Posted by Cece on May 30, 2002, at 2:42:26
In reply to Re: Starting Lamictal Soon Thanks to this Thread » Cece, posted by BarbaraCat on May 29, 2002, at 16:33:40
Hi Barbara-
I think that there's another Cece on this board (or something similar). I've just started posting again after 'resting' for several months. It feels good to be back.
I'm BPII, with a long history of depression. I take:
Lamictal 300 mg in the morning, Neurontin 300mg/3xday, Trimipramine (TCA) 25mg at night, Depakote 250mg at night.
I'm weaning off of xanax- it was helpful to me for awhile, but I don't think that I need it anymore, and it seems to give me 'brain clog'. I wasn't on a real high dose- total 1.25mg/day, but feel better already now that I'm down to .75.I also take hormone replacement therapy which I started in peri-menopause (40's, I'm now early 50's). I got real unstable in my mid-40's and learned that for bi-polar women it is common for symptoms to flare at that time of life.
And, whew, I am also doing thyroid supplement therapy (Levothroid, same as Synthroid but cheaper)- pretty new. One approach to treating mood disorders (championed by Peter Whybrow at UCLA) is with thyroid supplement, even for people who don't test low. I always was borderline low, am supplementing now to reach high normal. I feel more alert and am not (so) slow to wake up in the morning- never was a morning person. My pdoc tells me that thyroid imbalance can mimic every psych disorder in the book!
My goal is to pare my meds, slowly over time, down to the bare essentials- which means finding out what is essential by trying phasing things out and seeing if I still need them. It is hard enough now to run my own personal pharmacy, and I can't imagine being able to do it when I am older.
Oh yeah, I've been trying out a special omega fatty acid formula developed by a Harvard pdoc especially to promote mood stability. My pdoc is impressed with it and suggested I try it. It's more subtle than a 'med', but I think it may be contributing to my growing stability. It's called Omega-Brite and is only available on the internet.
Thanks for your interest,
Cece
> Thanks for the update, Cece. What is your dx again and other meds you're taking? - Barbara
poster:Cece
thread:106786
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020525/msgs/108021.html