9 replies to this topic

[Aanga]

I was taken off my seroquel today and has instead prescribed me citalopram in addition to my mirtazapine and vyvanse. I decided to look up citalopram online and a few articles I read said that if you take citalopram in addition to another antidepressent (hello, mirtazapine?) that...well I could die.

So...uh...I have a feeling my doctor hates me...

Unless someone can explain it better to my why my doctor is putting me on 2 antidepressents...and a stimulant (Vyvanse)...and this is somehow supposed to make sense, I'm just going to go with the fact that my doctor is trying to kill me...

[sorrel]

Multiple antidepressants are prescribed together all the time. If you are referring to serotonin syndrome, it is very rare and not likely to happen with normal doses of antidepressants. There are a lot of potentially serious effects from many meds or med combinations, and that doesn't mean those meds or combinations are not generally safe.

[Silver]

What Sorrel said. If your doctor were to try to kill you, there would be far more efficient ways to go about it. (In fact, if this is your doctor's best try at homicide, you need a better doctor.)

And, let's face it, if you were to develop serotonin syndrome, the ER would run a bunch of fluids into you, maybe give some benzodiazepine and propranolol, wait for the drugs to wash out, and that would likely be that. Although if it was an overdose, you might get gastric lavage and whole bowel irrigation, which is just as fun as it sounds.

But at therapeutic doses I think this would constitute a seriously lame-ass murder attempt on the part of your psychiatrist. I have no idea if she or he hates you or not, if that's your concern. You could ask, maybe?

[Aanga]

I might e-mail him. It's not my pdoc but my GP. I don't see my pdoc until mid-jan so he was trying to help me out.

Another question is that, from what I've been told, I'm Bipolar Manic Affective (or whatever the hell) and while my depressive episodes are BAD, I'm really manic most of the time (apparently my doctor actually thinks I'm hypomanic atm, but I don't see it at all. I'm just...really happy )

So, my other question would be, how effective are 2 anti-depressents and a stimulant on someone who's generally really freaking happy? o.O

I suppose it's due to my previous set back in mood, but I'm not depressed anymore, and it has nothing to do with meds o.O

[Silver]

"From what I've been told" by whom? Your psychiatrist? If so, this is the person I'd recommend be the only one be handling these meds. Maybe if your GP wants to help out, he can call/ fax / email your psyMD and get an interim plan? Because if manic-depressive illness is in fact your psychiatrist's diagnosis, generally, yes, two ADs and a stimulant is not the recommended treatment approach.

[Aanga]

from my GP and 6 different tdoc's since I was a kid, but due to parents being anti-psychiatry and my just being a scared little shit, I was either not allowed to go to a pdoc or freaked out of going to one.

I'll let you know in Jan what the pdoc says, but even my current tdoc says he's fairly certain that I'm bipolar because he's watched my moods shift all semester long o.O. I was suicidally depressed for weeks (he was gonna put me in the hospital but we made the happy medium where I just called him every day and we talked about getting through the day) and now my tdoc and GP claim I'm hypomanic.

I don't think I am, I just feel like life is awesome and I I've fixed myself out of a shitty mood

[Persephone]

If you really are BP, do not take this AD combination, especially w/o a mood stabilizer! SSRI-SNRI/Remeron is a valid, but very powerful combination. I would get an appointment with your GP (preferably a pdoc) ASAP and ask to be put on a mood stabilizer.

[SashaSue]

If you're hypomanic at the moment, the meds your GP has prescribed don't really make a lot of sense. Nor does his having taken you off Seroquel. Did you go in complaining of depression?

[tboo]

I currently take this combination of medication and have found it very helpful. I may go off the Remeron at some point when I feel my sleep is well regulated. However, I do not take a prescription stimulant. I agree with the others that you should express your concerns to your doctor and make sure that you get a detailed and thoughtful response. Be persistant if necessary. The reason that I was given from my pdoc for taking both medication simultaneously was that Lexapro tended to stimulate me and cause insomnia. The Remeron help to counteract the insomnia. However, I am not Bipolar so your circumstances are different. Hang in there!