Posted by bissie66 on October 18, 2018, at 15:22:41
In reply to Re: Did Vraylar make anyone feel worse? » bissie66, posted by SLS on October 18, 2018, at 8:23:34
> Hi.
>
> Regarding Vraylar (cariprazine):
>
> > I am pretty scared to take it again and I've only taken it two days. Do you think I should keep taking it for a couple days? Hopefully people will report their experience. Maybe someone will say it made them feel bad for 3 days and then wonderful from then on.
> >
> > I don't think I can take it, knowing how I felt this morning. I know depression very well, even bad depression, but this was, well, as you said, significantly worse.
>
> I often have a difficult time recommending to others a course of action, primarily because we all react so differently to the same drugs. I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone missing their best opportunity to get well.
>
> In what ways is your depression worse or different from what you usually experience?> Why are you convinced that ECT is your only recourse at this juncture? What was your experience while taking MAOIs? My best responses in the past have been to a combination of MAOI and TCA. I would probably have lived my last 30 years in remission had my old doctor not withdrawn a combination of Parnate + desipramine. I was in remission for almost a year while taking it. I cannot fault him too much, though. I had become manic as a reaction to treatment. When I relapsed into depression, he refused to treat me with the same drugs. I might have been able to tolerate them if he would have kept me on lithium and clonazepam (Klonopin). It's hard to know.
>
> Is there any history of bipolar disorder in your family?
>
> I am currently taking:
>
> Nardil 45 mg/day
> Nortriptyline 100 mg/day
> Lamictal 300 mg/day
> Lithium 300 mg/day
> Prazosing 30 mg/day
>
> I have been better since introducing the Nardil. I had a horrific summer. I discontinued Parnate and tried taking Trintellix in June. It looks like I had a bad reaction to it. I was left with a worsened depression and terrible brain-fog. This persisted for months after I stopped taking it. There are still some residual negative effects, but they have been dissipating gradually.
>
>
> - ScottSLS - I didn't take the Vraylar today and I was able to make it to work. My depression isn't worse than previous depressions but the Vraylar made me feel like it was. It reminded me of when I started taking Zoloft when I was pregnant. I was bipolar or possibly bipolar 2 at the time. I had taken Zoloft for years and then it pooped out (oh for those glory days - when meds worked - and only one at that!). I was taking something different when I got pregnant (3rd pregnancy), I can't remember what, but I know Neurontin was one thing and possibly Effexor. Anyway, my doc stopped those drugs and put me back on Zoloft bc it was known to be safe even in the first trimester of pregnancy. Without the mood stabilizer on board (which I think was Neurontin which surprises me now bc I don't think of it as a mood stabilizer) I was a complete mess. I nearly had a breakdown. Add the hormones and the unsurety that I wanted the pregnancy. But I had *extreme* insomnia (never had that before or after) with HIGH anxiety (I remember lying awake praying to a God I no longer believe in to help me sleep and make it through the night). FINALLY those effing doctors let me take an OTC sleep med. That made things a lot better. But as I said very high anxiety (my pdoc today would have prescribed valium, and rightly so) all morning. Oddly afternoons I felt better. I couldn't eat - it was repulsive. I was extremely depressed and cried all the time. I also ruminated and worried constantly. That's how I've felt with Vraylar. Thank god I have an rx now for klonopin. My usualy depressions now are bad enough but I have something to help me sleep (aeroquel or Neurontin which for some reason knocks me out). I always lose my appetite and a lot of weight but this time around it's different and I'm wanting to eat. Weird.
I haven't take MAOIs. I'll ask my doctor. I never thought about it and he hasn't brought it up. He's very good so I'm surprised. He is a very scholarly person who is up on all the latest NIH research and reads peer-reviewed studies, etc.
He is willing to try unusual things like Modafanil which is rarely prescribed but which an NIH study found useful for tx-resistant patients.What is TCA? It s a crying shame that your dr wouldn't put you back on the drugs that kept you in remission for a whole year. So what if you became manic? There are ways to treat that, as you said.
Yep, there's a history of bipolar disordor and I myself have that diagnosis. Here's what I take:
Modafanil 200 mg once or twice a day (it's up to me)
Wellbutrin 150 mg (I'm not sure why; it's not doing anything that I can see)
Levoxyl for my thyroid disease
Lithium 300 mg at night
Lamictal 300 mg at night
Seroquel 25-200 mg at night for sleep (right now I only need 25 but there was a time I needed 200!)
Neurontin 300 mg 3 times a day BUT I don't always take this. It has been a strange drug for me. Worked well first time around, second time around it made me feel literally crazy, third time around (now) it makes me feel kind of calmer but also sometimes I fall asleep at my desk. When I started it on vacation and took 600 mg at a time as directed I slept nearly round the clock. This didn't happen first two times I was prescribed it. Does Neurontin make you feel bad (if you've tried it)?
Clonazapam 1 mg 3 times a day (in a good period I don't need it . much; lately I need every bit of it or more)
Also a number of vitamins and supplementsI think that's it. My current depression (before and after Vraylar) is crying every day, constant anxiety (klonopin is a lifesaver), extreme social anxiety, inability to think clearly. I work a ton but I didn't used to. It takes me more time to get the same amount done. I also hate myslef and wish I could die. I am hopeless. I think I am an awful person and an awful mother. I also can't cook, clean, or grocery shop. I don't have a mate right now so I feel quite alone. (My ex-boyfriend is still around though and he helps me.) I feel my life is a disaster and not worth living except I have 3 kids. Only one is still at home thank God.
I am sorry you had a horrific summer!
So the reason I thought ECT was my only recourse was because I thought I had tried everything. Maybe some of what you are taking would work.
poster:bissie66
thread:1101397
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180728/msgs/1101410.html