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pat86
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Default Jan 25, 2019 at 01:41 PM
  #21
@Aspiring Author did it help with angry thoughts at all?
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Default Jan 26, 2019 at 12:42 AM
  #22
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Originally Posted by pat86 View Post
I have thought about this medication to counter the weight gain I got from Seroquel.

I will ask my doctor about it perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone.

Only issue is I saw some people claiming it cause them to not be able to formulate their thoughts into words. Kind of made them stupid with mental slowness.
Try starting with a slow dose and you may find a sweet spot where you have a positive effect without turning stupid. I would at times forget my train of thought but recover it within a minute, so it still does not make it stupid, but I am on a low dose - currently 27.5 mg.

It comes in tabs of 25 mg which you can halve.

It also comes in sprinkle caps of 15 mg which you open and sprinkle onto one tablespoon of applesauce and eat right away. So by combining them you can titrate up slowly and incrementally:

12.5 mg
15 mg
25 mg
27.5 mg
30 mg
37.5 mg
40 mg
45 mg
50 mg

Research shows that 50 mg was as effective at weight control as higher doses, so my hope is just to slowly climb to 50 mg and stay there.

Angry thoughts - I was wronged (subjectively) in the past by family members and people who claimed that they cared for me. Topamax made thoughts about how these people had wronged me pretty much disappear into the background.

Of course this does not mean that it would do the same for you, but it is worth trying. I deeply regret not trying Topamax earlier.

__________________
Bipolar I w/Psychotic features

Zyprexa Zydis 5 mg
Gabapentin 1200 mg
Melatonin 10 mg
Levoxyl 75 mcg (because I took Lithium in the past)


past medications: Depakote, Lamictal, Lithium, Seroquel, Trazodone, Risperdal, Cogentin, Remerol, Prozac, Amitriptyline, Ambien, Lorazepam, Klonopin, Saphris, Trileptal, Clozapine and Clozapine+Wellbutrin, Topamax
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Thanks for this!
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Default Jan 26, 2019 at 02:52 PM
  #23
hi. i've recently been prescribed a low dose of gabapentin for this sorts of 'issues,' and...it helps. i might end up being prescribed a higher dose as an add-on 'mood stabilizer,' since im apparently "too prone to mania" for an antidepressant Rx.

lyrica is the new(er), more potent drug that's a lot like gabapentin, but its Schedule V controlled substance (to put this in perspective, amphetamines are Schedule II, Klonopin and friends are Schedule IV), its pricey, not generic, and...it can be dosed 2x per day, while gabapentin often requires 3x daily dosing.

there's also good ole benzodiazepines. I had a friendly acquaintance who was prescribed Klonopin to help simmer down, tame the OC-disease. He'd talk with me about it...he seemed kinda sedated and such at 3mgs/day, but then the shrink put him on something ridiculous...like 5 or 6mgs/day, and...

not so much. he's since tapered off, I think he does cbt. a friend's father has bipolar i, and his psych doc prescribes valium at a low dose for agitation and obsessions, and as needed restoril for night time use. klonopin seems more popular than valium, but valium is easier to taper. its also more sedating and i think it doesnt cause depression as often as Klonopin, but I could be wrong.

if its horribly awful and intolerable, maybe a low dose of an as-needed neuroleptic/antipsychotic? when i was not doing well, i had the option of taking a little bit of risperidone, at night, on top of my usual stuff. not ideal, but when i needed it, it did get the job done.
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Default Jan 27, 2019 at 11:01 AM
  #24
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Originally Posted by still_crazy View Post
hi. i've recently been prescribed a low dose of gabapentin for this sorts of 'issues,' and...it helps. i might end up being prescribed a higher dose as an add-on 'mood stabilizer,' since im apparently "too prone to mania" for an antidepressant Rx.

lyrica is the new(er), more potent drug that's a lot like gabapentin, but its Schedule V controlled substance (to put this in perspective, amphetamines are Schedule II, Klonopin and friends are Schedule IV), its pricey, not generic, and...it can be dosed 2x per day, while gabapentin often requires 3x daily dosing.

there's also good ole benzodiazepines. I had a friendly acquaintance who was prescribed Klonopin to help simmer down, tame the OC-disease. He'd talk with me about it...he seemed kinda sedated and such at 3mgs/day, but then the shrink put him on something ridiculous...like 5 or 6mgs/day, and...

not so much. he's since tapered off, I think he does cbt. a friend's father has bipolar i, and his psych doc prescribes valium at a low dose for agitation and obsessions, and as needed restoril for night time use. klonopin seems more popular than valium, but valium is easier to taper. its also more sedating and i think it doesnt cause depression as often as Klonopin, but I could be wrong.

if its horribly awful and intolerable, maybe a low dose of an as-needed neuroleptic/antipsychotic? when i was not doing well, i had the option of taking a little bit of risperidone, at night, on top of my usual stuff. not ideal, but when i needed it, it did get the job done.

I have been on risperidone can't take it anymore because it might cause man boobs. This showed up in a blood test.

I think the only medications left to take for racing thoughts/weight loss from APs would be an anti convolsant which would compliment the other two medications I am taking ( lithium and seroquel)

I want to stay away from anything that could be a controlled substance as I will be traveling internationally soon and some of those drugs can be illegal in other countries even though they are legal here.
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Default Jan 27, 2019 at 11:02 AM
  #25
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Originally Posted by AspiringAuthor View Post
Try starting with a slow dose and you may find a sweet spot where you have a positive effect without turning stupid. I would at times forget my train of thought but recover it within a minute, so it still does not make it stupid, but I am on a low dose - currently 27.5 mg.

It comes in tabs of 25 mg which you can halve.

It also comes in sprinkle caps of 15 mg which you open and sprinkle onto one tablespoon of applesauce and eat right away. So by combining them you can titrate up slowly and incrementally:

12.5 mg
15 mg
25 mg
27.5 mg
30 mg
37.5 mg
40 mg
45 mg
50 mg

Research shows that 50 mg was as effective at weight control as higher doses, so my hope is just to slowly climb to 50 mg and stay there.

Angry thoughts - I was wronged (subjectively) in the past by family members and people who claimed that they cared for me. Topamax made thoughts about how these people had wronged me pretty much disappear into the background.

Of course this does not mean that it would do the same for you, but it is worth trying. I deeply regret not trying Topamax earlier.
thanks I will ask my doctor about this. Sprinkle caps and titrate up
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Default Jan 28, 2019 at 03:14 PM
  #26
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Originally Posted by pat86 View Post
Has anyone found medications helpful with obsessiveness / having past events replay in your head over and over again. Many times its things that you are angry about but not all the time. Sometimes its just past social situations that will replay in my mind over and over again along with racing thoughts.



I have read people say depakote helped them with these issues.


Can anyone share what meds have helped them with these issues?
I dealt with horrible past jealousy, obsessive and intrusive thoughts etc. Pristiq completely stopped those thoughts, I then switched to zoloft just 1 year later due to costs and they have no come back.

Are you on any type of medication?
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Default Jan 28, 2019 at 04:57 PM
  #27
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Originally Posted by Zedsdead View Post
I dealt with horrible past jealousy, obsessive and intrusive thoughts etc. Pristiq completely stopped those thoughts, I then switched to zoloft just 1 year later due to costs and they have no come back.

Are you on any type of medication?

I can't take any anti depressants or SSRIs or SNRIs as they increase and stur up my mania.

I am on lithium and seroquel and am considering an anti consultant that would compliment those two medications and stop my racing thoughts/ angry thoughts and also help reduce weight gain from seroquel.
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Default Jan 28, 2019 at 06:13 PM
  #28
In my own experience, I have found meditation to be helpful with that kind of thing. It's not only the practice of meditation that helps for me, but it's the mentality that I am not defined by my thoughts that kind of helps ease things up as well. I've had lots of obsessive thoughts lately and to be honest, I don't know if there's a pharmacological intervention that would be successful in treating that or not, for myself, at least. It goes without saying that if there is a method of helping these thoughts with medication, then go for it. For me, I am already on four psychiatric medications, so adding another one or increasing the dose would be kind of foolish. That doesn't mean it couldn't help for you, though, to add another medication or up the dose of one of your meds. I feel like it's very person-specific what meds will help with different things. So I can't recommend a med in particular. Are there ways you can dampen down these thoughts without meds? I am just wondering because sometimes that's the best solution if things aren't quite to the level where they're completely unbearable. I hope you get some relief from these thoughts.
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Default Jan 28, 2019 at 07:09 PM
  #29
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In my own experience, I have found meditation to be helpful with that kind of thing. It's not only the practice of meditation that helps for me, but it's the mentality that I am not defined by my thoughts that kind of helps ease things up as well. I've had lots of obsessive thoughts lately and to be honest, I don't know if there's a pharmacological intervention that would be successful in treating that or not, for myself, at least. It goes without saying that if there is a method of helping these thoughts with medication, then go for it. For me, I am already on four psychiatric medications, so adding another one or increasing the dose would be kind of foolish. That doesn't mean it couldn't help for you, though, to add another medication or up the dose of one of your meds. I feel like it's very person-specific what meds will help with different things. So I can't recommend a med in particular. Are there ways you can dampen down these thoughts without meds? I am just wondering because sometimes that's the best solution if things aren't quite to the level where they're completely unbearable. I hope you get some relief from these thoughts.
nah not really I have tried meditation and CBT and they don't really work for me.

Also I feel its a chemical imbalance problem that needs to be addressed and it seems to be that many people who are bi polar or bipolar and adhd have this racing thoughts problem.

Meds have shown to be the only consist-ant solution
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Default Jan 28, 2019 at 11:44 PM
  #30
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nah not really I have tried meditation and CBT and they don't really work for me.

Also I feel its a chemical imbalance problem that needs to be addressed and it seems to be that many people who are bi polar or bipolar and adhd have this racing thoughts problem.

Meds have shown to be the only consist-ant solution
Yeah, I definitely understand that. I didn't mean to be suggesting meditation as a cure-all, honestly. For myself, I am actually realizing that it hasn't done that much. Actually, now that I think harder about it, I think it may have actually made my psychotic symptoms worse... But yeah, that sounds right about the racing thoughts stuff. I actually have schizoaffective disorder and it causes racing thoughts, too. So I definitely know what you mean (I think) when you talk about that.
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Default Jan 29, 2019 at 12:09 AM
  #31
I have been told in an IOP at a psych hospital that meditation can make psychosis worse.

__________________
Bipolar I w/Psychotic features

Zyprexa Zydis 5 mg
Gabapentin 1200 mg
Melatonin 10 mg
Levoxyl 75 mcg (because I took Lithium in the past)


past medications: Depakote, Lamictal, Lithium, Seroquel, Trazodone, Risperdal, Cogentin, Remerol, Prozac, Amitriptyline, Ambien, Lorazepam, Klonopin, Saphris, Trileptal, Clozapine and Clozapine+Wellbutrin, Topamax
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Default Jan 29, 2019 at 01:31 PM
  #32
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I have been told in an IOP at a psych hospital that meditation can make psychosis worse.
All those other medications you have tried in the past that are listed in your signature did not help you with racing thoughts and anger?

what did depokate do?
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Default Jan 29, 2019 at 01:35 PM
  #33
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I have been told in an IOP at a psych hospital that meditation can make psychosis worse.
@AspiringAuthor

I also saw in old posts you were on Metformin what happened with that?

also you said in previous posts that you could not tolerate Topomax

how did you learn to tolerate it?
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Default Jan 30, 2019 at 12:07 AM
  #34
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All those other medications you have tried in the past that are listed in your signature did not help you with racing thoughts and anger?

what did depokate do?
I have a paradoxical response to Depakote.

If I take it with something else antimanic, say Lithium, it overdoes antimanic action. If I take it alone or with Seroquel, it makes me super creative in the culinary realm, super appreciative of the aesthetic side of culinary arts and also of tastes, which makes me want to cook festive dishes, serve them, but also eat them myself, and when I first took Depakote completely solo it even caused a very interesting, creative hallucination. This is not a typical response to Depakote.

Depakote also causes extreme weight gain, low platelet count, and at higher doses hand tremor, so I would not be able to tolerate it anyway.

I had medications that stopped racing thoughts - take Clozapine for example - but they overdid it. It is hard to find a sweet spot for me.

I learned to tolerate Topamax by reducing the dose, titrating up very slowly, and drinking copious quantities of liquid.

Thanks for asking!

__________________
Bipolar I w/Psychotic features

Zyprexa Zydis 5 mg
Gabapentin 1200 mg
Melatonin 10 mg
Levoxyl 75 mcg (because I took Lithium in the past)


past medications: Depakote, Lamictal, Lithium, Seroquel, Trazodone, Risperdal, Cogentin, Remerol, Prozac, Amitriptyline, Ambien, Lorazepam, Klonopin, Saphris, Trileptal, Clozapine and Clozapine+Wellbutrin, Topamax
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