Posted by theo on December 26, 2004, at 7:18:41
In reply to re: mood-stabilizers, posted by anxiety_free on December 26, 2004, at 2:39:54
> Hey! I'm schizoaffective, so I have some experience with these drugs. What's your problem(s) with trileptal? I'm just asking b/c, while lithium prevents suicide, its not the best in terms of antidepressive action or side-effects amongst the mood-stabilizers. Klonopin helped my agitation/anxiety immensely (I now take BuSpar, which also works quite well). Have you tried an atypical antipsychotic? Most all of them are approved for straight up mania, and they're being used off-labael all over the bipolar spectrum, with good results. And of course, there's the prozac+zyprexa combo (symbyax) to think about, but I personally hate prozac and zyprexa. What's your dose of trileptal? If I were your shrink (run now), based on what you've said, I'd up the trileptal, add 1-2mgs Klonopin daily to control the agitation, and start a multi-tasking AD in a few weeks (maybe Remeron, 30mgs). I'd also rx something like trazadone for sleep management and gabatril or neurontin to boost the klonopin, as needed. Since you don't do mania/hyomania much, you might want to stick with the friendlier mood-stabilizers....trileptal and lamictal are strong but have a better side-effect profile than lithium. Klonopin, unfortunately, can worsen depression, so you might want to limit its use as a mood-stabilizer; if it helps, stay on for a few months...if you still needed a benzo, then something like Xanax XR could be introduced in place of Klonopin. Good luck!
MM,I'm pretty much the same, depressive with my anxiety breaking thru as my mania (according to my docs diagnosis).
Mood stablizers can worsen depression in general, (including Lamictal), I've found if your not taking an antidepressant. Mood stablizers tend to have antidepressant, mood lifting properties at first that wear off in time and your pretty much "mood stablized."
I been taking a low dose of Keppra for anxiety and my doc added Lamictal for depression. For 6 months I've been trying to find the best dose. The higher I went up (150-200mg), the more sides kicked in, memory problems, burning eyes, acid reflux, nightmares. I've gone back down to 50mg and have now found if I go below 125mg daily, I get this warm feeling in my brain. My doc says she has seen this side effect at lower doses. It's almost like going through a feeling of it wearing off 24/7.
I had some great moments of clarity at 100mg daily but they were short lived.
I'm not trying to steer you away from Lamictal because it might be your magic bullet, but in general it is a high maintanence med you have to contantly tweak.
I am still taking Keppra 250mg twice daily and Lamictal 50mg at bedtime and added 12.5mg Paxil CR in the morning.
I've not been on any SSRI for 8 months and since I've added it, I feel great! Unfortunatly, last night I was already feeling the sexual sides, loss of libido, when my girlfriend was coming on to me. I swear, if someone could somehow harness Paxil CR with no sexual sides, I would be the happiest man alive! It does wonders for my general and social anxiety and even ADD. I actually sat down to read a book, something I've not been able to do for the past 8 months!
poster:theo
thread:434151
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041223/msgs/434212.html