Posted by Mitch on November 9, 2001, at 13:46:08
In reply to Trileptal and topomax, posted by Sue4 on November 9, 2001, at 11:36:19
> Hi, I'm bipolar II, rapid cycling, more prone to deprssion than mania. I've been on Topomax 200 mg, neurontin 900 mg, prozac 20 mg. Recently, I dropped the 100 mg wellbutrin because it was too stimulating. My pdoc thinks I ought to add a 2nd mood stabilizer like trileptal, and I'm beginning to agree with him, albeit reluctantly...Has anyone had any experience with this combo? I feel some despair about anything getting better than what it is right now. I am not working in my career right now, altho I've gone back to school for postgrad work on a parttime basis (I'm commuting)in order to feel connection with people. But I wonder what's the use if I'm not going to apply that that degree. (There are no jobs in the area where I work and I have a proven track record of not lasting in my career at any job for a long time). I've got a supportive husband. But I feel very inadequate in school and don't know if I will be able to stay in the program because I don't seem to handle the stress of the workload; I do enjoy the intereaction with the students even though I am older. But I find the work tough going. The question I have to ask it whether two stabilizers could help me and how they would...is the ssress a problem I personally have or is it partly the illness; is my depression that I experience now me or part of the illness; am i failing intellectually as a result of my age (47) or is it part of my illness? I don't want to try trileptal, if in theory, it can do nothing for me. It may do nothing for me in reality, but I can deal with that, if it at least has the promise of helping me with other issues at the outstart. Any comments? Thanks. Sue
>
>Hi Sue,
I haven't heard any blaring success stories with Trileptal. I tried it for a while as a switch from Neurontin. The bad thing is it tends to provoke a lot of nausea in susceptible people. The *good* thing is it doesn't seem to blur cognition as much as Lithium, Depakote, or Topamax. In fact I got some antidepressant effect from it. Have you ever been on Tegretol? It is supposed to be very similar.
Mitch
poster:Mitch
thread:83661
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011104/msgs/83681.html