meds switch

Hi AubreyBear,

Hope you had a good day today. Mine was quiet, but nice. Sunny here today, Like summer, almost. Trees are changing color, very pretty. I made some apple sauce today too. Walked this morning...

Hugs, Karen...

Hi everyone. Jan- I hope you're doing ok with your medical stuff. You're a trooper. Sending you peace.

Aubrey- my friend has mennieres disease & now wears a hearing aide. Sorry about your ear issues. Like Jan, you're a trooper too & you're still training for you marathon in spite of it all. Thumbs up!

Keaz- I hope you'll check in soon with us and report how it's still going. You're our mascot right now lol.

Hugs to all-
Lisa

AubreBear,

I am so sorry it has taken so long for me to write back. I read the thread yesterday and intended to answer and then forgot which thread. I am so absent minded.

Try not to stress. You got this!!! I know you are a lot stronger than you think you are. I think a lot of us are. Hang in there. I hope that the weather is nice for your 5K race!!!

Hugs, Karen...

One day at a time...

Funny you posted about PMS. I've been doing pretty good anxiety wise for awhile. I still think my meds need tweaked a bit bc I'm still having disconnect/depression feelings but seemingly more good days than bad. This month's cycle started 3 days ago and yesterday and today, my anxiety has been more troublesome than in months... I even called psych today bc I thought it was associated with increasing Lamictal last Saturday.

It still could be the med increase but it also started with my period..

So... Yeah, I can kind of relate... It's been upsetting to say the least.

But, I bet in another month or 2, your Pms depression/anxiety will subside w/the Vibriid.

Sending love & prayers!
Lisa

Hi Keaz,

Wow we sound so similar with the PMS. I too now get it a day or so before period then a cpl days into period. It used to end when I started!

Idk abt the Viibryd as I've never taken it. I do know that similar side effects with other meds generally go away after several months. I wonder too since you've been feeling better and more active, if that doesn't have something to do with the joint aches?

As women, apparently our bodies are always changing.. Super, right? jeez lol.

As far as not being able to take Ibuprofen- unless you have a blood disorder, you can prob take it PRN. The same was said abt Cymbalta and ibuprofen. I was on Cymbalta for 6 yrs and I HAD to take NSAIDs (ibuprofen or Aleve), every month for my lovely, painful periods. No doctor, Gyn or family, said I couldn't take.

Sending love!
Lisa

Hi Guys. Finished my first 5k last night at 30:12. I would have broken 30:00 if I wasn't so polite and pushed through the crowd a few times. My goal was 35:00 and towards the end with my hip pain, I would have been happy to come through under 40:00, so I am quite pleased with it!!

My head is pounding today and I'm picking up the moving truck tonight at 5:00 for a night and day of moving tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be dying by Sunday. But hopefully it goes smoothly.

How is everyone?? Did anyone hear from Jan?

Has anyone heard from Keaz? Thinking about you girl. Hope you'll post soon & let us know what's going on.

Karen- thinking of you too <3

Sending love-
Lisa

starting thursday evening, my mood and anxiety worsened. i could barely sleep last night an the night before and had a crying spell Friday (not typical). It almost seems like i'm following the same pattern as will lexapro..Days where i feel normal, and days where i feel horrible. When does this even out. Today is exatly 5 weeks sine my med swithh and i've been on the 40 mg since 3 weeks ago. I still have heart palpitaltions, rls, and anxieyt.

Is is time for me to accept that this is my new life. :(. I've een feeling paniky too, for no apparent reason. It happens at night. It was so nice to have those two weeks of feeling formal, ad i've had a dew days since then, ut it hasn't been the same.

is it normal for this rollercocaster of emotios. When does it even out. Was i to fast to get oof the leapro after weeks.?

i also noticed that thursday was my ovulation day, so i think that had something to do with it. I slept okay last night so hopefully things start getting better. I think ALL my setbacks have been hormone related.

I love being outside in the mornings right now. I walk my dogs everday at 6. I live in Az so the weather is perfect in the morning.

I think i may go running outside.

I'm not too crazy about adding hormones to the mix, but i was looking up natural progesterone cream. Not sure, maybe I'll give it a couple of cycles to see if it gets better. It was never this bad prior to this episode of MDD several months ago.

Hi Keaz-

I'm doing ok pretty much. I still have these random episodes of what I think is "derealization" that are disturbing but not depressed or anxious!? I haven't taken any Xanax in almost 2 weeks.

With that being said, just a few weeks ago I was trying to get an earlier appt w/Psych bc I felt my AD wasn't working & I'd need to switch and the sooner the better. They had no earlier appts than my scheduled one (Oct 20th). The only med change that happened at last appt was they increased the lamictal from 50mg to 100mg. After 4 days of increase, I noticed panic feeling & called them. They said go back to 50mg & see if that helps. I did & it went away. Don't know if it was a fluke or what but I was also abt to start my period that week too...

My point is, nothing has changed since mid Aug w/my meds & yet besides the unpredictable feelings of derealization, I'm feeling fairly ok. Idk what's changed other than time? Or I'm getting over the grief of my friends moving? I cannot pinpoint it.

Did I tell you my Dr precribed the folic acid too? She said no side effects & it's natural but I've been too afraid to take it grrr. Maybe I will now since you are. Did you notice your joint aches before or after starting the Deplin? (Folic acid rx).

I also remember her saying that almost w/o fail, it takes the brain 12 weeks to heal after a MDD episode once on the correct meds... Maybe my brain is starting to heal, who knows! I was sure the Pristiq wasn't helping bc I went on it in June and it didn't work by itself. They tried adding Wellbutrin which did nothing and then Lamictal in August which I'm still taking.

I understand 100% your confusion and concern. I'm there with you but things have been more consistent the past several weeks (minus the stupid D/R (derealization- which I've heard is an effect of PTSD which I never had til this year with this med roller coaster and my life being shaken up bc of that plus my only 3 friends moving away from me). I took a PTSD questionnaire at Psychotherapists office and didn't have it according to test results but as you know, we've been shaken to our core this year trying to feel normal again & it taking forever, unlike any time in our past when we just took a med and it worked and we barely suffered unlike what we have experienced this year.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Sending much love & peace!
Lisa

Keaz- when do you see your psych next? Bring up the joint pain. There are other addons they can use besides Abilify. I took it for a month in April but it didn't do anything for me. My NP @ psych is on Lamictal & likes it better than Abilify but mostly bc it's cheaper than Abilify as it comes in generic. Plus, Abilify works faster and I was heading to Florida like 4 days later and needed to feel as stable as possible to enjoy my vacation.

However, like I said, there are other addons that could b tried ad are effective. Living with joint pains as a side effect isn't necessary. Talk with the psych about it. And obviously your concerns about not feeling back on track when you thought you were heading in that direction.

Btw, I'm verrrry impatient. This year has proven that I can be patient, even though I've "kicked & screamed" many times this year.

This is random and I've never brought it up bc it's kinda controversial but according to the way the planets are aligned this year, MANY ppl are feeling struggles, more than usual. The planet Mercury is in retrograde which is wreaking havoc on moods, stress etc. Also, there are 4 planets aligned in a way that only happens every 84 years which is throwing things out of whack. Although I'm a Christian, I also believe in the planets affecting things.. Full moons, harvest moons, etc (It's a fact things can get funky on a full moon- ask any ER worker lol). I'm one of 4 Cardinal signs (I'm an Aries), & apparently the Cardinal signs are feeling it the most. The good news is, things should be aligned properly by the beginning of the year. I'm curious to see how that plays out.

Anyway, hugs & hang in there. Keep posting, we'll get through this.
Lisa

Jan - are you alive? I'm worried about you. Please let us know if you are okay.

Hi everyone else! Hope everyone is well.