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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Christ_empowered on March 17, 2018, at 15:21:05
I'm prescribed 20/Abilify and 200/Lamictal to take daily. The new shrink is reducing the Trileptal with the goal of stopping it, completely. I was on 1200/Trileptal for a long time, now its 900/Trileptal.
OK. Doing well. The official diagnosis is apparently "Bipolar I" of some sort. The 'experts' think some of my problems that look like ongoing psychosis are 'really' OCD-spectrum. Kinda makes sense, but...what to do about it? SSRI, SSNRI drugs are currently not an option w/ this shrink. TCA drugs, as one might imagine, are also out.
so...what to do? the "OCD" or whatever isn't constant. Sometimes, my mind loops and it makes me crazy. The Abilify @ 20 is kind of my current "sweet spot;" sufficient tranquilizer, not too much tranquilizer, no EPS, TD, akathisia, etc.
I was getting as-needed gabapentin, but current shrink frowns on that, too. I saw on the news that gabapentin is being scrutinized more, especially when there's ongoing drug abuse or a history of drug abuse in the picture. Guess who popped Mother's Little Helpers like tic tacs in his late teens? ugh.
ok. so, lamictal seems good, but I'm afraid it might end up killing me. I saw on some gov't website that it occasionally kils people by doing something nefarious to the liver.
I do think lamictal is better for me than trileptal. trileptal simmers me down, but it really seems more like a glorified sedative than an actual mood stabilizer. hard to explain, I guess.
i thought maybe I'd throw shrink a curve ball and ask for amoxapine, instead of abilify. one of my (many, many) former shrinks wanted me to take amoxapine -with- abilify, but I gave that 2 thumbs down, because it scared me, on a number of levels.
ok. any suggestions? keep in mind; I'm loaded up on supplements, Orthomolecular-style. I've even ramped up the B3 to 10 grams daily, which...actually...seems to help. I need to add fish oil, alpha lipoic acid, and coenzyme q10. If adding those (they're common in more modern Orthomolecular protocols) doesn't help, then I'll think about asking shrink for more chemical assistance.
ok. any ideas? thanks for reading. :-)
Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 17, 2018, at 15:57:56
In reply to lamictal risks, ocd, posted by Christ_empowered on March 17, 2018, at 15:21:05
>the "OCD" or whatever isn't constant. Sometimes, my mind loops and it makes me crazy.
Can you describe this more?
Posted by Christ_empowered on March 17, 2018, at 17:50:25
In reply to Re: lamictal risks, ocd, posted by ed_uk2010 on March 17, 2018, at 15:57:56
ok. on the tranquilizer (w/ supplements, of course), there's a constant level of OC-disease, or at least..."obsessive traits." I think one reason I had "dissociative" stuff in my records is because zoning out was my coping mechanism for the loops, if that makes sense.
Anyway...my loops get worse when dealing w/ bad stuff from the past, sometimes stuff I'm interested in triggers a loop, and too much sleep (rare) or not enough sleep (not common, but happens) will also trigger more looping, more all consuming loops, etc.
The current shrink (its a clinic, so they're in and out) seems to be aiming for Abilify and Lamictal, no antidepressants, no gabapentin, etc.
The looping isn't always terrible. I started having loops about my skin aging, and now I have awesome skin. That's kinda cool.
I have loops about antioxidants, adequate nutrient intake, and now I have a solid Orthomolecular protcol going. That's good, too.
But the loops about the past, especially the (horrible) treatment from years past...not good, not good at all. Now, sometimes my mind loops thru not just my experiences, but other material on mental health--szasz, foucault, kate millet, etc.--and that gets rough.
Thanks. :-)
Posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 1:22:22
In reply to Re: lamictal risks, ocd, posted by Christ_empowered on March 17, 2018, at 17:50:25
OCD, rumination set off by circumstance. Getting lost in one's thoughts. What symptoms are you wanting to treat? Gabapentin is pretty good for anxiety-- at least I take it as needed, although too much will make me loopy.
Do you walk or exercise? That might break the looping temporarily.
I apologize not saying anything more helpful. I take lamictal, 250 mg each night, and I think it helps. As far as chemicals, I wish I didn't need them or have become stuck on them, but lamictal has positive effects on my mood. Trileptal was too sedating for me. I don't know if one is more 'toxic' than the other.
Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 18, 2018, at 7:49:14
In reply to Re: lamictal risks, ocd, posted by Christ_empowered on March 17, 2018, at 17:50:25
>sometimes stuff I'm interested in triggers a loop
So sometimes, the thoughts represent an obsessive interest rather than anxiety? Some of your reading about mental health sounds like an interest.
Would you say these looping thoughts are a feature of an 'illness' or more a feature of your personality? A feature of you ...in that quite a lot of people are prone to rather obsessional and repetitive thinking for most of their lives.
Sometimes it's good (interests, which can potentially lead to personal developments) and other times it's bad - anxious ruminations and upset about the past.
>Lamictal, liver
From what I know, you have taken Lamictal for a long time. You should be well past the point of being at risk of new adverse effects. Most issues with Lamictal appear much earlier in treatment.
This is the end of the thread.
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