Posted by Ritch on January 3, 2005, at 9:30:05
In reply to Re: Those are hypomanias-Ritch Barbaracat » barbaracat, posted by Mr.Scott on January 3, 2005, at 1:30:53
> Hey Guys,
>
> at least in theory then my approach of using:
> 25-37.5mg of Zoloft
> 25mg Lamictal
> .5mg clonazepam
>
> is not working and may even be keeping me in a destabilized place. The problem is that my depression & anxiety are clear & present. Oviously I'll discuss this with my new psychopharmacologist on Wednesday, but would you suggest keeping a working dose of Antidepressant in place and adding depakote or Lico3, or slowly getting the Zoloft out and away and relying entirely on Lamictal at increased doses, or finally... maybe rely entirely on mood stabilizers like Dep and Lic03? What I can say is that the mood stabilizers alone have not given me great relief from depression or anxiety. And while Antidepressants have helped they also have hurt me just as much if not moreso.
>
> What's your take on the next best approach?
>
> BTW...This has been the most helpful interaction I've probably ever had on this board or in general in helping me understand what I'm dealing with. And while I know it isn't over or cured now, at least I think I can accept whats going on and work with a new (highly reputable & overly expensive) Psychopharm expert who I'll be seeing on Wednesday. He is reputed anyways to be the best in the area who still takes new patients. My current psychiatrist of 4 years is potentially getting the boot for not seeing this and treating it after so many thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours.
>
> ScottScott, Let us know what your new psychopharm says, ok? Your symptoms are close to a lot of mine and others' symptoms here, and I am really curious. As far as your med mix goes.. I really am not sure. I haven't tried Lamictal. I cycled like crazy on Zoloft, though, and I've noticed that SSRI's seem to take away one "flavor" of anxiety and add a different "flavor" back. I've thought in the past that combining Lamictal + Depakote together might work well for me, but that combo has its problems because of rash and blood levels of the meds, etc. I *have* tried Depakote + Lithium in the past and it does really help, but I just can't tolerate Lithium (for various reasons). I've tried Depakote + Trileptal and found the T to have AD effects and really takes down the hostility (even better than the Dep surprisingly). But, I have trouble with tolerating the nausea from the T. I suppose I'm more treatment intolerant than resistant. I hope you have some luck with this new doctor!
poster:Ritch
thread:435630
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050103/msgs/437164.html