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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by bridgey1128 on June 22, 2005, at 20:38:36
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone » headachequeen, posted by ed_uk on June 22, 2005, at 20:21:23
Kat, manic highs and then crashes would indicate bipolar. People who are bipolar tend to be very creative and get much of their creativity from their manias. Then you get bored or it doesn't work fast enough, or onto another project that gets half done. It's usually about the excitement of newness and starting something and then the crash comes when it doesn't work like expected or takes too long...etc. That is one reason why I just hated taking my meds. I felt like my creativity was being sucked out of my brain along with my sense and sense of balance. If taking a med to "even me out" means that I will lose that part of me then I don't want be on anything. I have felt like doody every time I have taken something and I don't like it. Effexor was HOOOOORRRRIIIDDDDDD. Oh man, I wouldn't recommend that unless you are planning on staying on it forever! The withdrawl from it is unbelieveable. Even when you miss a single dose or are late..you usually start up with the brain shivers. I had a constant headache for about a month before I finally said NO MORE. That was before I was diagnosed with bipolar. Other than having a really CRAPPY day today, unrealated to coming BACK off the Topomax, I have slept like a baby and had SO much more energy! I couldn't believe how tired I was all the time until I stopped taking the Topomax.
Posted by iris2 on June 22, 2005, at 22:23:23
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 22, 2005, at 18:10:46
Ed,
THanks for the advice. But the four or five times I tried it after my first experience I began at very small doses. I believe 37.5 is the smallest dose. I was not able to take that anymore as my Interstitial Cystitis had developed much more. Inishally I had increased the dose fast because I was in the hospital where they were first begining trials of it and I wanted to get out. So I did not have problems at the smaller doses but I ended up at around a rediculous amount(cannot rmember but I do recall no one takes that much) Anyway they did not believe me that I had urinary problems because it was not a "side effect" Sent me in a taxi to the urology quack I was seeing at the time who just dialated my urethra as he had been doing for 3 years and sent me on my way. I told them all to go to hell and they suggested shock treatments. I had had two sets prior with no response. What idiots!!!!I left.
Thanks I do wish I could take it and if I do something drastic like have my bladder removed I might take it,
Irene
Posted by iris2 on June 22, 2005, at 22:27:34
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone » iris2, posted by headachequeen on June 22, 2005, at 19:52:33
Kat,
Okay if one is speaking of manic personallity or manic depression than yes of course Lithium would have an effect. Call it what you want"flatlining"I think you mentioned. But for those that "manic"phase is not complimentary to their lives but interfering or perhaps making it disfunctional than taking a moo stabiliser such as Lithium or several others would be a rather good idea.
irene
Posted by ed_uk on June 23, 2005, at 13:36:37
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine, posted by iris2 on June 22, 2005, at 22:23:23
Hi Irene,
Have you ever tried Lamictal for your depression?
~Ed
Posted by headachequeen on June 23, 2005, at 22:20:22
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone » headachequeen, posted by ed_uk on June 22, 2005, at 20:21:23
> Hi Kat,
>
> What drug did he suggest to replace Tegretol?
>
> ~Ed
Hi EdI am trying to remember, I think it is Limictil or similar sounding name... and if the lack of tegretol and reduced dose of topomax (as I am now getting more benefit from it!!!!! duh) don't make a difference, he will try that when I see him on the follow-up visit in January...
another of those 24 hour sleep deprived eeg tortures booked for 26 July and I get to hear what they find out in January...
I am truly fed up....kat
Posted by ed_uk on June 24, 2005, at 10:08:47
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone, posted by headachequeen on June 23, 2005, at 22:20:22
Hi Kat!
>I am trying to remember, I think it is Limictil or similar sounding name...
Lamictal (lamotrigine)
~Ed
Posted by stresser on June 24, 2005, at 17:02:56
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone » headachequeen, posted by ed_uk on June 24, 2005, at 10:08:47
I think it's strange how the topomax works so well for me, and not for others. Is there a medication to take the "Bi-polar" out of "Bi-Polar"? If you can understand that. I have a friend who has a daughter who is Bi-Polar, and I think she is more type I. She's very impulsive, with typical BP1 symptoms. She is driving my friend into a nervous breakdown, and is now on medication herself. She shows signs just like my daughter, but not nearly as bad. What is the best thing for that? -L
Posted by stresser on June 24, 2005, at 17:04:10
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone, posted by stresser on June 24, 2005, at 17:02:56
Sorry, I mean she is worse..far worse than my daughter! -L
Posted by iris2 on June 25, 2005, at 0:57:52
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 23, 2005, at 13:36:37
Ed,
No. Thought about it but it ws at time I was not willing to try anything again.
Irene
Posted by iris2 on June 25, 2005, at 1:14:11
In reply to Re: Kat and everyone, posted by stresser on June 24, 2005, at 17:02:56
Stresser,
boy would it not be nice if this were a much more exact science. A doc can take two people brought up similarly at the amed age with the same diagnosis and symptoms and one it might be magic for the other poison. It is very archaic as most of meicine is. Take this or that particular poison and see if it provides for an objective feeling of not having some particular symptom (at least as far as depression is) forget what it could be doing to all the other systems in your body whether you feel that efect or not. Consider the rather simplistic example of your liver . HOw it all has to go through your (or most) liver and puts stress on it and after years could have damamging effects. And of course the others we call "side effects" whch they ae not. They ae effects of the cheicals we are putting into our bodies just not the effects we are wanting!!Oh well I am on my high horse . It is not like I never take medications. But I myself and try to persuade others to go the natural route first and try it for a whie as it can take longer. You I would thnk would feel this way as you are a physical instructor, something about as natural a healing in your body as one can get.
Irene
Posted by ed_uk on June 25, 2005, at 15:48:12
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine, posted by iris2 on June 25, 2005, at 0:57:52
Hi Irene,
Since 'normal' ADs seems to make your IC symptoms worse, I thought it might be useful to try a non-classical AD such as Lamictal.
Kind regards
~Ed
Posted by stresser on June 25, 2005, at 17:09:55
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 25, 2005, at 15:48:12
You would think I would feel that way. Not so. I'm just too tired of not having a so called "normal" life, that if medication is what is needed, then WE SHALL TAKE IT. I am certainly not opposed to medication, and never have been. It changes lives for the better, and it saves lives. It must be used correctly, and not abused, but sometimes it falls into the wrong hands, or gets out of control in the right hands. Never say "Never". (I'm a very open minded person) You might me suprised how many people involved in fitness, abuse controlled medications, and/or illegal steriods. It turns my stomach. -L
Posted by iris2 on June 26, 2005, at 13:59:57
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 25, 2005, at 15:48:12
> Since 'normal' ADs seems to make your IC symptoms worse, I thought it might be useful to try a non-classical AD such as Lamictal.
>
> Kind regards
>
> ~EdED,
Thanks for the advice. Right now I am beginning to see a naturopath so lets see how that goes first. Why is Lamactil so different? Even drugs like flexeril cause terrible flare ups?
irene
Posted by iris2 on June 26, 2005, at 14:05:26
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine, posted by stresser on June 25, 2005, at 17:09:55
HOnestly as much as I compain about my depression it might be funy to her me say this.
I think a lot of people in our times think that life is supposed to be all fun and there are not supposed to be hard times and if there are than by god you had better hurry up and take some med aor get some therapy because if things are not perfect almost all the time than something must be wrong.
Honestly I would be more than saticfied to be able to get up most mornings and just want to live or have some reason any at all to want to live. Forget about being perfectly thin or good looking or athletic etc. I just would be okay to be content with myself and willing to work on improvments so that I have something to live for!!!
Irene
Posted by ed_uk on June 26, 2005, at 15:38:03
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine, posted by iris2 on June 26, 2005, at 13:59:57
Hi Irene,
>Right now I am beginning to see a naturopath so lets see how that goes first.
I hope it helps :-)
>Why is Lamactil so different?
Well........I don't think it's got anything in common with 'normal' ADs. Come to think of it, I think it might be a weak serotonin reuptake inhibitor though.
Kind regards
~Ed
Posted by rainy on June 27, 2005, at 8:58:00
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 26, 2005, at 15:38:03
I don't know they "whys" of Lamictal. I do know that my pdoc was certain it would smooth my moods and ease my depression. It didn't as I recall because it made my hair fall out in handfulls and I got so upset about that it was hard to pay attention to the other aspects of my being. Things were also complicated by a recent, unwanted move to an unloved house in equatorial NJ heat, a grumpy husband (no wonder!) and no job. There were lots of things impinging on how I was "feeling."
We went out of town and I forgot the lamictal. I felt almost immediately physicially better and decided to continue to not take it since I had an up coming pdoc appointment. I couldn't believe that hair loss slowed, I felt more like myself despite the fact that our house remained cramped and I without life meaning--I had more energy and humor and I put those pills on a shelf. Forever.
But they do work for a lot of people.
rainy.
Posted by headachequeen on June 27, 2005, at 16:11:07
In reply to Re: Incentives for meds and Amineptine » iris2, posted by ed_uk on June 25, 2005, at 15:48:12
> Hi Irene,
>
> Since 'normal' ADs seems to make your IC symptoms worse, I thought it might be useful to try a non-classical AD such as Lamictal.
>
> Kind regards
>
> ~EdOh, brother!
I have been reading the recent posts and now I am really wondering about all this...
if Lamictal is an AD, why on earth would this neurologist suggest it might be an answer for epileptic seizures???Some days I want to stop the merry-go-round and get off to start again at a sensible pace...
I use many natural remedies and approaches to healing... after all, I am a Reiki practitioner and planning to become a Reiki master when I feel the time is right and I am ready for that step and I have been able to help others as well as myself using Reiki.
A fellow practioner, a Master actually, has also studied aromatherapy and many other natural approaches to healing as well as the negative aspects of certain aromas, oils, herbs, foods and so on...
following the information she has provided, I have removed certain foods and other 'natural' not chemical preparations from my life and found that it helps... staying away from that confounded juniper shrub that wanted to be a tree and is now eighteen feet high at the corner of the driveway helps a great deal LOL....
but I also realise that I cannot simply turn my back on conventional medicine; the alternative and conventional have to be used together...
thank heaven for a wonderful primary care physician who is leaving this area... and then what happens???at any rate, I will not know anything more about the lamictal for seizures until January so shall not worry about it, but I think back to last August and the sheer chaos that was my life following that 24-hour sleep-deprived eeg tele whatsis and then wonder about repeating the experience at the end of July...
I am really not looking forward to going through all that again...
nad what is the point when things can and likely will change by the time I see this chap in January...we are supposed to have such a great medical system in this country, but he wants everything to fit between the lines and cannot understand, as my reg doctor does and the other doctors who treat my weird combination of redhead symptoms, that not everyone fits in the lines..
some children are free spirits; others have not yet developed their fine motor skills enough to stay within the lines. Besides, it is always better to let a child express himself on a blank sheet of paper than try to make him colour the picture that you present in the colouring book...
I am the child who cannot stay within the lines...
and he does not want to understand that there is something that is not straightforward about this
nonsense.
So as of today, on my own dr's advice, it is back to the regular dosage of topomax, ditch the clobazam which makes me ill and groggy and sort of dopey, and back to taking control of my life...
I have not been taking the clobazam for quite a while anyway...I am also going to look into more reiki and alternative options to enhance the medications..
not to replace them....and then look forward to the mri and ct scan for my spine and leg...
does it ever end...
kat
Posted by ed_uk on June 27, 2005, at 18:48:17
In reply to Re: Incentives now Lamictal » ed_uk, posted by headachequeen on June 27, 2005, at 16:11:07
Hi Kat,
Lamictal (lamotrigine) is an anti-epileptic. It was designed to treat epilepsy. It was later discovered that it was a useful treatment for depression as well.
See........
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lamotrigine_ids.htm
~Ed
Posted by headachequeen on June 27, 2005, at 20:03:39
In reply to Re: Incentives now Lamictal » headachequeen, posted by ed_uk on June 27, 2005, at 18:48:17
> Hi Kat,
>
> Lamictal (lamotrigine) is an anti-epileptic. It was designed to treat epilepsy. It was later discovered that it was a useful treatment for depression as well.
>
> See........
>
> http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lamotrigine_ids.htm
>
> ~EdOh... I see... thank you, Ed, for the explanation and information... clear and easy to understand.
I have said it so often, but this is where I find so much more help than in the offices of the specialists.Now that Tegretol is out of my life I will be able to remember what I learn here without having to go back and read and re-read it a thousand times! So much simpler this way.
kat
Posted by ed_uk on June 28, 2005, at 2:36:41
In reply to Re: Incentives now Lamictal, posted by headachequeen on June 27, 2005, at 20:03:39
>Now that Tegretol is out of my life I will be able to remember what I learn here without having to go back and read and re-read it a thousand times!
:-)
~Ed
Posted by michelle1 on July 12, 2005, at 0:27:58
In reply to topomax, posted by Ellen Brodie on April 19, 1999, at 15:58:40
Just getting started 25mg of topomax yesterday, with lithium increase 450mg and 1/2 tablet and seroquel 50mg. slept well actually woke up later than usual however think I went sleep later though not certain I fade in and out at night who is to tell. Today increased to 50mg of topomax I think I increased to soon doctor said go slow wants me to get up to 300 to 400. right arm feeling little pain. don't know
Posted by rainy on July 12, 2005, at 8:45:26
In reply to Re: topomax, posted by michelle1 on July 12, 2005, at 0:27:58
Hi, Michelle, welcome to the topamax (and other stuff) board. You'll want to take it very easy as you increase your dose of this mad med, otherwise more than your arm will hurt. Most of us have been told by our clinicians or discovered that we need to increase no faster than 25 mgs every two or three weeks. That seems awfully slow, but to do it any faster is to invite cognitive troubles, lots of tingling in hands, arms, face, with me the crabbies, stuff you neither want nor need. Your doctor may suggest going up 25 mgs per week--too fast. Go Slow. Those of us who are taking Topamax, and I'm on 400 mgs, can't chant that loud enough. That's your mantra. Go Slow.
also, good luck and always ask a bunch of questions.
rainy
Posted by michelle1 on July 12, 2005, at 12:39:25
In reply to Re: topomax » michelle1, posted by rainy on July 12, 2005, at 8:45:26
How do I get to this message board without having to leave the website i keep having to leave website dr. dob then type in topomax. and then scroll down and find dr. bob? Unsure what I'm doing wrong new to this website. Thankyou for useful infor. that seems to be key going slowly. I hope it works dr. says I'm borderline to diabetic great one more illness just what i need , i need to seriuosly need to loose the weight.
Posted by Dr. Bob on July 12, 2005, at 19:30:54
In reply to Re: topomax, posted by michelle1 on July 12, 2005, at 12:39:25
> How do I get to this message board without having to leave the website
Try bookmarking this page:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/babble.html
Or without frames:
Hope that helps!
Bob
Posted by headachequeen on July 12, 2005, at 23:05:23
In reply to Re: topomax, posted by michelle1 on July 12, 2005, at 0:27:58
> Just getting started 25mg of topomax yesterday, with lithium increase 450mg and 1/2 tablet and seroquel 50mg. slept well actually woke up later than usual however think I went sleep later though not certain I fade in and out at night who is to tell. Today increased to 50mg of topomax I think I increased to soon doctor said go slow wants me to get up to 300 to 400. right arm feeling little pain. don't know
You certainly did increase the dosage too soon...
it is important to titre up slowly, no faster than in two week increments...
half the total dosage in evening dosages, then starting in the morning to add the rest of the total dosages...for instance if the total dosage is to be 400 mg, work up slowly to 200 mg in the evening, then start in the morning to work up to 200 mg...
this way you avoid the risk of side effects...
kat
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