Stabalized!

[berry2000]

Okay I've got my soup of med's and I'm stablized. It's been 4 months without any hang ups. Two years without any major (hospital) episodes.

These are my meds: Remeron, Lamictal, Seroquel, Lexapro.

I beleive the first two are the ones that are stablizing me. I beleive the Seroquel isn't doing anything. I believe the Lexapro can be helpful as a second antidepressant if i'm in a depressive episode but isn't necessary inbetween.

The big question is do i keep them all or really really slowly try to wean off one. I mean i can always go right back on if there are any rpoblems.

The reason being a coupel of reasons. First there is great expense in being on all these med's especially if two of them may not have a purpose. Secondly, I get this restless leg, anxiety overmedicated side effects. My doc says they are side effects. Perhaps i could lessen them.

All of this, of course, would be done with my doctor and not on my own accord. He says okay to slowly wean off Lexapro. I'm just nervous i guess.
Anyone got any thoughts?

 

[lemonflavor]

As far as restless leg syndrome goes, from personal experience my uneducated guess would be the Remeron. Anything that works on norepinephrine may cause this. When I was taking a high dose of a tricyclic like amitriptyline and nortriptyline my RLS was pretty bad. Now that I'm on a tiny dose of Remeron it isn't very bad but was worse when I was on a higher dose.

This may not be the case at all with you. The above is just a possibility.

Does the Seroquel help you to sleep?

I also take Lamictal and Lexapro and they keep me out of the abyss for the most part.

I would think if things are working and cost isn't an issue, keep things the same. You won't have to suffer through withdrawal which Lexapro and Seroquel can cause in my experience. Some people don't have a problem with these. If you think a drug is causing a problem, that would be a reason to try to eliminate to see if that's the case.

Of course I have to give the usual disclaimer that this is just based on my experience and reading (as opposed to real research which is what your doctor does) and your doctor should be consulted above all else.

 

[berry2000]

Thanks lemon flavor good advice. The seroquel does help me sleep BUT the remeron was the one that fixed my sleeping problems first. The seroquel also makes me ravanous after 1 hour of taking it...but that's not a problem as i am underweight.

The RLS is pretty bad. I think it is actually from the combo of all 4 as i've been on the remeron the longest.

And of course, cost is one of the biggest problems when it comes to 4+ meds.

What are the "Withdrawls" like that you speak of?

 

[lemonflavor]

What are the "Withdrawls" like that you speak of?

Withdrawal symptoms from tapering off of or discontinuing a drug. Some have more trouble with it (me!) than others. And the antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics (Seroquel) can be more difficult than others. I would say the biggest symptom is anxiety. If you go down, just go very slow. You may not have a problem though if you would decide to try tapering down or off.

 

[rushingwind62]

Okay I've got my soup of med's and I'm stablized. It's been 4 months without any hang ups. Two years without any major (hospital) episodes.

These are my meds: Remeron, Lamictal, Seroquel, Lexapro.

I beleive the first two are the ones that are stablizing me. I beleive the Seroquel isn't doing anything. I believe the Lexapro can be helpful as a second antidepressant if i'm in a depressive episode but isn't necessary inbetween.

The big question is do i keep them all or really really slowly try to wean off one. I mean i can always go right back on if there are any rpoblems.

The reason being a coupel of reasons. First there is great expense in being on all these med's especially if two of them may not have a purpose. Secondly, I get this restless leg, anxiety overmedicated side effects. My doc says they are side effects. Perhaps i could lessen them.

All of this, of course, would be done with my doctor and not on my own accord. He says okay to slowly wean off Lexapro. I'm just nervous i guess.
Anyone got any thoughts?

I would say if the cocktail of meds is working then keep it the same. You never know which med may send you reeling again. I have been stable for 3 years nows and am afraid to mess with the meds because I think it is the combination of meds that have me dialed in.

But if you choose to come off one of them I hope you will talk to your Dr first to see what they think. I know it sucks being on meds. I am on 5 myself. But I would rather take them than go through the struggle of being unstable again.

 

[berry2000]

Agree with you rushing wind. I think i will try, with my doctor, to get off one slowly. If it works...3 will be an okay number with me.

 

[DoubtingThomas29]

Everyone is different, but really I don't have any complications from taking my meds other than weight gain. So really I plan to stay on my meds throughot my entire teaching career. I feel completely normal because of them, why would I ever want to mess with that? I pretty much have been totally stable for over a year and haven't even been close to being hospitalized for over seven years. I am very happy.

 

[DoubtingThomas29]

Edit Post, it posted twice.