Welcome sadly me.......I know it is tough to find out after many yrs that all of a sudden they say your BP. I too was shocked. Yet, once my meds kicked in, and they found the correct dosage, I started to feel better.

Then I looked back, and said to myself, that was me, I didn't like what I saw.
It is too bad that many have to wait (me in my 40's) to find the correct diagnosis.

I felt labeled. Now I have grown to accept it, and I know I handle things much differently. I hope you too will find that.

This is a great group of people here, understanding, accepting, caring, loving, and you will find a lot of information you need. So keep posting.

Hang in there, things will get better.

Hugs, Nikko

Me,
I had a real problem with Lexapro making me insomniac. I had to lower the dose. It was days and I never slept.

I do wonder, are you seeing a specialist for the meds psych wise or is the pain doctor putting you on the all the medications.
I have to admit, my daughter was a a few, but not that many and not that high of a dose.

She was a chronic pain patient also. But, only one doc was making it seem her pain was from the emotional problems making it worse.
He pain was making her emotional problems worse is what it was.

How can one function in pain, then they try to medicate on the psych meds to help nerve pain and end up not giving the inflamatiries,, muscle spasms, or pain medications.
OR, is a PM pain doc of psych doc????

I think as difficult as it is you need to one, find a new pain doctor, and second see a specialist that perscribes for bi-polar,

One concern I have is when the meds made me so insomniac, could this be some of your problem.

I saw a specialist, chronic pain psychiritrist many years ago to rebuild my life. It took me about two years to get to the point I actually went back to school, retrained by getting my BA in criminal justice and sociology. I was a police cief, I loved my career, worked so very hard to attain the job....13 years of applying before I was even hired as a first female officer in the area.

I sure never wanted to be injured and out of work.
Then the anxiety/panic, the post trumatic stress, I was a mess. It is not a picinic, it is a merry go round...but isn't life?

So I would find someone too that you can sort out your thoughts, help focus on a plan, even a minimal plan...and to review the meds, consider if any are causing an escalation in your symptoms.

My daughter had psychotic episodes from Effexor, she had several voices telling her to contridictory things. She also had visual where things were happening not real in front of her. Like a plane Superman saved during 911had to be found by me to help right history..Also, paxil, proza SSRI had kept her from peeing, it wouldn;t allow the brain to trigger the release to pee....

So all the meds do not work for everyone. Some work against you instead of helping, others work wonders.
I did biofeedback, lots of talking, and figuring out where do I go from where I was.
I would not be the person I am today without the help of the psychiritrist I saw...he was a friend, truely inderstood those in chronic pain,
I was very lucky.
I hope today you can find some peaceful rest...
Dianne

hello sandlyme sorry to hear you are having such a hard time i am right now not as far down as you sound. but i have been that far down sounds like the meds should be working better, have you tries cymbalta? or prozac? the ambien may be making you so tired at night it carries in to the day? just a thought. meds can help and some hurt if you feel as bad as i think you do call you r doc change meds or the doseages. your doc should understand. like i said some meds can make you feel worse. this one i was on for add made me parinoid bad and anxiouse (sp). i know it's hard but try not to isolate yourself from your family they can be your strongest support system. when they understand and know how you are feeling. dose weather play a role in how you feel. are you ok for now. don't want to hurt yourself right. that won't help promise makes things worse.-shelly

I too wish to welcome you to these boards.
There are alot of other forums as well if you take a look at the listing on the first page...see if any of these might be an additonal support for you as well as here.
It is a shame that you have been suffering so long.
On paper you sure look like you are being overmedicated.
I am not a doctor at all jsut seems like it....Have you ever tried lithium? or lamictal?
I agreee with what has been said about trying to find a specialist, pdoc who specializes in bipolar.
I am bp1 tend to be toward the manic side, I presumme you are bp2 lean toward the depressive side...Is this right?
there is a good book out there that talks about how different dxs over lap and that it really is difficult to treat. like is your ADD really OCD?
It is called shadow syndromes.
there is alot of info at the sticky threads at the top of the page with good web sites and hot line numbers.
If you are feeling suicidal then there is a forum for that as well.
S.O.S. (survivors of suicide)....jsut a click away.
You will find people here from all around the world.
I wish you wellness.
(((HUGS))))
bizi

I to feel I'm over medicated, how much of this can you take and still breath? I see a p-doc not pain management doc. She is ready to revamp my meds. Or time to find another doc.. I got more help here, than the last year in therapy. It's, has you all know so darn hard to find a doctor, and cut thru the BS to see if he/she are going to help you. I'm so sick of "What brings you here today", like if I did'nt have a problem, DAH.

And yes I've been on the other drugs Bizi mentioned. For right now all I know is I have found a place I can talk openly about how I feel. That is a major help to me. You all care so much.. Thanks for that..

As far has pain control I'm of all meds, I ran thru everything you can thing of there also. RSD, ADD, Bi-Polar what a mix, no wonder they can't put a finger on it. Just want a life, any life.

Then my thoughts start to race about things I can't control, terrible voices in the night that wake me with a sweat. Has far has susicide, it's with me all the time, just unplug yourself and no more problem. But then my faith kicks in and I know what a selfish thing that susicide is. So I keep standing on the razor blade waiting to see how I wake up. I hope this makes since, I'm trying so hard to has open has I can, it's the only way for me to get help..


Mark

Would love to talk to you about this..



Mark

just wanted to add that ambien can have bad side effects, I knew someone that became suicidal jsut by taking this med...she takes lunsta now with out the freaky thoughts. Have you ever tried lunesta? It woeked for about a year and then quit so now I amtaking klonipin to sleep and this seems to be working for me.
I take lamictal, geodon and klonipin, ssri don't do well with me...went manic on prozac a few years back. welbutrin is the only real safe one for me.
I am going to bump up some threads for you.
hugs mark
bizi

you are taking uppers and downers at the same time, seroquel during the day is very sedating as is the xanax, 2mg is a big dose too.any way to reduce the seroquel during the day and skip the xanax during the day so you are taking sedating things only at night, and maybe stop the ambien altogether. klonipin acts longer than xanax...these are only suggestions to talk over with your pdoc. Have you ever taken risperdal? lexapro can cause insomnia in some folks.
try to create some normalcy around bed time, like same time each night, so stimulating activities before bed, light reading, fan for white noise.
I wish you a good nights sleep.
there are chat rooms too, many folks frequent them on a regular basisthe link is on the top bar onthe right.
I wish you wellness.
bizi

Dear Mark
Hold on. Things are going to get better. They are already starting to turn now that you have found us.
M.

Dear Mark,
If you think that you are being overmedicated, then you might be.
And if your psychiatrist is ready to revamp your meds, let her.

I'm guessing that she orginally tried to medicate you out of mania? Is that right? Were you manic when she first saw you?
Maybe she would be willing to help you lower the dose of one med at a time. You can always go back up on it. Do you see her often? Have her phone number for emergencies/concerns?


I used to have nightmares. Looking back, I wonder if I was experiencing an aspect of Sleep Paralysis

http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

I used to hear voices before sleep. I think that they were related to anxiety.

At one point, my pdoc had me on tons of meds but I was still anxious.
It took him 4 or 5 years to get the meds right.
It doesn't take most people this long to get straightened out! Thank goodness.

But I remember keeping keep handwritten charts and then typing them out for him for our appointments. I remember calling him in between appointments. I knew that we would find a solution. I knew that I was an important part of the team and that if I could find the right information to him, that he would eventually find the right medication for me. He did. I was right. Thank goodness.

Keep faith in yourself and in your ability to communicate with your pdoc.
You are worth the effort it takes to get better.

M.