Posted by bleauberry on May 30, 2011, at 19:45:28
In reply to Should I try a different mood stabilizer, posted by markwell on May 29, 2011, at 16:19:55
Well, I don't know, it's tough. If the med's are causing problems then that isn't cool and they gotta go. The body is trying to tell you these things aren't right. I don't know your history with lithium so I don't know if that is worth repeating or not. If you do, do it different than before. Lower dose for example. Slower titration for example. Combining it with something different. I think gillman also said it doesn't work much with serotonin meds but is better with norepinephrine meds. Regardless, somewhere in his writings I think he said he stopped using it because he didn't see overall good results with it and the side effects were heavy.
There is some good stuff on the natural side. Have you ever tried those or be willing to? Actually lithium qualifies in that regard. Dosing is tricky. I think with many people lithium might be one of those things where less-is-more, despite the opposite concensus of the medical community.
I wouldn't downplay the potency or potential of botanical medicines if you run into a wall with pharmaceutical ones. A bunch of new doors open up.
Oh, and back to wellbutrin. It isn't really a norepinephrine drug or a dopamine drug. It does those things but weakly. It's true mechanisms are something else, yet to be identified. It certainly can be stimulating with some people. So no surprise on the panic attacks. I think what that means is that if you want to go forward with it and retry it, you'll have to start with much lower doses. Maybe even make your own custom sizes. Then feel it out. Sometimes even the smallest dose we can get at the pharmacy is just too much all at once to start with.
Sometimes I think people might miss out on a good drug for them simply because the beginning of the journey was too rushed. My Lyme doctor, just for an example and perspective, starts Lexapro patients with liquid so he can change doses by drops....perfect for those having a hard time with a whole pill. A couple months later they have comfortably climbed up to some other higher dose that they could not have tolerated previously.
poster:bleauberry
thread:986559
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110529/msgs/986688.html