Posted by barbaracat on December 4, 2004, at 13:38:59
In reply to Remeron pooping out - Maybe Bipolar II, posted by DoubtingAlex on December 1, 2004, at 15:12:41
Hi Alex,
I had a similar situation as far as Remeron, almost the same pattern. I felt great at first, better than an any other AD, felt great for 2 months and then it started pooping. Raised it, poop, raised it, etc. This was very frustrating because I've been on almost all of the ADs and my depressions were getting bleaker, blacker and more frequent. It eventually turned out that I was bipolar II. Lithium made a huge difference in my life. Lithium carbonate, that is. Believe me, if you need lithium then lithium orotate will not be enough. I recently made that switch (for the second time) trying the orotate form and within 3 weeks was cycling back down again.As for HappyGirl's assesment of bipolar, I beg to disagree. Bipolar is not always opposite poles, it can frequently look just like a very black depression with occasional forays into more agitated states like anxiety, irritability, disorganization (can look alot like ADHD). In fact, bipolar II is characterized by much more frequent and prevalent depressions with relatively infrequent hypomanias, which again, can look like anxiety or irritability without the 'fun' aspects we normally associate with mania.
Then there is mixed-states where the blackness and despair of depression collide with the energy and disorder of mania and can produce some very scary nightmarish symptoms. This is me. I've had some bona fide manic and hypomanias which can be lots of fun. Nothing like a good hypomania. Wish I could bottle that energy and creativity and charisma and flights of wonderful ideas for later.
But my point is, 'classic' bipolar doesn't seem to exist except in movies and novels. I resisted accepting that diagnosis for a long time because of what it signified. After all, you can talk about being depressed at parties and get alot of concurrence, but mention 'bipolar' and watch them move away from you and watch you funny from a good distance. No, I didn't want to be bipolar and felt I wasn't because of the stereotypical image of depressed/madcap grandiose. I decided to try lithium because nothing else was working anylonger and ADs were clearly making things worse (except for Remeron which eventually did nothing). Lithium worked within the week and has continued to keep me relatively even keeled and quite sane. I'm on a very low amount and not even within the therapeutic window, but it's working well. The occasional depression breaks through (I went into mourning after this last election) and the occasional agitation/disorganization, but it quickly passes and I suspect it's no more than what 'normal' people experience. Into each life a little rain must fall, and all that. St. John's Wort and fish oil pretty much keep the dark stuff at bay.
This is not to say that you're BP. Perhaps you haven't yet found the right AD and need to give it more time and tries (although it sounds like you have already). Sometimes it's just a matter of trying a med and seeing if it works, and if so, well, there you go. But I wouldn't judge anything by your experience with lithium orotate. I know some people have had results with it, but for me it was like sugar pills and I was taking 9 pills a day - and this was a very highly recommended pharmaceutical grade brand. The other part is that some bipolars are not helped by lithium at all but by one of the other mood stabilizers. Such a crap shoot.
I was on lamictal for a while and it helped for a short while, but pooped out. I got the dreaded rash too. Nope, lithium, St. John's and fish oil are my staples these days. Hope this helps. - Barbara
poster:barbaracat
thread:422954
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041201/msgs/424350.html