So I've been staggering pills at 36 hour intervals and it's starting to catch up to me, especially since I've been drinking a bit more.
the pills are timed to release every 24 hours. let's say you are taking 30 mg a day and you try to cut down to 20 mg a day by increasing the interval to 36 hours all you're really doing is getting your normal dose for 24 hrs and then going unmedicated for 12 hours. i'd check with your doctor, you would probably be much better off just getting a pill cutter or a lower dosage.
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:39 (thirteen years ago) link
all you're really doing is getting your normal dose for 24 hrs and then going unmedicated for 12 hours
doesn't take into account serum levels
― №, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
A pill cutter won't work with an extended release pill, though.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:43 (thirteen years ago) link
ok so you guys are seriously saying stretching out the interval is a better idea than taking a lower dose?
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:46 (thirteen years ago) link
up to a point yeah
― №, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:47 (thirteen years ago) link
well, i mean, get down to the lowest practical dose first
― №, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:48 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm not saying that. I just looked it up in Medscape--its peak plasma level only lasts 2-4 hours.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:54 (thirteen years ago) link
wait are we still talking abt lexapro
― №, Monday, 30 August 2010 18:57 (thirteen years ago) link
No, we're talking about Celexa now.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:00 (thirteen years ago) link
oh. are almost the same thing tho, lexapro is just the active isomer of celexa. wikipedia sez the half-life is 35 hours, which i'd think would be more relevant than peak plasma concentration, particularly as if you've been taking it for any length of time you have a plasma level that should make the peaks and valleys not really a thing if yr taking it every 36 hours.
but it's been a while since i've been on ssri's so someone who is would know more abt the subjective effects.
― №, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:03 (thirteen years ago) link
but I'm gonna be having sex for that 12 hours so I'm not going to care, right?
(kidding)
― mh, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:05 (thirteen years ago) link
dude my problem with too high of a dose was that it took 12 hours to finish
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:18 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm on Wellbutrin, which *increases* sexual desire, at least in women. The thing I've noticed with it is that I feel a little less sensation during sex but stronger orgasms at the end. (And I can move myself much longer along the way just by mental imagery than I used to.)
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:40 (thirteen years ago) link
It depends on how narrow the therapeutic range is. (I'm on lithium, which has a very, very narrow range, so I'm probably a little more conscious of this than you all are.)
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:44 (thirteen years ago) link
this is pretty much what I was talking about upthread
― mh, Monday, 30 August 2010 19:52 (thirteen years ago) link
cognitive therapy all the way man
― Latham Green, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 03:13 (thirteen years ago) link
These questions require a doctor.
― elan, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 04:48 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm on Wellbutrin, which *increases* sexual desire, at least in women.
i remember a doctor telling me that when i tried it briefly! i, erm, didn't notice any difference.
― diurnal eternal falafel (get bent), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 06:23 (thirteen years ago) link
It doesn't have that effect on everyone.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 06:37 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm the only one out of all of the medical personnel that post to ILX that's bothered to post to this thread. And I'm the least qualified out of all of them.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 06:53 (thirteen years ago) link
And that's really too bad.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 07:10 (thirteen years ago) link
so i was on 50mg of lexapro before and i went down to 30 a couple months ago b/c of side effects. yesterday my new doctor pushed me back up to 40. why yes, i'd love to spend labor day weekend adjusting to a dosage increase!
the good news is: welcome back to my arsenal, xanax! i've missed you so.
― corn smut (get bent), Saturday, 4 September 2010 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
got prescribed lexapro in like october (of 09 holy fuck) and was still finishing that bottle as of june. ran out sometime in july. considering refilling? cause i mean...it's cheaper than whiskey every night. i know this feeling. the whole "i hate my job, what am i doing with my life, i will drink it away every single night and lose track of the days" thing. done it before, and i recognize its resurgence. would rather not.
― ITS YA BOY (zorn_bond.mp3), Saturday, 4 September 2010 01:26 (thirteen years ago) link
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l88syoSPcJ1qz6f9yo1_500.jpg
― mookieproof, Monday, 6 September 2010 07:19 (thirteen years ago) link
lucy, typical neurotypical.
― corn smut (get bent), Monday, 6 September 2010 08:03 (thirteen years ago) link
The numbness in my brain that I'd been having for a couple of days has resolved itself into an odd light feeling and a tendency to ramble on with whatever's in my brain (online, too). I'm assuming that I'd be having a hypomanic episode if I wasn't on lithium.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 6 September 2010 14:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Fifty days of Fluoxetine (20mg), how much better should I feel in your collective experiences? I don't feel as awful as I did, but I certainly don't feel "good" by any stretch.
― get the fuck out of my mouth (boxedjoy), Monday, 6 September 2010 17:10 (thirteen years ago) link
I love that Peanuts cartoon.
― tricked by a toothless cobra, Monday, 6 September 2010 17:31 (thirteen years ago) link
IME antidepressants don't make me feel "good," they just make me *feel*, period. Like a normal person--ups and downs both.
― quincie, Monday, 6 September 2010 21:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Like, there is no shiny happy people moment. That's why I never understood when people objected to antidepressants as making one feel artificially up or whatever.
― quincie, Monday, 6 September 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
i think it just depends on the person and the medication/dosage ... i've posted about my experience already - that the dosage of Paxil i'm on just makes me feel what i imagine normal is like - being sad, but being able to distract yourself, rebound, etc.
― sarahel, Monday, 6 September 2010 21:37 (thirteen years ago) link
I still feel pretty glum and lethargic, although not as bad as I did before I started taking them. I'm sleeping better, and I don't feel like I'm on the verge of upset constantly, which are both real upsides, but I was kinda naively hoping they would do a little more for me.
― get the fuck out of my mouth (boxedjoy), Monday, 6 September 2010 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
my recent emotional episodes have left me rather drained, but one good side effect is that i have had more free time. i wrote a poem of my feelings. i'd like to share it with you if you don't mind:
Dog days of summerWinding down, winding downI hear the ice cream truckMaking its last rounds
This twilight timeThis transitional hourMore bitter than milk going sour
More tragic than a dying childDepressinger than going out of style
I find myself at a crossroadsStaring at the dark aheadBut then I look at the light that surrounds meAnd wish I could stay here instead.
― banaka, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 07:46 (thirteen years ago) link
i have been taking my mother's prozac (i'm staying at my parents' for the week), but i feel like the certainty i had when i was brainwashed was so much more comforting than the uncertainty i feel now.
― banaka, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 07:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Banaka, have you been diagnosed with depression in the past? Any other mental illness? Have you taken Prozac before? What kind of uncertainty do you feel?
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 08:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Is it a good idea to just take it without a doctor prescribing it?
My anxiety has gone down. I still feel anxious, but in a normal way. That said, I feel like it's in a drawer waiting to pop out. lol.
Thing is, should I see a psychiatrist? Or a psychologist? Not sure. I definitely want to prolong my usage of meds.
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 09:03 (thirteen years ago) link
The thing that worries me about Banaka is that he seems to have something other than garden-variety clinical depression going on, and Prozac may do him more harm than good.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 09:18 (thirteen years ago) link
A psychiatrist can prescribe meds, a psychologist can't. I forgot, are you just seeing a regular doctor for your anxiety?
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 09:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes, which my friend doesn't like at all. He just prescribed me some light anti-anxiety meds. She thinks I should see a psychiatrist instead of a regular doctor (and therapist). Not sure the difference between a psychologist and psychiatrist (aside from the fact the latter can prescribe meds which the former can't do). Do psychiatrist do therapy? Any advice is hugely appreciated. :-(
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 11:50 (thirteen years ago) link
I really can't help you there, I've been getting along with just a doctor until just recently--a psychiatrist comes to the county clinic I go to once a month or two now. She reviews my meds, listens to me talk a bit, and writes me some prescriptions. You'd be seeing yours more often.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 12:55 (thirteen years ago) link
In my experience, most psychiatrists don't do therapy and will refer you to a psychologist for the non-pharmaceutical aspects of treatment.
― a black white asian pine ghost who is fake (Telephone thing), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 13:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i know this feeling. the whole "i hate my job, what am i doing with my life, i will drink it away every single night and lose track of the days" thing. done it before, and i recognize its resurgence. would rather not.― ITS YA BOY (zorn_bond.mp3), Saturday, September 4, 2010 2:26 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark
― ITS YA BOY (zorn_bond.mp3), Saturday, September 4, 2010 2:26 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark
apparently since friday i have gone far enough down the rabbit hole that this already feels like a warning from SPOCK OF THE FUTURE
― friends don't understand us, adults don't understand us (zorn_bond.mp3), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 01:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Seek help, for realz. Once you get good at recognizing the warning signs, you really need to act before things get worse worse worse and you can no longer act at all.
― quincie, Thursday, 9 September 2010 00:12 (thirteen years ago) link
I mean duh you know this, but just trying to offer my internets encouragement or whatnot.
― quincie, Thursday, 9 September 2010 00:14 (thirteen years ago) link
wait - are you getting drunk as a means of dealing with depression? Bad bad bad bad bad idea. I've been there. The depression doesn't go away, you just end up with depression + a drinking problem.
― sarahel, Thursday, 9 September 2010 00:24 (thirteen years ago) link
^^^^ ditto, self-medicating not a good idea.
― quincie, Thursday, 9 September 2010 00:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Right. Alcohol is a depressant.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, 9 September 2010 01:20 (thirteen years ago) link
co-signed. the other thing alcohol does is really fuck up your decision making. had to force myself away during my bouts.
It really sucks that intelligent people with excellent taste in music are all suffering when there are plenty of useless douchebags I know who are perfectly comfortable with themselves :/.
stay strong to all who are posting here with heavy hearts and tense minds!
― Bo Jackson Cruise Control (San Te), Thursday, 9 September 2010 03:02 (thirteen years ago) link
alcohol is a depressant fyi
― BIG HOOS is the coxsteen of that particular groop (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Sunday, January 18, 2009 7:38 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark
this motherfucker knows whats up
― friends don't understand us, adults don't understand us (zorn_bond.mp3), Thursday, 9 September 2010 03:59 (thirteen years ago) link
― get the fuck out of my mouth (boxedjoy), Monday, 6 September 2010 18:10 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I take something similar (Sertraline, 100mg daily) and yeah, its p much 'stopped crying myself to sleep every night', motivated to do one or two things a day - not skipping up the hillside. Baby steps innit.
― a hoy hoy, Thursday, 9 September 2010 04:22 (thirteen years ago) link