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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ellen on October 31, 1999, at 18:19:24
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced hypomania (a mildy manic state) when taking SSRI's. I think that's happening to my sister (she's neglecting her children in order to carry on an affair which has broken up her marriage--very different from how she was before starting Paxil). She doesn't think anything is wrong (but people in mania often don't, I gather) and won't talk to her doctor about it. She was started on Paxil by a previous doctor, so her current doc never knew her pre-meds. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I think she might hear it from you better than from me! Thanks.
P.S. I'm not anti-med, I take them myself. All I want is for her to discuss the situation with her doctor. I've thought about calling him to voice my concerns, but that seems awfully intrusive.
Posted by Bob on October 31, 1999, at 20:39:01
In reply to SSRI-induced manic state?, posted by Ellen on October 31, 1999, at 18:19:24
> I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced hypomania (a mildy manic state) when taking SSRI's.
And what a ride it was! I had NEVER felt anything like that before, and part of me regrets ever leaving it behind. Since I had always been depressed (since 8 yrs old), I had no yardstick for what "happy" was supposed to be. I thought what I was feeling was normal, and that 100mg of zoloft/day had cured me. I jumped at every chance I had to start that "normal life" that had been denied to me, including moving in with someone I had known only for a month and spending about $16 grand ($10k of that on credit, the other my entire summer teaching salary which was supposed to go towards the charges) on those things in life I had been putting off for so long. Since no one had ever seen me "happy", when my GP suggested I stop the zoloft I thought it was a great idea (a good reason why folks should see a good pdoc -- my gp wasn't aware enough of what would happen to me stopping zoloft cold turkey after 30 years or so of depression and 6 months of medication). I had to beginning feeling that great way of feeling by myself, without those nasty meds.
So I crashed, deep and hard and long. I haven't responded well to anything my pdoc has wanted to try, with the recent exception of a TCA. I have two years of horrendous credit records to cope with, which I now can do thanks to Genus credit management or whatever they call themselves and my consolidated and closed credit card accounts. And, since co-habitation in NYC is as much a fiscal partnership as it is any other kind, I've been living with someone has gotten no clear message for over two years on whether I really want to spend the rest of the year, let alone the rest of my life, with.
And from reading accounts of people here and, before I arrived here, from Kay Jamison's personal accounts in An Unquiet Mind, I *do* think my mania was moderately mild.
As much as I crave feeling like that again, it's going to take me ten years to undo the fiscal damage I did. The emotional damage to myself and someone I honestly do care about, though maybe not the way I did back then ... well, that may take a bit longer.
If you think it would help, go ahead and print this out for her. Buy her An Unquiet Mind to read. Maybe THAT will get through -- it's a powerful book.
My girlfriend tried to reason with me about going off the meds ... she hadn't thought me manic at the time, but she did know it was a bad move. She had only known me a few months, tho, and was unsure. We both wish she would have called my GP and my therapist. I was in a state of mind that could not acknowledge that anything I was doing could possibly go wrong. I don't know if anyone would agree with me here, but I say if you can't get through to her, get through to her doctor. If she is manic, the crash will come ... and the effects of that crash will be a helluva lot more intrusive than showing your concern now would be.
Good luck,
Bob
Posted by JohnL on November 1, 1999, at 3:37:01
In reply to SSRI-induced manic state?, posted by Ellen on October 31, 1999, at 18:19:24
> I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced hypomania (a mildy manic state) when taking SSRI's. I think that's happening to my sister (she's neglecting her children in order to carry on an affair which has broken up her marriage--very different from how she was before starting Paxil). She doesn't think anything is wrong (but people in mania often don't, I gather) and won't talk to her doctor about it. She was started on Paxil by a previous doctor, so her current doc never knew her pre-meds. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I think she might hear it from you better than from me! Thanks.
>Hypomania feels great. Unrestrained sexual behavior. Elevated energy. Faster talking. Faster thinking. Decreased need for sleep. Spending sprees. Heigthened creativity. Many artists and musicians happen to be manic-depressive. Their masterpieces are usually done while in the up-phase. Hypomania is often triggered by getting on or getting off an antidepressant. It may settle down on its own and remain at a stable level. Or the swings might get worse. Time will tell.
Like Bob said though, a lot of damage can be done while feeling so good. Extramarital affairs, devastated finances, neglected children. The good times don't last. Maybe days, maybe weeks, but there is a crash coming. It's unavoidable.
There is the possibility she isn't hypomanic. Maybe her true self is coming out of the shell? Hypomania sounds more likely though.
Don't know of any way to intervene. I was in this position once and had to make tough decisions. I informed the person of my concerns, I was scoffed at because of it, but I told them straight out (not behind their back) what I was going to do about it. And then I did it. All I could do was call the doctor and the counselor. They were both made aware of my concerns. They couldn't do anything except ask me to try to get the person in for an appointment. The only thing they could do was put my phone call and my concerns in their records for permanent reference. Whether my concerns were correct or not was irrelevent. The fact they were concerns at all, true or not, was valid enough reason to include them in the records.
I would definitely call her doctor...actually, both of them. Ask them to put your call in the records. Maybe they can offer advice. I don't think that's intrusive. On the contrary, I see it as being the only responsible thing to do. But the poor children. And the husband. Ouch.
Posted by Sean on November 1, 1999, at 15:25:47
In reply to SSRI-induced manic state?, posted by Ellen on October 31, 1999, at 18:19:24
> I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced hypomania (a mildy manic state) when taking SSRI's. I think that's happening to my sister (she's neglecting her children in order to carry on an affair which has broken up her marriage--very different from how she was before starting Paxil). She doesn't think anything is wrong (but people in mania often don't, I gather) and won't talk to her doctor about it. She was started on Paxil by a previous doctor, so her current doc never knew her pre-meds. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I think she might hear it from you better than from me! Thanks.
>
> P.S. I'm not anti-med, I take them myself. All I want is for her to discuss the situation with her doctor. I've thought about calling him to voice my concerns, but that seems awfully intrusive.This sounds exactly like me on Zoloft! If she is
sleeping very little, then I would definitely go
with hypomania. If she is sleeping 8-hours a
night, it may be a "psychological" reaction to
finally feeling good. God knows people who deal
with chronic depression deserve to have a glimpse
of this at least once in their life.I don't think it is a sustainable state however.
If this is hypomania, then it looks like mood
stabilizer time. Sadly, mood stabilizers are not
nearly the fun that SSRI's are and lots of us
struggle with compliance knowing that feeling
"better than good" is just a pill away...
Sean.
Posted by Ellen on November 7, 1999, at 20:16:52
In reply to Re: SSRI-induced manic state?, posted by Sean on November 1, 1999, at 15:25:47
Thanks for your support! I'm sending my sister a letter today telling her what I'm concerned about and letting her know that I will call her doctor in a week or so to share my concerns with him (I didn't want her to feel ambushed by my calling him without her knowing or before she had a chance to talk with him if she chooses.) Thanks again!
> > I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced hypomania (a mildy manic state) when taking SSRI's. I think that's happening to my sister (she's neglecting her children in order to carry on an affair which has broken up her marriage--very different from how she was before starting Paxil). She doesn't think anything is wrong (but people in mania often don't, I gather) and won't talk to her doctor about it. She was started on Paxil by a previous doctor, so her current doc never knew her pre-meds. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I think she might hear it from you better than from me! Thanks.
> >
> > P.S. I'm not anti-med, I take them myself. All I want is for her to discuss the situation with her doctor. I've thought about calling him to voice my concerns, but that seems awfully intrusive.
>
> This sounds exactly like me on Zoloft! If she is
> sleeping very little, then I would definitely go
> with hypomania. If she is sleeping 8-hours a
> night, it may be a "psychological" reaction to
> finally feeling good. God knows people who deal
> with chronic depression deserve to have a glimpse
> of this at least once in their life.
>
> I don't think it is a sustainable state however.
> If this is hypomania, then it looks like mood
> stabilizer time. Sadly, mood stabilizers are not
> nearly the fun that SSRI's are and lots of us
> struggle with compliance knowing that feeling
> "better than good" is just a pill away...
>
> Sean.
This is the end of the thread.
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