thanks.

well for starters i was not going to keep having attacks *and* eating lorazepam *and* still feeling antsy in between.

BENZO's
i close to doubled my long-acting benzo. due to the 100+ hour half-life this was necessary to get results soon. starting Friday night:

3.0 (initial - tentaive - increase)
3.5 x 4 days (loading dose)
3.0 x 2 days (gentler loading)
2.5 going forward (maintenance dose, steady-state basically achieved)

i am taking a part in the am because i need some daytime help.

i called pdoc because of the degree of increase even though i will see him wednesday. i told him what happened and he was fine with it. i suspect he will agree with 2.5mg for a while, or even 3.0 if needed.

ZOLOFT
i will talk to him about more zoloft at this point too since the depression has increased again. it may be a better (non addictive) solution for the anxiety, too. conversely, if i get more anxious despite a concomitant benzo increase, we will know the zoloft is causing anxiety. years ago, when i had lots of anxiety, i was also on zoloft, but we never thought to associate it. so we'll see.

i wish i could take lamictal because i believe it would inhibit a tendency to rapid cycle if the Zoloft got too much. then again i'm still on lots of Depakote, yuck. you know, that's probably what makes me sleepy, not so much the Zoloft - which is what he has suggested. i've never had Zoloft make me sleepy!! EVER!



i got unexpectedly charged with cooking veggies today... gotta go check on them/put them in the serving dish/wash the pot. i am having a glass of wine while cooking. hey, my benzo is'nt up to par yet!

~ waves ~

Zoloft was Derrick's anxiety meds.

And he had problems after a long time on depakote. And we will not
talk about exactly what kind of problems.

We moved on to another epilepsy medicine. So with him on three its
hard to say.

Donna

Good information on zoloft. I do care about you waves. I hope that you are able to be a peace. I just hear such stress from you that I want to reach out and try to ease your heart. I listened to what you said. I am glad your folks do so much for you. I feel better just knowing that situation is OK. I will be thinking of you. ginnie

Thank you Ginnie.

you warm my heart.

~ waves ~

Dear Donna

Did Zoloft help with Derrick's anxiety? he is not bipolar though right, or have any affective disorder?

i take depakote for mood stabilization. i have been on it for 7 years now. but for the most part a pretty moderate dose (6-800mg). only initially, when i changed from Zyprexa as a primary stabilizer, and then last year through this spring did i take 1000+ mg for mania and mixed sx. this last year i was taking 1500mg and i actually think it contributed to increased/intractable migraines. i know it can cause all sorts of other problems too, and i was afraid to be on > 1000mg for long. i am still on 1000mg now, and would rather go down to 800, but i have an innate sense that this is necessary for now.

before (years ago), i was also taking Lamictal, which is now out of my reach. for reasons you can probably guess, i will not take any generic lamotrigine. i tried one, and it gave me nystagmus (where your eyes wiggle) bad. i know from the Epilepsy community it is one of the worst in "equivalence" meds and i simply refuse to experiment with other generics, even though i don't take it for seizures. here the doctors cannot write to the state to pay for the brand name, the way that they do in the US with ins co's. Lamictal brand is totally out of my league financially.

when taking multiple meds, it is always so tricky to tell what is causing what, or helping what, or not causing what. it is a huge problem. i think you and i both having computer/logic experience are probably quite sensitive to the issue of having too many variables in flux.

anyway, i am curious if Zoloft was helpful to Derrick for anxiety.

~ waves ~

Yes Waves

The zoloft was very successful for Derrick.

The reason we took him off was because his anxiety has been under control
for quite a while. And he took seroquel also. So the zoloft was what
we started with.

We took the seroquel off too.

Donna