Q: My Mania is Not Going Away
I have been diagnosed w/bp (oct. 2005). Still in therapy and trying
to get my medication to "stabilize" me. Currently taking Lamictal 150mgs/day,
Seroquel 150mgs/day@night, Lorazepam .5/3x/day.
Question: I still feel horrible. Mania is not going away! Feel extreme fear when
waking up in the morning - afraid of myself, what will happen during the
day, don't want to be around people. Memories of a horrible past. Will these
feelings ever go away? Or will I have to suffer with this all of my life? If
so, it's not worth it (life that is).
My doc. says that the lamictal will take care of this -however, it doesn't, & I
told him same. I've been on lamictal for four mo's. now.
Pls. advise - help.thank you.
Rachel
Dear Rachel --
The "horrible past" part could be a trauma that suggests an additional component
of your illness, beyond "bipolar" (maybe even explaining most of your symptoms
better than the bipolar diagnosis; or you could have both), namely "post
traumatic stress disorder", or PTSD. That sometimes does not respond to our
medication approaches to bipolar disorder (although often it does; indeed I
often wonder which is which at that point, i.e. does this patient "really" have
bipolar or "really" have PTSD, or both?). You could talk with your doc' about
approaches that might be considered for PTSD and how that differs, if at all,
from the current game plan. One obvious move would be to try turning up Seroquel
but of course you MUST check with your doctor before doing that. Good luck with
that.
Dr. Phelps
Published October, 2006
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