Dear Jude,

Coming out of the depression will be faster this time I hope. You and the pdoc have a better idea of the whole picture.

Good luck with that early a.m. appointment.

M.

I'm scared. This pdoc never dealt with me in depression before. I knew me before in depression so well & how the drugs worked, but now I've had these stabilizers in me for 2 yrs. My brain chem goes so on the best of days--even some teas gotten at Public have laid me out--what if he gives me something that, typically, I glom onto the side effects & go so wack........

Yeah, depression yakkage.
Shut up, Jude.
Thanx Mari.

anti depressants can be stimulating so we have to be careful taking them...I have heard that welbutrin is fairly safe to take...prozac made me manic so did paxil and hormone shot birth control....
wishing you some peace jude..

((((HUGS)))
bizi

Thanx bizi. For you too. Peace & a good nights sleep would be so nice. ((()))

JudeLauren,

I've learned I can take mini doses of meds.

For example, last summer 100 mgs of Wellbutrin pulled me out of depression and brain fog and lowered anxiety (Wellbutrin is often prescribed at 300 mg).

Recently, my internist gave me 900 mgs a day of Gabapentin. I'm opening the pills and taking about half a pill for a total of 100-150 mgs. The Gabapentin has helped with brain fog, depression, and anxiety even at that low dose.

M

All good things to know. Gabapentin & topiramate both I can take in low doses only, 100 & 50 respectively/day max & even at that I'm flirting with side effects. Will just have to wait & see. But that's really good to keep in mind. I take sooo many mmeds & pmeds that the lesser the better.

Thanx Mari. I really really appreciate the handholding 'cause I'm feeling like I ought to know how to play this part, only somehow I missed the rehearsal.

Well, better call it a night. ((()))

JudeLauren,

Yes, please! . . . a dress rehearsal so we know what is coming next. I got dx'd in 1988 the first time I saw a psychiatrist. I presented depressed. Still she talked about bipolar, lithium, and sent me for thyroid blood work before she could put me on the lithium. That was in 1988.
I'm still changing my mind (refining my outlook if you will) about how I think about this and how I want things to go.

The number of meds a person is on might not matter. Sometimes with mood stabilizers, pdocs put people on two (or even three occasionally) mood stabilzers at low dose in order to get the most benefit with least side effects.

Some mdoc meds cause depression (blood pressure meds and so on). The pdocs usually (but not always) take that into consideration when they create the combo.
(I'm into my parentheses tonight ).

Actually, I think of this as a dance. Sometimes the bipolar leads and we follow. Sometimes we have a hard time keeping up. Sometimes we break dance. I try to follow.

M

Good Luck JudeLauren,

i wish you the best with the meddy-go-round to help with the depression you are in. (((hugs)))

~ waves ~ torn between packing (anxiety) and posting/reading (safety)