Pdoc and new med
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Pdoc and new med
| Fri, 05-26-2006 - 9:27am |
I went to my pdoc yesterday. He increased my Prozac, again, he added Abilify. He talk to me about going on Lithium but I am not sure if
| Fri, 05-26-2006 - 9:27am |
I went to my pdoc yesterday. He increased my Prozac, again, he added Abilify. He talk to me about going on Lithium but I am not sure if
I can't help you with your questions on lithium, but I had been on ablify. On the lower doses, it helped. But I kept needing higher doses. That may have been in part to the stress at home though. But as I increased the dose, my hands started to shake. My pdoc seemed to think this was not because of the abilify at one appointment and was because of it at the next. I ended up going off it cold turkey without her permission. But I stopped shaking. I just waited until I was on a high enough dose of the topamax to do it. If it had not been for the shaking, I would have stayed on it. I felt really stable on it. I ignored the shaking when it was minimal but it just got to be too much. But the shaking was also at the worse when things were at the worse at home so I may never know whether it was the abilify or just a stress type reaction. Especially since it stopped about the time he left, LOL.
Missy
I love my Lithium and wouldn't trade it for the world now, although I was extremely worried about taking it initially.
Hey Tina...for me, Lithium was a double edged sword...I loved it, and I HATED IT! I loved it, because it works for mania very well...it stabilized me really quickly. But I couldn't tolerate the side affects. I did gain weight...while others didn't. I gained a good bit of weight on it (about 30 pounds)...but, I did NOT stop taking it because of the weight gain. I would deal with weight gain for stabilization any day. You know that about me though.
I could not tolerate the nausea that never went away, or the EXTREME DROWSINESS that never went away for ME. Most people however, IT DOES GO AWAY FOR!!! I'm just VERY VERY sensitive to side affects of meds. Even cold meds (which I'm taking now, for a TERRIBLE sinus thing) make me really sick...ugh.
Now, I do supplement my Topamax (sometimes) with a 300 mg dose of Lithium right now. That is a VERY small amount of Lithium. Not supposed to be therapeutic AT ALL, but it SO works for me, when I need it. My pdoc said with my sensitivity to it, it just works for whatever reason in my brain. I don't have to take it every day, either. Just when I need that "ooomph" in my meds, when I'm feeling a bit off, like now, I'll start it up, and for a few days, take it, and it evens me back out. Even for the depression at times...not as often as for like irritability, or manic feelings, but sometimes.
I have no side affects from it at that small amount. Its basically a nothing amount. But tell that to my brain. All mood stabs I'm really sensitive to. All meds for that matter. Stupid meds...stupid BP. Hate it.
As for the Abilify...I was SOOOO sensitive to that one, I couldn't take even the tiniest amount possible...it made me horribly horribly sick from the first dose. But I know others who swear by it. I hope it helps.
Love you,
Keli