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sleepy. concerned about pdoc.

I am soo sleepy from the 150 mg yesterday at 5:30 pm.
I pray that the pdoc will be kind and helpful tomorrow / Friday.
I wonder if she will want to see me soon (instead of 30 days from our last meeting).

Probably I should call the potential tdoc as well.
I feel busy with all these appointments but I am not up to dealing with them and running out of time when I have to be back at work.

I could use a real shower soon. I am getting uncomfortable.

Mari

I was on hold with my pdoc's office for thirty minutes.
Then I hung up.
I will try on Monday to let her know about the paresthesia.

. . . aslo . . . very sleepy still from that 150 mgs I took Wednesday at 5:30 pm.

M

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mari (Post 997658)

I was on hold with my pdoc's office for thirty minutes.

Ugh! :(:mad:

I know you are drowning in phone calls so I almost hate to ask.

You had called a different pdoc last Friday (I think?) but had not got an appointment yet? What if you called that pdoc - maybe he/she has an early enough opening. They might be able to get you in - especially if you say you have an urgency.

It is not as though you have history with the prescribing pdoc, so a different doctor could just as easily help you here. My thought is you could perhaps kill two birds with one stone - resolve med situation + get in with a new person (maybe even capitalizing on med s/e to accelerate the process).

I am sorry you are still feeling sleepy from the drug. :( I hope it lifts soon.

:circlelove:

waves

Quote:

Originally Posted by waves (Post 997681)

Waves,

Sort of. I am not keeping track of my phone calls so I am not sure of that phone number. . . will have to look through my scraps of paper or call again on Monday.

I did have a voice mail from my insurance company Fri about a psychiatrist I asked them to find for me several days ago. (I put in no criteria during that call -- just somebody). So I have a phone number and a first name and a garbled last name. I might call his (potential new pdoc's) number on Monday. Apparently, he can get me an appointment soon (that's why the insurance offers this service).

I want someone reasonably close, someone who can listen to me talk through the meds, someone with a friendly office and phone set up, and someone brilliant.
Trileptal was a bad choice. It stunk as much as the Tergretol did 20 years ago -- too much head fog. (I was clear at the appointment last week about the head fog consideration being important.)
And now I have to hope that someone can figure out the parasthesia.

Quote:

It is not as though you have history with the prescribing pdoc, so a different doctor could just as easily help you here. My thought is you could perhaps kill two birds with one stone - resolve med situation + get in with a new person (maybe even capitalizing on med s/e to accelerate the process)

I feel it might be weird to have to explain to someone how I am on the third pdoc in a short amount of time. What a mess.

And then I have to tell the next pdoc that my regimen of 10 years or so almost works.
I am hoping for a bump up in mood.

I have my own records of the ADs old pdoc and I tried. I have one or two left as possibilities but I would have to be a very hopeful person to expect that someone would focus on what I know and do not know about myself.

The pdoc last week mentioned Lamictal and then went with Trileptal. It was a four min convo so I do not know what was her thinking about Lamictal.
Does Lamicatal cause brain fog?
The crap Trileptal was a lot like the Ambien experience. Not pleasant.

I wonder if low dose Lithium would help with depression (and not cause paresthesia.) It major sucked when I took it many years ago with a AD but with no AD on board, I would not be in a continuous mixed mood this time.

Mari

And I have to call old tdoc. She has called me twice . . .

. . she said that I had an appt planned for June 28 and I saw the psychiatrist and she and I had not talked or seen each other for a while . . . .

M

Quote:

Originally Posted by waves (Post 997463)

Dear Mari

FYI, one symptom that arose after almost a year of my taking Trileptal without incident... was paresthesia. I didn't want to share this before, Mari, because I didn't want to precondition you to expect it. I did not have the tingling/pins and needles kind, I had numbness affecting my arms first, then spreading to my torso, neck and face. For some weird reason it was upper body only.

I also had general weakness, somnolence, and some vertigo - I could not stand up and usually had to lay down while the effects wore off. Sometimes I'd fall asleep as nothing would combat that somnolence.

Fortunately the effects did not last long and occurred only with my AM dose I was taking 600mg 2ce a day. The s/e would start about 2-3 hours after taking the am dose and last about 2-4 hours.

Now, I had a bad virus for quite some time right before this happened; I couldn't help feeling that had something to do with it. My doc had me try a lower dose for about 10 days but never ordered a blood draw. :rolleyes::( When the sx did not resolve, he had me d/c. I was sad to have to stop the drug because it had been great until then and all prior bloodwork had been good. I have always wondered if I might not have been able to interrupt treatment for a short while and then resume successfully.

It probably sounds crazy that I wanted to stay on it when I could not even sit up straight, but for some reason I still felt safe - perhaps because the s/e's reliably wore off. I believe in following one's instincts. Do what feels safe to you.

waves

Waves,

That is weird what you went through.

Mari

washing machine appears to be broken

The washing machine did not drain my last load of clothes.
It has standing water right now but I am not going to deal with it because I want to go to bed.

I left a note for hubby about not washing his clothes. (He might not notice what is going on.)

I do not want to deal with him. He freaks out and then gets upset when something does not go right. . . . ESP anything related to his clothes. :confused:

M

Quote:

Originally Posted by waves (Post 997463)

Dear Mari
I did not have the tingling/pins and needles kind, I had numbness affecting my arms first, then spreading to my torso, neck and face. For some weird reason it was upper body only.

I also had general weakness, somnolence, and some vertigo - I could not stand up and usually had to lay down while the effects wore off. Sometimes I'd fall asleep as nothing would combat that somnolence.

Fortunately the effects did not last long and occurred only with my AM dose I was taking 600mg 2ce a day. The s/e would start about 2-3 hours after taking the am dose and last about 2-4 hours.

Waves,

What was going on in your mind when that was happening? It must have been scary the first time.

Mari

pdoc and med choices

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mari (Post 997795)

I want someone reasonably close, someone who can listen to me talk through the meds, someone with a friendly office and phone set up, and someone brilliant.

These are good requirements. I hope you find someone soon.

Quote:

Trileptal was a bad choice. It stunk as much as the Tegretol did 20 years ago

Ohhh crud. No doubt. The two drugs are chemically related. Trileptal has a more favorable interactions profile but individual reactions and side effects are often similar to those experienced with Tegretol. :(

I think I'd really just focus on getting yourself in with a different doctor. I did not realize about the Tegretol. Why even bother with that lady when her office situation sucks and if she even had your files she either did not read them or did not use much deductive logic.

Quote:

I feel it might be weird to have to explain to someone how I am on the third pdoc in a short amount of time. What a mess.

Yes, I thought of that, but it is not your fault:

1. You would not be in this situation at all, if your insurance still covered the pdoc you were with for 10 years+. One down.
2. A first interview with someone new is, if anything longer, than the typical 15 minutes. She gave you FOUR... and failed to consider your medication (bad experience with Tegretol) history. Two down.

Quote:

And then I have to tell the next pdoc that my regimen of 10 years or so almost works.
I am hoping for a bump up in mood.

This is totally consistent with the fact you are not changing pdocs due to dissatisfaction but only because of a big bureaucratic bump in the road.

Quote:

The pdoc last week mentioned Lamictal and then went with Trileptal. It was a four min convo so I do not know what was her thinking about Lamictal.

If you said you were depressed, she probably thought Lamictal could help there. Lamictal is used as a stabilizer but does not have the typical profile of mania prevention. It works more below baseline, and can be given as coadjuvant antidepressant therapy. It can be tried on its own for those intolerant to AD's. It is also reported to prolong time between cycles.

Quote:

Does Lamictal cause brain fog?

It can cause brain fog but then so can a lot of drugs - benzo's for instance. FWIW, Lamictal is chemically UNrelated to Tegretol, whereas Trileptal IS chemically related to Tegretol.

Quote:

I wonder if low dose Lithium would help with depression (and not cause paresthesia.) [...] I would not be in a continuous mixed mood this time.

Honestly, I dunno. I have wondered that myself. I've read conflicting information on Lithium for depression - some things suggest it is helpful, others that it only works above baseline. Still other sources suggest it can cause depression, but I believe this is associated with long term use and/or high dose.

waves

calling old tdoc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mari (Post 997801)

Good luck with this. I realize it is hard. I do agree you should call her back at this point, but you can be as brief as you need to about what is going on. :hug::hug::hug:

waves