Posted by ncrainbow on May 2, 2008, at 13:02:12
Dr Bob,
The bottom of this post is what I posted on the medication page but I wanted your thoughts on what I posted plus whether going off a long term ssri (8 years of 40mg of Celexa) could b causing the hypomania. I read on the wellbutrin link on this page about using wellbutrin for things other than depression that one doc thought going of an SSRI is just as likely to cause hypomania as going on one. What do you think?
I just want some insight before I go blaming wellbutrin for the sudden burst of hypomania. I am officially carrying a diagnosis of cyclothymia but it is a new one...most of my life I have just been considered high-strung, chatty, impulsive with a wicked case of ADD. I also have always had lots of daytime sleepiness (a score of 5 (severe) on the Sleep latency test) which has had a few docs contemplating narcolepsy. I present very manic to most folks but I have always loved my sleep and had never experienced depression so the topic of bipolar never really stuck. I had my first depressive episode at age forty a few months ago when a dear friend died and it basically gave me and my pdoc to consider a diagnosis of cyclothymia...so here we are...see post to board below...
Okay...so I am definitely getting more than a little manic...but I am feeling good and not doing anything harmful, inappropriate, or self-destructive.
For example, my pressured speech is pretty bad right now...it is more pressured and more rapid.
I also went looking for and bought an outfit for a date night with my spouse of 10 years that is more than a little bit sexier than I would normally wear. Plus it is at a time when money is a little bit tight. Now it wasn't super expensive but it probably wasn't prudent either.
I have been pretty irritable with my family but nothing awful, just a switch from my normally cheery persona. I am having trouble getting started on a work project although once I am there, I am hyper focused.
And I am definitely feeling that racy speedy manic feeling...which is kind of nice since I struggle from a lot of fatigue and daytime sleepiness.
The part that concerns me is I am cycling between this and being very lethargic. It is like as soon as that 2mg of klonopin wears off around 10:00 in the morning, I am go go go until I take it again at 10:00 at night.
And as experienced folks, you may also notice that my email is filled with a lot of rationalizations and qualifiers. Again not my typical style.
I just bumped my wellbutrin up to 300 today and suspect the increased mania is due to that. My doc kept telling me that the Celexa he took me off of was causing the hypomania but it seems to me I am more manic since I went off of it.
My gut instinct says to watch for signs that the mania is over the line when and if I stop sleeping. Right now my sleep patter is very regular and I am getting 8-9 hours a night plus naps.
I have heard people say that the "activating" part of wellbutrin wears off and is definitely dose dependent. So maybe I will be a little less chipper in a week or two.
Any thoughts? I have only had this whole cyclothymia diagnosis for about 8 weeks so I can use all the guidance I can get. At 40, it is hard to start seeing things through a whole new lens.
NCrainbow
poster:ncrainbow
thread:826823
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20080424/msgs/826823.html