Posted by Darby on November 13, 2003, at 15:04:08
In reply to Re: Attentional/Temporal Trapping, posted by Stavros on November 12, 2003, at 18:28:03
Stavros,
I really think one of the anti-convulsants with the SSRI of your choice might help. Any one of the following meds added to your SSRI might
be helpful:Gabitril (tiagabine)- fewest side effects (for me)
Lamictal (lamotrigine)
Topomax
Neurontin
Oxcarbazepine or Carbemazepine....talk to your doctor.
There seem to be pathways in the brain that cause us to be unusually aware of our own pain, physical and psychic. When this awareness goes haywire and we get hung up with our own anguish and don't seem to be able to leave the immediate moment behind, the best help is pharmacological help, I think. Some of the newer epilepsy drugs have fewer side effects and, like the older AEDs, seem to stabilize the electrochemical "hiccups" that interfere with normal activity in various parts of the brain.
I have found that the serotonergic meds seem to tell my brain, "relax, everything's fine...chill...don't worry." The anti-convulsants, on the other hand, seem to be almost quietly repairative, helping to fine-tune neuron level stuff I can't comprehend.
In my situation, there is a quality to my helplessness that seems to stem from from me (I) (my observing self) existing "outside" my own mind/brain's neurological stream of consciousness. It's as if there are two separate, unintegrated "tracks," or "sets of attention," operating simultaneously in my psychic universe.
It's the terrifying, disorienting sense that I'm literally trapped in the process of trying to "think" two "thoughts" at once and that I can't leave one thought/reflection behind to move on the the next!This condition may involve an irregularity in the way the brain takes a thought in the present and either smoothly goes on to the next thought or "labels/red-flags" that thought as "important" and stores it as a memory. In my head, every thought/moment seems to be red-flagged as "important" and simply CANNOT be left behind.
For me, Gabitril (added to SSRI) was the only med that helped smooth out these thought traps.
Good Luck,
Darby
poster:Darby
thread:278750
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031111/msgs/279429.html