Posted by Sheilac on August 16, 2012, at 8:20:50
Since my old doc retired I finally got in to see a new doc. He is quite a ways from where I live, but I was very impressed. He interviewed me for a long time and asked questions that no other doc has. He seems to be very knowledgeable.
He said I was BPII (which is what my first doc in another state told me).
He felt that I was not severe enough to be on lithium and with my already bad thyroid and the constant diarrhea and hair loss, he said it just wasn't worth it.
He also wasn't crazy about me relying on klonopin everyday. He said it could be a depressant (which it is, but it does work for really stressful situations and such).
He had me drop lithium down to 300mg a day and klonopin down to 2mg a day. He eventually wants to wean me off of both meds. Maybe he will give me an RX for Klonopin or xanax for as needed basis.
In the meantime, he added a baby dose of Lamictal (even though I told him I failed it in the past, he said maybe after all these years we could try a child's dose again and see).
So I am halfing a 25mg tablet of Lamictal for a week and going up to 25mg after that until I see him again in 3 weeks.
He also wanted me to stop all caffeine. I told him no way, I needed my morning coffee. He said fine to 1 cup of morning coffee.
He also wanted me to drop the Adderall. He's not sure I'm ADD or if I was using it for depression or what. I wasn't crazy about that either considering I can get by on 5mg.
Since I have stopped the Adderall I feel like crap. I am so tired all day and unmotivated. I stopped the hobby that I was so in to and pretty much have been a bump on a log.
I get that he wants me to get down to 1 or 2 meds. That's great. If Lamictal ends up working fantastic and I can drop the Lithium and only use a benzo when things get bad - great. That's the plan for now. But I really need my Adderall.
I actually feel depressed without the low dose Adderall.
Ugh.
I'm supposed to start taking a class this semester and I don't know how I will get through it without the Adderall.
Not sure what to do. I like his way of thinking and would love to be on one med, but I want my Adderall back.
I guess I will be taking a lot of naps.
poster:Sheilac
thread:1023409
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120803/msgs/1023409.html