Posted by B2chica on March 19, 2016, at 15:57:44
In reply to Re: Tricyclics and bipolar depression » B2chica, posted by SLS on March 19, 2016, at 15:24:59
hey scott. good to hear from you.
im afraid i really need some 'out of the box' ideas. this pdoc was my old one i trust and respect him very much and has always been able to help me in my worst states... but the other night, i got the feeling even he wasnt sure how to treat this.. i do not have a lot of hope right now. but i'm also trying not to think in the future, too hard to think of all life like this so im staying in the very moment and doing what i can. its a bit long but here are my responses...
thankyou for trying...
b2-i have been on GEodon in past. low dose did nothing higher dose induced psychosis.
-Trileptal was the one med that could have killed me. had tererible reaction (in hospital at time, so i resulted ok.)
-wellbutrin was the one AD that was amazing, unfortunately it pooped out. i have revisited it twice and still no go.
-i was on lamicatal last summer, just as it was starting to work i started to incur breathing difficulty and was taken off.
-i just came off zyprexa, while on it depression was so bad i counldnt work, barely move it supressed my up but only amplified my down.sleep is what we are trying to conquer now. using a tricky combo of ambien lunesta and gabapentin, the first nitght was awesome. last night 2am again, woke at 6:30. so tonight i will take combo earlier. but iwas also experiencing terrible mixed episode yesterday.
ive never felt it to this degree but symptoms yesterday were severe physical energy almost a shaking inside while at the same time exhausted lethargic feeling. cognition was the same full of energy and racing yet, my thoughts seemed to be pulled through mud. i couldnt even hardly explain it to my pdoc.
today, i am down, some inner aggitation, shakey but not the surge of energy as yesterday. i dont even want to keep my eyes open, lids are heavy yet if i lay down to sleep i just stare... my mind wont let me sleep. i cant even get off the couch today. dragging.
i am to call pdoc next week on how im doing.
currently on:
pristiq 100
adderall 20/10
gabapentin 3-4x
for sleep ambien, lunesta gabapentin comboi do wonder if the generics make a difference. i am very sensitive to generics though im not having any negative side effects (except the horrible taste in my mouth from lunesta) but thats liveble if i can get some desired sleep.
> I forgot about Lamictal. It can perhaps be used in place of the Geodon I suggested for bipolar depression. Even though Lamictal is considered to be a mood stabilizer, it is often inadequate to treat or prevent mania. You might still need a compound capable of treating the manic side of your mixed state. I have seen Depakote reduce mania very quickly. However, it often leaves one somewhat depressed over time. I prefer the idea of using Trileptal to treat the manic counterpart of a mixed-state. I never used it for mania myself, but I did try it for my chronic bipolar depression. It didn't help, but it didn't hurt, either. I found it to be a very clean drug. There were virtually no side effects. The only caveat is that Trileptal can cause low serum sodium (hyponatremia), which upsets electrolyte balance. This does not occur very often, though. A simple blood test can be used to monitor this.
>
> By the way, I have experienced severe mania on multiple occasions as the result of combining a TCA with Parnate or by taking Nardil alone. First, the drugs were discontinued. (In retrospect, this was probably a mistake). For me, lithium was worthless. Depakote worked very well. So did Zyprexa. The first time this happened, though, these two drugs were not available. So, I had to combine lithium and Klonopin. This helped, but the anti-manic effect was incomplete.
>
> What are your thoughts?
>
>
> - Scott
>
"What is madness, but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance.
The day is on Fire, and i know the purity of pure despair."
Theodore Roethke
poster:B2chica
thread:1087318
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160306/msgs/1087327.html