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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Basia on September 18, 2006, at 13:41:20
Hi
I have not been on this board for a while but just wanted to find out about success rates in withdrawing from certain meds after being on them for years (in my case 6/7).
I have been taking Sulpiride and Tegretol Retard ( a mood stabiliser) for 6 years and Lamictal for 2.5 years.
I seem to be getting more and more depressed though. I am thinking of changing AP as I have been put on HRT to restart my periods that stopped with the uses of sulpiride. This cannot be good :). I do not know if it's the HRT or the combo of meds that is causing my increasing low mood. I have not had hallucinations or psychosis for so long ( once or twice 5/6 years ago) and although I am bipolar II, I have only been hypomanic once. Since I am on two mood stabilisers, should I come off one of them? Lamictal helped me immensely, saved my life in fact, when I first started taking it, but it petered out after a year...I feel safe on the Sulpiride but wonder about the long term effects on my health. I would love any advice from users of the above drugs as I am not seeing a psychiatrist for ages - my old, trusty one left to become an academic and I have had a different one every time I go which is a bit of a pointless nightmare.. They have yet to employ a permanent staff member...Thanks :)
Posted by med_empowered on September 18, 2006, at 14:30:33
In reply to Mood stabilisers and depression in bipolar II, posted by Basia on September 18, 2006, at 13:41:20
hi! To me, it sounds like BP II might not be the best description of your issues; it sounds more like recurrent depression, with moodiness and a fit of psychosis and hypomania.
Anyway, you can probably do without any antipsychotic; the newer ones might help stabilizer your moods, but if you've only had 1 psychotic episode then you don't necessarily *need* one. That said..if you taper, do so very carefully; benzos might be helpful for the taper period.
Sorry the lamictal pooped out. Maybe add something to replace the AP, like Provigil? Or do therapy...or up the Lamictal...or try and antidepressant...
Posted by Phillipa on September 18, 2006, at 21:19:44
In reply to Re: Mood stabilisers and depression in bipolar II, posted by med_empowered on September 18, 2006, at 14:30:33
Even if the doc is different each time you need one to make some reccomendationsa and write a script for a med. Love Phillipa
Posted by SLS on September 19, 2006, at 16:21:20
In reply to Mood stabilisers and depression in bipolar II, posted by Basia on September 18, 2006, at 13:41:20
Which HRT are you taking?
It is likely that your treatment over the last few years was helping, right? Now you start the HRT, and we see a change in your mental status. It would seem that the two are related.
> I have not had hallucinations or psychosis for so long ( once or twice 5/6 years ago) and although I am bipolar II, I have only been hypomanic once.
If you were diagnosed and treated immediately and effectively after your first episodes, that is all we would expect to see, right? So, perhaps we are looking at schizoaffective disorder. I think it is best that you work with your doctors on this one. Changing APs might be a great idea, but I doubt changing both AP and MS at the same time is.
If you are taking the HRT for the expressed purpose of countering the effects of sulpiride, and you are inclined to discontinue the sulpiride and switch to another antipsychotic, and you are feeling worse since starting the HRT, I would say that it makes sense to discontinue the HRT now and switch the AP second and make decisions on the MS third.
But of course, I am not a doctor, and I don't know the first thing about you or the particulars of your case.
Good luck.
- Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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