Posted by ronaldo on November 25, 2006, at 6:12:47
This is what I am suffering from:
Avolition, Anhedonia, Flat Affect, Cognitive Blunting.
This is the culprit imho: Olanzapine at 7.5 mg previously 10 mg. I am tapering off the Olanzapine. I am that sure it is to blame.
My dx is 'bipolar disorder currently in remission'.
The only other med I take is Lithium controlled release (Priadel) at 900 mg nocte. I take all my meds at 9:30 pm.
My dx is by no means definite. The pdoc who says 'BD currently in remission' has never made a dx of BD currently active so it is hard to understand how he arrives at his 'currently in remission' dx.
Most other pdocs have said '?? schizo-affective disorder'. Anyway my dx in South Africa was Bipolar Disorder. That was 30 years ago, and I have been taking lithium for close to 30 years. I live in the UK now.
I know that it could be the lithium to blame but the avolition series of symptoms only seemed to appear when I started taking the Olanzapine regularly. Hang on a minute. I increased my Lithium from 800 mg to 900 mg round about the same time that I started taking the Olanzapine regularly. I first used Olanzapine occasionally to help me sleep about four years ago and it worked very well to start with but it faded later. Today I get by on about 5 hours of sleep at night. I would like more but this is all I get...
Could the increase in my lithium be responsible for my avolition etc symptoms? 100 mg is not a big increase but might have been enough to tip me over. My lithium blood levels are steady around the 0.8 mMol/litre mark.
Can anyone express an opinion? Is the Olanzapine to blame or is it the Lithium? One thing I won't do is taper off the lithium at the same time I am decreasing the Olanzapine. Lithium is a much cleaner drug than Olanzapine and I would much rather ditch the latter.
Is there any medication specifically aimed at reducing the avolition series of symptoms? I suppose an AD might work. Maybe I am depressed?
What do you think? I will be grateful for all opinions expressed.
poster:ronaldo
thread:706990
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061123/msgs/706990.html