antistrophe Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 My apologies for the length of this post, but I am desperate for outside input from people with experience in these matters. I have been on a combination of Wellbutrin (115mg) and Lamictal (150mg) for the past year or so. Recently I have tried a few different things to help me with some minor insomnia at the suggestion of my doctor (Ambien, risperdal, klonopin, seroquel to name a few) and as I grew increasingly frustrated with their lack of effectiveness I started reading more about the side effects of all my meds. Long story short, I want my life back the way it was before I was medicated into a snack-hoovering zombie. I would not question the presence of some mild depression, but my current doctor seems much too pill happy, and the only medication she seems at all hesitant to throw at me is anything that might help with my rapidly diminishing attention span. I have not slept more than 2 hours per night for the past month. Everything hurts, quite literally. With my previous doctor I took only the Wellbutrin and things went fairly well for years- would it be a bad idea to selectively drop the other crap and see if things would even out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 With my previous doctor I took only the Wellbutrin and things went fairly well for years- would it be a bad idea to selectively drop the other crap and see if things would even out? I have lost all faith in this doctor- before I started seeing her, I did not believe panic attacks were a real phenomenon, but this morning I had one in the middle of a lecture class and ran out crying, which does not mesh at all with my history or personality. Any advice would be greatly apppreciated. Thank you. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It is always a bad idea to self-medicate (aside from dropping something with hideous side effects before you see your pdoc). It sounds like what you really need is a new pdoc! You have the right to find a new one (within insurance issues, alas). You also have the right to refuse to take a medication. If you don't want to take Lamictal anymore, you can tell him that you won't and get her to help you off of it. You can't demand a particular medication and expect her to just prescribe it, but you can certainly refuse to take something. Are you doing therapy? That could help with sleep and panic attacks, as well as depression and all the rest. Fiona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbamboo Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Snack-hoovering zombie... I HAVE to remember that. I can attest that seroquel made me a snack-hoovering zombie... but what I want to know is how long have you been on the other meds? You said you recently tried several different drugs for minor insomnia, then you said that you haven't slept more than 2 hours per night for the last month. Which is not minor, I might add. As a fellow insomniac, I can also tell you that if you don't get enough sleep, you'll be a zombie regardless of the med situation. Add that to the short-term zombification factor of some of these meds (I'm currently on Ambien... and it had me zoned out for the first week or so), and pretty soon it's going to feel like you've been run over by a truck and your eyeballs are leaking. To top it all off, no sleep and/or bad sleep in combination with a stressful situation could end up giving Ghandi a panic attack. So don't stress out about that too much... EVERYBODY has a threshold before we spazz. You've just found yours. I'd much rather find a five dollar bill. So what prompted your doc to throw all the pills at you (other than the sleep meds) anyhow? Was your depression worsening? Were you in a world full of dancing garden gnomes, unicorns, and talking socks? Take a deeeep breath, realize that there are quite a few of us that have been there and somehow made it out to the other side. At least temporarily. Keep on talkin'... it seems to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null0trooper Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 So what prompted your doc to throw all the pills at you (other than the sleep meds) anyhow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revlow Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Hi, antistrophe... I second what the other posters have written. Have a couple Qs and a suggestion. 1) How long have you been on the Lamictal? Have you been taking it the whole time "for the past year or so"? (That's how I read it.) Or was it added in later? 2) When you say "Everything hurts, quite literally" what do you mean? Headaches? Muscle Pains? Or??? Why I'm asking this is that pain -- especially killer headaches and muscle pain --seems to be pretty common for Lamictal users, at some point. Also seems to eventually go away for most of us who do get it. If you are having this kind of pain, and haven't done so already, I'd encourage you to read the topics: Lamictal and my aching back, chest, BODY! Lamictal and muscle pain. (largest on this subject that I'm aware of) and lamictal hair-raising headache: is it the lamictal or just me? I'm a relative newbie myself, and before I even started to post messages (only a few days ago) reading what others had gone through helped me to go through my own period of horrid, unrelenting pain -- which thank god has left me. I don't know for others, but my sleep was a complete mess during that time. Who can sleep when you're racked with pain?! Don't know if I'm reading too much into your comment about pain, but just in case it applies thought I'd add this to the other ideas. Hang in there. Let's us know how you're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antistrophe Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 Thank you to all who responded. . . I've seen that this has been said, but I'm relieved to know that my problems are not unusual. As for further details- I've been seeing this dr. for a year, and he started me on Lamictal right off. Supposedly we are doing some kind of talk therapy as well although I can't say it's been very effective. The increase in meds is due to an increase in stress at school which kicked off the insomnia and anxiety attacks. As for the pain, it is mostly body/muscle aches- it had never occured to me that it might be the Lamictal but having read the posts I'll definitely mention it next appointment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbamboo Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Student health plans... ugh. Maybe it'd be less daunting if you call your student health center and say right off that you do not feel comfortable with your current doc. I've found that doing it over the phone is a little easier. If they balk at your request and ask you why, just say "personal differences". They really can't dig too far if you do the "it's personal" bit ... in my case, that usually stops them dead in their tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antistrophe Posted November 25, 2005 Author Share Posted November 25, 2005 Just as a final follow up and perhaps a word of warning- I did have to "fire" the doctor before finding a new one as I had called to get my prescription refilled and when I went to pick it up I saw that it had been written out for the wrong dose, which is really shocking to me- regardless of my health plan I don't feel comfortable playing what if with my dosage. Had I not read the bottle carefully there may have been some problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revlow Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 Wowser! That's scary. Glad you caught it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inertia Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 it had been written out for the wrong dose Might want to contact someone about that doctor's negligence. Anyone that fucks about all willy nilly and pays no mind to dosages is going to end up killing someone. VOice your concerns to your state's medical regluatory agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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