Family & Friends of Bipolar Support Group
This community is dedicated to parents, siblings, grandparents, other relatives and friends of someone who is Bipolar. The purpose of this community is to help families and friends develop greater patience and understanding, as well as maintain a positive, caring relationships with those diagnosed as Bipolar.
A little background - husband has been on Adderall for ADD for at least 5 years. Takes Xanax rarely for anxiety. Lunesta to sleep. And started Lamictal (for mood swings) in July of this year.
As he gradually increased his lamictal dosage (as prescribed), he started to experience shaky hands. He was dropping, things, etc. One day it was severe enough that it created a panic attack and he thought he was having a heart attack and we went to the ER. Since Lamactil was the most recent addition to his cocktail and with a little online research, he deducted that the lamictal at the higher dosage must be contributing to his shakes. He decided to start to slowly back off the dosage and discuss with his psychiatrist. What I also personally noticed for him as his initial happy moods when he started lamictal had turned into a series of depression that seemed like it was in a 2 or so days cycle. Heres what happened when he talked to his psychiatrist (the intention was to discuss terminating lamictal):
He tried to explain to her what he was experiencing; shaking, depression, discussed how he had thoughts of suicide (not in the sense of actually committing suicide more of a what if thought). In this discussion, she also learned that he had an abundance of Adderall (that she prescribed). So between the word suicide and Adderall abundance she reacted by calling me and stating that she has the right to submit a mental inquest warrant unless I get rid of his Adderall and Xanax. I questioned Lamictal & Lunesta (especially since he wanted to terminate Lamictal). She said he needed to stay on Lamactil. Understanding the risk that she could submit the warrant, we complied with the request to get rid of the medicine with a follow up appointment a week later. The shakes continued, his anxiety continued and upon next appointment she prescribed Trizadone as take 1 to 3 pills at night. She did not explain to him to start with one pill and build. He took 3 and was extremely sick within 30 minutes & almost panicked wanting to go to the hospital. I called the pharmacist and was recommended to get Dramamine for the sickness. As a result, he had to miss work the next day as he still had side effects lingering.
So now I have a husband who is on no medicine except for Lunesta (to sleep). He is trying to manage his ADD and anxiety on his own until the next psychiatrist appt that is next week. I have expressed my thoughts/concerns regarding the psychiatrists approach. I think his therapist has also even given him an idea that this has not played out very well. Im currently keeping my fingers crossed to get him back on the right track.
I thought Id share this just to get thoughts of others maybe just to confirm my own thoughts of not having a lot of faith in his psychiatrist.
As he gradually increased his lamictal dosage (as prescribed), he started to experience shaky hands. He was dropping, things, etc. One day it was severe enough that it created a panic attack and he thought he was having a heart attack and we went to the ER. Since Lamactil was the most recent addition to his cocktail and with a little online research, he deducted that the lamictal at the higher dosage must be contributing to his shakes. He decided to start to slowly back off the dosage and discuss with his psychiatrist. What I also personally noticed for him as his initial happy moods when he started lamictal had turned into a series of depression that seemed like it was in a 2 or so days cycle. Heres what happened when he talked to his psychiatrist (the intention was to discuss terminating lamictal):
He tried to explain to her what he was experiencing; shaking, depression, discussed how he had thoughts of suicide (not in the sense of actually committing suicide more of a what if thought). In this discussion, she also learned that he had an abundance of Adderall (that she prescribed). So between the word suicide and Adderall abundance she reacted by calling me and stating that she has the right to submit a mental inquest warrant unless I get rid of his Adderall and Xanax. I questioned Lamictal & Lunesta (especially since he wanted to terminate Lamictal). She said he needed to stay on Lamactil. Understanding the risk that she could submit the warrant, we complied with the request to get rid of the medicine with a follow up appointment a week later. The shakes continued, his anxiety continued and upon next appointment she prescribed Trizadone as take 1 to 3 pills at night. She did not explain to him to start with one pill and build. He took 3 and was extremely sick within 30 minutes & almost panicked wanting to go to the hospital. I called the pharmacist and was recommended to get Dramamine for the sickness. As a result, he had to miss work the next day as he still had side effects lingering.
So now I have a husband who is on no medicine except for Lunesta (to sleep). He is trying to manage his ADD and anxiety on his own until the next psychiatrist appt that is next week. I have expressed my thoughts/concerns regarding the psychiatrists approach. I think his therapist has also even given him an idea that this has not played out very well. Im currently keeping my fingers crossed to get him back on the right track.
I thought Id share this just to get thoughts of others maybe just to confirm my own thoughts of not having a lot of faith in his psychiatrist.
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I find myself going places in the car and not wanting to get out of the car. I come back home and I don't want to get out of the car. I think it's the only time I spend reflecting. Chronic tiredness from Long Covid plus the immunosupressing meds for my Crohn's is slowing me down but everything just seems a massive effort. I am dealing with the paperwork following my father's death but it's not...
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Wow, it's the middle of the week already!Today is our 11 year anniversary, so we're going out to a nice dinner. I'm losing a lot of sleep these days, hence a wonky schedule and uncomfortable feelings. But I know it will pass, eventually.I hope all of you have a peaceful day, and may good things come your way!
That said, Adderall is well known to be a very risky medication for people with bipolar disorder and Xanax too can have its issues. Several of your husband's symptoms can be caused by these medications. It may well be that the only way to know how best to treat your husband is to get him off everything then slowly & cautiously add medications. There is a logic to first concentrating on treating his mood stability before other issues are addressed.
it can can cause sleep issues