11 replies to this topic

[VVSK]

 I recently recovered from a manic/psychotic episode (the first of my life) and now have slipped into a deep depression. The nature of the depression seems to be such that I have an incredibly garbled internal monologue, where putting words to thoughts feels like drawing blood from a stone and I am left with bare 'impressions' or feelings of complex thoughts but their linguistic manifestation and elaboration often escapes me. When I do put words to thoughts it is as if they are punching through a thick fog and I often have two alternatives to the same word in my minds eye or am left with a sentence that doesn't convey the entirety of the original thought. The very fact that I have to manually catch hold of my thoughts and put words to them is very disconcerting, has anyone experienced anything like this? 

I feel like this has affected my memory and comprehension as the brain doesn't store information linguistically anymore; often I will read a paragraph and have great difficulty recalling what I just read. Whereas I am usually a very sociable and talkative person it is very difficult to communicate with people and think of things to say, are all these just symptomatic of major depression?

Currently taking:

2400mg NAC,

500 mg Gotu Kola,

1g l-tyrosine

400 mg 5-HTP before bed,

2100mg EPA fish oil

1000mg curcumin-95

10mg memantine

5mg galantamine

1600mg Piracetam

5mg abilify

15mg mirtazipine

800mg Ashwagandha

Multivitamin

B-Complex 1g

Vitamin C 5g

 

 

Edited by VVSK, 15 January 2017 - 10:20 AM.

[jack black]

you need prescription meds for bipolar. I'm hearing lithium and/or lamictal work great.

[VVSK]

It's not mania I'm dealing with at the moment though... I'm taking the abilify to prevent relapse into that state. I'm looking for things to help with my present condition which I described above.

[jack black]

It's not mania I'm dealing with at the moment though... I'm taking the abilify to prevent relapse into that state. I'm looking for things to help with my present condition which I described above.

 

sorry, i missed that abilify part.

i didn't know it was used in bipolar.

i googled and found this:

 

 

Aripiprazole is effective for the treatment of acute manic episodes of bipolar disorder in adults, children, and adolescents.^[21][22] Used as maintenance therapy, it is useful for the prevention of manic episodes, but is not useful for bipolar depression.

https://en.wikipedia...ki/Aripiprazole

 

i still think you would benefit from mood stabilizer

[VVSK]

I've read that abilify is used as an adjunct in the treatment of depression with some small success. I am hesitant about taking a mood stabilizer as concentration/comprehension are some of my main concerns and mood stabilizers are known to worsen these if I'm not mistaken... 

[jack black]

I personally know someone who took both Li and lamictal and had no cognition problems. The trick is starting at small doses and slowly increasing. She had to stop them due to complications (thyroid and skin), but they were medical and not mental.

Edited by jack black, 17 January 2017 - 01:53 PM.

[Quaker32]

have you seen  psychiatrist? that stock looks pretty hefty...

[VVSK]

I have, my psychiatrist is the one who prescribed mirtazapine, ablifiy (now changed to olanzepine 5mg) and agomelatine. I've decided not to try lamictal after reading some horrifying anecdotal accounts online.

[Quaker32]

Can you please send me the lamictal reports?

 

You live in India though? I hear that the doctors are very good over there....is that true? 

 

Is your medication helping?

[VVSK]

Here you go Quaker:

http://www.crazyboar...ve-functioning/

https://www.reddit.c...ive_impairment/

 

The doctors are good here but I don't know how much experience they have treating something like depression, or at least the variant of depression I have. It's tough to say

whether my medication is helping that much... It's been a few weeks and I only have a few fleeting moments in a given day where I feel like my thought process is what it used to be and 

what I was like when I was manic feels very blurry in foreign. It feels like I have lost my sense of self as well but I suppose this is a common symptom of depression.

[VVSK]

Does anyone have any experiences getting over bipolar depression? Looking to try anything that will help as it is getting quite unbearable, especially with the associated cognitive deficits.

[gamesguru]

I would maybe get a therapist's opinion on how the meds are working.  Not everyone's attuned enough to self-analyze

 

Lithium can be gotten OTC from amazon or some GNCs.  you'd be amazed just how many pro-cognitive mechanisms low dose lithium can have [https://selfhacked.c...nitive_Function and also mGluR5 and more serotonin but less norepinephinre).  it works better when paired off with a serotonergic, like bacopa.  other things may have their place: taurine, lysine, inositol and theanine, Mg, Zn.  this is a lot safer than taking  mirtazapine and all that.  it's hard to get an OTC dopamine antagonist like olazapine.  maybe indian snake root would be worth a go, it lowers major neurotransmitters with only minor side effects

Edited by gamesguru, 25 January 2017 - 04:29 AM.