# Medication - not medication - medication.......???



## newby (Jan 19, 2009)

Throughout the past 4 years I have experienced this condition...

I'm sure you've all had a similar story but for the first 3 years - i had every anti-depressant in the book thrown at me... fluoxetine, citalopram, mirtazon, fluosetine again, venlafaxine (MAssive error...) none of these seemed to do much - not sure if they made me feel worse but i think 'the fact that they weren't working' made me feel more down about the whole thing whatever the *thing* was...

Anyway to cut a long story short...
- i eventually went to see a private psychiatrist (?200 quid later... but SO worth it) he diagnosed me with 'dp'
- i was referred to NHS psychiatrist (noticably ALOt worse than private)
- to be fair to the guy he did refer to Maudsley which I am sooo greatful for....
- and i saw Dr Sierra about 4 months ago

Dr Sierra is a complete legend - bit of a bizarre character - but none the less a legend... and since then he has adviced (and I have followed) on the following combinations:

- lamotogrine + anti dep (fluoxetine ((again))
this worked or seemed to work AMAZINGLY - and for 6 weeks before xmas felt almost 100% back to normal... was amazing... started seeing friends again, re-discovering the things I loved, work was actually good and i was getting on with work mates - I even felt emotion towards my boyfriend... (poor guy...) But then.... it stopped..... all of a sudden - just stopped working... by this stage i had upped my dose gradually from 25mg to 125mg.... after another shit christmas and new year - actually spent new year watching NUMB by Mathew Perry - rock and roll!
anyway Dr SIerra advised me that i may be intolerant to higher doses - se went down to 75mg... WHICH WORKED for 6 weeks..... and then stopped.......
and then nothing .... nothing - tried to experiment with a few dosage levekls but after over a month I gave in to the fact that it just wasnt working anymore..............

next combo:
- modafinil + continued fluoxetine...
two and a half weeks - of feeling NORMAL - yay............infact I've got to say better than normal.... modafinil is a stimulant (used aparently in the army to enhance performance) and for the first two weeks it definately imporved alot of things - at work i felt like i was SOOOO interested in what I was doing and literally was so productive... a days work = a years work with DP (if that) - same goes in all other areas of my life - flat, friends - had a noticable 'interest' in everting and started looking forward to things again....
then after two and a half weeks.....
it stopped... back to square one..... what is going on... after a few days of not feeling great I took it upon myself to double my dosage to 200mg.... was weird.... was so aware of how i was feeling it was unbearab;e - felt like a million doifferent thoughts were going round in my head - but so much so that i couldbnt string a single sentence together and work was a nightmare.....

Which takes it to now.... still on 200 mg Modafinil - still on fluoxetine although not sure why...

and have hit a wall - what am i to do now?????

DOes anyone suggest any other combination.

Does anyone take MOdafinil or have experience with it.... its weird coz i've read and been told you don't tolerate it - although with quite a few other meds I do notice they seem to work and almost trigger something initially and then their affect just seems to stop...

I am semi tempted to go off meds altogether to give my body a break.... Also - i kind of feel that there is so many meds invlved in how i am feeling - i'm not even sure of the symptons of what I am feeling are me or the meds.....

Please someone tell me what to do....

xx


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2009)

i dunno, every one is different, fluoxetine has helped me immensely, but i also take klonopin with it, maybe bring that up next time you see ur doc?


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## newby (Jan 19, 2009)

what does knopolin do - is that anti anxiety - do you take that each day or when you need...

xx


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

newby said:


> what does knopolin do - is that anti anxiety - do you take that each day or when you need...
> 
> xx


Ideally only when you need it, as it is addictive. Lots of people who are really bad end up taking it every day. I take it every day as well but am going to start tapering off it as well.

Addiction can be avoided when used either only when needed (i.e. once a week, a couple times a month, etc.) or daily for a short period of time (less than two months).

They usually really help, but everyone is different.


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## Sleepwalker (Dec 4, 2008)

If klonopin is the same as clonazepam; I've been taking it for 7 yrs; 2 mg/day and it still works ('cause I still need it) just as well as it did in the beginning


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Sleepwalker said:


> If klonopin is the same as clonazepam; I've been taking it for 7 yrs; 2 mg/day and it still works ('cause I still need it) just as well as it did in the beginning


Klonopin is the brand name for Clonazepam

Everyone is different, especially with Benzos. I hear stories like yours all the time - people taking benzos at moderate doses for 20 years with it still working well.

I have been on Benzos for 3 months only, usually on 0.5mg per day. Not only did it stop working but I started experiencing withdrawal while still on the drug, and only got relief when I went up to 1mg. I then tried to quit and went through hell on and off for a week, culminating in a night of sheer terror and suicidal feelings so that I had to reinstate. I am now essentially trapped on Benzos and am going to have to go through a slow taper program.

It helped tremendously at first and I wouldn't ever tell anyone NOT to go on it. You just need to know the risks associated with them. You could be sensitive to them like me.


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## newby (Jan 19, 2009)

thanks for all you help guys...

I think the clonazapan sounds promising... I think i have to be really careful about the dosage though and perhaps only take it every so often and in small dosage. What is clonazapan - is it anti anxiety ? just wondering if it is similar to lamotrogine as I did try that before and although it seemed to work at certain levels the effects seem to wear off after about 6 weeks or so... so maybe a shorter half life would be better...

Does anyone have any experience of using clonazepan with other drugs - anti depressants? or stimulants?

Does anyone take an approach where you take things as and when you need it...

eg. you feel anxious and fear you are getting dped and so you take clonazepan and it helps..??
Or - you find it difficult concentrating so you take modafinil - or some other stimulant??
Or you need to relax so you takke an anti anxiety??

Anyones experience would be HUGELY appreciated....

Cheers

xx


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Yes, Clonazepam is an anti-anxiety med - its a benzodiazepine, sometimes referred to as a tranquilizer (but really that is quite an exaggeration). It slows down your central nervous system and thus calms anxiety.

It works almost immediately so you do not have to take it every day - it is probably best if you don't take it every day because as I mentioned, it is addictive.

It is not in the same class of drugs as Lamotrigine which is a mood stabilizer.

I take it with an anti-depressant, as do many people - some people found the combination of the two really helped them.


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## newby (Jan 19, 2009)

thanks so much for your help...

At the mo I have bizarrely felt fine for the past 4 days or so.... reducing my dose of modafinil and coniuing on the same dose of fluoxetine....

Thank god i have felt ok as work has been a complete nihtmae and there is no way i could have gone through the past few days feeling totally dp'ed.

I think i am going to coninue tking modafinil - as and when i need it - i'm going to try to not take it this weekend to give my body a break and maybe re-introduce it dependoin on how i feel... i think its a dead cert for monday back at work....

I am taking all your comments on b oard and am going to talk it through with my doctor in a few weeks time...

I am going to keep a diary just noting interesting things... and how they may or may link to the medication....

xx


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