# Nuclear brain scans (SPECT and PET scans)



## rob35235 (Feb 21, 2009)

I constantly wonder what nuclear scans would reveal. Has anyone here ever had one? These are very different than MRI or CT and give functional information rather than structural information. This link would suggest DP and DR can have a physical cause http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/c ... l/14/2/141


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## flipwilson (Aug 19, 2006)

For a while now I have wanted to go to the Amen Clinics in California and get SPECT scans to see what they reveal. I'm well aware this could be a fruitless endeavor and I'll come away with the same info I already know but there is always the possibility that some good may come of it. As of now I'm in the process of writing a letter so I can get financial assistance from them or convince them to look at me as a case study. I have a twin brother who is healthy and had the same shit upbringing, the only difference is that he never smoked pot, ever. I'm hoping to convince them that this is a great opportunity to learn something new, and having a twin is the perfect control. From what I've read these scans are good at showing blood flow changes and metabolic activity. They may be able to understand if my DP is ocd, anxiety, or depression related and possibly see why i keep getting migraines.

If you're interested http://www.amenclinics.com/


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## Lost-in-Space (Jan 26, 2008)

I had a SPECT scan done at the Amen Clinic last January. The report stated that my limbic system was overactive and the left and right temporal lobe was underactive. There was actually more in the report and they do give you a very nice binder with nice color pictures of your brain in it. The recommendations could have been given without the scan just with the DP diagnosis. That is, take an SSRI and lamictal, take 6 grams of fish a day (I already was taking fish oil caps), get at least 45 minutes of exersize a day (I was already doing that.), stay away from neurotoxins (I have been doing that for years.) and don't skip meals (I don't.).

I have been taking the Lamictal and Prozac for 3 months with no effect on the DP. There are a few other people on this site that have had SPECT scans also. It usually doesn't lead to any great breakthroughs. Before I got the SPECT scan, I called the Amen clinic and they did say that they had no treatment for DP. So I wasn't expecting much. I would like to compare all of our reports, though.


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## rob35235 (Feb 21, 2009)

Interesting, I've never heard of that clinic. Too bad it's so far from me, how much does it cost?


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## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

I've had two SPECT scans taken, both in a resting (scans taken after lying on my back in a quiet dark room) and active state (concentrating / solving puzzles).

The resting scan showed an over-active anterior cingulate gyrus and limbic system. This is apparently mostly seen in those suffering with OCD and/or generalized anxiety disorder. The active state scan on the other hand showed an almost perfectly normal brain.

As far as my condition goes, I've mostly suffered with terrible anxiety which seems to lead me into a depersonalized state. I also constantly ruminate over the cause and resolutions of the symptoms. I've always noted that my anxiety and ruminating tends to drop when I'm involved in an activity which takes my thoughts away from worry, and the SPECT scans seem to back this assumption up.

The SPECT is a worthwhile test to have as it can assist in categorising the type of disorder which may be causing the DP/DR symptoms; be it anxiety and OCD in my case, or a depression and even organic causes such as brain injury.


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

Interesting. My case was a little wierd, so if your reading this, I kindly ask that you read my "overview / story" under the "new to dp/dr" folder, I think its on page 3 entitled "Please read, unique case"

It will give you some background on my injury.
I truly believe that their is always a physiological basis for all of this stuff.

I had a SPECT a few months post injury (that brought on severe DP/DR among other things - memory deficits, etc.) The SPECT was normal.
However, most brain injuries or else do not show up until one year post the event itself. Therefore, I am having another brain MRI next week with a "temporal lobe window" view (this has not been done before for me).

I went through it all though - MRI of brain and Cspine, SPECT, 2 EEG's, Neuropsychological testing, and many appointments and neurological tests with Neurologists from UM and Cleveland Clinic, and Neurological labs not to mention...

I think the Amien clinics have a far superior SPECT scan then any other, thats why they actually find something. I'm interested in how much you guys paid and how you got in. I'm a big fan of his, I've read two of his books.

The SPECT tests for blood flow in the brain, as a PET tests both blood and metabolism. Anyway, I would like to get to the Amien clinic to get some answers, especially now that its been one year, but we will see what this new MRI shows.

By the way, I'm Chris, and haven't been on the board for months now. I only logged on today as I had a PM.

Good to see that some of you are doing well, as am I.

Chris


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2009)

rob35235 said:


> I constantly wonder what nuclear scans would reveal. Has anyone here ever had one? These are very different than MRI or CT and give functional information rather than structural information. This link would suggest DP and DR can have a physical cause http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/c ... l/14/2/141


Holy Mosees, Rob, I just posted that same article. Have you read the entire thing? You can download the entire PDF and it is 100% mind blowing. I only had an abstract and some references then stumbled upon this. I don't know why they decided to let the full article be out in print for free!

I know that fMRIs -- functional MRIs show problems in the brains of individuals with DP. If you go to the IoP site there are many studies like this. The thing is our experiences don't always show up in certain tests. But that is even true of individuals with epilepsy, or a cause for the seizures can't be found -- tumor, etc. I have a friend in that situation. But at least he knows why he feels odd and has all levels of seizures and goes on about his life. He doens't understand my DP/DR though. No clue what I'm talking about. HIs seizures started at age 40, he is now 60. They have never found out what brought this on. No head trama, no tumor, no nothing. He has had so many studies he's a poster child at this local research institute, lol.

I also have no doubt, I have a neurological disorder. It has gotten so severe and debilitating at times it is impossible for it to be anything else. I mentioned this to my therapist today and she agrees.

Also, if you read the work of Oliver Sacks, M.D. (neurologist), and especially a book called "A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness" or "Phantoms In the Brain" there is far too much evidence in neurological studies indicating these perceptual distortions and even accompanying anxiety, etc .... as you see in that article ... come from something not quite right going on with the grey matter. EDIT: Sorry, the last two books I recommend endlessly are by V.S. Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D. neurologist. He has done extensive work into phantom limbs. Blew me away when I read that some people BORN WITHOUT LIMBS (say arms) FEEL PHANTOM LIMBS. There is a brain schema there, even if the limb NEVER existed. The brain is quite astonishing.

It makes me far less frightened knowing this. When I feel awful, I can simply say, this is an illness, and it just is. I lived so many years wondering what the HELL was going on and being terrified simply by lack of any explanation that made ANY sense to me.


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## peachy (Feb 9, 2008)

Lost-in-Space said:


> The report stated that my limbic system was overactive


my scan said that as well. they also pointed out my left hemisphere was more active than my right...i think in terms of the temporal lobe? however i do not remember. the lady said this plays a part with the parasympathetic response. one last thing (though i have no idea what it means) was something to do with my p4 parietals on my right side...they were either overactive or underactive...i believe she said underactive).


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## lindzardz (Jun 15, 2009)

i know this post is sort of old now but do any of you know if insurance would cover this at all? and who would i make an appt with? just a neurologist or??? thanks!


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## lindzardz (Jun 15, 2009)

i know this post is sort of old now but do any of you know if insurance would cover this at all? and who would i make an appt with? just a neurologist or??? thanks!


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2009)

lindzardz said:


> i know this post is sort of old now but do any of you know if insurance would cover this at all? and who would i make an appt with? just a neurologist or??? thanks!


EDIT: this post is a mess... sketch, because you had a head injury, it makes perfect sense they would do all of this testing for you. I will say, I think a SPECT machine is a SPECT machine ... that being, they are hard to come by. I don't know who makes them, but I don't see one as being "better" than another, but some could be older. What is critical is who interprets the results. And as you say, it's best to have a "baseline", then wait and redo the test to compare at a later date.

There is another post somewhere about this ... and I can't find it. Too lazy to search. But first of all. Again, I have most faith in the Institute of Psychiatry in London. See their research papers link and I have a few samples:

http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/departments/?l ... ontext=720 <--------- there are a million amazing articles on what they're doing now for DP/DR

(Sample research -- these folks were the first place to do DP research, as far as I know)
Lemche, E., Surguladze, S., Giampietro, V., Anilkumar, A., Brammer, M., Sierra, M., Chitnis, X., Williams, S., Gasston, D., Joraschky, P., David, A.S, & Phillips, M. (2007)
*Limbic and Prefrontal Responses to Facial Emotion Expressions in Depersonalization . Neuroreport. 18(5), 473-477.*

Abel KM, Allin MPG, Kucharsa-Pietura K, David AS, Andrew C, Williams S, Brammer MJ, Phillips ML (2003)
*Ketamine and fMRI BOLD signal: Distinguishing Between Effects Mediated by Change in Blood Flow Versus Change in Cognitive State. Human Brain Mapping 18: 135-145.*

Note this studies are reported in NEUROLOGICAL journals. I believe psychiatry in great part will be subsumed under neurology in the future. Psychology will still exist though, as one can have psychological issues and neurological symptoms. And CBT and talk therapy and biofeedback do work.

...... zillions more, etc.
-----------------------------
Then re: insurance. I live right in my ol uni town, University of Michigan, which has a great Medical School and psychiatric facility. Here's the deal. When I was first diagnosed by a psychiatrist (in 1975 -- I was 15, yes those numbers are correct), no one offered me any tests at the time as my anxiety and depression were so obvious and I had no signs of tumor or other stuff. BUT, when I went to a doctor at uni I asked him if I could have a CAT and EEG just to "rule things out."

THAT was covered on my father's insurance as I was 19, a student, and it was a "rule out diagnosis." It was then around 1979. The CAT and EEG machines at that time, my guess, were not as advanced and nothing showed up at all, even though I was badly DP at the time and not on a med. Since those years these new fangled machines have improved tremendously and are VERY expensive. Anyway, nothing showed up on the EEG or the CAT scan. Nobody thought anything would.

I have had an MRI for my back -- I have some crap problem with my back (and there was a real reason to prescribe one -- horrible pain). Anyway, that was just an MRI, not an fMRI on my brain (which would show localized brain activity on a brain test) and that, if I had no insurance, now that I think about it would have cost me about $5,000. The test itself took about 30 minutes. (It took that much time for me to just lie there and have this huge thing clanging away, and buzzing at me.) A high level professional ran the thing -- a tech with years of training and no fear of destroying a million dollar machine. Also, it was in a TRAILER. There aren't a lot of these machines. They are incredibly expensive and the hospitals around here share them -- they sit in the parking lot! In big trucks! I see them tooling around here now and then!

Also, I was in the "Nuclear Medicine" department. SPECT, PET, these other things. There aren't a lot of these machines, even at the best hospitals, so you have to have a real serious reason to refer someone for a test ...

Someone with head trauma would be an excellent candidate, but they would be looking for a lot of things. Suspicion of a brain tumor, yada. These would be used for neurological patients not for psychiatric patients.

They are mainly used in research.

So, I have asked my therapist about these tests here ... they have the machines (not all of them though I don't think), but they have too many people who would get a proper referral from a neurologist. My insurance company would reject a referral if I got one. Even individuals with schizoprhenia are given such tests ONLY for research purposes if the diagnosis is made through other means, there is no need for an advanced test. And again, you're not only paying for this Zillion dollar machine, but for the tech who has had years of experience running it, then a few M.D.s who have had a zillion years READING the results. So you'll get three or four bills. OY. Even sleep EEGs, overnight tests, etc. are run by highly trained techs and then the results are read by M.D.s

BUT, as with the AMEN clinic and other places ... find peachyderanged's post because now I can't ... re: where she's had her tests -- not there, but like that place. She had to pay for them. I have to see if right now that's what I want to do, or pay for it in the hospital or wait for the price to go down, LOL.

But here is also one other problem:
If you have one of these tests, including an EEG ... I forgot to mention this ... and you are on medication .. .the medication ITSELF could affect the result. There are so many studies at U.ofM. where they pay college kids, but it says "Wanted, healthy males, 18-25, no medications, no health problems for depression study." "Or Wanted, depressed patients, males, otherwise healthy, age 18-25, NOT on medication, yada."

ACH, I talk too much, I KNOW. Bottom line, most of us here would have to pay, unless we are part of a research study.
:evil: 
And I'm scared the entire economy will collapse as it is and I really can't afford it.
DAYIM.


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

Thank you Dreamer.
I had the MRI today. Bad news - they say their is NO MRI of the brain with a specific view of the temporal lobes. Jesus christ, what else can go wrong?

As for a "head injury", remember Dreamer...my "head injury" was a result of zyprexa, lunesta, which caused sleep deprivation, and a small amount of alcohol...I didn't even hit my head...it was the adverse effect of these damn medications (which were inadvertently given) that caused this chronic condition!

But thats a whole 'nother story. Anyway, I'm getting ready to send my "story" out to various agencies (including some that are anti-psychiatry, even though I am not - completely anyway) because psychiatry contributed to me obtaining this illness.

As for the testing....SPECT scans are quite sophisticated, and your right, the person interpretating the films, can make the difference. Dr. Amien has pictures of them in his books and explains things quite well....When I send out my story (after i update the results of this MRI) i will also send it to them. I think they do have the better technology. Before my SPECT last year, i visited various websites that asked that you find a well informed, and up to date clinic that specializes in these tests.

As for research studies, U of M hasn't done any for me. I've paid my way through high insurance premiums (almost 400 dollars a month) so my tests were covered. The only study i could have tried was at Mt. Sanai, but they wanted me to be off all medication (for a functional MRI), and i had just started Luvox CR, and was FINALLY starting to feel just a little relief from all the pain (for 4=-5 months).

Neway, I would like to know where everyone above got their scans, and more specifically WHEN - how long after you got DP/DR ??

Thanks all....and a happy fathers day to all too...

Much Luv.
Chris


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

Also,
Dreamer, I believe it is you (on your website) that says the movie "Awakenings" is a great thing to watch.
I completely agree. People don't understand that it is based on real events. The brain is something that has yet to be fully (or even partially) understood.

When I had my EEG's done (I had one normal, which took like 10 minutes) and then one for 24 hours, the lady doing the testing told me that because insurance companies wont pay for longer tests, they usually dont find anything. She told me she has had a patient where an EEG machine for 7 days, with NO seizure activity; but guess what? on the 10th day, she had a seizure! 
Go figure...

Chris


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2009)

Chris said:


> I had the MRI today. Bad news - they say their is NO MRI of the brain with a specific view of the temporal lobes. Jesus christ, what else can go wrong?


 :lol: Forgive me. Yeah, if it was a "plain" MRI not an fMRI, IDK what's what. Some things -- they inject you with stuff to trace brain activity or here's a bite in the butt. I had an appt. at U. of M. They have 9 million studies going on in the Depression Center which is an amazing place.

I grabbed this new study announcement out of a pile of about 12 current research studies you GET PAID FOR:
I'm sitting here looking at it, pissed off that I don't have the proper diagnosis.


> *PTSD Cortisol fMRI Study
> We're looking for volunteers diagnosed with PTSD
> 
> yada, yada ..." seeing the effects of the natural hormone cortisol on cognition and emotion in volunteers w/PTSD. The study requires participants to orally take 100mg hydrocortisone and undergo two fMRI screening sessions, in addition to a pre-screening session and a non-fMRI session. The participants WILL BE PAID :evil: $200 for their time and up to $120 bonus for their task performance ... yada, yada .... If you are 18-64 years old and do not have the following conditions .... yada. But it doesn't matter if you're on meds save steroids! :shock: Also you can't have a metal plate in your head or a bullet in you,etc. or of course your head will fly off and break the magnetic thing in the machine.*


So, this is the use of these machines right now. But they have endless studies.

And yes:
1. Awakenings, Oliver Sacks, M.D., my hero. Neurologist Ramachandran as well.

2. I tell this all the time. My mother had Alzheimer's. 1990 she had a CAT scan that was "clean" and an EEG that said "indication of dementia onset" -- and don't ask me how a doctor can read that on an EEG, but they can.
Then 2 years later when I dragged her into the hospital for 2 weeks of locked ward observation, her EEG WAS NORMAL, but her CAT scan showed her ventricles were atrophied. :shock: It is fortunate she had a baseline CAT. But I agree, the EEGs don't seem to be especially reliable. Also have a friend with grand mal seizures and every thing else and his EEGs are normal/not normal/sort of normal, yada. Even on 24 observance.

So, this is very frustrating. There will be a good number of PTSD folk for this test too as there is a VET hospital in town. It should be a very important study however. One day, I'll join a study and GET PAID FOR IT.

Oh, and yeah, it is how something is READ. My father was a thoracic surgeon. He got tremors in his hands in his 60s, but he was so good at reading X-Rays and evaluating patients he could diagnose one form of cancer from another from mesothelioma, asbestosis, etc. just glancing at an X-ray. He became an expert witness in this stuff. I saw many X-Rays he would bring home I was younger, and had absolutely no clue what I was looking at. Also, cancers and other stuff are missed on routine mammograms, X-rays, etc. IT IS the person reading the thing, and having a baseline comparison that makes a big difference.

Well, I'm hoping for more new tests in the future, especially in London.

Take Care,
D


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2009)

PS -- on second thought I wouldn't want to do this. I believe those of us with high anxiety already have high cortisol levels. (It can been seen in your urine.) I have yet another friend w/OCD, panic and some DP/DR with her panic. She's fine on an SSRI, BUT, she had carpal tunnel syndrome and was given cortisone injections in both wrists. They are not supposed to get that in your bloodstream, but they got it in hers. She had a MASSIVE PANIC ATTACK, MASSIVE from the cortisone. She said she wanted to be shot. Took her about 3 hours to calm down.

I was also offered such an injection for my back and I refused it for that very reason.

There are a LOT of things going on with us.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroimaging

Excellent article in wiki about all the brain scans with cool pictures and stuff. fMRIs only came about in the 1980s. These machines are new. The tests that they do on the brain will be so sophisticated say 20 years from now, people will compare these like typewriters compared to a PC.


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## Surfingisfun001 (Sep 25, 2007)

I have had a SPECT scan done at the Amen Clinic here in southern California. To answer questions about the cost, it is expensive but could be worth it. The images are very detailed and show which areas of your brain are overactive/underactive/damaged/etc. if any. By expensive, if I remember correctly i think it was in the thousands range. The scans I had done were around 6 months after the onset of my freakiness. They showed lots of overactive areas in my brain as well as depression. My initial response was "Well no shit I have anxiety and depression, I don't need a thousand dollar brain scan to tell me that." I was then assigned a psychiatrist at the clinic who prescribed me meds that made me go crazy. I was definitely disappointed overall. However I just started reading Dr. Amen's book "Change your brain, change your life" and so far it seems like a very good read.


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## ZachT (Sep 8, 2008)

Im too afraid to go near or under any of those machines.


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

I understand.
I don't need a test to tell me what I already know. But in some respects, I feel like its warranted. I want answers that this HAS physiological basis because I know it does. And if you read my story, you'll know how I know.
BTW - Got MRI results, same result as last year, I have a small cyst in the right lateral ventricle, but it is "unchanged" (which means it has not gotten bigger). But given the better scanner, I believe the description was better, and did state some thinks that were a little scary. Such as (and I'm not quoting) - 
"The third lateral ventricle was "slit like" - ??? and in the midline"
"Their is a small septum separating the right lateral ventricle from the atrium likely due to this cyst (I did not know it was seperating anything, etc.)

So now back to my so so good specialists at UM (my Pdoc, and i might email my Neuro) and see what they think. I'm also taking a copy of this thread, to advise my Dr. that some of us have been looking to the Amein clinic for answers and some have gotten them.

BTW - Where is Mark???

Chris


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

sketch,
That is sort of scary, but for you it seems you have a structural difference in your brain which then has caused a functional problem? I've read that those of us w/severe anxiety have a smaller hippocampus for expample (I think, I can't remember things one day to the next), but the question there is is the hippocampus smaller because we were born with one that way or did chronic overstimulation by natural chemistry in the brain cause the thing to atrophy. THey don't know.

They don't know. My guess is that the cyst is harmless, and if it weren't for all of this other stuff, you would never have had tests, never known about it, and it wouldn't matter anyway. Also, the look of different brains is unique. Just from that project at the Harvard Brain Bank where they have dissected I don't know how many brains "normal" and "abnormal" they find unique qualities in every brain.

The thing with these tests is they "show something" unique in certain illnesses. But they don't know what to do with many of these things once they find something which COULD be "normal" for you anyway, and that isn't the reason for the DP/DR.

I just thought, if I got such tests, it wouldn't help me really. I am on all of the medications that have been recommended by the IoP as most successful. At some point I wouldn't mind trying Naloxone or whatever, but I am scared. Scared to go backwards. I'm not happy where I am, but I don't want to return to Hell. I'll stay in Purgatory for now. :?

Don't drive yourself crazy over these tests. But I agree, getting various opinions on the results is important.

Take Care,
D


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

Agreed. The cyst was initially found in 2005 when i was being checked out for "atypical facial pain" (my face would hurt - burn, tingle, pinch, etc.) for no good reason.
Their was no need to worry then, just an incidental finding, and recently its just "still there".
I guess its just the different terminology they use to describe it differently (different machine, different radiologist), but i would like to see if it makes a difference. None of this has anything to do with my DP as i had the cyst prior, but I'd still like to know.

BTW - How much lamictal are you using, I've been on the combination of 300 luvox cr, 2mg klon daily, and 100mg lamictal for about 2 months now, and despite knowing that this is ALWAYS there (lower level of awareness / consciousness, short term memory problems, feeling unreal, etc. ) I am significantly better.

However, I'm asking because, for no unforseen reason, I have had some really bad DP spells over the past week. Anxiety is an issue, and I know if I am able to go out to a club and last a few hours, when i leave i feel so DP'd i can barely drive...but thats what I've come to expect.

However, this is different - its like the things i started to take for granted which were coming back like walking the dog are becoming bad again.
I dont know why. And since the 20th of June, I've had a hard time figuring out if my dreams really happened or not - never happened before.

One good thing though, is whenever I "snapped back" to reality (before medication, since using medication its been all managing but I've never "fully" came back like i use to before) my eyes would feel focused and my senses (awareness especially, it was like a higher level of consciousness) hearing, eyes, vision, etc. were all higher. However, now I feel like I can tell when Im staring, and i can "REFOCUS" a little better and i feel like im really looking at what im writing as opposed to staring...

Maybe i should post this elsewhere...i want to know, but cant because i have to get off the internet 

Chris


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2009)

sketch said:


> BTW - How much lamictal are you using, I've been on the combination of 300 luvox cr, 2mg klon daily, and 100mg lamictal for about 2 months now, and despite knowing that this is ALWAYS there (lower level of awareness / consciousness, short term memory problems, feeling unreal, etc. ) I am significantly better.


First of all, yeah, I wouldn't worry about that cyst. This reminded me of two things. #1. I think it was Stalin or Lenin ... they examined their brains when they died. One of them (or some other communist leader) ... one side of this brain, or one hemisphere was normal, the other side was the size of a walnut. :shock: I'll have to verify that. But it didn't affect the dude's funcitoning in any way. It sounds insane, but I'll look it up if I don't fall asleep.

Also, #2. My husband at 60 decided to pay for a heart screening thing, NOT at all required or recommended by his doctor, so he paid about $600 for this. It was an MRI and they even gave him the DVD. Anyway, his heart is 100% free of calcification which is outstanding. He just wanted to rule that out, BUT the MRI picked up a spot on his liver! But the doctor said ... again ... "If we do all sorts of extensive tests on you, we will cause more problems than if we leave it alone. If you didn't have the test, you wouldn't know it's there, you have no problems with your liver or any symptoms, etc., etc." Modern technology. :shock:

My meds: Lamictal 200mg/day, Klonopin 6mg/day, Celexa 40mg/day and I take all generics and noticed no difference but an astonishing drop in price. (lamotrigine, clonazepam, and citalopram). This is the one and only combo to keep me afloat. Klonpin saved my life in 1987 -- first no relief at 8mg until 6 weeks into treatment and I had no negative side-effects. We then pulled back slowly. Below 6mg, the DP/DR came back just as bad as it was before I got on the med. I have been at 6mg/day for 22 years. Never abused it.

Lamictal 200mg/day was added per the IoP recommendations. It made a difference. It put the DP/DR into the back of my mind. I was "less afraid of it." VERY subtle. It also stabilized my mood. I would get irritated and very depressed. That really calmed down. The Celexa is also part of the IoP combo. They don't think Lamictal ALONE is as effective as Lamictal + an SSRI, and Celexa is the "cleanest" SSRI. I've been on these meds for ... 15 years?... that combo. I will not change it. EDIT: now I'm thinking ... I think the Lamictal was added around 2002? So I should say THAT threesome I've been on for 6 years.

I have liver blood tests every few years as Lamictal can mess with your liver, but it hasn't with mine.

I have Xanax on hand for panic attacks. But I have been holding on to 14 1mg pills for a year. They are only for DIRE circumstances when I have outright panic. I don't drink, save one small drink on special occasions. Don't smoke. No rec drugs. And I'm doing about the best I can.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
D

Glad, you are better. For me, for some reason, my DR has gotten worse over the past .... maybe 4 years. I also feel less emotional. Less depressed, lots of crying and hopeless feelings.

I'll tell you what's dangerous -- I think Michael Jackson died, like Heath Ledger, Elivs Presley, Judy Garland, Nicole Smith or overuse/misuse of drugs. I take my meds as directed, every day. I do miss them sometimes, but never double up. Lamictal higher than 200mg made me too tired. I tried to push it. I might try that again. The only thing I would change right now for ME. If you feel you'd like to, you can try to push the Lamictal. Just very slowly with your doctor. 25mg at a time. And give it time. None of this stuff kicked in for me until I was on a higher dose for about a month? It took time to get a result.


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## Sketch2000 (Nov 10, 2008)

Thanks Dreamer.
I am going to likely go up on the klonopin and lamictal. I think it would be beneficial and i am on low doses for this disorder/condition. I'll stick with the Luvox CR....like you said in one of your earlier posts - switching meds at this point is like going back to hell but you'd rather stay in purgatory.

Ironically enough, Heath Ledger - another Australian (like myself) died from lunesta /ambien drinking, etc. similar to my case...that brought on Depersonalization and all sorts of weird neurological problems.

Neway, I also wanted to ask (since I recieved a $25 gift certificate for my birthday on wednesday at Barnes and Noble) i just found a new book there called "Depersonalization: A new look at a neglected syndrome", its quite expensive, but likely worth it; it also seems to be for professionals or students.

Anyway, my question is, what is that book that is "cognitive behavioral therapy for DP'D" I can't find it anywhere.

Chris


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## rob35235 (Feb 21, 2009)

Has anyone had neuro psychological testing?


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