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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by KarenRB53 on August 20, 2016, at 15:07:20
I've posted in last 5 months or so re: Gabapentin for bipolar2 . Got some great advice. Think I may be kidding myself though...slowly the depression is creeping back. Haven't taken any antidepressants for about 5 months and actually felt better for few months. Then started to feel slightly hypo..more anxious than usual. But last week I've had mixed emotions...lots of crying for no reason, hopeless feelings etc. Normally my moods aren't unstable cause mostly it's been depression. Just so disappointed cause I was hoping maybe depression wouldn't come back or maybe it's been there all along and I was a bit hypo so I was in denial. If it's Dysthymia and not major depression that I have....are there meds that seem to work better for Dysthymia than others. Sorry, I know I sound bit scattered right now.
Thanks for opinions.
Karen
Posted by SLS on August 24, 2016, at 15:56:46
In reply to Best meds for Dysthymia 2016, posted by KarenRB53 on August 20, 2016, at 15:07:20
Hi Karen.
Who diagnosed you as having dysthymia rather than a less severe bipolar depression?
You might want to consider Lamictal to treat bipolar depression. You should also explore adding Abilify or Reluxti to your treatment regime. These will help with depression and prevent hypomania. Saphris is an interesting drug. I have seen it work well for the depressive and cognitive symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.
- Scott
> I've posted in last 5 months or so re: Gabapentin for bipolar2 . Got some great advice. Think I may be kidding myself though...slowly the depression is creeping back. Haven't taken any antidepressants for about 5 months and actually felt better for few months. Then started to feel slightly hypo..more anxious than usual. But last week I've had mixed emotions...lots of crying for no reason, hopeless feelings etc. Normally my moods aren't unstable cause mostly it's been depression. Just so disappointed cause I was hoping maybe depression wouldn't come back or maybe it's been there all along and I was a bit hypo so I was in denial. If it's Dysthymia and not major depression that I have....are there meds that seem to work better for Dysthymia than others. Sorry, I know I sound bit scattered right now.
> Thanks for opinions.
> Karen
>
>
>
Posted by KarenRB53 on August 24, 2016, at 16:49:39
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016 » KarenRB53, posted by SLS on August 24, 2016, at 15:56:46
> Hi Karen.
>
> Who diagnosed you as having dysthymia rather than a less severe bipolar depression?
>
> You might want to consider Lamictal to treat bipolar depression. You should also explore adding Abilify or Reluxti to your treatment regime. These will help with depression and prevent hypomania. Saphris is an interesting drug. I have seen it work well for the depressive and cognitive symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
> > I've posted in last 5 months or so re: Gabapentin for bipolar2 . Got some great advice. Think I may be kidding myself though...slowly the depression is creeping back. Haven't taken any antidepressants for about 5 months and actually felt better for few months. Then started to feel slightly hypo..more anxious than usual. But last week I've had mixed emotions...lots of crying for no reason, hopeless feelings etc. Normally my moods aren't unstable cause mostly it's been depression. Just so disappointed cause I was hoping maybe depression wouldn't come back or maybe it's been there all along and I was a bit hypo so I was in denial. If it's Dysthymia and not major depression that I have....are there meds that seem to work better for Dysthymia than others. Sorry, I know I sound bit scattered right now.
> > Thanks for opinions.
> > Karen
> >
> >
> >
>
>
Hi...less than a year ago I was going through major depressive episode, switched meds which didn't work much and I said I wanted to try without meds so I did. Then because I didn't get more depressed without meds, actually felt better, my dr said this suggested bipolar2 which we had talked about previously. So now, 5 months without meds I've been a bit depressed and because of family history my dr said maybe dysthymia as I don't remember a time when I wasn't depressed to some degree. Bad childhood, abuse, etc. So my feeling is I think I'm a bit unstable. Mostly kind of depressed but once in awhile a bit hypo.
Posted by KarenRB53 on August 24, 2016, at 19:04:02
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016 » KarenRB53, posted by SLS on August 24, 2016, at 15:56:46
> Hi Karen.
>
> Who diagnosed you as having dysthymia rather than a less severe bipolar depression?
>
> You might want to consider Lamictal to treat bipolar depression. You should also explore adding Abilify or Reluxti to your treatment regime. These will help with depression and prevent hypomania. Saphris is an interesting drug. I have seen it work well for the depressive and cognitive symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
> > I've posted in last 5 months or so re: Gabapentin for bipolar2 . Got some great advice. Think I may be kidding myself though...slowly the depression is creeping back. Haven't taken any antidepressants for about 5 months and actually felt better for few months. Then started to feel slightly hypo..more anxious than usual. But last week I've had mixed emotions...lots of crying for no reason, hopeless feelings etc. Normally my moods aren't unstable cause mostly it's been depression. Just so disappointed cause I was hoping maybe depression wouldn't come back or maybe it's been there all along and I was a bit hypo so I was in denial. If it's Dysthymia and not major depression that I have....are there meds that seem to work better for Dysthymia than others. Sorry, I know I sound bit scattered right now.
> > Thanks for opinions.
> > Karen
> >
> >
> >
>
>
Hi...less than a year ago I was going through major depressive episode, switched meds which didn't work much and I said I wanted to try without meds so I did. Then because I didn't get more depressed without meds, actually felt better, my dr said this suggested bipolar2 which we had talked about previously. So now, 5 months without meds I've been a bit depressed and because of family history my dr said maybe dysthymia as I don't remember a time when I wasn't depressed to some degree. Bad childhood, abuse, etc. So my feeling is I think I'm a bit unstable. Mostly kind of depressed but once in awhile a bit hypo.
Posted by KarenRB53 on September 13, 2016, at 11:46:24
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016, posted by KarenRB53 on August 24, 2016, at 16:49:39
Can Lamictal be taken by itself with no other meds for depression or bipolar? Definitely feeling depressed again and have appt with my pdoc. I know he will ask what I want to do so was wondering about Lamictal. Don't want to take Gabapentin.
Posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2016, at 12:58:28
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016, posted by KarenRB53 on September 13, 2016, at 11:46:24
> Can Lamictal be taken by itself with no other meds for depression or bipolar? Definitely feeling depressed again and have appt with my pdoc. I know he will ask what I want to do so was wondering about Lamictal. Don't want to take Gabapentin.
My pdoc had me on lamictal alone. I titrated up from 50mg to 100mg to 150mg and stayed there. I did well for a year or two then needed to add an AD
Posted by SLS on September 13, 2016, at 16:18:37
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016, posted by KarenRB53 on September 13, 2016, at 11:46:24
Hi.
> Can Lamictal be taken by itself with no other meds for depression or bipolar?
Early studies using Lamictal by itself at a dosage of 200 mg/day was deemed effective for bipolar depression. I don't know of any studies of unipolar depression or dysthymia. One strategy is to combine Wellbutrin with Lamictal. If there has been bipolarity at any time in your history, it would be helpful to consider yourself as having a bipolar diathesis (underlying biology), and tailoring your treatments as if you indeed have a bipolar spectrum illness. I have bipolar depression for which low dosages of lithium (300-600 mg/day) exert an antidepressant effect.
> Definitely feeling depressed again and have appt with my pdoc. I know he will ask what I want to do so was wondering about Lamictal. Don't want to take Gabapentin.
Despite an initial explosion in the use of gabapentin as a mood stabilizer beginning 15 years ago, it never fulfilled its promise as a treatment for depression or mania. It seems to help with anxiety, though.
If you do try Lamictal, it really is important to use the starter pack so that you can increase the dosage gradually. This is done so that you don't develop any rashes and avoid a rare type of skin reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The sweet-spot for Lamictal seems to be 200 mg/day with a range of 150-300 mg/day. The sweet-spot for Wellbutrin is 300 mg/day with a range of 150-450 mg/day.
- Scott
Posted by KarenRB53 on September 13, 2016, at 16:26:30
In reply to Re: Best meds for Dysthymia 2016 » KarenRB53, posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2016, at 12:58:28
> > Can Lamictal be taken by itself with no other meds for depression or bipolar? Definitely feeling depressed again and have appt with my pdoc. I know he will ask what I want to do so was wondering about Lamictal. Don't want to take Gabapentin.
>
> My pdoc had me on lamictal alone. I titrated up from 50mg to 100mg to 150mg and stayed there. I did well for a year or two then needed to add an AD
>
> I've always been on just antidepressants but dr wanted me to try gabapentin, he was thinking I might b bipolar2 but has changed his opinion and after about 6 months because depression is definitely getting worse, he wants me on antidepressants. I was on Celexa for many years and it helped. Been on quite a few. He suggested as I've gotten older and I'm rarely not depressed that dysthymia or chronic depression might be the diagnosis. Were you diagnosed with Dysthymia? Wondering if any antidepressants in particular are better.
This is the end of the thread.
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