Posted by Barbara Cat on March 29, 2003, at 10:36:12
In reply to Adding, substracting, wishing and hoping, posted by Ponder on March 28, 2003, at 23:44:10
Hi All,
I'm with you in this frustration. I went through a time recently really believing I could do this thing alone or with drastically reduced meds. Lots of yoga, meditation, eating healthy, reading how to say 'bye' to your mood disorder. It felt shakey all the time but I was doing it until a major incident hit (my mom's death). Then I went into the abyss very badly, even though on lithium and lamictal. Not very high doses, but enough thus far.Since starting nortriptyline in February I'm doing well. I don't like the side effects, especially combined with lithium - very dry mouth, tremors, constipation. I keep thinking that when life gets more stable I'll try going it alone again. Hah! think again. Life is rarely stable and doesn't seem like it's going to get any better with all the insanity out there. I have a dream that I'll learn enough about how to just be with it, to have my inner resources strong enough to not affect my center. Until knowing how to do it better, I apparently need my chemistry tweaked. BTW, I personally do not believe lamictal is enough to deal with bipolar depression, even when combined with lithium, especially alone. I guess it depends on the dose, but like many of you, at higher doses I felt more anxious and depressed. The most helpful for me has been adding nortrip. It's not an SSRI at least.
Barbara
poster:Barbara Cat
thread:208531
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030329/msgs/214045.html