Posted by MidnightBlue on May 23, 2005, at 0:56:48
In reply to Re: Phillipa/Valium » MidnightBlue, posted by Phillipa on May 22, 2005, at 22:32:12
Phillipa,
I took a fair amount of Valium when I was on Wellbutrin to help with the tooth grinding, nervous tics, etc. I was on 450 mg of Wellbutrin which is the max dose, and probably 15 mg or so? of Valium. I can't remember, but I took several of the 5mgs a day. I never really got "hooked" on it. Valium is the ONLY muscle relaxer I can take without dissolving into tears. That said, I still think over the long term it can cause a tinge of saddness almost unpreceptible until you stop taking it. As can Ambien when used on a continual basis.
How long has it been since you were on NO psych meds? and would it be a possible consideration to wash out your system, re-evaluate, and start a new med?
I had to stop Depakote and Wellbutrin because we lost insurance. This was 18 months ago. Ambien was limited to about once a week. I had had TWO doctors tell me to never stop the Depakote. (I was taking it for migraine headaches but the pdoc was just SURE it was making me more stable.) Well it was making me more stable alright. It made me so flat that I never crawled out of my depression for even a moment. Without either drug I was still depressed, and sometimes VERY depressed, but I felt reactive again. I could be happy (very seldom) or sad, or very sad. But there was a sense of movement in my spirit. I don't know how else to say that.
I found that a lot of my anxiety was bound up with my depression when I was younger. The "right" antidepressant actually helped the anxiety.
Forgive me for asking, but I have noticed in your post you said you are past menopause? I will leave it to you how far past that mark you may be, but assuming you are 50ish have you considered estrogen to help with the depression/apathy/anxiety? For a while I found an estrogen patch (in a fairly high dose) made it much easier for me to think and enhanced the psych meds I was on. Just a thought.......
Sorry, must really go to bed now.
Hope this helps some,
MidnightBlue
poster:MidnightBlue
thread:500902
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050521/msgs/501537.html