Pyschiatrist from hell, and medication question for you all?

Hopefully you can get something even if its short term for your lack of sleep ...
Lack of sleep is a huge problem for "most" bipolar people ...I know its my number 1 trigger ..

Good luck and keep posting

I think I have an idea for sleep that will not disturb your p-doc or ER: Trazodone. It is an old AD, costs less than $10 in the US (it is VERY old), but in low doses it is just a sleeping pill, not an AD, so the likelihood of causing mania is negligible. When I need to, I take the lowest dose, 50mg, and it works like magic. But you can take much more while still being under the AD level. I asked on this forum and people became manic taking some 300-600mg - you can appreciate the difference in dosage.

Not a benzo.

Completely not habit-forming.

Will not interfere with Lithium.

Basically, as innocent as it gets.

I got manic from taking Trazodone 25 mg, same with Amitriptyline. Even tho my dr. promised I was safe. Sorry, I'm not trying to argue, but it can and does happen. It can work as a sleep aide and good for many. But there have been other posts confirming induced mania on these two older meds. It is a good idea, but you would still want to watch it.

My pdoc will only change one med at a time so that she can tell if it is working and know if it is causing side effects. If you start more than one drug at a time you won't be able to tell which is effective or ineffective. Since she is seeing you soon, I would suspect that she will add another med then.

I'm seeing her for an emergency app at 11:30 tomorrow, thank God.

I slept from 9AM to 10AM last night.
i'm so pissed, i'm tired but can't sleep.

Last night, I took my lithium like normal but took them both at the same time instead of in the morning and night. So, anyway, about 45 minutes later...I started feeling like bugs were inside and outside of my skin...and itching unbearably. I had to stay in the shower and scrub my body, it was awful.

I also vomitted like 3+ times.
It was awful, I stayed up all night just shaking and shivering, and hallucinated ALLLL NIGHT. Like, vivid ones.

I saw little palm trees in the bath tub with me. Like, real palm trees but they were little. And I kept thinking bugs were on me/in me. Which is not like me.

I don't know if this was an awful panic attack. I've been on lithium 9 days...never had this reaction. What the heck is going on?

Ya you shouldn't really take them together, it will make you pretty nauseated. I really do not think it's the lithium causing the other problems.

Lithium can take up to a month to take effect. And since it is just a form of sodium, it usually doesn't have the same types of effect like you are talking about with the bugs and stuff as some other types of psych meds. The action of Lithium is usually kind of subtle.

Are you sleeping yet? the bugs and itchy skin sounds like tactile hallucinations. the hallucinations that you have been talking about really are not going to get better if you still are not getting sleep. Sleep deprivation causes hallucinations in even healthy people.

I slept like two hours last night. I can't sleep for the life of me.

I'm seeing my pdoc tomorrow and I'm praying she'll give me something to help with the sleep and anxiety. I can't take it anymore. I really can't.

Are you taking extended release or regular lithium?

regular lithium made me sick. :\

Let me jump in here...
Suprized nobody's mentioned this:
Lithium should be started at a low dose and then gradually increased according to your bloodwork, to ensure you don't reach toxicity level. The therapeutic dosage differs in each patient.

For eg. I was started on 250mg and worked my way up to 750mg, which was my therapeutic dosage.

To start you off on 900mg was imo, very negligent.

The fact that you doubled your dose, could be the reason why you feel/felt ill.

If you forget a lithium dosage, SKIP it, bcoz you're throwing off the levels in your blood.

Please stay hydrated and speak to your pdoc asap, the least she could do is educate you about the drugs she's prescribing.

Take care

Ohh i feel you on this. My pdoc prescribed me saphris. which i couldn't afford. he also did prescribe ambien. About a week or two later i hated the meds. two months later he still won't change the meds i can't afford, and don't work! hes the only pdoc in tbhe area that aaccepts my insurance. i wish you luck, and eventually im sure she will prescribe you more things.

Make the calculations. If you pay out of pocket for another p-doc BUT get drugs you can afford, you might be better off in the end. Especially if you have PPO and at least a small portion of another p-doc's fee will be reimbursed.

I have not heard the name of this med before so I looked it up. It is just an atypical antipsychotic, not some unique drug for which there are no close relatives. I take Geodon, mentioned here, which is very expensive - 600-850 $ a month depending on dosage without insurance, but even Geodon is becoming generic this year. Older atypical antipsychotics are already generic. It is not as if there were no other drugs available for him to choose from. I have never tried Ambien, but I tried a similar drug Sonata which has not effect on me. At the same time, a very old drug Trazodone, which costs less than 10 dollars without insurance, knocks me out without much ill side effects. There are a lot of medications. It sounds as if this doctor is not well-versed in them. This is dangerous. I am afraid that you will ultimately need to switch to another one, and very sorry to hear that insurance-wise, this doctor is your only choice.

My late mother used to get hugely manic on amitriptyline, and, unfortunately, she liked it, while the doctors did not mind prescribing the drug in truckload amounts. I witnessed it all too well, so I understand what you are describing. I guess I am lucky that Trazodone (coupled with Geodon, Lithium, Depakote, Lamictal - protective stuff) does not do it for me, because from time to time I need a sleep aid. But you are right, if it is dangerous, I will qualify my suggestions in the future.

Hamster-Bamster,

I think it was a good suggestion, I know trazodone does work for many. And you are right, probably a safer choice then benzos. I was just suggesting to keep an eye on it. That's all, I really hope I didn't offend you, because you do have good suggestions, very helpful posts, and insight

Not sleeping is bad. I haven't figured out whether or not lack of sleep triggers my mania or is just the first sign of mania. I've tried ambien, lunesta, restoril and trazodone and they don't work for me. Sometimes when I take zyprexa it helps me sleep a few hours. Hopefully your pdoc will address this problem for you.If she doesn't I would look for a new doc. I know my pdoc adds meds one at a time because of side effects. Good luck with your appointment !