[gia.laynes]

Hi everyone!

I'm still new here and was reading around your posts (I really appreciate them btw) and since I was diagnosed with BPD very soon was wondering if you guys could share a little bit of your process, like what medicine helps best compare to therapy, side effects, etc. I'm trying to figure out if medicine is the best for borderlines. So far I'm just going to therapy and to be honest I don't think it's helping at all. I just want to find a way to live the closest to a normal life with normal emotions...

G

[shortandcute]

BPD is very complex, and just medication alone won't completly heal and they don't really have any specific medication for BPD, anyway. Sometimes, a doctor will give medication that helps with some of the mood stuff that comes with BPD.

[greentires4me]

well I am on 300mgs of effexor, .25mg of clonazepam, 30mgs loxapine and a shot I don't know the milligrams or its name...sorry...but so far its just been helping me with depression and sleep. Since I been having trouble with both...medicine surely is not the answer but a combined with DBT and other therapy along side it has an increasing success rate.

[BlueInanna]

I'm glad you asked this because I am wondering same thing - I have a bipolar dx and have tried quite a few drugs.

the only ones I think even help me are like klonopin or valium for anxiety and rage probs, general just needing help calming down.

Although I get depressed too - "med resistant depression" they called it... so those meds didnt help me.

But I fet the bpd profile pretty well too -- so confused right now! Pdoc appt tomorrow, so freaking nervous and annoyed that I even have to go.

[Luctor]

I've found medication has helped with my aggression/rage as well as my depression, but therapy is the only thing that will help with the emotional turmoil and developing the skills to be effective in the many areas in your life affected by BPD.

I'm on Lamotrigine for depression and impulsivity and Risperidone for racing thoughts, aggression and depression. They're doing their job. There are side-effects, but they're tolerable in light of what they do for me.

The consensus when it comes to BPD is to that it's a combination of meds and therapy that help alleviate the pain.

[BlueInanna]

Thanks I think I may give lamotrigine/lamictal another try. My rage and irritability are overwhelming lately lots of work and relationship triggers. But I do want her to give me Valium I want some relief and avoiding alcohol.

And more therapy is in the plan for when I can pay for it.

[Luctor]

Originally Posted by BlueInanna

Thanks I think I may give lamotrigine/lamictal another try. My rage and irritability are overwhelming lately lots of work and relationship triggers. But I do want her to give me Valium I want some relief and avoiding alcohol.

And more therapy is in the plan for when I can pay for it.

My pdoc refuses to give me any antianxiety medication. Because I have a history of "addiction" - I smoked weed for 10 years. I've quit now. There are times where I wish he would just prescribe me something, I know I need it and I know I won't abuse it. Even considering changing pdocs because of it.

I found that lamictal helped moderately with my rage/aggression. But, when riperidone was added, things really improved. I highly recommend the combo.

Risperidone is beneficial for, and has helped me with: aggression, irritability, agitation, obsessive/worry thoughts, racing mind, anxiety (to a certain extent), insomnia and, for me, the most important thing at the moment, emotional intensity.

In people who don't struggle with the above I can see how it would turn them into zombies. But for us BPDs, it's a real life saver.

I am so much calmer nowadays. My short fuse has almost disappeared entirely. For example, I would get into some sort of road rage altercation almost every time I got in my car. Everything ticked me off and pushed me over the edge. These days, it's very rare for anything to get to me.

Definitely worth discussing with your pdoc.

Originally Posted by gia.laynes

I just want to find a way to live the closest to a normal life with normal emotions...

G

it all depends on the person, everyone responds differently to different approaches, on top of that, you have to find an effective therapist if yours isn't working, IMO. Unfortunately I've found a lot of questionable therapists' approaches out there and the good ones are few and far between. I'm not saying that to discourage you but to encourage you that you're not stuck with the one you have and it's a good idea, if you can, to look around for a good one.

I was on depakote and various other meds for quite sometime (10+ years). I'm not on anything now and for me, it has come down to this: I can be overly emotional, that's just what I am and how I was made. I can either mask it with meds, which over the years I've learned is not any more ideal than my normal self, or I can deal with myself and how I am and learn to cope that way. The thing is with all the different meds I've been on, prozac, zoloft, remeron, effexor.. to name a few, none of them "cured" me and even with meds that helped with the symptoms, with it, I had to deal with other side effects the worst of which I felt made me too unemotional tbh.

Ultimately, for myself anyway, I feel long term I'm better off learning to deal with me how I am rather than covering up too much with medications over a lifetime..

For some people meds are a miracle and really help them a lot, so this is just my experience.

Hope this helps.
~S4