Posted by KaraS on March 13, 2005, at 1:15:07
In reply to Re: Can a lightbox cause this? » KaraS, posted by Sarah T. on March 13, 2005, at 0:00:17
> Hi Kara. If you stop the light box and the Doxepin at the same time, then you're changing two variables at once, and you won't know what's causing what. I just skimmed an article from the October 2002 issue of PSYCHIATRIC TIMES on seasonal affective disorder, SAD. According to the author, Raymond Lam, M.D., patients usually respond to light therapy within a week, but some patients require 2-4 weeks. He also said that some patients with bipolar disorder might switch to mania or hypomania. He cautioned that patients with Bipolar I should be on mood stabilizers if they use light therapy.
>
> If you decide to resume Doxepin, and if, after a few days of being back on Doxepin but being away from light therapy, you find that you are still getting those skipped beats, then perhaps you could get the liquid doxepin and take less than 25 mg. Maybe you could try 22.5 or 20 mg and see whether those symptoms subside.
>
> I hope you feel better tonight.Hi Sarah,
I'll probably take the doxepin tonight so it should be easier to see what was doing what. I'm hoping that it's the lightbox but there's really no scientific information to back that up. Chances are that it's the doxepin. I hope I'm wrong but I'll know soon enough.I don't know for certain that I am bipolar. My pdoc thinks it's possible. If that is the case, then the irritability from the lightbox would make sense. At some point I'll probably try a mood stabilizer. Then I could try the lightbox again and see if there's any change in my effect from it.
If I want to try a lower dosage of doxepin, then I can open up the pills and estimate dosages. I have some empty capsules at home I could use for this. We'll see.
Thanks again for your input.
Kara
poster:KaraS
thread:469760
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050225/msgs/470322.html