Posted by Ritch on August 8, 2002, at 23:49:10
In reply to Re:Results of ECT consult..more, posted by Chloe on August 8, 2002, at 17:55:40
>....... We also talked about the possiblity of T3 augmentation before or instead (if it worked) of ECT. But I told my pdoc that I just can't add on another med, or start switching stuff around. Med changes are so hard on me and I feel like I need to get off some meds, not add to the: lithobid, depakote, neurontin, celexa, doxepin, diazapam cocktail. Adding another med on top, when I don't even know what my low doses of all of these meds are doing now, I think is unwise. I think I need to get off the depakote and neurontin and perhaps celexa to see what my mood is really like before adding another med. But I am not sure I can safely go off these meds without ECT to carry me through...
> Can anyone relate to what I am saying????? I don't want to "waste" a potentially good med for me by trying it when I am already on too many meds with too many side effects.....I can relate to that! I have been trying to *reduce* the number of meds that I take with limited success. I am down to DepaKlon and EffexoButrin. :) There always seems to be at least three.. Has your pdoc ever mentioned anything about going off one at a time until you are down to just ONE, and then getting the ECT? Another thing: It seems that you have gotten rather unstable since you made the flip from amitrip. to trimip. (sorry!) and then to doxepin, do you think you were better off on the AMI? You seemed to be the most stable I have ever heard from you just before those last couple of changes. Also, I didn't realize that doxepin's half-life was that short (8 hrs?). I thought since it was another TCA, that it automatically meant *days*. I wonder if that could be the trouble? Do you think you could ever get down to something like lithium + thyroid? From personal experience with most of the antimanics, lithium has got the best antipsychotic activity without the EPS.
more thoughts,
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:115145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020807/msgs/115757.html