Took my first Cymbalta this morning. Got sleepy about 3ish thisafternnonnnnnnnnnn, naped until 5:30. Lucky for me it’s extended release. 7 pm now. Pretty sure I’m underwater. Thoughts floating around. Difficulty focusing on
Hmm.
Floaty floaty
15 September 2008 at 7:07 pm (Medical)
Tags: bipolar, Cymbalta, medication, medication issues
Pharmaceuticals
18 June 2008 at 11:01 am (Medical, depression)
Tags: abilify, bipolar, celexa, depacote, effexor, lamictal, lithium, medication, trazodone, wellbutrin, xanax, zoloft
I was talking to a friend online about the various and sundry medications I’ve been on, and ending up writing a list of what I’ve tried and how I reacted to it. It might help someone else, so I’m reprinting it here.
Different meds work for different people. :-/ I’m bipolar: generally severe depression, mild to moderate anxiety, rapid cycling hypomania (up then crashing several times a day for about a week or so), rare full blown manic episodes. Every med I’ve been on before has been for treating depression, not bipolar. So, my depression has been more-or-less under control, while my hypomania ran unchecked.
I’ve tried:
Celexa. Lexapro is a newer version of Celexa. Celexa made me twitchy (like jumping when you’re falling asleep ‘cause you think you’re falling) and dropped my libido to non-existent levels. Moderately controlled my depression, then quit working after about a year. I also punched Steve in the face in my sleep from a violent muscle twitch. :)
Xanax. Anti-anxiety. Good for immediate control of panic attack, but never took it on a regular basis despite a shrink who gave it to me like candy.
Trazodone. Have no effing clue why I was prescribed this one. Turned me into Nessa Zombie. Bleah.
Zoloft. The Sad Rock and I were pretty cool, although again that’s an anti-depressant that does nothing for my mania. Drops my libido to nothing unless I have it at a pretty high dosage.
Effexor. Made me violently angry. Wanted to kick my dog to death because she was barking. Srsly.
Depacote. Made me Chipmunk Nessa. I have pictures around here somewhere. Gained a LOT of weight on this one. I don’t think it even touched my depression. Pretty pointless.
Wellbutrin. Pretty sure I tried this one at one point, too. Eh.
Lamictal. One of the potential side effects was a dangerous rash. While on this one (TMI alert!) I had a vaginal infection that wouldn’t go away: changed soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, diet, type of underwear, nothing changed it. Went off the medication just in case.
Abilify. Finally! A medication for bipolar! Unfortunately, it made me a twitchy, restless insomniac. No good.
Started on lithium this morning. Hopefully this will do something for my kooky head. :)
Having said all that, I hate to see what kind of spam I’m going to attract with these tags. Oy! ;)
MWF ISO PhD (or is it MD?)
3 June 2008 at 9:02 pm (Medical)
Tags: bipolar, depression, doctors, Medical, US vs John Lennon
Went to what I thought was my new shrink today, only to find out she’s a therapist and not the sort who prescribes meds. Grr. She did enlighten me a bit, though, telling me all the drugs I’ve been on have been for depression and not for bipolar. Explains a good bit. My depression has been relatively stable but the hypomania has never changed. Goes back to me wondering if my previous shrink was prescribing what was good for me or what the drug companies were suggesting he prescribe. Whatever. In the meantime, I have no drugs for my confused little brain. I’m hoping my primary care physician will write me a short script to tide me over until I get in to see the drug doctor my talk doctor recommended today.
I think I’m going to go watch The US vs John Lennon with Steve and knit at the same time to keep my hands busy.
Goddamn biploar
27 April 2008 at 6:24 pm (depression)
Tags: bipolar, medication issues, personal
I hate it when medication is screwy and not doing its job, or doing its job plus some annoying as hell side effects. Mainly, I hate it when medication doesn’t keep me from having to hear Gavin told, “Mommy can’t play with you now. Mommy’s sick.” It rips my heart out to see that little face looking sad as he contemplates why it is that his mommy doesn’t want to get down on the floor with him and play whatever game he’s playing. I hate hearing him ask, haltingly, “Mommy … sick?” I don’t want him to grow up too quickly, knowing that some days he has to stay away from Mommy because she’s sick and might start crying. I don’t want him to carry that weight on his shoulders. I don’t want him to learn to accept that sometimes Mommy isn’t Mommy and she has to be left alone.
