer to add a stimulant to it, and just increase or add onto something that is already working rather than just starting over. I know that it is awful that I did this, but I had actually previously been prescibed Adderall in the past and had terrible withdrawal symptoms from it daily, so I only took it for about a week. A few weeks into taking EMSAM, I decided to add the Adderall at 7.5mg once a day. Obviously I did some research to confirm that people have done this before with success and safety. I know it's terrible to do this without the doctor's consent, but I was desperate as I have a personality disorder as well, and I never feel like myself, largely because I'm always too tired to speak. The combination made me feel just the way I did before I had ever had even a single sign of bipolar or anything. The odd thing about it was that the combo completely eliminated the side effects that I had while on Adderall alone. I took this combo for 2 weeks and didn't even have a withdrawal after stopping completely when I had withdrawal symptoms after 3 days previously. I need something stimulating, which, unfortunately normally has a negative side effect on anxiety, but for me, it strangely converts into a comfortable bearable anxiety. Surprisingly, my doctor wasn't mad that I had done this on my own, and he did look into giving it to me again, but was instantly turned off as soon as he read it was contraindicated without any further research.
I truly appreciate the anecdote, though. I generally get much worse when I take SSRI's, so that's not an options for me. I'm fairly confident my depression mainly stems from a dopamine issue, so I'd rather avoid anything that strongly affects serotonin.
I just don't understand when a doctor would rather give up on a patient then prescribe him something that is hypothetically dangerous if the proper procedure is not followed. I also have terrible anger issues, so that isn't especially helpful when I get in a conflict with a doctor as I quickly turn unreasonable. Surprisingly, my anger was greatly reduced on the combo as well, which most people seem to say they're more angry on stimulants.
At a certain point in treatment, when all options are exhausted, it seems reasonable to make decisions at the discretion of the patient, rather than stubborn doctors.
poster:Warped
thread:926582
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20141120/msgs/1074405.html