Posted by JohnX2 on November 17, 2001, at 17:59:26
In reply to Re: How to convince pdoc to try a Mood Stabilizer? » JohnX2, posted by adamie on November 17, 2001, at 17:36:19
Adamie,
There is absolutely no guarantee that any
psychotropic medication would not make a depression worse. Lamictal stabilizes glutamate
transmission in the brain. Generally this banding
would tend to make the "lows less low". It is
totally different than taking a medicine that
boosts chemicals. When the lamical stabilizes
glutamate transmission, then you may get a completely different response from the other meds
to help make the "highs higher". Some people
get both actions from lamictal alone.I won't try to guess your response to a
stabilizer, but generally if you have run through
so many generic anti-depressants with no luck then
it usually makes sense to try a stablizer before
throwing more darts at the anti-depressant dart
board.Of the anti-depressants, it seems Parnate and
possibly Selegiline are least likely to make
a depression worse. At least that is my observation on this newsgroup. Other people may
feel differently.If you do add in lamictal, please be careful
to dose it correctly. If you jump the gun and
dose too fast you may get a bad side effect.
Otherwise it is generally very benign on the
side effect profile.
good luck,
john>
> no john I dont think I have had any of those symptoms. I guess bipolar may be out of the question for me. that info about lamictal is very useful. considering that, there is no reason for the pdoc not to try me on lamictal. so it seems much more hopeful that I will be prescribed it on wednesday. although the anti depressant effect worries me. all the AD's I've tried have made me worse except maybe this moclobemide I am taking... it's hard to tell if it's making me worse. So it makes me think that perhaps an AD effect maybe is bad for me. Do I have anything to worry about? Hard for me to remember what was said before but Lamictal is not known to make absolutely anyone's depression worse right? And this is the case for all mood stabilizers? regarding lying to the doc.. I dont think I am capable of that due to my horrible memory. I couldn't possibly be able to pull something like that off and be able to recall something twice. but the lamictal working for unipolar as well as bipolar seems to be good enough.
>
> > Symptoms of mania
> >
> > - periods of feeling extremely euphoric.
> > Tell the doctor you hit these upswings whereby
> > you can't stop talking, are sensitive to caffeince,
> > stay up for days straight. Feel compelled to
> > give advice to friends. Don't think much about
> > yourself during these times, are more
> > extroverted. Sometimes you are confrontational
> > and people think you are arrogant. You later
> > regret what you said or did.
> >
> > - You are extremely restless. You have difficult
> > sitting still feel irritable. (note: some ADD symptoms overlap
> > bipolar).
> >
> > reasons for a lamictal trial:
> >
> > - You have yet to get an anti-depressant to work
> > and have tried everything. Lamictal is used for
> > unipolar depression as well as bipolar so there
> > is absolutely no reason to give it a trial.
> > Just refuse to take anything else.
> >
> > A bullshit mechanism almost gauranteed to
> > work or your money back. I had to use this on
> > a doctor that had no experience with lamictal.
> > It was my actual situation, but you can say
> > whatever you want in your case:
> >
> > - find a new pdoc, tell him you just
> > moved into town, went through 2 years of depression
> > hell before finding total relief from lamictal
> > 300 mg which you have been on for many months.
> > He'll gladly write the script if you tell him this,
> > although you shouldn't need too! But then you need
> > to do the dosing titration yourself.
> >
> > Its possible to be manic and not feel euporic.
> > You can just have lots of energy and difficulty
> > sitting still. Have any of these symptoms?
> >
> > Good luck,
> > john
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > hi. I am suffering from some form of very severe depression. All or almost all AD's I've tried have made me worse. I really want to try a mood stabilizer like Lamictal. Expecially since such a medication is not known to ever cause someone worsening of depression. And who knows. Maybe I am bipolar anyway. I had one experience of theft when I was feeling better once. This good feeling didn't last. Aside from mentioning that occasion... what else could I do to convince my new pdoc this Wednesday to try me on a mood stabilizer? I dont want to try another AD. The constant mind torture would be too much for me.
> > >
> > > Also what is some general information on Mood Stabilizers that would be good in convincing?
poster:JohnX2
thread:84526
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84537.html