Shown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Penny on June 30, 2003, at 14:03:56
It seems that everytime I find a good med for me, it stops being effective after a while. Provigil was like that, Effexor worked the first time I took it but not the second, Lexapro worked for a while, and so on. Now I'm on a Zoloft-Lamictal-Wellbutrin-Geodon cocktail and it was working SO WELL for a while (several months!!!) and now it's just not anymore. :-( After doing so well for a while, my pdoc and I decided to fiddle with the meds b/c I've been having a really hard time staying awake. He took me off Geodon and started me on Adderall, which I was only on for about a week, and when my mood dropped, he took me off Adderall, put me back on Geodon and increased my Zoloft, but it's not working yet (has been a couple of weeks now).
any thoughts?
Posted by Tanya Ann on June 30, 2003, at 22:18:02
In reply to Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by Penny on June 30, 2003, at 14:03:56
I am not sure what your diagnosis is but I just went to a seminar and found an area of medicine and treatment that I had not really understood before. It is called pain management. It is quite amazing when you examine the philosophy behind it. It treats many people who have treatments that fail over and over again. Psychosomatic illness may be something you want to look at. Pain doesn't have to just be physical. I may be way off, but if my suspicions are right, you are probably suffering from physical pain as well. I'd love to know....
Tanya
Posted by maryhelen on July 1, 2003, at 7:59:35
In reply to Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by Penny on June 30, 2003, at 14:03:56
The only medication I could speak to in your cocktail is Lamitcal. I augmented Lamitcal with Parnate about 3 months ago. I had the best response to a med that I have had in 25 years.
I felt great for about 2 weeks and then it seemed to stop working. I am still not as depressed as I was and remain very functional as opposed to lying in bed all day. It was just such a tease.
My pd doc upped the dose and I will see what happens.A lot of others here have also had the same experience with Lamitcal. Perhaps you could talk to your doctor about removing some of the meds. I have never taken more that 2 at a time and I don't understand how anyone can really know what one works and what one doesn't. Many take Lamitcal as their only med.
I do know for me that the very worst med that I ever took was Wellbutrin.
I don't have the answer to the complicated workings of all of the meds and combos and I really do not think doctors do either. Just trial and error and hoping for the best.
maryhelen
Posted by Penny on July 1, 2003, at 8:02:50
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by Tanya Ann on June 30, 2003, at 22:18:02
> I am not sure what your diagnosis is but I just went to a seminar and found an area of medicine and treatment that I had not really understood before. It is called pain management. It is quite amazing when you examine the philosophy behind it. It treats many people who have treatments that fail over and over again. Psychosomatic illness may be something you want to look at. Pain doesn't have to just be physical. I may be way off, but if my suspicions are right, you are probably suffering from physical pain as well. I'd love to know....
>
> TanyaDx is Mood Disorders NOS. And my main physical complaints are morning nausea (definitely not pregnancy related) and frequent headaches that I have suffered from for 17 years or so.
Posted by Penny on July 1, 2003, at 8:11:14
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by maryhelen on July 1, 2003, at 7:59:35
> The only medication I could speak to in your cocktail is Lamitcal. I augmented Lamitcal with Parnate about 3 months ago. I had the best response to a med that I have had in 25 years.
> I felt great for about 2 weeks and then it seemed to stop working. I am still not as depressed as I was and remain very functional as opposed to lying in bed all day. It was just such a tease.
> My pd doc upped the dose and I will see what happens.
>
> A lot of others here have also had the same experience with Lamitcal. Perhaps you could talk to your doctor about removing some of the meds. I have never taken more that 2 at a time and I don't understand how anyone can really know what one works and what one doesn't. Many take Lamitcal as their only med.
>
> I do know for me that the very worst med that I ever took was Wellbutrin.
>
> I don't have the answer to the complicated workings of all of the meds and combos and I really do not think doctors do either. Just trial and error and hoping for the best.
>
> maryhelen
Yeah, I have been on so many meds: Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro, Effexor, Trazodone, Seroquel, Buspar, Adderall (not to mention sleep meds) and the ones I take now (I think that's all, but could be wrong...). Of those, Paxil was my ABSOLUTE worst!!! It was HORRIBLE for me. I think the Wellbutrin has been pretty good, though in a higher dose it did, in the past, cause agitation.I actually found out about Lamictal on this board a while ago and asked my doc about it, and he agreed to try it. As I said, my cocktail was working quite well for a while, but after fiddling with the meds just recently (dropping the Geodon, adding Adderall), it threw everything off kilter. I know I'm not starting from square one again, but I'm in a bad place, though not as bad as it has been. I've had people say (especially my family and friends) that they think I should get off of everything and start over from scratch. But I remember what it was like when I wasn't on anything and I can't bear the thought of going back to that place. I do believe they'd have to put me in the hospital.
I trust my doc and his med choices, and there's still a lot of room for more trials, and, of course, there's new stuff out all the time. It just gets tiring...
:-(
Penny
Posted by ace on July 1, 2003, at 21:47:31
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by maryhelen on July 1, 2003, at 7:59:35
Posted by HenryO on July 3, 2003, at 15:57:17
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'? » Tanya Ann, posted by Penny on July 1, 2003, at 8:02:50
I agree, too many meds in the cocktail starts to get weird. I took a serious cocktail for a couple of years. You start taking meds for the side effects of other meds and begin to lose track of the symptoms of the disease.
How much Lamictal do you take? It has been the single best thing I ever tried.
Posted by lois on July 3, 2003, at 16:12:34
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by maryhelen on July 1, 2003, at 7:59:35
I *hope* my *Strattera* doesn't.
It has been a predictable cycle at least.
Started and by 40mgs worked well in a week, but for only a week, increased each dose by 5mg increments and here's what happened:
Up for a week after increase, but only for a week. Increase again, up for a week,only for a week. Increase again, up for only a week, etc.I am up to 85mgs and I think the same thing is happening.The ups are more subtle now.
I can go as high as 100mgs then we'll reassess.
Has anybody else had this phenomenon on Strattera or anything else?
Am I working my way up to a therapeutic dose or a complete poopout?
Frusrated
Posted by Penny on July 4, 2003, at 10:37:35
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by HenryO on July 3, 2003, at 15:57:17
Taking 200 mgs Lamictal 2x/day.
It is hard anymore to remember exactly how I was feeling before I started the meds. It can be very frustrating. All I know is that it seems everything I take stops working after a while.
Funny - my doc said when I first saw him that people were often labeled "treatment resistant" until they found the right med. At the time I hadn't been on that many meds, so he could have been right, I suppose. I don't think he had any idea how "treatment resistant" I would turn out to be.
Posted by Flipsactown on November 29, 2003, at 4:27:51
In reply to Re: Do your meds 'stop working'?, posted by HenryO on July 3, 2003, at 15:57:17
Hello HenryO,
I am currently on 300mg lamictal along with 100mg prozac and 90mg remeron for unipolar depression. I have been on A/D's for over 12 years. I was wondering if you were on only lamictal and if you are, what dosage. Also, if you were on a combo cocktail, how long did it take you to discontinue the other meds? I am wanting to eventually be on only lamictal. I just started lamictal 2 months ago and got dramatic results just 2 weeks ago. I tried slowly getting off remeron and my depression came back big time.
Bottomline question: From your experience, do you see my being able to be on only lamictal after being on the cocktail? Thanks.
Flipsactown
> How much Lamictal do you take? It has been the single best thing I ever tried.
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