Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
I saw my P dock today. I wrote down everything that has been happening to me since I stopped taking the Celexa. He didn’t even pick my journal up to read it. He just said “” so what’s been going on “”. I started crying and told him how bad I’ve been feeling and crying and just everything. I told him that I did feel suicidal the other night and that I went to theER, and that they did nothing for me. I pretty much told him that I would rather die than go back to that place for any “help “”. So, he decided that he thinks that I should go off from The LAMICTAL now. He wants me to come off from it abruptly, just like the other two meds that I was on, the Seroquel and Celexa. I told him I was not comfortable with it but he told me to do it anyway. And he wants me to start lithium. 300 mg twice a day. And I was reading about abruptly stopping Lamictal and it says that it can cause bad withdrawals. I have to wonder if this guy just wants to see me drive my car off a cliff or something? And also, his main reason for making me stop the SEROQUEL and Celexa were because they were Causing my QT wave to be elongated On my EKG, which he was all freaked out about because it could cause sudden death-cardiac arrest. After reading about lithium, it says that it can cause the same problems with the heart. So, why is this clown taking me off from two medicines that were working for me but were causing heart abnormalities, only to put me on something that can also cause that problem? I just don’t even know what to think anymore. I feel like I’m some kind of a sci-fi experiment or something. I told him I don’t know how I’ve survived the last two weeks. He just didn’t even act like he cared. I am so close to just taking all my pills and flushing them down the toilet and saying to hell with this all. Does anybody have any advice for me Out there? I am afraid to start taking the lithium until the weekend. Do I tell my doctor that I’m not comfortable stopping yet another medication cold turkey? One thing that I made sure to do, was to schedule a weekly appointment with him so that I’m not waving in the wind in this next phase of things. I’m just so over all of it. And through it all I’ve managed to try and keep my job and deal with all of this with drawl hell and also the pain that I’m in with my back and then the problems with my mom and her husband. I just I’m just Worn out by all of it. I Honestly wish God would just take me. I have nothing here. My family sucks I have very few close friends. I’m all alone. I don’t know what to think anymore. Thank you for listening
-
Ever since I stopped doing therapy because of insurance, I've been feeling that old tense and irritable sense of anxiety and stress. I hate that. I was making so many strides and changes during therapy, my therapist would acknowledge all of my progress and accomplishments, and I miss that reassurance. Today I thought about it, and I made those changes! She would always tell me that I chose to...
-
Once again I've had a fever today. I'm not going to the hospital because that's a huge waste of time but I did schedule a dr appointment for Wednesday afternoon.
Stopping Lamictal cold turkey can cause seizures and it can lead to increased Manic Eps. Its not a safe med to just stop, if you've been on for a long length of time, it needs to be tapered off of.
Lithium, although a good med, is not going to take over for everything that he's made you stop, it doesn't have that ability.
I'd seriously be looking for a 2nd opinion to get away from this guy.
As far as lithium it’s the only drug that stabilized me long term though it does affect everyone differently. I hope you won’t be afraid to take it
you are VERY lucky they caught it. most die from it without ever even knowing it's name. EXTREMELY LUCKY! you get a chance to address it and treat it and turn it around. obviously from your posts, you get extremely upset and enraged every day. do you know what that does to your heart? have you heard the term `ticking timebomb'? do you know he could lose his licence and get sued if he continues you on a medication or two that cause this? that is willful negligence.
yes, it sucks that you have to quit cold turkey. yes it sucked when i had to quit my respiridone cold turkey after two or three years of working well because it stopped and i went into severe psychosis. yes it sucked to have to quit my abilify cold turkey after only three increases from the starter dose, because they gave me hives.
doctors WILL do that if your life is at risk. - telling you to see another doctor to stay on your med combo is saying kill yourself.
I'm just going from my own experience, when I started lamictal, it was at 25mg for a week...took me about 6 weeks to work up to 200mg.
This guys ass is on the line if anything happens to you...medically or psychologically. Perhaps writing dates, conversations, and with who might be a good idea.
Esp. since the Seroquel he said would, "kill you" wasn't even affecting your Long QT Syndrome.
If you're hellbent on staying and stopping the Lamictal, please do it safely on a taper, having a Grand Mal Seizure will most definitely affect your LQT Syndrome.
Long QT eps can be set off by Stress or exercise....just because a Med says it may effect it doesn't mean it will. It means somewhere in the 100+ patient FDA research testing pool it affected someone's LQTS, so it goes in the side effect list.
As for it "dropping you dead as a sack without warning" Long QT Syndrome kills less than 1 , 1% of people in the U.S. each year.
one percent is 3,280,000
thank you for illustrating just how deadly this is, and why no doctor could just go along with it. this also doesn't reflect the survivours who have implants in their chests to regulate their hearts.
what quality of life that must be like. i don't get it? if there was a med that was causing a cancer with that level of mortality rate, no one would say keep doing it, or just do your own thing at your own pace. they'd say `get the heck off it now'
anyways, i'm out. i wish you luck. you can either listen to your cardiologist who is working with your shrink, or you don't. i hope you do. Again TC, this isn't said to be mean or be cruel. My best friend, my dad, died of cancer. anyone who fought it and beat it has my love for life. i want you to have a good life. you deserve it after all you've been through. i just speak as a friend. it's bad luck, but that QT disease is really bad. i don't want you to die.