Posted by GabaGirl on May 19, 2004, at 15:07:53
In reply to Re: inositol » GabaGirl, posted by BarbaraCat on May 18, 2004, at 15:27:18
Hi Barbaracat:Sorry your're not doing so well today!
> **Yeah, passionflower is a nice herb. I take it to help sleep but haven't tried it during the day. Are you the one who gets kava from Hawaii? I've tried Kava but didn't have much luck with it.
I'm not the one who gets the kava from Hawaii, but I have tried in tincture form -- nasty tasting stuff! -- and it helped somewhat, but not nearly as good a p-flower. I can drink it in the morning, afternoon, or evening, though usually only in the am with the inositol and maybe hot tea before bed. All works well for me and keeps from being too hyper.
>
> > No aspartame today!
>
> **Aspartame is deadly, a neurotoxin.It made me feel like you describe below! Irritable, pissed off, in a really bad mood, like my nerve endings were frayed. I was at work too and getting fed up with everything anyone said! I was like a total buddha woman the next day though and actually had one of the best days of my life! Weird. I avoid aspartame usually altogether and use sucralose if anything or Hawaiian raw organic sugar. Like that, but have blood sugar problems.
I stopped aspartame because I read studies linking it to depression and other health problems. Anything that worsens depression I need to stay away from. Though like Loops, I like a good beer now and then! I think the hops in beer is what draws me. I tried non-alcoholic ones and they are OK, probably much, much better for me.
>
> > How is Lamictal for you? I have not tried it but am interested. I am on Neurontin and Zyprexa otherwise.
> >
> **I'm not taking Lam anymore. I was taking with lithium and the two were working OK but a very anxious depression kept breaking through and, as is typical with these things, my dose was very slowly raised (from 75mg to 125, then 150 hoping to reach 200mg). At 125mg I started getting a maddening itch which I thought was due to finally coming down with cat allergies (thankfully, not so). At 150 it was very intense and I cut way back because of fear of the rash. I eventually stopped everything because nothing was working and making my mood symptoms worse.I missed that you weren't taking it. The rash possibility bothered me as well.
>
> Unfortunately, that itching was actually a promdromal condition that led to a sensitivity to many other drugs. I came down with the rash and worse, Stevens Johnson Syndrom, from another drug in March and came close to exiting this mortal coil. I now have a sensitivity to all kinds of meds that I never was allergic to before. I can't even take Neurontin on a regular basis anymore which helped with fibro pain because any of the anti-convulsants starts giving me mucous membrane blisters. From that experience I really grokked that we have no idea what we're doing to ourselves with these drugs and all the others we take in combo. At least for me, my psych med days are over which is probably a good thing. So thus, my pit bull tenacity to figure it out some other way.Too bad on the Neurontin as it supposedly is a very "clean" drug as far as potential kidney or liver problems. I have taken it since early 1999 and find it soooo helpful. I was on lithium for years and it only worsened my rapid cycling in the end. Neurontin totally helped immediately for me in a very, very bad way at the time where I ended up checking myself in to the hospital for the first and only time in my life. It's been a godsend for me.
But so sorry about your med reactions. We really do have to be careful with them. I've been able to lower everything except the Neurontin and seem to do better at those lower doses for Zyprexa and prozac only right now.
>
> Today is NOT a good day and I'm feeling pretty pissed off, frustrated and teetering on despair. If it were only depression, anxiety, etc., but my body feels like it's being stabbed with ice picks and I'm #$^!@! sick of it. If there were a pill I could gulp to make my mind and body feel better without paying and paying for it, I'd jump at it. But there ain't none and here's where my spiritual training is supposed to come to the rescue.I hope your mood lifts! I wonder if some passionflower tea might help? Nighty Night -- don't like the name -- by Traditional Medicinals -- they have another one with p-flower in lower doses that's just calming, less sleep inducing too. I need to find some cheap sources for it since I drink it so frequently!
Best,
GabaGirl
poster:GabaGirl
thread:319971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040418/msgs/348639.html