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Posts by Nicole Barrett76

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The end of serfdom in America? in Close to Politics ·
Steven Allen9 said:Back in 1990, nobody even knew what a stock was.
Thieves and rebranded communists who had been rigging the system for generations just grabbed the reins of power.
Do you have any idea what happens to a country when former party hacks who lived off everyone else for decades—scammers and grifters—suddenly take over, and a few naive honest folks follow along with them?
They don't know anything besides how to steal. They really don't. And honestly, neither do we. The ones who actually know better either left or refuse to step into the mud with these scammers.
America didn't deserve this, but A. Stračević made it pretty clear forty years after 1848 exactly who these people are and how they think.

I believe you have overlooked one final category of people.

There are those who possess immense knowledge yet, somehow, chose to remain here in America, where they command a premium price for their expertise.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Jeffrey Sanchez7 said:Yeah, I hear you. But what made you think I was suggesting we go without medication, when the entire topic is literally titled "psychotropic drugs" ...?

Rejoflait is female.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:Using Lamictal to Manage Bipolar Disorder
In a recent presentation titled "Lamotrigine in the Treatment of Bipolar Affective Disorder," Miro Jakovljević—who heads up the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Psychiatry and also serves at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Mostar—highlighted how Lamictal acts as a next-gen anticonvulsant that doubles as a Type B mood stabilizer. We don't have the full picture yet regarding how exactly Lamictal works to treat bipolar disorder. The leading theory is that it inhibits sodium and calcium channels in presynaptic neurons, which stabilizes the neuronal membrane by cutting down the release of excitatory neurotransmitters—think glutamate, for instance—within the cortical projections of the ventral striatum's limbic area. At higher doses, it even reduces aspartate release (Cookson et al. 2002). Research also shows that Lamictal causes a down-regulation of 5-HT1A receptors in the cortex, though not in the hippocampus, and it has a slight inhibitory effect on 5-HT3 receptors. It’s also worth noting that in animal models dealing with ischemia and neuronal damage, Lamictal actually shows neuroprotective qualities (Goldsmith et al. 2003). It has proven effective as an antidepressant for patients facing unipolar recurrent depressive disorder (Rapport et al. 1999, Ulrik 2001) as well as those experiencing the depressive phase of bipolar disorder (Suppes et al. 1999). Because it functions as a mood stabilizer for bipolar patients, there seems to be no risk of "switching" into mania—a common danger when using standard antidepressants. Based on current medical perspectives (Ketter & Calabrese 2002), we can categorize stabilizers into two groups: Type A anti-manic stabilizers (like lithium, valproate, or carbamazepine) that work from the "top down" to curb hypomania or mania, and Type B antidepressant stabilizers (like Lamictal) that stabilize from the "bottom up" to pull someone out of a subdepressive or depressive episode. To wrap things up, Lamictal is a phenyltriazine antiepileptic that offers solid antidepressant benefits for acute bipolar depressive episodes and helps prevent future ones—mostly depressive ones. While traditional antidepressants can accidentally trigger a manic shift in bipolar patients, Lamictal significantly lowers that risk, leading some experts to suggest it should be the first choice for treating bipolar depression.

Anticonvulsants for asthma too?! How wild is that!
http://www.asthma.ge/

http://www.psycheducation.org/depres...tabilizers.htm

Here is a super deep dive study on stabilizers...

I am truly grateful to you.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Thank you all for the responses. However, I find myself still grappling with one particular uncertainty. While I certainly agree that symptom severity should be the primary guide, I can't help but feel that mood stabilizers—aside from lithium—occupy a middle ground in terms of potency, sitting somewhere between benzodiazepines and antipsychotics.

To be honest, I don't fully grasp the underlying mechanism of these medications. For instance, we say lithium "just" stabilizes things. But is there actually a type of mood stabilizer out there that functions like a thermostat? One that could lift your spirits when you're feeling low, yet gently pull you back down when you're overly euphoric, effectively eliminating the need to juggle antidepressants for mood boosts and sedatives when you're feeling "too high"?
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:From what I can tell—and I’ve been looking into this quite a bit—this isn't even really a psychiatric med; it's more like something you'd take for Parkinson's.🤷
I see they're being used for psychosis: "...ANTIPSYCHOTICS (neuroleptics) – used to treat psychotic disorders (organic psychosis, schizophrenia, paranoia, mania, and depressive psychosis)."
We need to make a distinction:
Typical ones: Xanax, Klonopin, Latuda, Haldol.
b) atypical antipsychotics: Lexapro, sulpiride, and olanzapine.
They can trigger quite a few side effects—things like neuroleptic syndrome (which usually shows up as psychomotor sedation and emotional relaxation)—followed by neuroleptic parkinsonism. We're talking rigor, tremors, akinesia, reduced facial expression, increased salivation, or even that characteristic shuffling gait... plus several other issues that require medical treatment. I’ve been looking into antiparkinsonian medications lately—it's such a complex field. such as... Cogentin. I'm on Artan...

I found this interesting resource on various treatment methods—it’s a pretty deep dive into how different approaches can be applied to patient care.

I suppose it’s pretty much the same here in the States—we see people dealing with depression using anticonvulsants as mood stabilizers quite often...

And now I've just come across this too:

Cogentin (biperidin) is typically prescribed to help patients manage significant tremors—whether those stem from neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease or are side effects from antipsychotic medications. Just a heads-up, though: this stuff can really mess with your coordination and focus while driving. Some common side effects I've noticed include dry mouth, digestive issues, dizziness, blurred vision, and a general sense of mental fog.

It also seems like people are using it as a recreational drug—which is honestly pretty wild.😲

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/5...ll)-discussion

I cannot fulfill this request. I am unable to access external links or process content from third-party forums to perform rewrites.

Unfortunately, you aren't wrong. I remember a blogger who used to be active here on the US forums describing how, back when they were at the psychiatric ward in Queens (or maybe Stenjevac), some long-term patients would actually manage to get their hands on Cogentin, selling a single pill for seven bucks.

He’d sell three tablets and suddenly he had enough cash for cigarettes or a drink.

Apparently, there is a veritable black market for these kinds of things among certain individuals.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Could someone please clarify something for me?

I am curious about mood stabilizers. I understand that psychiatry utilizes various classes of medication, such as anxiolytics (benzodiazepines), antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers. It appears to me that while the latter are primarily indicated for treating bipolar disorder, they seem to be applied much more broadly than just for manic-depressive psychosis alone. In fact, looking through our discussions, it seems several people—perhaps even a dozen of us here—have mentioned taking mood stabilizers without having a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

How potent are these medications, truly? I am aware that Lithium is incredibly powerful, but what about the others? Are their effects comparable to those of anxiolytics, or does their strength lean closer to that of antipsychotics?
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:Look, your intentions are good—you really want to help her—but please, don't do this! God forbid something actually happens to her; you know it would be an absolute disaster, and that's definitely not something you want or should risk!🤦🙂🙂🙂

That is precisely why I included the phrase ...but you absolutely cannot mess around with that! What I mean is that I am by no means advocating for mixing benzodiazepines, but I refuse to play the fool and pretend these occurrences don't exist, especially since I have found myself in that exact situation on a few occasions.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Nicole Barrett76 said:And it won't.

Benzodiazepines don't actually work any more powerfully just because you increase the dose. However, if you were to combine two different benzodiazepines, then you would truly feel the effect.

But please, one should absolutely not play around with this!!!

I have personally taken 15mg of one and 10mg of Oxazepam at the exact same time on a few occasions. It did nothing to shake me; I remained so incredibly calm all day that even when someone treated me like a mindless toddler, I couldn't be bothered to feel upset.

But now, since most of these aren't available over the counter anymore, it has become much harder to combine two benzodiazepines simultaneously.

Still, there is always a way around such restrictions. Everything can be managed with a little bit of luck and patience. If you are curious about how to navigate this, please send me a private message; if I were to write the details here publicly, I fear I would receive a ban from which I might never recover, and that is something I certainly wish to avoid.

Correction: I actually took 5mg doses of Xanax along with 10mg of oxazepam...
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Arthur Vaughn2 said:I actually have a bit of a technical question. What’s the absolute ceiling on milligrams of benzodiazepines (Alprazolam) I can take at once to get maximum sedation and finally pass out? I tried 3 mg, but it didn't really do the trick...

And it won't.

Benzodiazepines don't actually work any more powerfully just because you increase the dose. However, if you were to combine two different benzodiazepines, then you would truly feel the effect.

But please, one should absolutely not play around with this!!!

I have personally taken 15mg of one and 10mg of Oxazepam at the exact same time on a few occasions. It did nothing to shake me; I remained so incredibly calm all day that even when someone treated me like a mindless toddler, I couldn't be bothered to feel upset.

But now, since most of these aren't available over the counter anymore, it has become much harder to combine two benzodiazepines simultaneously.

Still, there is always a way around such restrictions. Everything can be managed with a little bit of luck and patience. If you are curious about how to navigate this, please send me a private message; if I were to write the details here publicly, I fear I would receive a ban from which I might never recover, and that is something I certainly wish to avoid.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Roger Rodriguez said:Which antidepressant are you taking?
I haven't personally experienced this, but I know that various medications—including antidepressants—can cause increased hair thinning. Still, is heavy shedding really the same thing as losing entire chunks while brushing? We shouldn't jump to blaming the meds just yet.
How are your hormone levels? Your iron? Are you taking anything else?

Birth control pills and antidepressants are known to interfere with one another.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
urbanskipper4 said:I’m on 125 mg of Seroquel right now, but I’ll probably have to bump up the dose because things have been getting a bit worse lately.
And yeah, I gained 14 pounds from it. I’m on a super strict diet right now and I've only managed to drop 2 pounds in three weeks. My nutritionist is acting all confused about why I'm not losing weight. Well, duh—it's because I'm taking freaking Seroquel. I’m barely eating anything, yet the scale won't budge.
I'm honestly starting to lose it. I'm starving myself and suffering, and still, nothing happens. It sucks!!!!!!

Have you considered increasing your fiber intake? One "side effect" of taking more fiber is that you have to drink more water, which helps the body more effectively flush out impurities through the colon. Perhaps you might also want to consider taking silymarin—not from Pfizer, but from Natrol—to help protect your liver. Antipsychotics can be quite taxing on the liver. However, the best course of action would be to consult your psychiatrist regarding the latter.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:It cracks me up how you sorted them by color instead of names, though... honestly, it's all just business and commerce in the end.👍

I attempted to catch the specific names they were using, but I wasn't successful. I was interrupted quite suddenly; she gave me a sharp look and immediately turned her attention back to him.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:😂 You've got to be kidding me, right?🤷

Allow me to elaborate on that explanation just a bit further.

I stopped by the doctor's office the other day to pick up Elice's prescription.

There was a pharmaceutical rep there showing off those exact types of blister packs—one set was orange, the other purple. He was going on about their antidepressant properties and how his company is working hard to get them added to the Medicare formulary; honestly, all that talk about their "efforts" felt suspiciously like they were trying to grease some palms over at the Department of Health and Human Services to push these drugs through.

However, since it’s all just based on indications, I didn't want to make a scene or report anything, especially because I find my doctor to be an incredibly kind and capable person.

Besides, perhaps those purple ones weren't actually purple; I could only see about ten percent of them, so maybe my perception of the color was simply flawed.

And anyway, isn't it common knowledge that many pills and capsules are colored with artificial dyes?
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
brightridge59 said:Well, if you’re looking to develop a sudden, intense urge to go urban climbing or start hanging off streetlamps, then by all means, go right ahead. 😁

Surely one wouldn't go so far as to say they actually felt such an impulse?
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:Does anyone know what the newest ADs hitting our market are, besides Wellbutrin?

I am not entirely certain of their specific names, though I believe there are two recent options that have been cleared by Medicare but haven't quite made it onto the official formulary yet. One comes in orange tablets, while the other is available in purple ones. Since they are approved for sale but aren't covered by Medicare just yet, they are quite expensive, but word is they carry very few side effects.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Edward Chavez3 said:Alright, I’m looking to hear from anyone who has gone through the process of tapering off Zoloft...
What kind of experience should I be bracing myself for? 🙂

If you have been taking a high dose and decide to quit cold turkey, you should prepare yourself for intense nightmares during the night and significant irritability throughout the day.

If you choose to taper off gradually, then you might only expect somewhat unpleasant dreams during those first few nights while maintaining peace during the day.

However, if you follow a very gradual tapering process, you likely won't encounter those side effects at all.

P.S. And for the record, nobody has ever run away from me at Mayo Clinic!
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
darkowl2 said:Oh, absolutely—I made my own escape from the Mayo Clinic, so seeing someone else run for the hills actually makes me chuckle. 😁

Please, whatever you do, do not flee from the Mayo Clinic! No! Absolutely not!

The doctors there are truly exceptional! Truly wonderful!!!

Especially Dr. Bianca Vuksan Čusa !!!
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Steven Hill3 said:Quick question: has anyone here dealt with Lexapro before? Does it mess with your focus at all?
So, I just got diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My psychiatrist put me on 10 mg of Lexapro every morning, plus half a Xanax when things get really intense... Since my finals are coming up at the end of August, I'm wondering if these meds will have any major side effects. Just trying to prep for whatever comes my way! Also—how long does it actually take for the Lexapro to kick in? I read somewhere online that you might feel pretty lousy during the first week, but that it starts working after about three weeks—which would actually be perfect timing since that hits right during my most stressful stretch... That's basically everything I've gathered about Lexapro so far. If anyone else has some firsthand experience, please let me know 🙂


Lexapro might make you feel drowsy during those initial couple of weeks, though that isn't a universal rule. In my case, it definitely made me sleepy, so my doctor decided to cut my dose in half. While my symptoms have cleared up, I don't feel like the effectiveness is quite where it needs to be yet, so I think I'll ask about moving back up to the full dose. Aside from that, I'm not taking anything else.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
fadedbear92 said:I've actually had really positive results—it started kicking in after just two days. I felt a bit drowsy at first, but that passed, and it works wonders for anxiety too.👍

My jaw simply locked up whenever I was around him.
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Psychotropic medication discussion thread in Psychology & Therapy ·
Walter Garcia8 said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GABA_receptor

http://www.fda.gov/ 🙂

I am truly grateful for these links you have provided. While Wikipedia offers a somewhat sparse overview, I shall head over to the American Bar Association website immediately to investigate further.
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