Has anyone had loss of appetite as a symptom from a med. I've had this symptom for the past two weeks. I just never feel like eating anything during the day. I'll have something small to eat during dinner because I know that I have to eat but thats the only time that I will ever eat. I'm currently on Lithium, tegritol, and ativan. Could any of these be causing this loss of appetite.
Some of my meds cause me not to eat also...to the point that I have to keep a food intake diary and take it to my pdoc every 2 weeks. I just have no interst in food whatsoever, part of it is the depression, but alot of it is the topamax, lamictal, and wellbutrin. So yeah it's not uncommon...I'm not sure about the meds your on though.
I'm doing good besides the loss of appetite. I haven't had any psychotic symptoms for two months at least now. Except for this one night where I heard a voice for no more than a minute. But it went away. My moods have been good, not depressed or hypomanic at all. No trouble sleeping either which is great to. How have you been doing Kat.
Well I'm on 4mg of ativan and its doing ok I suppose. It works within 10 minutes after taking it which is nice but after about 30 minutes though it just stops working for some reason. I just don't seems to feel the effects of it anymore. I hope to switch to clonazepam again. When I was taking that it worked so much better and after taking that the effects of it seemed to last longer too. All that I have to do is take some before school like I used to do and it helps with the anxiety alot. The gp took me off it and switched me to ativan though which I kind of regret now. The only reason why he did that thogh is because we needed to find something to treat the possible absent seizures or catatonia. Were still not sure what it is. But I haven't had any of those symptoms for a good 2-3 months now so thats a good thing at least.
I'm doing good besides the loss of appetite. I haven't had any psychotic symptoms for two months at least now. Except for this one night where I heard a voice for no more than a minute. But it went away. My moods have been good, not depressed or hypomanic at all. No trouble sleeping either which is great to. How have you been doing Kat.
Not so great, still very depressed, I start DBT Monday after next and that's causing my anxiety to get worse again. Basically everything is just crap right now.
Clonazepam has a longer half life (8-12 hours) than Ativan.
I used to take 2-3 tablets/day, but I'm now down to only one/day since my moods are now starting to level out and the effects of Clonazepam last for most of the day. If I feel myself start to rapid cycle, I'll take another tablet when needed.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 04-21-2009 at 03:13 PM.
Good that you don'thave to take so much any more. I used to take 2mg in the morning and 1mg at night. And 1mg on prn basis. But only allowed to use the prn once per day. I just hope that I can find a different type of anti-anxiety med like an anti-depressent. I used to be on effexor and it started to work but I didn't make it to the therapeutic level. I had to come off it because it made me suicidal.
The Fluoxetine I take for depression also helps anxiety related to my PTSD flashbacks. That might be a med you want to look into.
On another subject, I noticed in your signature that you're diagnosed with BPII with psychotic features. Did your pdoc change your diagnosis? The reason I ask is because I can't remember when you saw your pdoc last.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 04-21-2009 at 04:04 PM.
The Fluoxetine I take for depression also helps anxiety related to my PTSD flashbacks. That might be a med you want to look into.
On another subject, I noticed in your signature that you're diagnosed with BPII with psychotic features. Did your pdoc change your diagnosis? The reason I ask is because I can't remember when you saw your pdoc last.
I saw my pdoc yesterday and he changed the diagnosis. I had heard voices for no more than a minute but he decided to change the diagnosis anyways. I think I pm you a while ago about that dreams. My youger brother is on fluoxetine 20mg. He uses it for his depression although we suspect bipolar though. I'll be seeing him again as well in a week on april 29th.
I saw my pdoc yesterday and he changed the diagnosis. I had heard voices for no more than a minute but he decided to change the diagnosis anyways. I think I pm you a while ago about that dreams. My youger brother is on fluoxetine 20mg. He uses it for his depression although we suspect bipolar though. I'll be seeing him again as well in a week on april 29th.
I remember you telling me in a PM that your pdoc originally decided not to add the "with psychotic features" label since you didn't hear voices for a month back then.
Having said that, I'm glad you have a diagnosis. I can remember how relieved I felt after I learned that I was bipolar. I wasn't happy about it, but I did feel better knowing what was responsible for causing my symptoms.
Does your brother ever become hypomanic or manic? If so, he may have bipolar.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 04-21-2009 at 05:17 PM.
It is not certain whether there is bipolar for my brother yet. But he does become euphoric and depressed quite often. He has psychosis as well but its not as serious. He was actually being treated by a naturopathic doctor and so far he is doing great. He is no longer experiencing psychotic symptoms as far as I know. Its hard to tell because he doesn't like talking about it. But his mood seems to be normal right now which is great. Apparently both sides of my family have bipolar. One of my grandparents was a rapid cycler. Would cycle between depression and mania very quickly. Then I have another grandma who has is as well. She is in some sort of hospital and has been there for a very long time. Not sure how long exactly but Iknow thats its been longer than a year. I got pretty upset when I found out all of this.
Good that you don'thave to take so much any more. I used to take 2mg in the morning and 1mg at night. And 1mg on prn basis. But only allowed to use the prn once per day. I just hope that I can find a different type of anti-anxiety med like an anti-depressent. I used to be on effexor and it started to work but I didn't make it to the therapeutic level. I had to come off it because it made me suicidal.
Ben,
I've told you about this before but I don't think you ever heard me. I take Buspar for anxiety. It's strictly an anti-anxiety med, and it works really well. It's also not a benzo, so you don't have to worry about all the addictive issues.
I'm sorry I know you have brought up buspar countless times. I'll definitly bring it up with my pdoc on april 29th.Its nice to know that buspar is non-addictive. I just have one question about it though. Can this med be used in the treatment of social anxiety disorder. Just wondering because I read up on a site thats is prescribe for the use of generalized anxiety disorder. I know that some meds are only FDA approved for certain disorders. Like Cymbalta for example is only prescribed for generalized anxiety disorder and not social anxiety disorder.
I'm sorry I know you have brought up buspar countless times. I'll definitly bring it up with my pdoc on april 29th.Its nice to know that buspar is non-addictive. I just have one question about it though. Can this med be used in the treatment of social anxiety disorder. Just wondering because I read up on a site thats is prescribe for the use of generalized anxiety disorder. I know that some meds are only FDA approved for certain disorders. Like Cymbalta for example is only prescribed for generalized anxiety disorder and not social anxiety disorder.
There are 2 studies on PubMed which indicate that high doses of Buspar (45mg or more) or Buspar taken in addition to an SSRI have a very good likelihood of treating social anxiety although it hasn't been approved by the FDA for treating such. You may want to ask your pdoc about adding an SSRI in addition to Buspar or consider taking a higher dose of Buspar alone. By the way, the maximum dose of Buspar is 60mg/day.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
It is not certain whether there is bipolar for my brother yet. But he does become euphoric and depressed quite often. He has psychosis as well but its not as serious. He was actually being treated by a naturopathic doctor and so far he is doing great. He is no longer experiencing psychotic symptoms as far as I know. Its hard to tell because he doesn't like talking about it. But his mood seems to be normal right now which is great. Apparently both sides of my family have bipolar. One of my grandparents was a rapid cycler. Would cycle between depression and mania very quickly. Then I have another grandma who has is as well. She is in some sort of hospital and has been there for a very long time. Not sure how long exactly but Iknow thats its been longer than a year. I got pretty upset when I found out all of this.
It may comfort you to know that just because members of your family have bipolar doesn't mean that you will have bipolar too.
For example, a child born to a parent who has bipolar has a 15% chance of developing the disorder while a child born to 2 parents with bipolar has a 50% chance.
You were obviously diagnosed with bipolar, but that doesn't mean everyone is. The same thing is true for schizophrenia.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 04-22-2009 at 12:04 AM.
Yes it is contraindicated for both. Also my husband used it several years ago for a brain injury induced anxiety, so it's used for just about every kind of anxiety there is. I'm currently on 45 mg and fixing to be increased because my anxiety right now is through the roof over having to join this DBT group in a week and a half. I am terrified of being in group settings, they make me feel unsafe and scared and threatened, so my pdoc is going to raise my Buspar and my clonazapam.
I really think you'll be pleasantly surprised it you give it a try. and the side effects are basically zilch, well for me anyway.
Thanks for the heads up Kat and Dreams. I always new that there was a genetic component to mental disorders but I just assumed that the odds were high that if one family member had it like a parent or grandparent than your chance of having it would be high. Obviously I was wrong. I'll definitly talk to my pdoc about buspar and I think I'll look at pubmed and see some of the studies.
Thanks for the heads up Kat and Dreams. I always new that there was a genetic component to mental disorders but I just assumed that the odds were high that if one family member had it like a parent or grandparent than your chance of having it would be high. Obviously I was wrong. I'll definitly talk to my pdoc about buspar and I think I'll look at pubmed and see some of the studies.
When you check PubMed, just do a search for "Buspar + anxiety" and the 2 studies I mentioned should be listed.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
