Posted by med_empowered on July 1, 2005, at 0:11:59
In reply to PLEASE!! Tell me if you think I am on to many meds, posted by BRC on June 30, 2005, at 21:59:03
Hey! I, too, am young (I'm 21) and have done the overmedicated "thing"...right now, I'm not taking any meds, and I'm doing well (meds work for people, though..I'm not raving against medication by any means). The problems you might run into vary by each drug and dose, and then also vary by what you mix with what...polypharmacy is terribly complex, and a whole lot of it guessowrk. You might want to have your sodium levels checked (I took Trileptal and Celexa, both of which can lower your blood sodium levels...my shrink didnt tell me until my GP freaked out about my low sodium levels). Also, get some liver tests done now and then (I had elevated liver enzymes from all the meds I was on, including Klonopin and Trileptal). Also, try to keep your dosages in line with standard practice. Some of your doses seem a bit elevated; Remeron is usually capped at 45mgs, Klonopin is usually kept at 3mgs or below...Trileptal dosages vary wildly, but levels above 1200mgs aren't terribly common. I'm not saying your doctor isn't any good; I'm just saying that, if you're stable and you feel up to it, you may want to work on bringing some of your meds down a bit, so they're more in line with the amounts used in day-to-day psychiatric practice. This should also minimize side effects. Aside from that, you dont really seem to be on "too many meds"...I have Bipolar Disorder, along with secondary issues (insomnia/hypersomnia, anxiety, ADHD, depression-induced fatigue), so I've been on some complicated med "cocktails". The most daily psychiatric meds I've taken is, I believe, 8 or 9 different meds. Before I stopped taking all my meds, I was taking 4 meds daily, just like you are now, and that was a BIG improvement over previous cocktails. Just looking at your med line up, these are some possibilities that popped up: ditch the Trileptal, go for an atypical...my vote would be Abilify, 10-20mgs/daily. OR..go for lamictal, and you might be able to dump one of the antidepressants, maybe the Remeron, so you could be down to 3 meds daily. OR...for ultimate convenience, try Symbyax, the zyprexa+prozac combo. Its a mood-stabilizer/AD combo with some sedating properties. I'd personally keep the Klonopin, and add something for as-needed sedation...Vistaril, Ambien, etc. It might also help to add a kinda large dose of Buspar (30+mgs)...Buspar can boost antidepressants and reduces anxiety..it may also prevent problems with antipsychotics. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:521759
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050627/msgs/521805.html