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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jazzdog on April 1, 2002, at 15:40:39
Dear Dr. Kramer -
I've been plagued with lifelong derealization - a sense of living in a waking dream. This has served to isolate me both from other people and from my own emotions. After ten years of therapy, my psychiatrist - a psychoanalyst biased against medications - has finally acknowledged that the derealization is biochemical in nature. He contacted the depersonalization unit at Maudsley Hospital in London, who suggested a lamictal / ssri cocktail as having shown success in 50% of cases. So far, it hasn't worked, though I do feel more emotionally resilient on the lamictal. As for the zoloft, I've been on it for ten years - at first, the d/r actually lifted, but after a year, emotional numbing reestablished itself. Nine years later, I think it has made the numbing worse.
Here are the things I've tried:
- ten years twice a week therapy
- mindfulness training
- giving up all drugs, alcohol and nicotine (10 years clean)
- nine years of zoloft
- six months of lamictal - now at 250 mg dailyThe derealization is still there. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you for your valuable time -
- yours, Jane
Posted by Dr. Kramer on April 2, 2002, at 9:35:43
In reply to Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization?, posted by jazzdog on April 1, 2002, at 15:40:39
It's not something I know very much about, but my suggestion would be to find a good psychopharm doc where you are (ask around, particularly other docs you respect) and get a consultation. Sounds like you've barely scratched the surface of biological interventions.
Posted by Zo on April 3, 2002, at 0:25:16
In reply to Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization?, posted by jazzdog on April 1, 2002, at 15:40:39
Plagued like how? All the time--or just spells? I ask because I have temporal lobe seizures, one of the prominent symptoms of which is that feeling of living in a dream. Also, deja vu, spacing out, mystical/religious feelings and various other interesting phenomena. Some of these things are near impossible to separate from who you are, and I doubt I would have known but for taking Neurontin for Fibromyalgia (quite curative!). . and watching these "spells" disappear. At which point, I found I could describe them to my pdoc. . .
Hope this is of help,
Zo
Posted by jazzdog on April 4, 2002, at 12:41:03
In reply to Re: Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization? » jazzdog, posted by Zo on April 3, 2002, at 0:25:16
Hi Zo -
My derealization is pretty much there all the time, but it does get worse under certain circumstances - high stress, lack of sleep, fluorescent lighting. According to other sufferers on the dpselfhelp.com boards, this is pretty common. Temporal lobe seizures are a possibility, as are low thyroid and cortisone levels. Interesting that you had success with neurontin - were you taking other drugs at that time?
How are you progressing with the lamictal and provigil? Have you noticed any tendency for one to counteract the other, given their opposite effects on glutamate? When you say your cognition has improved on provigil, does that mean the fogginess of derealization has cleared?
By the way, I'm glad you came back here. :-)
yours, Jane
Posted by Zo on April 5, 2002, at 0:26:41
In reply to Re: Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization? » Zo, posted by jazzdog on April 4, 2002, at 12:41:03
Why thank you, Jane! I hope you already know that flickering lights is a Red Flag for photosensitive TLE, so that I'm not shoving anything at you. A rare trigger, but then, it's one of mine--and was partly how I judged my Neurontin dose.
Lack of sleep is for me more of a manic push--but sometimes BPII and TLE are soooo similar. Too long a sleep and I will have a very seizurey day, but since TLE also puts me into the Flow, I can really write, on such a day. . .hyperfocusing, so there's my ADD too. . !
I was hypothyroid for many years, and it was just a sodden depression. But derealization is kind of a hard thing to define, from one person to another. I guess it depends on its origins in your life, for one? Guess I don't know. Who told you?
Lamictal and Provigil are great--with a cautionary. More tomorrow.
Stay tuned!
Zo
Posted by jazzdog on April 7, 2002, at 15:26:30
In reply to Re: Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization?, posted by Zo on April 5, 2002, at 0:26:41
Hi Zo -
Looking forward to the next instalment of your provigil/lamictal story.
I learned I had chronic derealization when my psychiatrist suggested that it was not the norm to view life through a curtain of fog, to feel like I was dreaming most of the time, and to experience life with a high degree of emotional attachment. And the more I read, the more I realized yup, that's what I had.
Here is a very useful link for dp/dr:
www.beepworld.de/members17/depersonalization/abstracts.htm
Posted by Zo on April 8, 2002, at 22:30:08
In reply to Re: Dr. Kramer - any hope for derealization? » Zo, posted by jazzdog on April 7, 2002, at 15:26:30
Hi!Started a thread, below, on this "cautionary" re: Provigil. . and would like to talk more about dr, will read link.
Zo
This is the end of the thread.
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