Update

It's been a long time since I posted here. That's mainly because for the first time EVER my meds have essentially been the same. I've acquired some more med issues and so I guess it is time to update.

In January I changed jobs. When I went for my pre-employment physical I complained that the Miralax added in December to help with constipation was not really working. The doctor noticed my lips were the kind of dry that means really dehydrated and became concerned. I had to answer a number of questions about my pee, and give a urine sample, and left with a diagnosis of diabetes insipidus. This is a direct result of lithium and means that my kidneys are not concentrating my urine anymore, so that I pee out everything I drink rather than my body having water to work with.

After a lot of doctors talking to other doctors (there are now 4 involved in this mess) we came to the conclusion that letting me take lithium is important as long as possible. So I started taking a diuretic called amelioride which controls how much I pee. I cannot express the relief at peeing with half the frequency and much less the volume as before. One of the tests I did involved a 24 hour urine collection, and I gathered 3 times the normal amount. I can't imagine how much that would have been without the amelioride, which I now take at a higher, more effective dose.

Last month, in a truly momentous occasion, my psychiatrist allowed me to LOWER the dose of my anxiety med because I'm doing great but am too sedated. I have never lowered the dose of anything because I was doing well. Six years from starting lithium I am getting better.

I am taking I think 32 pills/day still. I don't see that changing for a long time, if ever. But I can't imagine anything better than feeling so good at last.

More change

I saw my family doctor yesterday and my hypothyroidism has worsened. Plus I needed real treatment for the constipation which has made my life miserable since starting Seroquel. So I once again have revisions.

Current meds:
Depakote 3000 mg
Seroquel 650 mg
Lithobid 300 mg
Atarax 30 mg bedtime, 10 mg twice daily
Ativan PRN
Imipramine 50 mg
Colace 400 mg
Miralax
B vitamin complex with Vit. C and zinc
selenium
Synthroid 88 mcg MWF, 100 mcg other days

Plus dried fruit daily and of course lots of water, which is just a part of my life. I would drink lots of water even if I weren't trying because of all these meds. Who knew fruit could be a prescribed treatment?:)

Another month, another change

Due to lingering depression and Seroquel not filling the gap, I'm going back on my past antidepressant, imipramine. I'm also taking a larger dose of Colace. In 2 weeks, after the imipramine is back to its old level we'll re-evaluate.

Current med list:

• Seroquel 650 mg
• Depakote ER 3000 mg
• Imipramine 25 mg, to go up to 50 mg
• Atarax 30 mg bedtime, 10 mg during day for anxiety
• Ativan .5 mg PRN
• Synthroid 88 mcg
• Lithium 300 mg
• B complex stress version (includes Vit. C and Zinc)
• Selenium
• Colace 150 mg (may increase to 200 mg)
• Provigil ON HOLD

Yikes, that thing is long.

As always, refer to initial post for my med history.

Tongue Thrusting

In response to anonymous, who wrote "Hi, Read from your list that you have tongue thrusting from taking one of the med in 2004. How long does it take for you to recover from the tongue thrusting? would like to know as my friend is suffering tongue thrusting from a medicine side effect":



your friend needs to talk to his/her doctor soon. This needs stopped or it can be the beginning of a more permanent issue. There are several bad things that can occur. At best your friend is suffering when there are treatments that can be tried. At worst these things can progress and he/she could face some scary medical stuff. Rare, but I did see one guy with it. I believe there are meds that can help; in my case I went off the culprit because I was doing better anyway. It did go away but it took time. The worst was over pretty quickly, as I recall. But then the rest gradually went away.

I wish I could remember more specifically, but it was many meds and several years ago....

Monthly update

I'm still increasing my Seroquel dose. My doctor would like to see it level off by 600 mg/night, but is willing to go up. I'm currently at 400 mg. I need to increase that, probably tomorrow. I'm off imipramine totally.

I added OTC Xantc due to heartburn from the Seroquel and am taking a few days worth of hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic, to try to get my legs back down to human size. They are not that big in relation to a few years ago, but they are uncomfortable. Even my arms have enough fluid in them pushing down causes a dent. This is important because as long as I'm this swollen I'm at risk for hypertension. I really don't wnat to take meds for that again.

So hopefully that's all the major stuff for a while.

Slight Change

It feels like everything in the world has changed, but really I just keep increasing the dose of the Seroquel. 250 mgs and counting.

Also, I no longer take imipramine. I'm not sure how I feel about that because I was sort of psychologically dependent on it (it worked! For a long time!) but the time had come to not risk it causing mania.

Otherwise, see the last entry.

Changes

It's been a long time (for me) since I started a new med. Over the last few weeks mania grew and grew and grew. We tried using a quick hit of low-dose Risperdal, but it was too low-dose and I started having a reaction to it so the dose couldn't be increased. Too bad; I think 1 mg would have done it.

I am now on Seroquel. I'm off work for a while to adjust. I have a lot of leniency in how to get to the desired dosing, which helps. I am currently planning to stay at 100 mg at bedtime for a few days to see what happens as my body adjusts, then probably I'll add an am dose. Ultimately we're going to try to switch some of what my other meds do to Seroquel. So far, so good (day 2).

Current meds:
Seroquel 100 mg bedtime
Depakote ER 3000 mg bedtime (5 whole pills, one cut to allow immediate release). Level 127
Lithobid 300 mg bedtime
Ativan PRN (not taken often but have used .5 at bedtime some lately)
Atarax 10 mg BID, 20 mg bedtime
Synthroid 88 mcg (all messed up because I've slept through doses)
Provigil (firmly on hold until not manic)
Imipramine 25 mg
Zinc
Vitamin B
Selenium