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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lyrical13 on January 17, 2004, at 7:25:31
I found a little link on one of these pages for the chat area for psychobabble. I think its' called psychobabble open. Does anyone ever go there to chat? If so, when? It was completely dead when I checked it out.
L13
Posted by femlite on January 17, 2004, at 14:11:18
In reply to when do folks chat?, posted by Lyrical13 on January 17, 2004, at 7:25:31
Didnt know about it
Posted by femlite on January 17, 2004, at 22:48:15
In reply to when do folks chat?, posted by Lyrical13 on January 17, 2004, at 7:25:31
I sighned up my yahoo account so Im rrready. Ye let me know, and we'll giver a go.
Mean time talk it up to the folks for a few days and see what come, eh?
Posted by Lyrical13 on January 18, 2004, at 2:35:31
In reply to Re: when do folks chat? » Lyrical13, posted by femlite on January 17, 2004, at 22:48:15
Well, I'm most often online in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning because I haven't been sleeping well lately. I am in the middle of a med change. Ever since I started backing down my dose of Seroquel a week ago, I haven't been sleeping well. I fall asleep OK but wake up after a few hours and can't get back to sleep (case in point..it's 3:30 AM EDT) And last year at this time of year when I started getting hypomanic my sleep pattern was similar. Hopefully the new med will help stabilize me (BP2 apparently and not depression/GAD..starting Lamictal this week. Am currently also on Effexor)
But I can be available other times too. Probably teh best "normal time" is after about 6pm Eastern. Let me know what your schedule is like and keep watch at this thread for other responses.
Thanks for writing!
Lyrical 13
Posted by femlite on January 18, 2004, at 6:57:18
In reply to Re: when do folks chat?, posted by Lyrical13 on January 18, 2004, at 2:35:31
I use to have that middle of the night problem, also mania induced. I take sleep meds now to force myself to bed. Otherwise the more I stay up the more I stay up, if you know what I mean.
Ill look for you! But tell others when you post them and maybe we can get some real activity over in the chat room. Im glad you brought it up. There have been a few times when a real time diologue has been disirable, THANKS!
> Well, I'm most often online in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning because I haven't been sleeping well lately. I am in the middle of a med change. Ever since I started backing down my dose of Seroquel a week ago, I haven't been sleeping well. I fall asleep OK but wake up after a few hours and can't get back to sleep (case in point..it's 3:30 AM EDT) And last year at this time of year when I started getting hypomanic my sleep pattern was similar. Hopefully the new med will help stabilize me (BP2 apparently and not depression/GAD..starting Lamictal this week. Am currently also on Effexor)
>
> But I can be available other times too. Probably teh best "normal time" is after about 6pm Eastern. Let me know what your schedule is like and keep watch at this thread for other responses.
>
> Thanks for writing!
> Lyrical 13
Posted by Lyrical13 on January 18, 2004, at 7:40:08
In reply to Re: when do folks chat? » Lyrical13, posted by femlite on January 18, 2004, at 6:57:18
Definitely. I'll come onto this site and post some questions that I really want answers to NOW! And there are others times when I'm feeling rough that I really could use a talk with someone who's "been there". I'm so glad I found this site. I stumbled upon it when I was looking up info on Lamictal. I'm not sure what my schedule is going to be like today. We are going computer desk hunting. My dh has started back to school and I take the occasional online class, plus all the time I spend on psychobabble (sometimes I'm on here for a couple hours at a time, esp when I can't sleep. I try to read a bit and then go back up and try to sleep again but there are times I'm just wide awake. I've taken Ambien before but I have to have 6 hours before I need to get up or I have a drug hangover. I just heard about a new one...somnitol or something like that... it supposedly has a shorter duration so I could take it for those 3am wake-ups and still be able to get up when the alarm goes off. I am in the middle of a med change now and I don't want to complicate things by taking a sleep med. I figure it's short term. The last couple days I took a nap for an hour or two and it helped. I know you're not supposed to nap when you're having difficulty with insomnia, but I figured I was stuck with this problem for probably another week so I might as well try to get whatever rest I can. I see my pdoc Tues so I'll see what he has to say.
Mon and Tues eve are really crazy this week. Wed eve might be a good possibility. That's Dad night...the night hubby usually gets together for a guy night with his dad and brother. But it might also be Sister Night for me and my little sis. But we might still come online. She is having similar problems as me and I'm really trying to help get her through it. She asked if we could go on psychobabble when she spent the night on New Years. That's when I actually found the chat area and we went in there and there was no one there!
Well, hopefully some other folks will find this post too and we can get something going. If not, we'll start our own little gathering! :)
I hope you have a good day!
Lyrical
Posted by femlite on January 18, 2004, at 13:00:25
In reply to real time dialogue, posted by Lyrical13 on January 18, 2004, at 7:40:08
Hi Lyrical
Our lives sound SO similar!
I have two sweeties (besides my hubby). Im also in school online. What are you studying?
Ive struggled with depression my whole life. This past year was the first time I considered medication.
I have tried lots of sleep meds. Are you sure it was ambien that gave you a hanhover? it is the shortest acting of all the benzos. If you felt that way I believe you. I have some very atypical responses and would be the last to say its not possible. The half life of ambien is 1 hour. Ive tried trazadone, (egads!) big hangover. And Neurotin. Ive built up tolerance to ambien before and had to takes drug holidays, which means no sleep that night, but it seems a nec. evil.I will be out of town tonight. we'll hook up soon okay?
your very sweet to get this chat going, theres so many times I could use a real chat. I look forward to getting to know you> Definitely. I'll come onto this site and post some questions that I really want answers to NOW! And there are others times when I'm feeling rough that I really could use a talk with someone who's "been there". I'm so glad I found this site. I stumbled upon it when I was looking up info on Lamictal. I'm not sure what my schedule is going to be like today. We are going computer desk hunting. My dh has started back to school and I take the occasional online class, plus all the time I spend on psychobabble (sometimes I'm on here for a couple hours at a time, esp when I can't sleep. I try to read a bit and then go back up and try to sleep again but there are times I'm just wide awake. I've taken Ambien before but I have to have 6 hours before I need to get up or I have a drug hangover. I just heard about a new one...somnitol or something like that... it supposedly has a shorter duration so I could take it for those 3am wake-ups and still be able to get up when the alarm goes off. I am in the middle of a med change now and I don't want to complicate things by taking a sleep med. I figure it's short term. The last couple days I took a nap for an hour or two and it helped. I know you're not supposed to nap when you're having difficulty with insomnia, but I figured I was stuck with this problem for probably another week so I might as well try to get whatever rest I can. I see my pdoc Tues so I'll see what he has to say.
>
> Mon and Tues eve are really crazy this week. Wed eve might be a good possibility. That's Dad night...the night hubby usually gets together for a guy night with his dad and brother. But it might also be Sister Night for me and my little sis. But we might still come online. She is having similar problems as me and I'm really trying to help get her through it. She asked if we could go on psychobabble when she spent the night on New Years. That's when I actually found the chat area and we went in there and there was no one there!
>
> Well, hopefully some other folks will find this post too and we can get something going. If not, we'll start our own little gathering! :)
>
> I hope you have a good day!
>
> Lyrical
Posted by Lyrical13 on January 20, 2004, at 0:07:20
In reply to Re: real time dialogue » Lyrical13, posted by femlite on January 18, 2004, at 13:00:25
Hello
This is so great. I look forward to answers to all my posts but I have started to especially look forward to your posts. We do sound a lot alike. My hubby is going back to school. He has been a mold maker (makes metal molds to make plastic parts to cars...we're in Michigan... very much ruled by the auto industry) The last four years have been horrible for him job-wise. He has been laid off since May this time. He has been wanting to go back to school. He was thinking about being a special ed teacher but the education looked daunting. It does take forever. I thought of the ideal job for him. He loves to work with his hands..at the end of the day to be able to say "I made that". He also is interested in working with special needs kids. I am a speech therapist at a school for kids with disabilities. He has volunteered for field trips and special olympics events at my school. One day it hit me.. He could work in wheelchair seating or orthotics. Those are the plastic braces that kids wear on their legs, splints/braces for arms, plastic body jackets for kids with cerebral palsy to give them trunk support, etc. That field would combine the whole "making things" aspect and the special ed aspect. Definitely would have job security. So I talked to the orthotics guy when he was at school the last time and found out what kind of education hubby would need to do this. Now he is very excited and gung ho. We both think this is the perfect career for him. Don't know how we'll manage financially but we'll work something out. He helped me get through grad school (emotionally and financially) so now it's my turn to help him.As far as my classes go, to be an SLP (speech-language pathologist) you have to have a master's degree. I already have that. Now I am working on my +30 which is 30 credits beyond the master's. ONce I get that I will go up to the next (and last) pay level. I am working on it a little at a time as I am able. I took my first online course last summer (2 credits). I was signed up for one this fall, but when the depression started creeping in around Aug. I cancelled it b/c I knew it would be too overwhelming. I am thinking of taking my next class in June. Maybe I can even get two in this summer. I am taking courses in assistive technology/augmentative communication. That is one of my big interest areas in my field. Aug. comm. is basically any adaptations or assistive technology needed for people who have difficulty communicating to be able to communicate. I work with severely multiply impaired kids, various cognitive impairments and lots of students with autism. Many of them are non-verbal. So my challenge is to find some way for them to learn how to communicate.
Anyway, re: Ambien. I found it to be the best thing for sleep so far, and it was great if I took it by about 11 or 12 PM but if it was past then it was iffy. Sometimes half of one was OK. I tend to be very sensitive to meds...often need only pediatric doses. (though I have maxed out several ADs..go figure) I always ask for the lowest dose of a med possible to start at least. And then when I can, I take half of that!
I was feeling really crappy (physically) earlier. I had to get a crown at the dentist mon afternoon and the anesthetic did a number on me...felt dizzy, heart raced, kinda woozy and exhausted. I fell asleep watching TV. Probably got about 3 hours in. Then went up to bed and tossed and turned for a while before deciding to come downstairs for a bit. Hopefully I'll get tired soon. I had a bowl of cereal cause I was starving. Mouth was still numb at dinner time so I only had soup. It feels better now and not as sore since I took the Aleve with my evening meds. I don't know about you but I feel like such an old lady sometimes. I have a whole handful of meds I take each night! The handful includes a couple vitamins, but still!
Well, I'm gonna check a couple more e-mails and then try to sleep again. If that doesn't work then I'll try the new Pilates workout I bought the other night and see if that will tire/relax me. Definitely will talk to doc Tues re: sleep med.
Posted by femlite1 on February 2, 2004, at 12:28:48
In reply to insomnia strikes again, posted by Lyrical13 on January 20, 2004, at 0:07:20
Hi Lyrical,
This has been soooo frustrating. My password failed to work. Ive been trying to get on site and respond to your letter for at least 2 weeks. I feel so bad. Even though I couldnt help it, I know how it feels to extend yourself and feel ignored. I hope you are okay. I have been thinking of you. Your life sounds very hectic. But also fulfilling, no? And your husband sounds wonderfully supportive.
I am in my 40s and just finishing my Associates. I had a difficult pregnancy and had to drop out after 1 1/2 years. For the past 10 years I’ve been a full time home schooling mom. Just in the past 2 years my mental and physical health has taken front seat in my life, in all our lives. My mental health is something I’ve wrestled with for 30 years. At times I have wished I was a more "balanced” mom. But somehow I have managed. When my back got unbearable and I became peri-menapausal it all came unglued. So now, 2 years later I am trying to pick up the pieces and going back to school seemed a needed infusion of purpose. We are hoping to move as soon as we sell our house. We have been a "farm" family for the past three years, horse farm that is. But I need more help now with the girls education, I’m loosing mental energy and don’t feel as inspired, I think its called burnout :)
And my physical health won’t allow me to continue our rural lifestyle. So for these and other reasons, we are hoping to move back into the city. I don’t expect I will have my Bachelors before the girls are grown but then I will be ready to use it! So we have a plan, physical therapy is going well and if I could get my head and meds straight, there may be hope for me to have a purpose in the health industry.
Keep in touch. Have you roused any interest on the chat room yet
Posted by Lyrical13 on February 2, 2004, at 14:25:22
In reply to Im Here!!! » Lyrical13, posted by femlite1 on February 2, 2004, at 12:28:48
Hi Femlite-
Don't feel bad....I totally forgot about it with the insanity of the last couple weeks (hectic schedule). I just realized a few days ago that I hadn't gotten any more posts about the chat thing and then I felt bad because I thought I left YOU out in limbo!!! LOLThings WERE going really well until this week. I started Lamictal last Saturday (1/24). I only started on 25mg. All was fine...couldn't tell any difference until Thurs. AM when I noticed a few red spots under my right eye. They were very itchy. Kind of like bug bites. Later that day my whole body was itchy, but strangely, more on the right side. Well, the fact that I have psoriasis kind of complicates things...I have had it on my scalp forever and it started on my elbows in my mid 20s (I'm 34 now). Over the past couple months, more and more patches have shown up in more and more places. I've never had it on my face before, but then again, I never had it on my back, neck, shoulders, breast (!), inner arm, upper leg, etc. before a couple months ago either. It didn't quite look like psoriasis but I recently learned there are 5 different kinds and so far I had only had 3 of them...maybe this was a new 4th kind? Also, the itchy all over part could be winter skin dryness....So I took the Th PM dose. The next day I was worse! More spots on my face, itchy all over and spots starting to form by left eye. So I talked to teh school nurse (I work at a school) and she looked it up in her dermotology book. See...Lamictal has a common side effect of a rash. Sometimes it goes away after a couple weeks (ugh). But in rare cases, it doesn't...it ends up being Steven Johnsons sydrome which is permanent and can cause blindness and even death. But there's no real way to tell if it's the annoying but harmless rash or the death rash.... Isn't that fun? Well, after the nurse read that the beginnng lesions for SJS are like bug bites I quickly decided to d/c the med and call my doc. I left a msg for my pdoc that I was stopping the med and why and for him to call me when he came into the office on Tues. Figured I'd be fine until then and we'd talk about trying a different mood stabilizer.
OK...well, then I had a hellish weekend. I'm still on Effexor 225mg and I had been taking 25mg of Seroquel and 0.25mg Ambien to help me sleep. I was so irritable this weekend and was rapid cycling... euphoria to calm to irritable to OK to irate to depressed all within about an hour. I've never had that happen before. I might be irritable and suddenly angry intermixed with calm along with the hypomania but I usually stay hypomanic for several months and then the depression starts slowly creeping back and hits full force in Sept. I've been slightly hypomanic since Nov. Last year I was solidly hypo by March.
So....I upped my seroquel to 50mg last night. Had a rough time getting up this am but I made it and got to work OK. I cried a little bit before I saw my first students. Cried even more afterwards. The crying started when I called my pdoc and the receptionist griped at me about calling him..."You're not supposed to leave a message for him. He's not in until Tues. That's why he didnt' call you back this weekend when you left a message". I told her I knew that but that I just wanted him to know what was going on with my meds and I thought I would be just fine until he got in Tues. But then had a rough weekend and could someone contact him. She then lectured me again about I'm not supposed to call the office to reach him..I'm supposed to go through my therapist. It would have been nice if they had told me that! I just started at this particular clinic back in Sept. I had weekly appts with my counselor at that time so this situation never came up. So...by the time the receptionist transferred me to my counselor's voicemail I was crying...sobbing while leaving the msg for my T. Called hubby to come and pick me up from work. Cried and cried. CAme home and am OK now. But a co-worker is coming to get me in a few minutes because I have another training tonight from 4-7:30. I don't want to miss it because there is a stipend involved. This is a series of 6 seminars. You have to go to all 6 to get the stipend. We could use the extra cash.
So anyway, my T called me back and she got me an appt with my pdoc for tomorrow. I think part of the problem today is that I was feelng crappy from the increase in the Seroquel..dizzy and fatigued.
Anyway, why don't we just decide on a chat time and try to chat. I couldn't get in the last time when I tried to get into the chat part but i'll try again. If that doesn't work then maybe we can set up an IM chat through AOL (can get free IM setup even if u don't subscribe to AOL..I don't and I got it fine for free.) Or through ICQ or something.
Well, gotta run. My friend will be here any minute.
L13
Posted by Dr. Bob on February 2, 2004, at 23:34:20
In reply to Im Here!!! » Lyrical13, posted by femlite1 on February 2, 2004, at 12:28:48
> This has been soooo frustrating. My password failed to work.
Sorry about that. If you'd like to switch back to your original name, just email me...
Bob
Posted by femlite1 on February 3, 2004, at 7:30:36
In reply to Don't feel bad, posted by Lyrical13 on February 2, 2004, at 14:25:22
I am glad you werent feeling ignored. I am sorry your feeling down. It definately sounds like a med problem. I am BP also. I have tried Wellbutrin, zoloft and Lamictal. I never got very far on Lamictal. I had to titrate up so slowly, because of side effects, that it was going to be 3 months till I was at a therapuetic dose. I had extreme depression while I was on it. I have been resisting Lithium. But Im finally taking it. It is hard to tell how it is going, because I am also taking Neurontin for pain (fibro) and it also has a mood stabilizing effect. But the combo is complementary. Having my fibro pain under cntrol and getting regular sleep, and mood stabilizing meds, all seem to be an effective equation for me at the moment.
Tonight might be a good chat time. If my hubby takes the girls to symphony and choir lessons Ill have a couple of hours to my self. Im in the midwest. We're an hour earlier than Chicago.7pm? If it works out, Ill see you then.
best
Posted by Lyrical13 on February 3, 2004, at 22:11:04
In reply to Re: Don't feel bad » Lyrical13, posted by femlite1 on February 3, 2004, at 7:30:36
Hi again
Unfortunately I wasn't home at 7 so I couldn't make it to chat with you. I'm in Michigan so I'm on Eastern time. (7pm Chicago = 8PM here)I saw my doc today and we talked about several med options. I was really hoping the Lamictal would work because I don't want to take Depakote. My doc doesn't like Lithium. Neither do I...I tried it once and I was sooooo zoned. We talked about a ton of different meds today...one we actually considered was Neurontin! I don't remember why we didn't go that route. End result is we decided to keep the 2 meds I'm already on and just increase the Seroquel to a therapeutic level. He thinks that will be 200...I'm thinking 100mg. I try to stay on as low a dose as possible. I am VERY sensitive to meds. I was on 20mg Celexa for a long time and most folks take 40-60. 1/2 of the lowest dose of Ambien knocks me out. When I increased my dose of Seroquel from 25mg to 50, I actually fell down the last few stairs coming downstairs at 5am to let the dog out. I;ve got the scars to prove it!
so, anyway...I'm on 225mg Effexor and 50mg Seroquel right now. I agreed to up the Seroquel to 75mg this weekend. We'll see how it goes.
I was suppposed to see my little sis tonight. We usually do sister night on Tuesdays. I never heard back from her if it would work this week for her or not. So after my doc appt I went over there. The only one home was my dad but it worked out really well. I had been wanting to talk to him about my little sis for quite a while. For some reason, my step-mom is keeping my sister's problems (BP or something...not sure yet...she's only 15) a secret from my dad. I felt he had a right to know. and I've been really worried about her. In Nov she was talking suicide and I also found out she's been cutting herself. She's on meds but they're prescribed by her pediatrician. He's a very competent doc but he's not seeing her regularly. It's more of a "call if you need anything" arrangement. That's not cool. She's still having lots of problems. Anyway, I talked with my dad about it and he was very receptive surprisingly. He hasn't always been that way. But we talked about a lot of things and it went really well. Better than I ever expected. I read him a poem I wrote about my sis and he cried and hugged me and thanked me for telling him and asked for more info to get my sis some help. I am so glad and so relieved. He said he'd talk to my step-mom about the whole situation. I don't want to get in the middle of his marriage but I really didn't think it was right to keep him in the dark about his own daughter.
anyway, I need to get to bed. I have work tomorrow! I should be home the next couple nights if you get some free time.
L13
Posted by Lyrical13 on February 4, 2004, at 19:55:36
In reply to Re: Don't feel bad » Lyrical13, posted by femlite1 on February 3, 2004, at 7:30:36
Hi Femlite
Tonight I have the house all to myself. I just thought of jotting you a note just now to see if you're busy.If you want to chat you can contact me. If it would be easier (less roundabout) you can e-mail me directly:
I haven't done this yet, but I will load AOL Instant Messenger on my new PC. My name there is GreatLakesCal.
Also, I wrote a poem yesterday about my sister and I and our struggles. If you want to read it, I am about to post it at the creative writing part of psychobabble. I'll call it "The Sister I know"
TTFN (ta ta for now) as Tigger would say
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