Posted by Ron Hill on December 8, 2003, at 19:53:23
In reply to Ron Hill - How are you?, posted by SLS on December 7, 2003, at 8:21:39
> Ron Hill - How are you?
> Wishing you all the best...
> - Scott
--------------------SLS,
Thanks for caring Scott!! Are you continuing with your add-on trial of Gabitril? What’s next on your “must-try” list? You’re such a nice guy and I wish I knew the answer for your treatment resistant depression.
In answer to your question, I do really well when I cycle into my "normal phase" (which is where I am today). My BP II cycling goes like this: I begin to fall into a subtle atypical depression. Then I stop exercising and start sleeping excessively both of which cause me to spiral into a very deep atypical depression within about two days. It’s easy to spiral down, but it feels impossibly difficult to climb out of the pit. The depressive phase typically lasts about five days and I just watch TV and sleep. The depression is immediately followed by a dysphoric mood phase (GRRRRRRR!), which I hate even more than I hate the depression. However, in my dysphoric mood state I get back some energy (albeit negative energy), and if I use this energy to engage in rigorous exercise, I cycle into my normal mood state (which is excellent!!).
I suspect that I will always cycle to some degree, but I am convinced that (for me) rigorous exercise plays a key role in minimizing the cycling and maintaining good mental health. Ironically, I intuitively self-medicated with exercise for more that twenty years prior to being misdiagnosed as ADHD in 1996, and given Ritalin and antidepressants (both of which completely screwed up my life including the loss of my engineering career). Oh well, it’s time to get over my bitterness toward my original pdoc for his misdiagnosis. He did not intentionally destroy my life.
In addition to what I’ve identified above, there is one more mood state associated with my BP II disorder. I call it hypomania (or euphoric hypomania) and it is characterized by flight of ideas, distractibility, creativity, talkativeness, insomnia, etc. However, I’m able to control my hypomania by chasing the symptoms with increased amounts of lithium. Currently, I take 300 mg/day of Lithobid (under normal circumstances). But, if I start to feel hypomanic (I can recognize it right away), I bump up my Lithobid to 450 or 600 mg/day to reel-in the symptoms. Hypomania is the most treatable aspect of my BP II. The atypical depression and dysphoric mood states are more problematic when it comes to treatment. However, thanks in large part to the information I learn from people on this site, I continue to make progress in these problem areas as well.
In case anyone is wondering about my current medication/supplement cocktail, here it is:
300 mg/day Lithobid (moodstabilizer)
300 mg/day St. John’s Wort (provides some antidepressant effectiveness)
400 mg/day L-theanine (increases dopamine and GABA, reduces cortisol; treats irritability)
Small pocket-full of vitamins and minerals per day (most notably, 800 mg/day of magnesium)
Three teaspoons of Carlson’s Fish Oil per day
Exercise (1 – 2 hours/day; reduces depression and irritability but can increase hypomania, thereby, requiring a temporary increase in the amount of moodstabilizer)
NO REFINED SUGAR!!
Zone diet
I’ve not been posting lately because I’m tied up with projects on my desk and projects around the house. The end is not yet in sight, so I'll continue to be tied up for a while. Thanks for staying in touch, Scott, and let me know if I can help you in any way.
-- Ron
poster:Ron Hill
thread:287370
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031208/msgs/287836.html