Posted by Ritch on March 6, 2003, at 10:11:02
In reply to Do Psych meds really work long term for BPs?, posted by catmint on March 5, 2003, at 23:38:16
> How many BPs have been successfully treated long term? Do most of us keep juggling medications endlessly?
>
> Does anyone worry what these drugs are doing to our bodies? Are side effects like nausea and headache a precursor for something worse later in life? What about the inert ingredients in all those pills?
>
> All of us just tolerate all those annoying side effects like headaches, weight gain, and worst of all sexual dysfunction, just 'cause depression sucks so bad.
>
> Still have blurred vision and headaches from Lamictal, but hey, I'm not depressed.
>
> ::Amy
Amy, in Dr. Bowden's slides (I couldn't stream the presentation), there is a very important note in there-there is as yet no ONE drug that relieves all of the symptoms of bipolar disorder (or something to that effect). There are some pdocs though that believe that the new AP's can do that (and perhaps do for some), but I believe that statement and it has been my experience. You have to combine. And when you combine meds everything gets complicated as hell and very frustrating. I think it is more of a "problem" of having so many meds available to juggle! :)
I must say that since I have been on AED's instead of lithium I feel more "stable" than ever. Some of my depressive dips are still a little nasty, but overall I feel better now than ever. For me it was like lithium solved 50% of the problems on its own and now four meds solve 75% of the problems. I think they are closing in on the "real" mechanism that underlies the problem (I am thinking here of protein kinase C inhibitors and meds that affect glutamine more selectively). So, I am trying to be optimistic. I've been on mood stabilizers for over 20 years now and not taking them is far worse.---Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:206331
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030306/msgs/206417.html