Posted 3/23/2017 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
Skatterprank:
This is kind of hard to respond to because there is so much of it, so much in this.
1. You say, “I've been diagnosed with several mental illnesses over the course of my life, the most persistent of which have been bouts of major depression, manic episodes (which I thought were just symptom-free happy timesty.”
How else were you diagnosed? I’ve been miss-diagnosed myself, sometimes, and was just curious how long it took them to get it right. I’ve been misdiagnosed as depressive, and it was bipolar, so being miss-diagnosed, I was mis-medicated.
2. You say, “I was diagnosed as bipolarII last July, weaned off of anti-depressants”
As a fellow bipolar person, and from what you say in the next few sentences, and from meds I’m on as a bipolar person (Lithium which lowers mania and lifts to a degree depression, and an anti-depressant, Mirtazapine), I’m wondering, seems like you are, why were you taken off anti-depressants, and ½ of your condition is depression?
You answer this with, “It also became clear that the anti-depressants, while being responsible in part for sending into manic states also covered up my temper... a lot. So now I'm more anxious than I have ever been, still deal with serious bouts of depression, fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, and don't even get to feel good for no reason.”
So, the anti-depressant(s) that you’ve been on put you into mania, is why you were taken of anti-depressants. But then that causes another problem when your depression goes untreated. (These are all my opinions as a bi-polar person, but seem to reflect a lot of what you’re saying, also.)
3. Then you say, “weaned off of anti-depressants and put on 150mg of Lamotrigine. It is a miracle I was allowed to stay on Clonazepam on an as-needed basis. Unfortunately, the Lamotrigine has done nothing for my depression or anxiety.”
I read on the net that “1.Lamotrigine is an anticonvulsant drug used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder” But you say, “the Lamotrigine has done nothing for my depression or anxiety.”
Lamotrigine is one of the medicines listed on the net that is used for bipolar (but if it’s not working, why are we sticking with it, I’m just asking, like you seem to be?)
4. Next you say, “It is a miracle I was allowed to stay on Clonazepam on an as-needed basis.” The net says, “Clonazepam, sold under the brand name Klonopin among others, is a medication used to prevent and treat seizures, panic disorder>”
Then you say, “It also became clear that the anti-depressants, while being responsible in part for sending into manic states also covered up my temper... a lot. So now I'm more anxious than I have ever been, still deal with serious bouts of depression, fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, and don't even get to feel good for no reason.”
On the net, it also said about Clonazepam, “One of the side effects (of Clonazepan) is agitation”
(It then says on net that this med is “something used to treat acute mania.” But you don’t have acute mania, you have Bipolar II, which net said was mild form of bipolar. So I must have bipolar I, which is the more acute form of that. All of this is just my speculation as a bipolar person.)
So, the one med you like, Clonazdepan, may be why you “fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, and don't even get to feel good for no reason.” Maybe why you don’t feel good is because Clonazdepan is not an anti-depressant, and “the Lamotrigine has done nothing for my depression or anxiety.”
And again, you “fly off the handle at the slightest provocation” could be partly because “One of the side effects (of Clonazepan) is agitation”
5. You say, “I'm really happy that Lithium worked for you but for whatever reason, considering all the anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, anti-psychotics, and anti-anxiety meds I've been on, Lithium has never been suggested. Maybe it's simply not a go-to med in my neck of the woods.”
Again, I take Lithium which stopped my anxiety attacks cold, no more since I first strted taking Lithium. I had had them for 2 or 3 years maybe, and I haven’t had one since I took the first pill, over 25 years ago.
Also, I take an antidepressant (Mirtazapine). That’s all I take. You’re not even taking an antidepressant, and half of your illness is depression.
You say, “I'm really happy that Lithium worked for you but for whatever reason, considering all the anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, anti-psychotics, and anti-anxiety meds I've been on, Lithium has never been suggested. Maybe it's simply not a go-to med in my neck of the woods.”
I was miss-diagnosed as “Depressive” for over 20 years, and I was really “Bipolar” all of that time, so was not given any Lithium for those over 20 years, just given an anti-depressant. So, I, too, was miss- diagnosed for a long time. Maybe we have the same doctor.
You say, “I can't get in to see a psychiatrist because of a clogged up system and the psychopharmacologist does not take people on a regular basis. They diagnose and that's it. I'm really happy that Lithium worked for you”
Now back to my own problems.