Posted by rainy on December 31, 2004, at 21:04:36
In reply to Re: topomax, posted by Paintmom on December 30, 2004, at 10:41:46
> OOPs
> I meant to write...I was recently diagnosed myself....no...I didnt' diagnos myself...I was actually STUNNED!! This is not something I would perceive myself to have...( I have every other thing though...so why should it surprise me...LOL)
>
The bipolar diagnosis sounds like a big deal--a "real" mental illness. I was diagnosed a week after we'd made a major move and about 11 years after dealing with what everybody thought was major depressive disorder. It wasn't until the last three weeks that I really began to learn a lot about bipolar II while I was researching some medication. PsychEducation.org has been very helpful to me in terms of medication, treatment protocols, what to expect from the beast, all sorts of stuff. Other people on the board have different resources they like. CrazyMeds is another good one--I especially like that site's approach to dealing with side effects. I think bipolar is really fascinating to learn about--not so much to experience, although I guess it adds a richness to our lives we might not otherwise have.Buspar, Elavil and Lexapro are all known for weight gain--I packed on 15 from Buspar in three weeks, but I was taking a lot more than you are. They just sat there too, until I broke my rib, it got very hot, we moved and I started living on ice water. Topamax probably helped, by that time I was at 225 mgs, but it's really hard to say given the chaos of my life at the time.
> I take very little buspar...so little that no doctor believes that it does anything...but they do it to humor me...I swear it makes me feel better (3.75 mil) I take 10mg lexapro...which I think just works amazing on me...and then they added elavil for sleep...which also works great...but I've gained 26 pounds since going on them both....and I walk and eat right..etc...I have TERRIBLE sleep problems...like last nite was a duzy...for years.....like 15....So I started to see this new psych Nurse Pract (Phd) and she figured it out right away....that I was bipolar. How could all these different docs have misseed it???? Just around the same time my therapist figured it out...It's mild...and I guess I try to hide it:) I am 25 mg of the topamax and I do feel more even....my ex husband and my brother both were terrible to me over xmas...and I didn't feel that insane feeling I usually feel that prevents me from getting my point across. The sleep still stinks....don't know what to do about that...I try the Melatonin..its marginally effective..but I think it makes my depression worse. Boy this is complicated...its' like untangling a ball of yarn.
That is so cool that you have a nurse practitioner--I sure wish I did! Theoretically, Topamax is supposed to make us "calmer" and even drowsy--at least that's what it says on my bottle. I haven't noticed that effect. You might want to check out the alternative board here on psychobabble (if you haven't already) and ask for suggestions for sleep if the elavil doesn't always work. Time awake can be very useful but it can also play havoc with our bipolar mood swings, or so they say and so I've found. Crabby? Crabby.
Does your NP plan to increase your Topamax? It's not going to do squat (in my opinion) to stabilize your moods at 25 mgs.
Keep posting,
rainy
poster:rainy
thread:5053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041228/msgs/436176.html