Posted by S.D. on January 10, 2001, at 12:42:54
In reply to Trileptal, posted by Cath78 on January 7, 2001, at 21:55:00
> Has anyone else out there tried Trileptal? Any good experiences with it? I'm also on zoloft. I'm diagnosed as atypical bi-polar, meaning that I'm always depressed except when I'm a little bit less depressed (mood swings from severe depression to less severe depression). The zoloft has helped enormously but my doc thinks that I need a mood stabilizer also.
>
>I haven't tried Trileptal, but I know it was approved in the USA only last year, has been around in other countries about 10 years, and seems to be considered a somewhat safer version of Tegretol (but otherwise very similar and I haven't heard it claimed to be any more or less effective in general than Tegretol.)
The symptoms you describe sound similar to my primary ones - alternate periods of greater and lesser depression - and my doctor also said a mood stabilizer was a reasonable addition if an AntiDepressant alone didn't nail it.
What seems to be a recent change in practice is the prescribing of a range of mood stabilizers in these cases. Especially, I think, tough dysthymia cases. I think that traditionally our symptoms would be diagnosed as dysthymia (chronic lesser depression) + recurring Major Depressive episodes and not bipolar (it doesn't fit the "official" criteria).
Lithium is well accepted as effective for depression (at least as an addition to an antidepressant), but maybe the diagnosis of a type of bipolar is needed for insurance companies to accept prescribing some other mood stabilizers for this purpose. There doesn't seem to be any research results to show effectiveness of most other mood stabilizers for depression, though.
Can I ask you a few things?
• Did either the lesser or greater depressions begin before you were 12 years old?
• Have the 'swings' occured at regular intervals or do they seem unpredictable or are they caused by external events?
During less-depressed periods that ocurred *before* medication was helping, were you able to:• function somewhat well in society (hold a job or keep other commitments, or maintain some social contacts)?
• feel pleasure, at least briefly, from activities that should be pleasurable?
• Is your current state on Zoloft less depressed than your unmedicated "little bit less depressed" periods?
• If you have felt persistantly low-energy or unmotivated when depressed, do you still?Sorry for so many questions, it's more than I had intended when I started writing. I've tried to write them so that very short answers can be given.
peace and health,
S.D.
poster:S.D.
thread:51110
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001231/msgs/51357.html