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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by headachequeen on December 6, 2004, at 15:01:37
In reply to Re: Heads up » redscarlet, posted by rainy on December 6, 2004, at 5:34:17
> Rainy, the one day at a time theory is not just for AA or a great song title, it is a way of life that everyone needs to embrace.
Sometimes it should be one hour at a time or one minute at a time.
The mitzvah therapy needs to extend to one's self too, I think. We are so busy thinking of other people and doing for other people and thinking of what we can do next for other people that we forget that there is a great need in the person doing and thinking for others...
Frankly if this mitzvah therapy were all that successful I should be the healthiest happiest person on earth...
Most of my time is spent in the doing and thinking and planning what next to do for the person I can help and not worrying if that person knows or cares what has been done; I want to help because that is how I function best...
of course, of late, functioning at all has been an exercise in chaos I must admit...
smiling is fun... and it catches people off guard...
try it some time when you are walking down the street... smile as you are walking and direct the smile at the next person walking toward you... some people actually smile back -- a little shocked but they smile, others almost hide in their coats or scarves or whatever and some are wonderful as they almost walk into parked cars or buildings trying to figure out what is going on...
and it makes you chuckle and feel better...but on the serious side, it is important to try the mitzvah therapy on yourself... take a little time to be good to you... it may be the most important thing you do that day because if you can't be good to you you can't be good for anyone...
kat
Posted by stresser on December 6, 2004, at 18:56:19
In reply to Re: Heads up, posted by headachequeen on December 6, 2004, at 15:01:37
Ok, I don't know where I have been, but what is Mitzvah therapy?
My daughter is finally up to 300mg of topamax.....I went ahead and bumped her on up becuase it was time and she changed doc's. Let's hope something happens. Anyway, the new doc says that Binge Eating comes from a feeling of the person "not being heard" (sometimes), and I can actually see how that can be. He didn't seem to want to take her off the topamax, he asked her if it was working, and she said she thought so. He is really different than her other doc, so things may be shaken up quite a bit. This will be good. I really liked this guy, he has seven kids, so he KNOWS kids. She will see the Pdoc. in Jan. for the medication adjustment. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one too. Good luck Bridgey on you audition!! If I only had talent!! -L
Posted by rainy on December 7, 2004, at 21:08:03
In reply to Re: Heads up, posted by stresser on December 6, 2004, at 18:56:19
anybody, what have been your experiences with effexor? weight gain? withdrawal syndrome? does it work?
rainy
Posted by MKB on December 7, 2004, at 21:20:14
In reply to effexor, posted by rainy on December 7, 2004, at 21:08:03
You should read the long thread on Effexor right under your post. Weight gain -yes. Terrible withdrawal problems - yes.
Other side effects are high blood pressure, dry skin and eyes, stomach upset, liver damage, somnolence, fatigue, dizziness, and more. Please don't start it without doing a LOT or research.
Posted by rainy on December 8, 2004, at 10:05:56
In reply to Re: effexor » rainy, posted by MKB on December 7, 2004, at 21:20:14
Thanks. Wonderful--you confirm what I've been reading. The other choice is Abilify--an antipsychotic used to treat mania in schizophrenia. One main adverse effect of that drug is one's tongue darting in and out of one's mouth like mine has been starting to do on trazodone. Plus, I'm depressed, not manic.
Can't win for losing.
rainy
Posted by bridgey1128 on December 8, 2004, at 10:33:38
In reply to Re: effexor » MKB, posted by rainy on December 8, 2004, at 10:05:56
rainy, are you JUST depressed or are you bipolar? I am horrid with names!! Sometimes I can't remember which person has which. I you all had pictures I could! :P I took Effexor, and it is horrid. STAY AWAY!!! EEK!! Why has the trazodone turned you into a lizard? Are your lips dry or is a psychological thing to lick your lips? I've never tried it so I have no experience with that one. There are SOOO many antidepressants out there, don't give up! You'll find one that works!
Posted by MKB on December 8, 2004, at 11:07:52
In reply to Re: effexor » MKB, posted by rainy on December 8, 2004, at 10:05:56
Ask your doctor if Tryptophan would help you. You can buy it without a prescription at www.healthrecovery.com, but some doctors prescribe it. It works better for me than Zoloft, Paxil, Serzone, Effexor, Depakote, or Wellbutrin, all of which I've tried. I am NOT talking about the 5HTP form. I'm talking about pharmaceutical grade L-Tryptophan. There are quite a few posts about it on the Psycho Babble Alternative board.
You can also read about it at the website I mentioned and at Wikipedia online.
Posted by bridgey1128 on December 8, 2004, at 11:18:50
In reply to Re: effexor » rainy, posted by MKB on December 8, 2004, at 11:07:52
Triptophan is what is in turkey and bananas that makes you sleepy. Does the prescription or OTC not make you just really sleepy? I would be afraid it would just knock you out and not have any other effect other than just making you so laid back you didn't care. Isn't that called somnolence?
Posted by MKB on December 8, 2004, at 11:21:21
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by bridgey1128 on December 8, 2004, at 11:18:50
It doesn't make you sleepy during the day. You take it at bedtime and it helps you sleep, but you wake up refreshed and alert.
Posted by PoohBear on December 8, 2004, at 18:41:03
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by bridgey1128 on December 8, 2004, at 11:18:50
> Triptophan is what is in turkey and bananas that makes you sleepy. Does the prescription or OTC not make you just really sleepy? I would be afraid it would just knock you out and not have any other effect other than just making you so laid back you didn't care. Isn't that called somnolence?
The main reason people get "sleepy" after eating turkey is not the l-tryptophan necessarily, nut the massive amount of food that normally goes along with a traditional turkey dinner. All that food hitting your gut causes your body to shift your blood supply to your stomach and away from your head, causing you to feel drowsy.
Tony
Posted by stresser on December 8, 2004, at 19:23:26
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by PoohBear on December 8, 2004, at 18:41:03
I was just reading the posts about effexor, and am wondering what the bad side effects are. My daughter was put on it for a short time one summer ago, but didn't stay on it long enough for any bad side effects to take place....thank goodness.
I am thinking about buying some 1-tryptophan for myself and trying it, because the welbutrin isn't working anymore, and I don't know if there's anyting out there that will. What are the side effects from that? I do need the sleep at night.....that would be a plus!!!-L
Posted by MKB on December 9, 2004, at 1:42:44
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by stresser on December 8, 2004, at 19:23:26
L-Tryptophan is worth a try. I'm sticking with it as there are no bad side-effects. You might have some weird dreams in the beginning. Pharmaceutical L-tryptophan is what you want to try to get, not the 5HTP. You'll probably have to purchase it online. There are several websites that offer it. I get mine from www.healthrecovery.com.
Posted by headachequeen on December 9, 2004, at 12:42:08
In reply to effexor, posted by rainy on December 7, 2004, at 21:08:03
> anybody, what have been your experiences with effexor? weight gain? withdrawal syndrome? does it work?
>
> rainyI don't remember all the side effects that were listed with the brochure the pharmacist gave me with the effexor the first time I was given it, but I do remember her warning me that it would cause weight gain and it did...
it did turn me into a zombie and of course it was the wrong medication for the situation as we know now...
although it did help at the time as I was really becoming stressed, almost panic-stricken given the circumstances surrounding the seizures I was having... the loss of days and so on...
When I decided it was time to stop taking it, I quit it and zyprexa at the same time
simply quit taking them ...
decided as I walked home that I was not happy with them and that they were doing nothing but suppressing my emotions so that it was time to stop.
I had no problems with the stopping...
no withdrawal symptoms, no reactions, nothing, although I was told afterward that many people have a terrible time coming off either and or both...it is not something I would recommend for a person with weight problems and not something I would recommend based on what I learned from my doctors after I quit 'cold turkey'...
had I known what could happen before I quit I would have been much more cautious -- and about starting to take it in the first place
kat
Posted by headachequeen on December 9, 2004, at 12:47:35
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by PoohBear on December 8, 2004, at 18:41:03
> > Triptophan is what is in turkey and bananas that makes you sleepy. Does the prescription or OTC not make you just really sleepy? I would be afraid it would just knock you out and not have any other effect other than just making you so laid back you didn't care. Isn't that called somnolence?
>
> The main reason people get "sleepy" after eating turkey is not the l-tryptophan necessarily, nut the massive amount of food that normally goes along with a traditional turkey dinner. All that food hitting your gut causes your body to shift your blood supply to your stomach and away from your head, causing you to feel drowsy.
>
> Tony
>
>Triptophan in turkey has been identified as being something that does cause one to be drowsy... and it is present in bananas too... one of the reasons they recommend bananas or a turkey sandwich as a bedtime snack for certain people
for instance, with certain tests that are coming up, I cannot take any meds that are meant to induce sleep by turning off the brain as it takes two to three weeks to eliminate them from the system but I am allowed to have a banana or two before bed because of the triptophan ... even a turkey sandwich as long as I don't eat the bread...
kat
Posted by ask on December 9, 2004, at 23:42:56
In reply to effexor, posted by rainy on December 7, 2004, at 21:08:03
I'm not sure if the Effexor is helping my depression. My level of depression seems to be more affected by my general attitude based on what's going on in my life than on the medication. Has anyone felt this too? If so, what did you do to fix the problem? Up the med? Taper it down and start a new med?
Many thanks.
Posted by rainy on December 10, 2004, at 4:37:09
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by ask on December 9, 2004, at 23:42:56
Hi, ask. You've posed a big question; can I ask you a couple in return? What's your diagnosis and who made it--a psychiatrist or your family practitioner? How long have you been on Effexor? I guess all these meds have a poop out factor. Also, it takes time to find the right medication.
If you're willing, would you share a little more about your situation?
rainy
Posted by rainy on December 10, 2004, at 6:01:27
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by ask on December 9, 2004, at 23:42:56
Anybody had experience with trileptal as a mood stabilizer? Adverse effects?
rainy
Posted by iris2 on December 10, 2004, at 11:51:28
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by ask on December 9, 2004, at 23:42:56
I would think that if your mood is generally more affected by outside influences than medication than you should consider therapy and learn how not to get depressed about things in your life. If you are able to change your reactions and not be depressed or anxious or whatever than you should not have a need for medication. Too many of us reach for medication and do not try to solve things with diet, exersise, and therapy. It is a simpler more long term and healthier answer if it can be occomplished. Medications should be the last resort not the first. Another thing to remember is that everyone experiences bad times in life and it does not always mean there is something wrong.
irene
Posted by bridgey1128 on December 10, 2004, at 15:21:58
In reply to Re: effexor » ask, posted by iris2 on December 10, 2004, at 11:51:28
I agree. If you know what makes you depressed. Don't do those things. Stay away from those things. Just from what you said it makes me wonder why you need medication. It sounds like you would better benefit from a counselor than any kind of meds. Maybe herbal stuff at the worst. Massage therapy, exercise. Things that naturally boost your body's endorphines. THat and Effexor is horrid horrid stuff. BE CAREFUL when you come off or you will have some BAD BAD stuff. Brain shivers are what I had. Where you feel like someone just took your head and shook it. Randomly. I am bipolar or I wish I didn't have to take medication. People act like I CHOOSE to take it, like I just LOVE taking medication or it's a cop out. Oh yeah, I just LOVE spending extra money I don't have every month!! :P Riiiiight. Also, do you take your B vitamins? That is another thing to consider. If there is any other way besides medication and you can do it, DO IT! :)
Posted by rainy on December 14, 2004, at 5:42:35
In reply to Re: effexor, posted by bridgey1128 on December 10, 2004, at 15:21:58
Week two of titrating up from 300 to 400 mgs Topamax. This from a woman who wanted to go down to 200. I've been at 325 for a week without too much serious forgetfulness (other than letting our expensive, anniversary present tea kettle boil dry)and plan to stay here for another week before upping to 350. It was at 350 last year that I became disorented while driving and couldn't hold my own in a conversation, so I'm leery of it.
Down to 200 mgs wellbutrin (unless I forget to take the PM dose, then it's 100) and I'm experiencing less anxiety. I want to try niacinimide, magnesium and taurine--as in cat food, move over kitties--for anxiety before I go back to pdoc in late December. The search for a new one, pdoc, is fizzling--my referrals either cost $225 per visit or require therapy as adjunct. Can't afford. I'm considering disability; at least I could afford medication.
If the natural stuff doesn't work then I think I'll ask her if trileptal is OK as an add on mood stabilizer. From what I've been reading on Psych Education or another site, a lot of bipolar people aren't on ADs at all-just mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics.
I'm realizing that I don't know as much as i thought I did about bipolar disorder and medication--when pdoc suggested Abilify, I sort of freaked--"I'm not psychotic--yet!" I need to read some more. I also didn't know how this site worked--like I've thought up until this week that this thread was the med board. Talk about provincial.
Hoo boy.Thanks for all your feed back about Effexor. No way will I take it.
Kat, where art thou???
Stresser, how's M doing on the higher dose of topamax? Any cognitive problems?
merry, how are you and the holidays getting along?
rainy
Posted by redscarlet on December 14, 2004, at 10:21:13
In reply to Going to the Max, posted by rainy on December 14, 2004, at 5:42:35
raniy ~
"From what I've been reading on Psych Education or another site, a lot of bipolar people aren't on ADs at all-just mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics."
Can you please share the names of these websites, I'm bipolar and I'm always looking for good website for information... Thanks
Posted by rainy on December 14, 2004, at 17:18:14
In reply to Bipolar meds, posted by redscarlet on December 14, 2004, at 10:21:13
By far the most helpful site has been Psycheducaion.org. I google it. It gives links to articles and sourses on some of the comments that the moderator, a Dr. Phelps, makes. That way you can do your own research. McMan's Web is another good resource with a hook in to Medscape, but I don't have the correct address at hand--I'll post it later. NIMH has some published research abstracts that aren't much help, too short, but are interesting.
The alternative board here has links to interesting research but it takes some sifting to get to it.
I've been glued to Psycheducation for most of the past week. You probably already know most of this stuff though--you've been diagnosed for longer than I have.
The big Psycho Babble Board has more stuff on Effexor than I wanted to know--it surely did help me make up my mind about both it and Abilify--no no no!
So good luck and please, let me know what you find out. I'll get back to you about McMan. His newsletter is very useful.
rainy
Posted by headachequeen on December 14, 2004, at 19:09:39
In reply to Going to the Max, posted by rainy on December 14, 2004, at 5:42:35
> Week two of titrating up from 300 to 400 mgs Topamax. This from a woman who wanted to go down to 200. I've been at 325 for a week without too much serious forgetfulness (other than letting our expensive, anniversary present tea kettle boil dry)and plan to stay here for another week before upping to 350. It was at 350 last year that I became disorented while driving and couldn't hold my own in a conversation, so I'm leery of it.
>
Rainy, I am here... but just LOL
spent a delightful ???? time at club med and I don't mean the tropical club Med either while they attached more electrodes to my head and ecg wires and I forget what-all to try and figure out what it is that does or does not make me tick...
then the sleep lab...now, that was an experience ...
the tech informed me that I do not sleep very well... no kidding? I do not have sleep apnea; she thinks that the nurse who told me that I do was really missing seizures... they were supposed to be checking every few minutes to see if they could catch a seizure occuring to see what happens when it does and the tech figures (and I have secretly thought the same thing) that the sudden stoppage of breathing accompanied the start of the rigid comatose type of tonic clonic seizure I have at night... she also suggested that perhaps this nurse did not belong on a neurological service if she could not recognise this behaviour...
another thought that was occurring to me as she was suggesting what the breath stopping might be...
she is going to hand the stuff over to the doctor for evaluation of course...
besides, apparently as soon as I reach deep sleep I waken; she told me I wakened at least ten times during the night in a soundproofed room so it is not the neighbour's dog barking or a car door slamming that wakens me, it is me or something in me...
she said it was the oddest thing... I gave her permission to say it was wierd <g>... and she would be interested in discussing it with the sleep doctor who would be talking with my doctor and the neurologist about it...
here we go again thinks I...
so in a couple of weeks I meet with this doctor and perhaps with the other two at the same time to see if there is some way to get all this sorted and have a normal response to sleep at least...
or to see what effect the epilepsy is having on my sleep or vice verse....
tomorrow it is off to the clinic and to meet with the neurologist in charge or whatever he is called...
such fun...
I can't think of a better way to spend the week...
not
meanwhile I have been reading articles and things that keep popping up about depression and weight and sleep and so on...
there is a definite link between too much sleep and the wrong kind of sleep and overweight...
and now a definite link between the lack of omega3 and depression. we knew that, but a lack of it is a definite link to post partum depression and there is considered to be a definite link to bipolar...
going to dig out the info and post it...
this psychiatrist who is preeminent in his field to quote someone or other, insists his patients treat themselves to one salmon oil capsule a day...
I am not depressed but I am surely anxious about this sleep thing... another thought the tech had was that the treatment for this deviated septum might have helped if there had been sleep apnea but she still suspects it is seizure related, so why the snoring (and I was always taught that ladies do not snore... sigh another rule of etiquette broken)
and back to this broken sleep and constant fatigue which does not help the seizure thing...
so I am going to try the salmon oil thing...
I will even eat salmon if it helps...
can't hurt....
kat
Posted by redscarlet on December 14, 2004, at 20:57:45
In reply to Re: Bipolar meds » redscarlet, posted by rainy on December 14, 2004, at 17:18:14
Rainy ~ Thanks for the info on the website, I'll check it out.
I tried Abilify in the summer of 2003, I got BAD akathisia from just the lowest starting doses and had to stop taking it.
I'm having a touch of akathisia on the 40mgs of Geodon that I take, but because it works so well I'm willing to live with it.
However I think it may bother other people, I can't sit still to well, and stuff like going to the movies is a true test of my friends patients.
Out of all the meds I've been on, I've never been on Effexor, and nor would I be !!! I know all to well to stay away from that one ! The only SSRI I can take is the Wellbutrin.Here's a website that has some med info, if you don't already know about it...
There's a lot of info about Topamax from other people's experience with it.
Well, so much to read and so little time !!! :-)
Posted by rainy on December 15, 2004, at 8:15:04
In reply to Re: Bipolar meds, posted by redscarlet on December 14, 2004, at 20:57:45
> Rainy ~ Thanks for the info on the website, I'll check it out.
> I tried Abilify in the summer of 2003, I got BAD akathisia from just the lowest starting doses and had to stop taking it.
> I'm having a touch of akathisia on the 40mgs of Geodon that I take, but because it works so well I'm willing to live with it.
> However I think it may bother other people, I can't sit still to well, and stuff like going to the movies is a true test of my friends patients.
> Out of all the meds I've been on, I've never been on Effexor, and nor would I be !!! I know all to well to stay away from that one ! The only SSRI I can take is the Wellbutrin.Don't mean to be a know-it all but wellbutrin is one of the few ADs that's "allowed" for us bipolars and it isn't an SSRI. It falls into some other class of the little things. That's probably why you(and I) can tke it.
Here's a website that has some med info, if you don't already know about it...
> There's a lot of info about Topamax from other people's experience with it.
>>Yes, I've gotten some useful information from it, but the last time I looked it had been shut down for repairs or something--at least the trileptal info part had. I also found the tone rather negative, but maybe that's because I was.
Another good one is Remedyfind, because I don't have complete address, I Google that one.
There's where I got a lot of good "reviews" of Effexor, but not enough. They all mentioned the yuck, even though it was working for them.
Does Geodon cause weight gain--I know his is an issue for you--and does it help with depression? I'm going down the tubes again on the lower dose of wellbutrin--100 just doesn't cut it. 200 is here we go with the anxiety. That's why, along with the fish oil Kat mentions (although not salmon, according to other research) I'm thinking of trileptal.rainy
>
> Well, so much to read and so little time !!! :-)
>
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