Posted by medlib on January 22, 2002, at 4:55:07
In reply to Mood-reactivity in atypical depression., posted by SLS on January 19, 2002, at 0:25:05
Hi Scott--
It's good to see you posting again! Sorry you're feeling down, but I'm glad that your "down" doesn't seem to be totally "DOWN". (I conclude this because 1) you're posting, and 2) your cognition is as intimidating as ever.)
The carousel horse I'm riding is up right now, but it's still going in circles. We seem to have so many similar symptoms that sometimes I think, "If Scott's been dxed BP and his manic episodes are solely drug-induced, maybe I'm BP, too." (Sorta sounds like intern hyperchondria, doesn't it?) I've cycled from "down" to "DOWN" and back since my early teens--all appropo of absolutely nothing. I had 2 days of "mini-mania" on Geodon, and earlier tonight I realized I'd just gone around a bend that wasn't there. Unfortunately, this insight didn't hit me until *after* I'd posted on PSB about the Dinka tribe of Sudan and the average height of Japanese over the last 10,000 years. Definitely time to cut back on the Wellbutrin. And then there's my descent into alliteration. Mark H. called it for me once when we were trading palindromes; he asked if my fascination with words was part of my disease. Since then, it's been a reliable (albeit peculiar) red flag for me.
The truth is, I've been so very different from others all of my life that it's difficult to know what of my behavior is a "mental illness" and what's just me. For example, when I asked my pdoc if he'd had any other patients who were put to sleep by Dexedrine, he said, dubiously, that a few ADDers had paradoxical reactions to stimulants. (But methylphenidate acts as a normal stimulant for me; only Dex and its cousin Adderall give a headache, then put me to sleep.) ADD? Me? Impulsive for me is going to the store *before* I run out of dog food. I couldn't multitask if my life depended on it; my transmission doesn't shift gears.
Ah, well. If I take too many more different drugs for too much longer, I won't have to worry about tripping over stray factoids; they will have joined my short-term memory in Never-Never Land. I began taking a second Wellbutrin SR 2 days ago--again. I had taken 2/day per pdoc's rx earlier in the month but d/ced the 2nd tab, and I truly couldn't remember why! I knew I'd be asked about it later this week, so...; *now* I remember. In between, I've been trying to up my Vasotec 50% per internist's rx; naturally, the increased bp med led to migraines and multiple naps. When I whined about all this to my daughter, she said, "Mother, why don't you just dump all that stuff and take Ecstasy? I'll send you some." It's beginning to sound like a reasonable alternative.
For this turn of the carousel, my psych-related meds include Effexor XR 375 mg., methylphenidate 20 mg. 3/day (I remember the 3rd dose only occasionally), Wellbutrin SR 150 mg., and Synthroid 0.15 mg. (You don't want to know about the rest.)
Why did you stop at 300 mg. Effexor? Do you know whether or not you metabolize CYPs normally?
I have to go fill out the incidence report Pfizer sent. (And it's been only 2 months since they received my complete report and inquiry! Guess it's a good thing I wasn't holding my breath waiting for assistance from *that* source.) Geodon didn't work for you either? I wonder how it's doing with schizophrenics; it hasn't exactly reached warp speed with Babblers, from what I've read so far.
More later, when I've returned to what's left of my senses. Take care---medlib
poster:medlib
thread:90736
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020116/msgs/91089.html