I'm at a loss. I've turned out to be a person that is sensitive to psych meds. In the last year I've been on Li, Epival, Seroquel, Olanzapine, Risperidone, Lamotrigine.... and all but lamotrigine has caused side effects. And in some cases a side effect or two from the "rare" list. Right now, on Risperidone.. my blood clotting is being affected. I've never been a bruiser.. or had problems with blown blood vessels in the eyes. I've had both in the last 2 days. I've been on risperidone for one month. And it was just raised this past week.
I'm getting discouraged. And a bit frightened. I can't go back to work until my cocktail is on the right track... and now I'm afraid its another pill I can't take. I'm mildly having symptoms of TD. I drool in the middle of the day.. I laugh out of embarrassment.
It seems to be a battle between health of the mind OR body.. you have to choose which one.
Anybody out there?
My daughther is bipolar. She has gone from geodon, abilify, depakote, lithium, zyprexa, risperodol, and now currently on Lamictal and Lexapro, with Seroquel(only 25mg when needed for the anxiety). We finally found a psychiatrist that would listen and start her on lower doses. She had so many side-effects and she too, was medication sensitive....tachycardia, parkinsonism, flu-like syndrome with 102 fever daily. But we started her on 25mg of Lamictal/day for one week then 50mg/day the 2nd wk, then 75mg/day the 3rd wk, up to 200mg.....and added the anti-depressant the same way....5mg/day for wk 1, 10mg/day in wk 2. We have to continually adjust according to her cycling. Luckily, I am a nurse and her mom, I am in tune to when she cycles and I try to stay on top of it. But fortunately, Linsey has now accepted that she is Bipolar and is accepting to taking her meds and wants to find the right combination. Hang in there....it sucks that it takes 6-8wks to see if the drug works and what kind of side-effects they have on the person. How can you expect someone to live with parkinsonism at age 19? No, that's not acceptable....but it took almost two years to find the right combination for my daughter. Hopefully, it will get easier for you. Try to convince your doctor to initiate lower doses and gradual increases as long as you are not in a severe manic state or severe depressed state. My daughter is currently cycling and is now on 300mg of Lamictal and 5mg of Lexapro. She was on Wellbrutrin for 2yrs, but it eventually caused alot of anxiety. 25mg of seroquel seems to help tremendously for anxiety attacks. So she doesn't take it daily, only when she feels anxious. Good luck and good health. Stay proactive.