Medications

Hey everyone I haven't been on in a long time but I finally had my Dr appt today for meds. The lady that watches my son couldn't watch him today so it was a little distracting having him there.....Anyway I was prescribed Lamictal and Strattera. She explained to me what each med was for but my son was interfering and I really didn't grasp much.....She also said that she thinks I have bi-polar with depression......I don't even know if that makes sense.....But I ended up looking up the meds online and one of them is for bi-polar, the lamictal. And the other is apparently used for adults with adhd, strattera. I do have a little better understanding after reading about both of them....I also want to add that I suffer from having a racing mind and often have conversations with myself also feel stressed and have a hard time relaxing because of this.......That's embarrassing to admit but the Strattera will help with that alone and the Lamictal will help with all of my problems. I was just a little surprised to hear about the bi-polar part.....She did tell me that she can't really have a definate diagnosis until we see how the meds do.....I've often wondered if I was bi-polar but I could never relate to the manic part....But maybe it's because of my racing thoughts, my mind running, having the conversations with myself and not being able to relax.....It almost just feels like from the time I wake up my mind is on a mission lol, that's how I describe it.....She did elaborate that those symptoms is what she was referring to as bi-polar.....I do want to add that I suffer from depression as well as these other things I've described. I'm happy for the meds and I know it will be a few weeks or even up to a month for them to start working but I just feel like I can't grasp this right now.....

Post Edited (wishdreamhope) : 1/9/2009 5:14:00 PM (GMT-7)

Hi  Wishdreamhope,

I am so proud of you for going to the appointment and yes a young child can be a huge distraction.  It sounds like you have a good relationship with your physician.

I will pray that your meds start working and things get better for you soon.

We also have a Bipolar Forum that you may want to read through.  You may find the members describing their sx and how their meds work.

Please stick with us as we are here to help you and you are part of the family here.

Hugs to you,

Kitt 

Yes it helped me to stop talking to myself when I was alone, I only think things now. My psychologist described it as when we get obsessive thinking, the brain can only handle so much, hence, we start talking outloud to handle all of the thoughts going in and out of our heads. The abilify is suppose to stop the obsessive thinking, therefore, we quit talking out loud. I have done it for such a long time, it is a relief when I don't do it. I even got teased at a bead shop that I use to go into. They would say "just because she is talking doesn't mean she is ready to check out" I guess that everybody noticed it. My sister said that I should just get a headset and people woould think I was on a phone or something.LOL...

It is such a relief to stop talking out loud like that. It use to irritate my first husband. He thought that I was talking about him. I had the problem for many years. And believe me the medication helped. Before I took abilify, I tried risperdol. It made me gain weight so I went on the abilify to try and stop that. It helps me not to worry about things that I can't control. And helps me sleep at night because I think so much. You will be happy to get a break from it.

My big problem was if I got angry, I couldn't let go of the thought. Then it would snowball. So that helps there too.

I hope that it works for you like it works for me. Does make me wonder if I was a little bipolar though. Maybe, but I didn't have the manic side. Always tired. No bursts of energy. Though the thinking was kind of that way.

Hugs, Karen

Hi Wishdreamhope,

I remember before, I called you "hope". I like that name.

Yes, things will get better. You haven't been on the meds for that long of time, and you will gradually notice that you are talking to yourself less.

I remember when I had my floral business. People would think I was talking to somebody in the greenhouse, when I was the only one there, so it can get embarrassing. But that is a part of you and it is okay. But it will go away, not over night though. It takes time for the medication to start working well. I have noticed my attitude on life has changed too. Things don't bother me as much as they use to. If at all. It is easier to shrug things off and irritations just don't matter anymore, but you still enjoy the good things all that much more. Abilify has been like a miracle to me, and I hope that it is to you also.

Hugs, Karen

Thank you both! And no I don't mind if you call me hope. I agree with you skitt, I do have a new hope now that everything I'm going through has a meaning. I know it's going to take a while for the meds to work....But I'm very optimistic about them now. See this is what I wanted.....I wanted the depression treated but also this other side of me, so I'm very happy about that. That is so promising to hear gettingby...I'm happy for you that it made a difference for you, even though you have probably been on abilify for a while now.....I'm glad that you got the relief from it....Because I know what it's like.....I think anyone that hears the word bi-polar automatically thinks of this big scary thing but now that it's clearer to me what I'm experiencing it's not so scary.....I also have plans to get a self help book on finding your spirituality or audio book....I feel like I want some tools to have a different perspective on different things in life....And I want to do more then just take meds.....I want to do the work myself and maybe do some little assignments which can produce stratigies in my life and take a different approach to life....I just want to find who I really am. I know I'm getting the counseling too but it's just something that I want to do for myself....If anyone can give me some suggestions on self help books that would be great because I plan on maybe getting a few.