Posted by SLS on December 19, 2014, at 7:56:41
In reply to Re: Why does it seem like meds are the only solution » SLS, posted by baseball55 on December 18, 2014, at 19:32:03
> > I think that, for some especially vulnerable people, when psychological stresses on the brain exceed its ability to cope with them resiliently, a major mental illness can be triggered as some sort of psychoneural dysregulation. From there, changes in brain morphology can occur. Once this state is reached, somatic (biological) interventions seem to be essential to bring about a remission of these brain disorders. Psychotherapy should not be ignored, though. It can help to reduce the psychosocial stress that triggered the illness in the first place, and allow the drugs to work better. When the drugs work better, so does the psychotherapy. A positive feedback loop is thus created that might facilitate a more rapid and robust improvement.
> >
> This makes a lot of sense to me. When I get depressed or anxious, it might start out with some trigger, but it takes on a life of its own in my body and brain. I notice this especially with anxiety (which, thank god, I don't have very often). Some thought or situation might trigger it, but once triggered, I feel totally out of control and panicked. This becomes self-reinforcing and I get worse and worse. Eventually, I call my p-doc and get some xanax and, within a day, I feel all better. The xanax resets my body.Interesting. Thanks for describing your experience with anxiety.
> I haven't found anything that magically resets depression though. Sometimes, just a 3-4 day course of abilify will put me back on track, but this is not dependable.
I'm not sure there are many "standard" antidepressants that can be used PRN. They should be taken continuously. In fact, the pulsing (on-and-off) of these drugs is thought to produce treatment resistance - at least to the specific drug being pulsed. People who take Paxil (paroxetine), and ultimately relapse or build up a resistance to it, can produce a system resistant to all SSRIs. This would be considered a class effect.
What are the most prominent symptoms of your depression?
Perhaps combining Abilify with a stimulant like Focalin (dexmethylphenidate) could be used PRN.
Is bipolar disorder a possibility?
Lamictal + Abilify might make sense if this is the condition you are dealing with.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1074225
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20141120/msgs/1074365.html