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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 19:07:20
I don't know why, but my head has been very active, I've been worried, trying to solve some problems, not sure how to do it.
Seems like whenever I get all amped up about something I start to slump soon after.
a little apathy is sort of welcome though
Posted by Dinah on April 28, 2009, at 21:12:57
In reply to I'm feeling a little depressed...., posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 19:07:20
Before my anxiety was largely under control, I welcomed mild depression. At least the sort that didn't come with anxiety. It gave my poor overstressed body a rest of sorts.
So much of that is biological, sid. Have you consulted your pdoc? I can't tell you how much better I feel on the right combination of meds.
I wish there was a big checklist in my head of things that were best handled by meds, and things that are more purely *psychological* in origin. I'm always changing columns on things. OCD was something I always considered biological. Yet as it became less overwhelming, I was able to see that it came at times that leaves me with a lot of evidence that it serves a purpose to me. I've now got it under a "bit of each" column. Spending is generally considered *psychological*. Yet it operates more or less the same as OCD.
Posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 21:23:34
In reply to Re: I'm feeling a little depressed...., posted by Dinah on April 28, 2009, at 21:12:57
> Before my anxiety was largely under control, I welcomed mild depression. At least the sort that didn't come with anxiety. It gave my poor overstressed body a rest of sorts.
this reminds me of much of my high school experience, tremendous anxiety alternating with mind and body numbing depression. I came to look forward to it.
> So much of that is biological, sid. Have you consulted your pdoc? I can't tell you how much better I feel on the right combination of meds.
this is just the last two days, I'm not incapacitated by it. I'll see him next week. There are some decisions however that I have to make that are causing much of the anxiety.
> I wish there was a big checklist in my head of things that were best handled by meds, and things that are more purely *psychological* in origin. I'm always changing columns on things. OCD was something I always considered biological. Yet as it became less overwhelming, I was able to see that it came at times that leaves me with a lot of evidence that it serves a purpose to me. I've now got it under a "bit of each" column. Spending is generally considered *psychological*. Yet it operates more or less the same as OCD.
I generally can't tell the difference. I do know that when the pdoc tried to lower my effexor I felt worse, and then when he raised it back I felt better...go figure
Can I ask what you take Dinah?
I take
effexor xr 225mgs
lamictal 100mgs
klonopin 1mg
seroquel 50mgs
Posted by Dinah on April 28, 2009, at 21:36:33
In reply to Re: I'm feeling a little depressed.... » Dinah, posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 21:23:34
Sure. But I'll have to go look it up. :) I take more meds than my nearly eighty year old mother.
Lamictal 50 mg
Klonopin .25 mg + more as needed (down from 1 mg for years)
Risperdal .25 mg as needed (Up to I think six pills a day?)
Provigil 200-400 mg per day, depending on whether I can take a nap
The Provigil is what I need most right now. I think I'm medically dependent on it. :(
For me, the key was the .25 mg Risperdal. I think I'd still be a mess without it. I take it whenever the anxiety gets uncomfortable. It ends up not being that many unless I'm under a lot of stress. My prescriptions last forever. I call it my ego glue. I almost never use extra Klonopin now.
It doesn't seem like all that much. I'm pretty sensitive to meds. But this combination seems to work very very well for me. And the "as needed" basis of it all allows me to stay on very little with maximum effect. I just keep an eye on my internal barometer.
And of course, therapy keeps me glued as well as Risperdal does, but with less side effects. It really is as important a tool in my arsenal as any of the others.
Posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 21:38:22
In reply to Re: I'm feeling a little depressed.... » obsidian, posted by Dinah on April 28, 2009, at 21:36:33
how often do you end up taking the risperdal?
Posted by Dinah on April 28, 2009, at 22:24:32
In reply to Re: I'm feeling a little depressed.... » Dinah, posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 21:38:22
Hard to say.
I think I used 30-40 of the prescription filled 11/5/07. But I *think* I still had some left from the prescription before that. It varies widely. At the worst after we came home from Katrina, I called my then pdoc and begged him for a dose equivalent to the large amount I took as a teen. I think I was taking six a day of the .25 mg at that point, and it wasn't really enough. I think I was taking six a day when my husband was sick too. Most of the time it's a few a month.
Posted by Amelia_in_StPaul on April 29, 2009, at 0:51:22
In reply to I'm feeling a little depressed...., posted by obsidian on April 28, 2009, at 19:07:20
Obsidian, sorry to hear you have been in an anxious state! If I'm reading you correctly, you say that anxiety (it sounds like anxiety) is followed by a bit of depression? If so, that soooo common. I experience that too. Do you ever feel like if you're alert/awake/not-depressed, your anxious, and if you're not anxious, you're dysthymic? I've been feeling that way a lot lately.
I hope you feel better, get some problem-solving done.
Do you ever do a pros and cons list to help sort things through?
> I don't know why, but my head has been very active, I've been worried, trying to solve some problems, not sure how to do it.
> Seems like whenever I get all amped up about something I start to slump soon after.
> a little apathy is sort of welcome though
>
Posted by obsidian on April 29, 2009, at 23:40:18
In reply to Re: I'm feeling a little depressed...., posted by Amelia_in_StPaul on April 29, 2009, at 0:51:22
that pros and cons thing sounds good, I'll be doing some writing, thanks :-)
PS - I do love lists after all
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