Top 20 Psychiatric Prescriptions 2005

Interesting. I note that Neurontin/gabapentin is not on there, but I know that the manufacturer had its hand slapped for promoting off-label use of it, for bipolar and such . . . and I believe there have been a few studies? that show that its efficacy for such is questionable or even has little to none . . .

Course, I experienced a mental, perceptive, directive, emotional, and more that is difficult to describe, awakening and expanding as the Neurontin kicked in . . . I s'pose I should link to that post, but I think most of you have read it. As well, I experienced an appreciable lessening of general amplitude, frequency, and length of mood swings as the drug kicked in. I still have swings that push out of that, but it's no longer a rollercoaster that has huge ups and downs on a daily and weekly basis . . . it's stretched out the "graph", if you will, of it, some. This is SO SO SO appreciated by me, and I LOVE that it does this for me . . . . I don't know if I'd necessarily call myself stable, at least not this week, as i'm having a rather low time, but . . . overall, over time, I'd say that I'm noticeably more stable than I was, generally.

If it's working for me, then I'm content.

I suppose one can say the brain and all the structures therein, and the biochemicals that run the place, or run amok it seems, is such a complex thing and set of interacting systems, substances, and processes, and that so much is NOT known about the brain and its workings, that I suppose I'll just chalk it up to that unknown area, and perhaps individual personal variations in body and brain chemistry.

I'm not surprised to see Effexor XR on there . . . I bet it might be higher if it wasn't so @#$#@ and @#$@#$ expensive . . . . not surprised at the Xanax either, although I extremely underutilize it. There was one month, last year, where I carefully but appropriately and seems almost perfectly utilized it when needed, and it seemed to almost stretch out when I needed to take it, because interrupting the cycle of fear, seemed to short circuit the continuing cycles of it, a bit. It was really COOL to see and feel the way this worked, that month . . .

I also have a bit of Klonopin around here, somewhere, but that's not something I'm currently on, really. Although I'm not sure I was given the right instructions for it when I got it (my psychiatrist was on suspension and suspended right to prescribe, and so I had a sub shrink at the time), and so the fact that it didn't seem to work for me, anxiety wise, might be more due to the fact that I was only taking half a one at night, and a quarter one as needed, instead of keeping the level of it consistent in my blood by taking a partial earlier in the day. But I didn't know that then.

It DID do wonders for cutting the frequency of the EXTREMELY HORRID, sometimes violently graphic, and extremely TERRIFYING, VIVID nightmares that Effexor gives me, in half or so. It cut me down to about 1-3 per week, instead of 4-6 per week. It also stopped those things where I was asleep, and all of a sudden it was like someone whacked me in the head with a cast-iron skillet (no image of being whacked, what I was being whacked with, or that there was an entity behind it, but that's just a descriptor of how hard the blow felt), I literally physically FELT the blow and the recoil/slam/being knocked back by it, and there was an accompanying bright white intense light that filled my brain (sometimes, not always), and then I JERKED AWAKE VIOLENTLY to find my body out of my control, convulsing and limbs jerking up forcefully from the bed. A time or two, it felt like a terrible yank in my back that was attempting to fold me in half with much force, and I'd awake to my body jerking up, seemingly trying to do just that . . . They called this night terrors, but that term doesn't describe the feeling of what I went through as well as my description does, lol.

I suspect Zyprexa and Depakote would be higher, if not for the weight gain and added risk of diabetes, at least, that's what I seem to have read are potential effects of those drugs . . . if my doc ever suggests them, I'll have some strong feelings about it . . . especially since I have PCOS, which I don't know much about but recently hear that it might mean I'll probably or definitely get diabetes someday? Why don't docs explain stuff when they say, you have THIS, or THAT . . . . . .

Anyway, I thought the list was interesting, and there's my thoughts on my experiences and regarding this list.