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Medication adjustments, finally!

Posted , 2 users are following.

jessaywhat4018
jessaywhat4018

Hi all!

    I have been looking for a place to post my situation so that I could get some additional support while I go through my med adjustments from people who have been, or are where I am. I have a lot to get out, so please bear with me.

   I started taking meds about 5 years ago for depression, then a couple of years later, started being treated for anxiety.  I was diagnosed as bipolar, but was only treated by a Nurse Practitioner and therapist until this past December when I met with a Psychiatrist. After meeting with her, and explaining how I am so easily distracted, irritable, talkative, have racing thoughts, constant worrying, lack of motivation, zoning out of conversations, procrastination...etc she explained that she believes not only do I have bipolar and anxiety, but also ADD. 

 Since January I have been adjusting medications and figuring out this long path. Our goal is to treat the bipolar, and see how much of that will take care of the anxiety and ADD. 

For a few years I was on 75mg/day Effexor and 150mg/day lamotrigine with .25-1.0mg xanex as needed. 

 Once I met with the Psychiatrist, we first adjusted my lamotrigine to 200mg/day for a month and kept the effexor 75mg/day and xanex as needed.  

Then I moved to 37.5mg/day effexor with the 200mg/day lamotrigine and xanex as needed.

  Last month the Dr decided it was time to add Adderall.  I was hesitant for the first couple of visits when she mentioned it, but I felt it was time to at least try it.  Once we started it was 5mg 3x/day, and that didn't really do anything. Upped it to 10 mg 2x/day, and it was better, then did 10mg 3x/day, getting there but just not quite.  

  At this point my anxiety started to get to me (not because of the medication, but because of my own feelings of guilt over taking this medication my parents never wanted me on) and I needed to take a xanex every once in a while to talk myself down and remind myself that I'm doing what is best and what is right for me, and if that means taking this medication that's my choice and my right.

  Sorry, went off on a bit of a tangent there, but that did cause my anxiety to go up a bit, however it still didn't seem like the right dose.

This last visit my Dr decided to keep all my other meds the same, but give me 20mg 2x/day  (can do up to 60mg/day if it's a heavy day) to be broken up as I need during the day. My hours at work vary by day, so I may have a job at 9 in the morning but not another one until 6pm. So to keep from my body getting used to the medicine, my dr suggests that when I have a more relaxed day, to not take the full dose, or any if I don't have to.  For example, tomorrow I work 10-4 so I will likely take 20mg at 830am, and another 20 mg at 12:30pm, then no more the rest of the day. But on Monday, I have a job 2-4 and 7-9 so I will proably take 10mg around 9am, 20mg at 1pm, and another 20mg at 6pm. 

Also, now that I am taking the 20mg, my dr and I anticipated my anxiety going up again for a couple of weeks until I get used to the Adderall, and instead of taking the xanex, she wants me to try Klonopin. Today I worked 10-4 and did 20mg at 830am, and at 9:45 took .25 klonopin.  Then at 11 I took another .25 klonopin. I decided to not take an additional 20mg of Adderall to see how I would do.  Tomorrow I will be trying 20mg ADD plus .5mg Klon in the morning, and then feeling it out by the afternoon time.

Does anyone else have any experience with this combo? Any advice on what did and didn't work for you? 

Have you found a different med other than Adderall that you can take at the right doseage without driving up anxiety?

Also, since starting these adjustments in the beginning of December, I have dropped 12 lbs! I snack less, I have more motivation to get up and go outside and move, and I feel much better than I did 6 months ago!

Thank you so much for reading all of this if you've made it this far! I'd love to hear anyone's experinces smile

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • terry03243
    terry03243 jessaywhat4018

    Posted

    hi jes so glad you are getting somewhere with your meds , the thing is little changes to your meds are the key to your well being , what dose works for one person doesnt all ways work for another , i have never heard of adderall , is that a bipolar med , i have been juggling my meds at the moment , was on venlaxafine and mi 
    • jessaywhat4018
      jessaywhat4018 terry03243

      Posted

      Hi Terry,

      Adderall is used in my case for my ADD associated with bipolar, it's along the lines of Ritalin. I definitely know that dosing varies from person to person, I was just hoping others could share if they have been on the same combination how it has gone for them.

  • terry03243
    terry03243 jessaywhat4018

    Posted

    sorry about that pushed wrong button , as i was saying was on ven and mirtz , but doctor changed me to venlaxafine and quetiapine , since i have change over it has raised my anxiety through the roof , only been on the combo for 3 weeks  but been on the venalaxafine for many years , i have found most meds increase your anxiety to start with , hope it all works out for you  
    • jessaywhat4018
      jessaywhat4018 terry03243

      Posted

      I remember from adding the adderall the first time it took a couple of weeks to adjust to the anxious feeling and I treated it with some xanex. This time since we upped the ADD meds she switched me to klonopin since it's longer lasting, but the goal is to only sue it for 2-3 weeks till I no longer feel the anxiety of taking a new med/guilt over taking medicines my parents wouldn't approve of.
  • jessaywhat4018
    jessaywhat4018

    Posted

    A follow up to yesterday's post : 

    Today I started with 20 mg ADD, .5 kln at 830am  and by 11am I needed to take .25 xanex, and an hour later was still anxious. 12:30 time for second dose 20mg and .5 again, and felt good until 2:30 when I needed another .25 xanex.

    I am prescribed between .25-1.0mg of Klonopin per day, and clearly the .25 isn't working and I'm not so sure the .5 is either if I have to take .25 of xanex to help it. She did say I could add a small amount of xanex if I needed it, but I'm wondering if I should try .75mg of Klonopin with the 20 mg add tomorrow, or see how today's regimine goes tomorrow.

    Normally I would e-mail her and ask her for some assistance, but she told me to try this out for two weeks and then contact her. She has told me to feel free to play around with dosing and see what works best. I decided this month to keep a journal of what I take and when and how I feel after taking it.  I think it'll be a much better way to show her how what i've tried has worked.

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