Purposes:Treat my mood condition(s), Other, and Pain(Started Jan 01, 2010)
Date
Dosage
Treat my mood condition(s)
Perceived effectiveness
Other
Perceived effectiveness
Pain
Perceived effectiveness
Side Effects
Adherence
Burden
Feb 18, 2012
Daily
Date
Feb 18, 2012
Advice & Tips
You must take care of yourself: exercise, get enough sleep, drink lots of water, take your vitamins....then add medication and continue to take care of yourself. Medication won't help much if you are not taking care of yourself.
Purpose:Treat my mood condition(s)(Started Oct 26, 1987)
Date
Dosage
Perceived effectiveness
Side Effects
Adherence
Burden
Jan 18, 2010
Weekly
Major
None
Always
Not at all
Nov 23, 2009
Weekly
Major
Mild
Usually
Not at all
Side effects:
Loss of depth perception, Sleepiness, Loss of balance, Blurry vision, Memory problems, High Cholesterol, Tremor in hands, Weight gain, Falls, Insomnia, Insomnia, Anxious mood, Anxious mood
Date
Nov 23, 2009
Advice & Tips
I usually take the medication regularly. Occasionally I will make some changes or stop a medication if there seem to be problems. My doctor usually, not always, agrees to the changes. I have had tardive dyskinesia about 3 times but the symptoms disappeared when I stopped taking the medication (antipsychotics). Lithium didn't work for me. It caused tremors too great to be acceptable and didn't help the mood. I have only found the medication combination that seems to work the best for me. I am not at a "normal" level, but neither am I near hell or razor sharp mania. Some medications seemed to make me worse. At one time my balance and visual perspective were off and I would fall easily, run over curbs, bump cars... At times I would fall asleep at inconvenient times - standing, driving... There was some help with that when I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and got a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine, which I use every night. I've gone through SO many ineffectual drugs, ineffectual at any dosage. Part of that may have been that I was confusing the symptoms of Asperger's (before I knew I had it) with the mood disorder and the meds didn't touch that. But I always, always knew that there was something pervasive underlying that was NEVER addressed. It was frustrating. But now I know, and knowing is half of it, even if you're unable to change...