Posted by SLS on July 25, 2006, at 6:47:17
In reply to Re: What to do about med's when Pdoc abandons you, posted by Karen44 on July 24, 2006, at 23:09:04
> He won't take any messages from me, but I am supposed to see him on August 4th.
Has he taken messages from you in the past?
> I am really confused and feel like sh*t because the Lamictal is not helping. I am on the second week of 25 mg. per day. Perhaps that won't cause problems if I have to quit.
Yeah. I think you can just stop taking it if that is your wish.
What was the rationale for going with Lamictal? Are you taking anything else?
> He told me to go to the University of Chicago Hospital if I thought I needed to be in the hospital.
Do you think that this was his way of relieving himself of you?
> In the meantime, I am so damn depressed I can hardly stand it,
Even if you were to continue with the Lamictal, it is unlikely that you would feel any persistent improvement for several weeks, although some people do experience brief bursts of improvements at 50mg. Unfortunately, you are at a point in pharmacotherapy where just about any antidepressant you start is going to take a minimum of 3 weeks to work if you are lucky. If you are nearing a crisis point and need something that will give you some relief immediately, you can go with Zyprexa temporarily. The other thing I had thought is to go with Emsam. It seems to provide a very quick energizing effect that begins within days of starting treatment. If you are not nearing a crisis point, however, it might be better for you to allow yourself more time to more carefully plan treatment strategies.
> and I have to go into the University of Chicago Hospital Thursday for a broncoscopy because I have been coughing up blood.
I hope it is just a simple and passing viral infection.
I'm sorry about your brother.
I get the impression that your depression has been exacerbated by the situational stresses that have been placed upon you. The world has become a much more desolate place for you to live in. This is a time when it is critical to open up your bag of coping tools and use them as best you can. It would be convenient if an antidepressant were to begin working right now, as it would make things much easier to deal with, but this is not the case. Know that you have people you can rely on for support and advice. You don't have to go through this alone.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:669879
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060724/msgs/670279.html