March 28th
2008
10:59 AM
I have Bipolar Type II, since I was 12. I'm 52 now. Unmedicated I'm a Rapid Cycler with psychotic depression. I was diagnosed at age 40, after worse and worse symptoms. So I have been on meds since - many different "cocktails" some effective and some not so effective.
My doc added Celexa to the mix a few years ago. It seemed to work well for the depression part of the bipolar, but I had bad ringing in my ears and incredible cravings for carbs. I got used to the ringing, but was very frustrated with the appetite out of control - so guilty!
Then I went on Wellbutrin and it was fantastic. Weaned myself (slow decrease in dosage over a month or so) and my appetite returned to normal so I was very happy.
Those of you who are starting it - don't judge the immediate symptoms - it takes a few weeks for it to settle into your system and be effective.
Those of you who are quitting - do it slowly or you'll have bad symptoms. It's OK to break the pills in half.
March 28th
2008
10:32 AM
I have Bipolar Type II, since I was 12. I'm 52 now. Undedicated I'm a Rapid Cycler with psychotic depression. I was diagnosed at age 40, after worse and worse symptoms. So I have been on meds since - many different "cocktails" some effective and some not so effective.
My doc put me on Seroquel a couple of years ago and it has worked very well to "quell" the mood swings. But... I started to gain weight immediately! Lots of weight. I had been 118 my entire adult life, and within months weighed 148! My family accused me of not exercising, but no, it was the Seroquel alone. Also, it knocks you out, so I could only use it at night. The 500 mgs would first make my heart race and thump in my chest then put me to sleep. At times it was scary. Then in the morning I'd wake up feeling hungover and fuzzy brain for several hours. It also made my appetite crazy, craving carbs, which made the weight gain harder to control. So even though the drug worked for the bipolar, it made me absolutely miserable because of the weight.
Now after a few years I have had it!. A month ago I began weaning myself from it. A word to those who cold turkey the drug: you'll experience bad symptoms. I'd go down 25 to 5o mgs per week, monitoring my moods VERY carefully, and am now at 200 mgs per day. The weight loss was immediate and in that one month I've lost 15 lbs an still losing but now much slower - but still losing. Wow.
I meet with my doc in two weeks - hope she's not mad at me, but I'm doing OK. I'm on enough meds so they seem to be doing the job. (The least amount to do the job is the goal anyway.) Hopefully I can go off of Seroquel completely and get near my old adult weight.
BTW, my doc mentioned last appointment that Geocodone could be a non-weight gain substitute for Seroquel.
June 10th
2008
2:05 PM
The example that I am posting below is not the only patent for an aminoquinoline derivative that is proposed for the treatment of neuro-psychiatric disorders. Even though we are not comparing exact chemical structures, it is certainly worth considering how the quinolines relate to this receptor.
It is also worth considering why montelukast, a quinoline, seems to be causing some of the problems that this owners of this particular patent think that they can treat.
As I mentioned before, I have no answers. Regardless of how small Merck believes the population of Singulair patients who suffer neuro-psychiatric disorders is, I do not believe that any patient should be ignored. It also seems that many companies have studied this area in depth and more than one company knows a lot more than we know about why it is possible for these side effects to happen.
" The compounds of formula I have a good activity on the 5-HT.sub.5A receptor. Therefore, the invention further provides methods for the treatment of depression (which term includes bipolar depression, unipolar depression, single or recurrent major depressive episodes with or without psychotic features, catatonic features, melancholic features, atypical features or postpartum onset, seasonal affective disorders and dysthymia, depressive disorders resulting from a general medical condition including, but not limited to, myocardial infarction, diabetes, miscarriage or abortion), anxiety disorders, (which includes generalized anxiety and social anxiety disorder, panic disorders, agoraphobia, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, psychotic disorders (which includes schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, bipolar disease, mania, psychotic depression, and other psychoses involving paranoia and delusions), pain (particularly neuropathic pain), memory disorders (including dementia, amnesic disorders and age-associated memory impairment), disorders of eating behaviors (including nervosa and bulimia nervosa), sexual dysfunction, sleep disorders (including disturbances of circadian rhythm, dyssomnia, insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy), withdrawal from abuse of drugs (such as of cocaine, ethanol, nicotine, benzodiazepines, alcohol, caffeine, phencyclidine and phencyclidine-like compounds, opiates such as cannabis, heroin, morphine, sedative hypnotic, amphetamine or amphetamine-related drugs), motor disorders such as Parkinson's disease, dementia in Parkinson's disease, neuroleptic-induced Parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesias, as well as other psychiatric disorders and gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (WO 2004/096771). "
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