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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Shame on March 30, 2005, at 9:56:59
Rolling into week 5 of my Lamical starter pack, and although the 'minimum therapeutic dosage' is 100mg, I think it must be doing something for me. I'm listening to Camper von Beethoven instead of Cradle of Filth. I laughed at the morning radio show yesterday. I have fewer downs than I usually had in any given day.And my creativity is gone. S**t.
I told myself that I wouldn't miss being down, and that the bi-polars that go off meds to get that part of themselves back are weak. I guess I'm weak then, because I sort of miss it. My posts the writing board have dried up, and my previous posts no longer resonate as clearly. I have not worked on my book. I have to figure out how to fill my day now that I don’t spend half of it in a funk. Ten years of searching has paid off, and I'm not entirely sure I like it.
And now, to share a story….
I wear a bracelet that is CLEARLY a medic-alert bracelet. A large, shiny silver Hermes caduceus clearly emblazoned on the front. What’s the point of having medic-alert jewelry that hides its purpose? My jackass cube-mate calls it my "Bling", and constantly asks me why I wear it.
Me :
"Well, I like to fool paramedics into thinking I have a debilitating mental disorder that requires special medications that interact with half of everything on the planet. It makes me feel special. Why do you ask?"Him :
"HA HA HA HA! Yea! Like your one of those stupid people that say they are depressed. You know.. crazy!"What kind of mental deficiency does this guy have? Is stupidity in the DSM-IV? If it is this guy has a serious case of it. I don’t think you need a medical degree to look at me and know I have issues.
Posted by ed_uk on March 30, 2005, at 10:25:02
In reply to Lamictal might be working. I have writers block., posted by Shame on March 30, 2005, at 9:56:59
Hi,
>although the 'minimum therapeutic dosage' is 100mg.........
Some people apparantly do respond to less than 100mg, at least for a while.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1999 Aug;9 Suppl 4:S113-7.
Lamotrigine (Lamictal) in the treatment of bipolar depression.
Bowden CL, Mitchell P, Suppes T.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Health Science Center at San Antonio, 78284-7792, USA.
Several case reports and open studies have reported the efficacy of lamotrigine in bipolar depression. A randomised placebo-controlled 7-week study comparing two doses of lamotrigine with placebo in 195 patients with moderate to severe bipolar depression has now been completed. Lamotrigine was superior to placebo after 3 weeks as assessed by changes in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). A response, defined as more than 50% improvement on the MADRS occurred in 56 and 48% of the lamotrigine 200 and 50 mg/day groups, respectively, compared with 29% for placebo (P<0.05). There was no evidence that lamotrigine destabilised mood or precipitated mania. Tolerability was good and there were no cases of serious rashes. Preliminary results from an ongoing study also indicate that lamotrigine is more effective than gabapentin in bipolar depression. In conclusion, lamotrigine is effective in alleviating bipolar depression, without causing mood destabilisation. Slow dosage escalation yields good tolerability.
>What kind of mental deficiency does this guy have?
Antisocial personality diorder
Borderline intellectual functioning
Posted by banga on March 30, 2005, at 11:39:01
In reply to Lamictal might be working. I have writers block., posted by Shame on March 30, 2005, at 9:56:59
> Rolling into week 5 of my Lamical starter pack, and although the 'minimum therapeutic dosage' is 100mg, I think it must be doing something for me.
* I did definitely have some relief at 50 mg--for me the effects faded though. Now I do take 200mg, but in combo with several other meds...at first I believed it no longer contributed, now I think it actually does.
> What kind of mental deficiency does this guy have? Is stupidity in the DSM-IV? If it is this guy has a serious case of it.* I think you need to look more in the organic disorder conditions, like head injury
293.9 Mental Disorder NOS due to horse-kick-in-the-head.
Personally I would have asked this of him immediately, with great concern in my voice....
Posted by Minnie-Haha on March 30, 2005, at 14:51:36
In reply to Lamictal might be working. I have writers block., posted by Shame on March 30, 2005, at 9:56:59
Have you read "The Midnight Disease"? It is about writer's block and the creative mind. The author -- Alice Flaherty? -- is a neurologist and an author and bipolar (if memory serves).
I graduated last May with a journalism degree and haven't done a thing with it. I was so sick the last year -- anxiety and depression -- but now that I'm on meds, although I'm happy not to be so sick anymore, I really miss my creative drive.
This is the end of the thread.
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