Tag Archives: lexapro

In the Age of New Things

Well… the whole new meds thing seems to be… not an option.  We are tweaking the time of day I take things, to soften up the edges, but I am going to have to do all this on my own.

I am up to it!

This is not what I was hoping for, but nothing is worse today than it was Wednesday.  So I just need to keep going along as I have been – things have been improving.  There is more to learn about how my liver works, and that may give some new clues as to what might help.  If my 2D6 is too “robust”, I may be able to take even more of one med… but that will have to be seen later.

I have a name of a new psychologist, that my psychiatrist has recommended as a good match for me.  I have emailed her to see if she is taking new patients.  That will help too.

There are always new options, and all I can really do, is keep trying.  It does get tiring, and discouraging, but what else can I do?

Have a good weekend all! Smile

Session Yesterday with My Psychiatrist

After going to the Dentist yesterday morning, I went to see my psychiatrist.  Mostly we talked about my meds – I am still struggling too much of the time.

I am adjusting the timing of one of my meds for a couple of weeks to see if that helps.  After that we may alter the form of my med – I could try the Extended Release version.  Then things get more complex.

There is a new kind of Liver test that shows how your liver deals with different kinds of chemicals.  The test shows the efficiency of 6 different pathways thru the liver, that can determine how some drugs are metabolized.

Primarily, the 2D6, and 2C19 pathways are most involved in metabolizing psychoactive meds.  My 2D6 may be too efficient.  That would explain why I need twice the maximum recommended dose of one med, and why that is not enough.  My liver may be eliminating it before it can do its job.

If may also show why Vicodin did not work very well for me.

The down side… the test is about $1000, and it is classified as “Experimental”.  So insurance will not cover it… but I may have no other way to go.  I can’t just keep trying me meds, and combinations.

How My Meds Have Made My Agoraphobia Worse…

Yup… that’s right.  My meds have made my agoraphobia worse, while making my life better.  And actually, my meds have made my agoraphobia worse because of how they have helped my life be better.

Before I started on any meds, I was able to go out more, and more easily.  I did not go out to socialize more… but I could go out.  I always had high anxieties – I just didn’t know it.  So going out was not much worse than staying home.

Now, my life is better.  My anxiety is much better, and usually easy to manage.  That is if I am home, and there are no real stresses.  But going out causes a LOT of anxiety.  It’s still not as much anxiety as I used to have when I went out before though.

The problem is the difference between staying home and going out has increased pronouncedly.  Before meds, it was not a lot worse than being anywhere.  But now going out makes things a lot worse.  There is more incentive to stay home.  It’s harder to get out at all.

Of course, I like it this way a lot better… and that may be why I am fine with staying home more.  It is harder to deal with the increase in anxiety now.

I’m not sure where all this will lead me, but I know it will continue to improve.  I just have to be aware of the catches.

Where I Am on My Meds

Fortunately I have been able to adjust my Lexapro so that is is helping more.  Wednesday I was able to start on my new program, and I felt better yesterday.  And today I have feeling even better.  It is easier to control my anxiety!

This has been a long process – I have been working on changing my meds for over a month now.  It has been quite the challenge at times.  I have wanted to quit more than once.  But I have made it thru so far at least.

There will still be some changes or additions.  So there is a ways more to go.  But I am feeling much better than I was last week, and even better than earlier this week.

So things are looking up.

After Cymbalta

It was just Thursday that I felt the last remnants of Cymbalta affecting my brain.  My brain has finally stopped swimming, and I have stabilized.

The meds I am taking now – Lexapro & Bupropion – are doing a very good job at helping me maintain my balance most of the time.  I am fine on good days at home.  As long as I can stay home, and do easy things, I am fine.

But it is clear that when I have to go out, or have additional pressures at home, I need more.  My anxiety can ramp up very quickly.  I can generally manage… I know ways to tamp down on the anxiety.  But that is very draining, and leaves me too tired for much else.

In a little over 2 weeks I will see my psychiatrist again to discuss where to go next.  We may increase my Lexapro, or try something additionally… or we may try something completely different.  I don’t know.

For the next couple of weeks I will be try to find my baseline.  I am looking for how my current meds help me feel in different low-stress situation.  I know how things go when I am in high-stress situations… I know that all too well.

So I am hoping for as much down time as possible.  I need to find those areas that define the limits of help I am getting from my current meds.

Fun time.

I Will Never Fit In

I am feeling extremely low now.  I have fallen into my own Pit, and have no way out.  it is related to the withdrawal I am going thru… at least I hope so for now.  and there will be more to come.  I have one more step to go to get completely off the Cymbalta.  So this will go on for several more days… at least.

The Lexapro is mostly for anxiety… Cymbalta is better for depression. 

My insides are swirling, and I feel physically drained.  My thoughts are mixed, and I can not concentrate for very long.

It has all brought me down into the Pit once more.  I don’t see any way out.  But it does not matter… I don’t care.

New Meds and Withdrawal

I saw my new psychiatrist last week, and she started me getting off Cymbalta and back on Lexapro.  She says the Lexapro will probably not do enough for me, but it will be better, and once I am stabilized, we can look at other meds.  Good times…

The first few days were uneventful… well… not really.  I had a lot of issues over the weekend with swirling feelings, and anxiety.  I crashed out early Sunday, and did not hold up very well overall.

The beginning of this week looked really good!  my anxiety was down, and I was feeling pretty good.  But things started changing again Tuesday evening.  I was lowering my Cymbalta dose, and Tuesday was the second time I had lowered it.  now I was feeling what I call SBS – Swimming Brain Syndrome.  When I moved around, my brain seems to be lagging behind my head.

It got worse yesterday, and I had to miss session with my psychologist.  there was no way I was going to try to drive.  Today I am a little better… but not much.

The bad thing today is that depression has set in.  (We are going to work on my depression meds later too).  now I am feeling really down, and like I want to just stay in bed.  And I still have SBS!  So I am not doing very well.  I go completely off Cymbalta Sunday, so I think things will take a while to settle down.

I had planned to go out to dinner tonight, but that is looking in doubt.  It’s hard enough to go out at all, but now I feel to upset, and depressed to even think about it.  I might feel better later, so I am waiting to see how I feel.

Anyway… I had not written for a while, so I thought I would fill you all in on where I am.  I will try to write more.

And It’s New Meds Again!

I was finally able to see a psychiatrist today.  Just to refresh your brains… my current doctor decided I needed to go to a specialist for further meds changes.  This was after she changed me from Lexapro to Cymbalta.

Now, I will transition back to Lexapro.  We know that works, though my psychiatrist thinks it will not work well enough for me.  But I want to get myself stabilized before trying anything else.  It would appear I am a tough case… nice.

I am also going to probably have to change my Bupropion.  But that will come later too.

These meds transitions are not very pleasant.  There can be all sorts of side affects, as well as making my emotions dance a bit too much.  Actually, it can mess up my brain in a lot of fun ways.  It can make life interesting.

Also the Lexapro will give me mild headaches for a couple  of weeks – to a month.  That is the only side affect I have had.

I just think it would have been really nice if my doctor had sent me to a psychiatrist last Summer when all this started.  But I guess it’s better now than never.  She just did not listen quite closely enough to me.  It was my decision to give the change a try.  However I got here, it will not be very fun for a while.

I will be continuing to see my regular psychologist as well.

Stay tuned!