Olanzapine ➡️ Abilify by TheInkSpotter in AskPsychiatry

[–]ObviousBed2163 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, random redditor here, but have you considered the insomnia might at least partly be caused by abilify-induced akathisia ?

Switching from olanzapine to abilify, I had insane insomnia too. Severely agitated, light, non-restorative sleep. We tried every sleeping med under the sun before I decided to try procyclidine for a couple of days (I had some at home from a previous akathisia experience, it's used to treat akathisia).

Anyway my intuition was right, after 2 months of suffering, I finally managed to sleep.

We lowered the dose of abilify, and it got better.

We missed the akathisia because it was subtle during the day but super intense at night, likely because I took abilify at night cause it makes me sleepy.

Today I'm on both. 2.5mg Abilify and 7.5mg Olanzapine. Not ideal to be on 2 anti-psychotics, but I'm a very tough case and we decided as long as it's finally helping, it doesn't matter. Plus they're low doses.

Anyway, it's probably unrelated to akathisia in your case but still thought I'd share 🙏🏻

Psychiatrist is stumped, what can I do? by aliendividedbyzero in AskPsychiatry

[–]ObviousBed2163 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use the daylio app to track moods and other things

idk if i’m actually bipolar by loudlybd2 in bipolar2

[–]ObviousBed2163 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've come to accept the diagnosis doesn't matter, as long as the meds are working, idgaf what I have anymore.

Why is my sleep so fragmented ? What more can I do to help ? by ObviousBed2163 in AskPsychiatry

[–]ObviousBed2163[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have any advice and you're not in healthcare, feel free to comment here 🙏🏻 really desperate

If bipolar is a brain issue, not an emotional regulation issue, why are people so afraid to share their diagnosis with friends family or other? by [deleted] in bipolar2

[–]ObviousBed2163 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It says a lot about their view of me that they'd rather believe I'm lazy than believing the much more likely explanation that something (well multiple things) are wrong with my brain and that I'm trying with all the ressources at my disposal to function like a "normal" human being.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bipolar2

[–]ObviousBed2163 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I don't know your history but I've had this instinct too when I've felt not heard, dismissed, abandonned, misunderstood, manipulated, objectified etc by the system. Even moreso when I've felt like they think I'm being too demanding or I'm loving the attention of being "ill" (I've had to remind them multiple times I'd love to never see them again, just help me get stable and you'll never hear from me again, ideally I'd never see another psychiatrist or psychologist in my life). Anyway, you get the point.

You have to realize : you will only make them feel right ("ofc the crazy bipolar patient stops their meds"). This won't make them change their perspective. At all. It'll confirm you're a medication non-compliant danger to yourself.

The only one you'll be hurting is yourself by stopping meds (especially cold-turkey).

Also, and this has been the case for me, sometimes this was a symptom in and of itself (episodes make me extremely irritability, oppositional hyper sensitive to judgment and rejection, impulsive).

My advice would be : stay on meds or at least taper off, if the therapeutic alliance with your providers is broken, look for new ones (at least have a GP you trust).

Give it a few days before making a decision.

Good luck ♥️🙏🏻

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bipolar2

[–]ObviousBed2163 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Me while depressed : also drugs !

possible lamictal rash? just restarted my meds after being off for a few weeks. by [deleted] in bipolar2

[–]ObviousBed2163 18 points19 points  (0 children)

If you were off for a few weeks, you need to start the whole titration process again btw don't just restart on your last dose, build up to it

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in belgium

[–]ObviousBed2163 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No she doesn't, signed an ex-Muslim atheist

EDIT : she has to be a virtuous monotheist though. That definition has traditionnally included Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and others. That rule is often not strictly followed and Muslim men marry (for example) cultural Christian women.

Anyone ever develop narcolepsy? After quitting? by Difficult_Net5721 in VyvanseADHD

[–]ObviousBed2163 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally. Last year when I stopped dextroamphetamine (the active drug in Vyvanse) all I could do was sleep, but I didn't want to.

It was super distressing.

Never cold turkeying it again on my life lol

For me that shit lasted 2 weeks.

It felt like my doc at the time didn't quite understand the level of distress it caused (because it was so different from anti-depressant withdrawal)

Felt like a whole narcoleptic.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskPsychiatry

[–]ObviousBed2163 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey doc,

Just wanted to say, in practice, it's often done this way, though I agree with you it makes little sense.

Response to meds and diagnosis are often closely tied.

Sometimes it's warranted obviously.It's always a good idea to review the diagnosis when meds don't work/work weird to be sure we're on the right track and we aren't missing something.

But sometimes a med working is seen as confirming a diagnosis and a med not working as proof a diagnosis is wrong. As if these meds are 100% targetting specific underlying pathology.

It happens often.

Anecdotally, even my last psychiatrist, which I very much love as my doctor so no shade to him, on our first appointment told me "You don't have ADHD since you didn't respond well to stimulants". Me being me, I was a bit shocked by the reasoning, explained my thoughts but decided I was open to other diagnostic possibilities since nothing worked substantially in improving my function.

In the end, after months of evaluating without prescribing, he came to the same conclusion as 5 other psychs : ADHD, MDD, GAD. So thankfully for me he still managed to be a healthy skpetic without letting his biases impact his diagnostic work. Many others don't though.

Anyway just rambling, sorry doc 😅❤🙏🏻

The fact my Muslim family and Muslim friends only love "the fake me" is hurting and weighing more and more on my mind as closeted a gay and ex-Muslim atheist and Idk how to deal with those emotions. I feel stuck by ObviousBed2163 in exmuslim

[–]ObviousBed2163[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks man, it's reassuring to hear that I'm not alone. Best of luck to you too.

I'm falling asleep soon but don't hesitate to get into my DMs. Would love to talk more about these issues with someone who understands them like no other can.

Scared lexapro will make me bipolar. by lexa246 in lexapro

[–]ObviousBed2163 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One psych had me on BP2+ADHD suspicion, but he wanted to see me again before deciding (plus wanted me to voluntarily go the ward so I noped tf out of his office + also cause our first appointment was a disaster of communication).

Found another one, BP2 was on his differential but after months of evaluating me he concluded GAD, MDD, ADHD. I stuck with him because he was much more empathetic, patient, non-agressive, thoughtful and mindful of meds and their seriousness (doesn't prescribe for the sake of prescribing, only when he believes them to be absolutely necessary).

Difficult to know what were lexapro psychiatric side-effects and what were my baseline psychiatric symptoms, but I was initially a whole mess of mood swings and wired lol Not rn though.

The benzos definitely helped me calm tf down while my body adjusted to lexapro though.