Aswad
Posts: 9374
Joined: 4/4/2007 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: zindyslave Aswad what I meant with the ssri's is that they do work I just need to find one that will work without making me feel like a zombie so to speak. Okay, I misread you then. Although, in all fairness, the SSRIs are generally quite equivalent in how they work. Presumably, the reason why Celexa didn't have the same effect on you, is that it has a ceiling beyond which no further effect occurs, something that e.g. Prozac doesn't. Celexa will max out at about 70% reuptake inhibition, which is below what some theories predict as the minimum effective reuptake inhibition (80%). It is fairly unique in this regard, AFAIK. quote:
The thing about the SPECT is that even if my doctor thought it would be useful my insurace most likely wouldn't pay for it because I am on TennCare which is my states medicaid health insurance and they don't like to pay for anything that is too expensive most meds you get for bi-polar have to be preapproved. Seems familiar, although we have public medical care here in Norway, which essentially translates into a single, state-run insurance policy for all citizens. We can usually get the various experimental bits approved, but it takes paperwork. A single SPECT workup might not be too expensive to pay out of pocket, depending on your income, but as previously noted, you'd have to talk to your pdoc to see if he thinks it'll be money well spent. quote:
But my doc doesn't want to put me on Lithium because of the varied side effects even tho he himself pointed out to me that it worked before. Yeah, lithium does have a wide range of side effects. But only you can decide whether your are better or worse off with settling for a known quantity or trying for something that might be better. quote:
My Master is also bi-polar so we are helping each other through this he was just diagnosed like 2 months ago as where I have been diagnosed since I was 15 or so, the biggest mistake I made was going off my meds 2 years ago but I couldn't get to the doctor and really had no choice. I can relate. I've had to drop meds because of switching doctors in the past. Going to one prof, I got some treatment that is technically speaking experimental, although quite well known. When I had to switch to another prof, he disagreed with the need to use such an experimental treatment, and refused to prescribe even enough for tapering off, although he never did come up with something that worked in the year I spent there. That was one rather uncomfortable week; I don't think I've ever been in that much sustained physical pain, although as far as peak pain is concerned, having an adult male sitting on the knee of an infected leg by accident was slightly worse for the brief instant I felt it, a hypertensive crisis is about equivalent, and simply accidentally resting your forearm on an incandescant lightbulb is comparatively pleasant. I wonder where one gets the idea that this constitutes responsible treatment... Later, the original prof instructed my primary physician to start prescribing something that I had used earlier, but which didn't require any more supervision than I can provide myself. That's been a lifesaver, and I'm happy to say it's working.
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