Posted by alienatari on January 3, 2005, at 3:38:04
Hey all. I have Bipolar I, OCD and psychosis and im currently on Depakote, Zyprexa and Parnate.
My psychosis has been under control for a while and, under doctors supervision I really want to stop this medication mainly because of the weight gain. All the other atypicals have given me either akathisia or other unwanted side effects or simply didnt work.
Anyway, the real point of my post is, Im thinking about replacing Parnate with Lamactil. Parnate, the 17th antidepressant I have tried, has been the only antidepressant that has worked. Im thankful for this but I cant handle the side effects any longer. Im constantly fatigued, dizzy, always worried about what I can and cant eat. Actually eating has turned into a total obsession (probably because of my OCD). I basically wont eat when im not at home. And I do think my fears are waranted. I have taken my blood pressure after eating foods that arnt even on the "forbidden" list and noticed rises which scares me. Is cranberry juice allowed? It seems to raise my blood pressure.
Every afternoon I get so tired I have to take a rest, and I wasnt like this before Parnate.
I have read that Lamactil is good for depression in bipolar disorder, so I was wondering what others have experienced with it? Does it "poop out" like antidepressants can do? Its also quite expensive but I have read that because i am on Depakote that I should only take half the dosage so that will definatly cut down the cost.
The thing is, Im here in Australia and we have what is called the PBS, it pays a substantial amount of the costs of medication. Lamactil isnt on the PBS yet for Bipolar, so when my doctor asked me if i wanted to go on Lamactil I said I couldnt afford it and so I opted for parnate. But now, I can afford it as I am working and I didnt realise I would only need a half dose because of the Depakote.
I am also going back to University in 2 months time, and I want to be as stable as I can be then.
If it doesnt work out, im sure i could just go back on Parnate though, right? I dont see why not.Thanks for reading and take care.
Any advice anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
poster:alienatari
thread:437114
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041228/msgs/437114.html