Posted by blueberry on October 13, 2005, at 6:54:41
In reply to If I have to start a mood stabilizer...?, posted by 4wd on October 12, 2005, at 23:12:24
My only experience is with low dose lithium (75mg - 300mg) and low dose depakote (500mg).
I found lithium to be stimulating, and actually almost caused panic attacks. So not sure if that would be good for calming. Of course, we all respond differently.
Depakote is calming, relieves depression, anxiety, and mania stuff all at the same time. It is fast. Began working on day 1. In clinical trials it usually works within 6 days. But it comes with weight gain. Trileptal is often used to counteract weight gain. Don't know much about neurontin except that it isn't as popular as it once was because it didn't pan out as being as effective as initially thought. Again though, we all respond differently, so it may be great for some people.
Zypexa is an option, though it also comes with initial weight gain which tends to go away after about 3 months or so. The antipsychotics work very fast, like within hours or days. I don't think they stop the anxiety and mania stuff, they just block it so you can't feel it.
Back in the old days klonopin was the calming mood stabilizer. A lot of docs shy away from the benzos though.
poster:blueberry
thread:566264
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051010/msgs/566378.html