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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by sigismund on November 11, 2010, at 23:13:30
In reply to Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six, posted by Brainbeard on November 11, 2010, at 11:21:52
I can see that Dex would exacerbate your dry mouth and make you more anxious, but am surprised that it should make you feel more foggy.
Posted by g_g_g_unit on November 12, 2010, at 0:07:17
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six, posted by sigismund on November 11, 2010, at 23:13:30
Lots of stimulants make me feel weird and foggy to begin with; I know this sounds ridiculous, but even black tea (which I picked up recently .. never really drunk coffee) had me walking around in a daze until I accustomed to it.
I have the same reaction to Dex, though just assume it would go away eventually.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 12, 2010, at 4:16:33
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six, posted by sigismund on November 11, 2010, at 23:13:30
> I can see that Dex would exacerbate your dry mouth and make you more anxious, but am surprised that it should make you feel more foggy.
It is paradoxical indeed. There is some research indicating that Dex DECREASES brain activity in brain regions that are irrelevant to the task at hand. This could promote a tunnel focus, but I theorize that it also may exacerbate the ability to switch between brain regions - necessary, perhaps, for multitasking brain work. At work, I have to talk and think at the same time, and with Dex, this seems a lot harder than usual.
Posted by Phillipa on November 12, 2010, at 20:04:44
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six, posted by Brainbeard on November 12, 2010, at 4:16:33
Could that be as see you are on the OCD meds which is considered an anxiety disorder that your anxiety gets reved up and a stimulant isn't what you require? Just asking. Phillipa
Posted by Brainbeard on November 13, 2010, at 13:25:21
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six » Brainbeard, posted by Phillipa on November 12, 2010, at 20:04:44
> Could that be as see you are on the OCD meds which is considered an anxiety disorder that your anxiety gets reved up and a stimulant isn't what you require? Just asking. Phillipa
That is what it looks like indeed. Still, anxiety can be a price worth paying if I get drive and motivation in return.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 13, 2010, at 13:34:25
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Dex Day Six, posted by Brainbeard on November 13, 2010, at 13:25:21
I discontinued the Dex because of its detrimental effects on work, social performance and mental stability.
Now I'm still hoping that I could take it as needed for situations in which I need to do a lot of stuff that I don't like to do. Dex does help with that. It also doesn't inflate my ego to the point where I feel so independent that I lose my sense of fairness and feel ready to quit my relationship for the slightest wrong done to me by my partner. (Methylphenidate/Concerta/Ritalin does that.) Neither does it promote pleasure seeking behavior (idem). And the come-down/rebound isn't as bad as Rita's. So it does have something to offer. It's just a bummer that it makes me perform worse in my job as a call-center agent.
Posted by sigismund on November 13, 2010, at 17:42:02
In reply to Paradise Lost - Done With Dex?, posted by Brainbeard on November 13, 2010, at 13:34:25
>Now I'm still hoping that I could take it as needed for situations in which I need to do a lot of stuff that I don't like to do. Dex does help with that.
Too right.
When I had to attend my daughter's school graduation ceremony I dearly wished for some of that with a couple of drinks to talk to the other parents at the table and to have the first dance with my daughter without my mood becoming an issue. I took a couple of tianeptines and some Valium and it really wasn't good enough.
Posted by Phillipa on November 13, 2010, at 19:57:49
In reply to Re: Paradise Lost - Done With Dex?, posted by sigismund on November 13, 2010, at 17:42:02
Providgil or nuvidgil? Phillipa
Posted by Brainbeard on November 15, 2010, at 5:33:21
In reply to Paradise Lost - Done With Dex?, posted by Brainbeard on November 13, 2010, at 13:34:25
I think every med deserves a second chance.
Hence I took 2.5mg of dex yesterday for a painting chore in our newly bought house. It worked rather well! Cooperation with my wife went smoothly, which is, believe me, exceptional.
Then again, after my dex break, I felt anxious and weary for days. Is this a foretaste of a future withdrawal hell?
Posted by sigismund on November 15, 2010, at 20:18:18
In reply to Dex - Second Chance, posted by Brainbeard on November 15, 2010, at 5:33:21
> Is this a foretaste of a future withdrawal hell?
I'd be very surprised.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 16, 2010, at 2:50:28
In reply to Re: Dex - Second Chance » Brainbeard, posted by sigismund on November 15, 2010, at 20:18:18
> I'd be very surprised.
Sigi, is your comment dripping with irony or what?
Posted by sigismund on November 16, 2010, at 13:23:10
In reply to Re: Dex - Second Chance, posted by Brainbeard on November 16, 2010, at 2:50:28
>Hence I took 2.5mg of dex yesterday for a painting chore in our newly bought house. It worked rather well! Cooperation with my wife went smoothly, which is, believe me, exceptional.
>Then again, after my dex break, I felt anxious and weary for days. Is this a foretaste of a future withdrawal hell?
Well,anything is possible. I was just hopeful that on this low dose of Dex that there would be no withdrawal reaction. I always used to tell myself that amphetamines had no withdrawal syndrome (like opiates, shall we say). You know but.....who knows?
No irony.
You said 'after my dex break'. Perhaps you meant 'during my Dex break'?
Posted by Brainbeard on November 17, 2010, at 6:14:44
In reply to Re: Dex - Second Chance » Brainbeard, posted by sigismund on November 16, 2010, at 13:23:10
> No irony.
Ah! So you were serious after all! I like that. :)
> You said 'after my dex break'. Perhaps you meant 'during my Dex break'?Indeed. I meant 'after I temporarily quit [before trying the 2.5mg PRN]'.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 19, 2010, at 16:43:41
In reply to Re: Dex - Second Chance, posted by Brainbeard on November 17, 2010, at 6:14:44
I feel so torn. I had to play the oracle slash walking dictionary again at work. People can come to me with their questions based on the questions their clients pose. They've asked me for the job because there are too little experts, so people like me can function as a kind of 'emergency experts'. They've asked me - I assume - because they think I'm intelligent, which is, in part, true. But I can also be dramatically obtuse. Today, there were moments where people were explaining a situation and my mind just went blank - like a total dissociation from what I was doing there. Sometimes I had to ask to repeat the situation.
You can see that this really gets to me since I haven't talked about meds yet. Well, my being obtuse in some respects is not something new, but I'm afraid it is exaggerated cruelly by the clomipramine. That's the disadvantage of a TCA - dry mouth, foggy brain.
I took 5mg of dex yesterday evening while on the bus home. I did it out of sheer boredom combined with a nagging sense of discontent. The dex high was not euphoric - perhaps due to clomipramine's anti-dopaminergic capabilities - but clean and quiet. On dex, for the first time in years, I don't bite my nails while biding my time.
I wanted to know if my cognitive functioning would be any better on methylphenidate (rita) instead of dex. So today I left my dexies on the shelf and took 18mg of Concerta shortly before work. It did make me feel kind of relaxed, but the brain fog was there alright. I have this neurotic sense of urgency about choosing between dex and rita. Maybe rita could save my career. Today's experience seems to suggest otherwise.
Perhaps my problem is that I have to play smart while I simpy am not smart enough or at least lack (some of) the skills for this specific task. Say something to ease my mind please!
Dex is weird, though. It makes me feel detached from reality, like watching it all from a distance. My p-doc says that dex can be a depressant, flattening out emotional life. How odd. Perhaps it's because of the paradoxical anti-dopaminergic effects that the Wikipedia article talks about. Dex as an alternative for an antipsychotic... What is the world coming to?
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Posted by Conundrum on November 20, 2010, at 10:42:14
In reply to Dexy Daisy, posted by Brainbeard on November 19, 2010, at 16:43:41
Have you considered asking for a muscarinic agonist? Some pdocs prescibe them to help with the very symptoms you mentioned, dry mouth and brain fog.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 20, 2010, at 13:54:15
In reply to Re: Dexy Daisy » Brainbeard, posted by Conundrum on November 20, 2010, at 10:42:14
Yeah, I'm already taking one, namely bethanechol, but it works better for constipation than for dry mouth, and doesn't help brain fog at all since it doesn't pass the blood-brain barrier.
> Have you considered asking for a muscarinic agonist? Some pdocs prescibe them to help with the very symptoms you mentioned, dry mouth and brain fog.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 22, 2010, at 6:20:28
In reply to Re: Dexy Daisy, posted by Brainbeard on November 20, 2010, at 13:54:15
Well, as it is now, I'm actually, who would have thought it, continuing the Dex.
Maybe it was bound to happen. Ever since I introduced the drug into my system ("brain, muscles, teeth: meet Mr. Dex!"), I haven't been the same.
At first the effects seemed detrimental, but now I'm getting to like dex. It supplies motivation and focus. The brain fog seems to lift now.
I would like to crank up the dose a little, since, come on - 2 x 5mg is a dose suitable for a newborn baby!
Posted by ed_uk2010 on November 22, 2010, at 15:59:53
In reply to Dexified, posted by Brainbeard on November 22, 2010, at 6:20:28
>2 x 5mg is a dose suitable for a newborn baby
Babies on stimulants - it could only happen in America.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 26, 2010, at 10:21:08
In reply to Dexified, posted by Brainbeard on November 22, 2010, at 6:20:28
I impulsively stopped taking Dex for a few days. Was wondering wether I could do without it. Well, I've become sick, throat virus, not dex related I'm sure. Day two without dex, melancholia began to strike. Also, chaos seemed to be back with a vengeance. Libido flew away.
Today I took a mini-dose of 1.25mg in the morning and another 1.25mg in the afternoon. I feel better. Chaos lifts. Feel enthusiasm coming back. Libido returns.
Maybe I could get by on supersmall maintenance doses, and then take more for the better type of chore busting.
My wife has noticed me grinding my teeth in my sleep a couple of times. That may be due to the dex.
I talked to my p-doc a few days ago, and told him how dex was at first a disappointment, with the anti-social effects and the extra anxiety. P-doc said that dex can have a flattening effect indeed. It was good to hear it's not that exotic. But luckily those effects faded after a few weeks.
[The post title was only coined to attract more readers, really.]
Posted by Phillipa on November 26, 2010, at 19:02:52
In reply to Sexy Dexie, posted by Brainbeard on November 26, 2010, at 10:21:08
Try the lower dose for now and see how it goes? Phillipa
Posted by Brainbeard on November 27, 2010, at 14:53:56
In reply to Re: Sexy Dexie » Brainbeard, posted by Phillipa on November 26, 2010, at 19:02:52
Exactly.
> Try the lower dose for now and see how it goes? Phillipa
Posted by ed_uk2010 on November 28, 2010, at 7:35:36
In reply to Sexy Dexie, posted by Brainbeard on November 26, 2010, at 10:21:08
>Today I took a mini-dose of 1.25mg in the morning and another 1.25mg in the afternoon. I feel better.
Has to be better than being on a huge dose. It will certainly be easier to obtain further prescriptions. No doctor likes patients who get through their sexy Dexy too quickly.
Posted by Brainbeard on November 28, 2010, at 14:49:07
In reply to Re: Sexy Dexie, posted by ed_uk2010 on November 28, 2010, at 7:35:36
Indeed, Ed, my p-doc has already said he thought it would be important to keep the dose low... I hope to convince him otherwise. 'With stimulants, it's important, doc, to keep raising the dose. I'm serious!'
Posted by Brainbeard on November 28, 2010, at 15:02:19
In reply to Re: Sexy Dexie, posted by Brainbeard on November 28, 2010, at 14:49:07
I impulsively stopped taking Dex for a few days. Was wondering wether I could do without it. My wife has noticed me grinding my teeth in my sleep a couple of times. That may be due to the dex.
Well, I've become sick. Throat virus. Not dex related I'm sure!
Day two without dex, melancholia began to strike. Also, chaos seemed to be back with a vengeance. Libido flew out of the window.
Yesterday I took a mini-dose of 1.25mg in the morning and another 1.25mg in the afternoon. I felt better. Chaos lifted. Felt enthusiasm coming back. Libido returned.
Maybe I could get by on supersmall maintenance doses, and then take more for the better type of chore busting.
I talked to my p-doc last week, telephonic consultation, and told him how dex was at first a disappointment, with the anti-social effects (and the extra anxiety). P-doc said that dex can have a flattening effect indeed. It was good to hear it's not that exotic. Luckily, those effects faded after a few weeks.
Today, I had to survive my wife's birthday party, so I took 7.5mg of dex in total, with 10mg of oxazepam. Right after popping the first dex, my wife asked me to deconstruct a computer desk, which involved pulling and moving lots of cables. I then realized that dex only helps me with situations that are somehow familiar and ordered. Cables represent primeval chaos snakes to me. That's why I popped the ox. And then more dex to counter the sedation. Right. Uhuh. Take downers with your uppers and uppers with your downers.. I think increased anxiety and irritability in unfamiliar, stressful situations are just the price for increased drive and focus in 'cool' situations.
I hope to be at work again tomorrow. On dex, I think. Maybe just a little. S, instead of XL.
Posted by ed_uk2010 on November 28, 2010, at 16:34:56
In reply to Dexamized, Undersized, posted by Brainbeard on November 28, 2010, at 15:02:19
>Today, I had to survive my wife's birthday party
Ha ha ha! Shouldn't that be enjoyable?
>Take downers with your uppers and uppers with your downers..
How very 1950s.
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