Posted by med_empowered on September 1, 2005, at 5:39:01
In reply to TRI-LEPTAL???, posted by snapper on September 1, 2005, at 0:04:41
hey! It really depends on what you're taking it for, other stuff you're taking, whether or not it works for you (it probably will, but sometimes it doesn't work for people), etc. I took it for bipolar II...basically, after a week I felt a little calmer, after 2 weeks I felt my antidepressant working better (helping w/ the depression w/o inducing a "wired" feeling or anything), and after a month or so I felt calmer, less anxious, and less hostile. But...everybody's different. Since depression and anxiety are so pronounced in my life, I didn't notice *major* until I noticed that the other meds were working better; the Klonopin was working better, and at lower dosages, for my anxiety; the celexa was working better for my depression, and the ambien was better at helping me sleep (when needed). If you tend more towards the (hypo)manic side of things, you might get benefits more quickly, or you might benefit from "loading" (you start out with super-high dosages, which are then lowered down to a more or less normal dose for maintenance). The anti-anxiety effects aren't terribly pronounced, like with benzos, but they are there and they do come in handy: the best part for me was the reduction in overall tension, which reduced my tendency towards mixed-episodes/agitation with thought disturbances. Do watch your dosage, though....I noticed that once I hit 1,200mgs, I had some *major* emotional flattening and cognitive blunting. This may or may not be a problem for you, but it seems pretty common for both Tegretol and Trileptal to have a very narrow window between the doses that give optimal mood control and the doses that make you a walking zombie. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:549522
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050901/msgs/549578.html