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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 seanincanada on August 5, 2005, at 15:04:17
Hi There, TYhis is my first time writing a post, so i apologize if i go on a bit to long. Im feeling kind of at the end of my rope in regards to trying to feel better. I have been seeking treatment since i was 10 years old when i was out on ritalin for add, this seemed to work for me at school and helped me make friends and have a better home life, but going in to grade 7 the problems returned and although i continued to take ritalin, i still continued to get bad grades. Eventually in grade 10 i was sent bt my school to see a physchiatrist who prescribed me prozac for O.C.D whic i definately have. But then as i grew older the problems seem to keep getting worse( i am now 25) i cvontinued on treatment and developed extreme anxiety and extreme low selfesttem( i am also gay, which growing up being out and open in high school is tough. So now i am 25, and i feel i just continue to go downwards, my family is sick of hearing of my problems and says i need to just stop feeling sorry for myself. And i trey to think, positive, i try to believe that i will hacve a future, but sometimes the thoughts are just too cloudy and dark and there never seems to be any light. So my question is i hacve tried many different antidepressants, and sometimes i feel great and the next second i feel like im going to cry, so my doctor has decided to try topamax and zoloft. I am currently on topamax 50 mg and zoloft 100mg, and the first three days of the topamax i felt great that all my problems were gone, but now the depression and anxiety is back. So im wondering what the usual dose of topax is for bipolar disorder and if anyone has any sucess stories. Also since ive started zoloft i havent been able to sleep, even when taking a sleeping pill im still wide awake!!!!!...Well thanks for any advice anyone has, take care, and all the best!!!
Posted by tecknohed on August 5, 2005, at 15:36:42
In reply to Topamax and Zoloft: is anything going to help, posted by seanincanada on August 5, 2005, at 15:04:17
> Hi There, TYhis is my first time writing a post, so i apologize if i go on a bit to long. Im feeling kind of at the end of my rope in regards to trying to feel better. I have been seeking treatment since i was 10 years old when i was out on ritalin for add, this seemed to work for me at school and helped me make friends and have a better home life, but going in to grade 7 the problems returned and although i continued to take ritalin, i still continued to get bad grades. Eventually in grade 10 i was sent bt my school to see a physchiatrist who prescribed me prozac for O.C.D whic i definately have. But then as i grew older the problems seem to keep getting worse( i am now 25) i cvontinued on treatment and developed extreme anxiety and extreme low selfesttem( i am also gay, which growing up being out and open in high school is tough. So now i am 25, and i feel i just continue to go downwards, my family is sick of hearing of my problems and says i need to just stop feeling sorry for myself. And i trey to think, positive, i try to believe that i will hacve a future, but sometimes the thoughts are just too cloudy and dark and there never seems to be any light. So my question is i hacve tried many different antidepressants, and sometimes i feel great and the next second i feel like im going to cry, so my doctor has decided to try topamax and zoloft. I am currently on topamax 50 mg and zoloft 100mg, and the first three days of the topamax i felt great that all my problems were gone, but now the depression and anxiety is back. So im wondering what the usual dose of topax is for bipolar disorder and if anyone has any sucess stories. Also since ive started zoloft i havent been able to sleep, even when taking a sleeping pill im still wide awake!!!!!...Well thanks for any advice anyone has, take care, and all the best!!!
Hi Sean.
I know where you're coming from when you say your family think you should stop feeling sorry for yourself. Just bear in mind that they dont mean any harm and they just long to see you get better, as well as feeling helpless that there's nothing they can do.
As for recommendations. I dont know anything about Topamax, but it sounds like you may benifit from a mood stabiliser (lithium, etc.), especially as you feel good one day, bad the next. Do others agree?
Hope you find some benifits soon. Remember, there 'is' something out there that 'will' work!
Keep us up to date.
Kev.
Posted by willyee on August 5, 2005, at 19:47:10
In reply to Re: Topamax and Zoloft: is anything going to help » seanincanada, posted by tecknohed on August 5, 2005, at 15:36:42
Topamx is used a mood stablizer,and she is having partial succes with it,it would be a bad idea in my opinion to switch,im almost certain u can go quite higher in topamax,in fact im actualy considering asking for it so i was just reading as we speak about it.
Posted by ClearSkies on August 8, 2005, at 16:40:21
In reply to Topamax and Zoloft: is anything going to help, posted by seanincanada on August 5, 2005, at 15:04:17
Hi there, and welcome to Babble.
I am bipolar2 (one of the many different flavours of bipolar) and after MANY different attempts on antidepressants I am taking Cymbalta (I don't believe it's yet released in Canada) and Topamax. This combination is working well for me.
Cymbalta is an SNRI instead of an SSRI, blocking a different nuerotransmitter - I think - and so it works on a different part of the brain than most antidepressants. Effexor is also an SNRI. The Topamax 50mg is considered a "starting" dosage, so give it 3 or 4 weeks to see if it helps before throwing in the towel. If you feel better but not as good as you'd like, perhaps the dosage needs to be nudged up with your doctor's OK.Also you may want to consider Effexor instead of Zoloft if you are still having a problem with depression.
Good luck, and welcome again!
ClearSkies, also a Canadian but living South of the 49th Parallel
Posted by seanincanada on August 8, 2005, at 23:02:18
In reply to Re: Topamax and Zoloft: is anything going to help » seanincanada, posted by ClearSkies on August 8, 2005, at 16:40:21
Thanks to everyone for the advice!!! Just a bit of a update. My doctor is on vacation so i went to the walk in clinic to see a doctor about not sleeping and she sugested trying to stop the zoloft and see if that helped. She said she didnt want to prescibe a pill to combat a side effect of another pill since that pill itself will have side effects. Well 7 days zoloft free now and feel fine, if not better than when i was on it. A little bit anxious but nothing a little deep breathing cant cure. Am going to talk to my doctor about buspar, but after 10 years on antidepressants and still feeling depressed(and yes i tried a wide range) i think its time to explore other options to optain happynes(maybe the first step should be be learning how to spell it). So still on the Topamax but i tell myself its for my migranes (which i never had, but hey you never know i could of developed them one day, ha, ha). So again thanks, and all the best.
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