Posted by HappyGirl on April 1, 2004, at 14:00:13
In reply to Re: MDD BiPolar Reply//gr8red, posted by gr8red on April 1, 2004, at 10:30:13
Hi:
>>>> Saw the psych dr yesterday..keeping him on all 3 meds (Effexor,Resperdal,Depakote) for the next two weeks to see how he does. Dr is hoping to get him off Effexor first, and then I assume the other 2 are maintenance drugs? <<<--- Your son's pdoc.'s approach to get off of 'Effexor' is,--- in my guess along with the experience in Bp, ... probably he/she does NOT want him to get into 'hypomanic,' because 'Effexor' is a kind 'SSRI class of Anti-dep.' and then often brings up 'manic episodes.' The pdoc.'s first strategy is to 'stabilize' your son's moods by using both Depakote and Risperdal. However, if after two weeks , your son's condition would show more improvement, then he/she might keep the same med. combo. Normally, an AP med. like Risperdal is the very last med. to add, however as seeing your son's severity of Bipolar(in my guessing, tho'), he/she had no choice but to add this med., Risperdal. Or, your son's pdoc. prefers to choose 'aggressive med. regimen' to get your son's symptoms under control as quickly as possible. In this respect, there are several opinions among med. takers whether this/aggressive med. regimen is more beneficial in the long run. In my case, Zyprexa was the VERY last med., about which I have no complain, because I did NOT need to go to the school, except a part-time work. Therefore, most of pdoc. seems to examine whether aggressive med. regimen is more applicable.
In your question concerning 'maintenance med. regimen,' .... I believe it/med. combo. has both purposes, one is in his/her effort to stabilize your son's Bp, other is for NOT get worseing his condition.
Lastly, as I said in my previous post, you may need to expect this journey to be for long period of time, ... then in my suggestion, even you, as a Mom, need some 'support' and 'encouragement' in order to go through this journey with your son.Try to get emotional help from your Mom or anyone seems to offer 'support' and 'understanding.'
H.G.
poster:HappyGirl
thread:330134
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040329/msgs/331347.html