My GP is quite good *nods* he is known as the pill doctor because he prescibes pills so much lol, but he is nice and I prefer him to the doctor that covers for him.
I'll keep an eye on it, I just... nevermind, I won't ramble about it.
I agree with Mrs Sam, please keep an eye on that cut. I've been on Venaflaxine before, although I was on Venaflaxine XL (the modified release one). I was put on it in hospital after trying a few others and it is one of the only AD's, aside from Sertraline that has ever seemed to have a positive effect. I know a few people that have been on it as well and find it really helpful. I came off it in the end after the dose was increased from 75mg to 225mg in about 10 days and I became quite agitated. I hope it helps you though.
Remember with your cut there are options that a+e can take to close it even if it has been over 12/24 hours. They are a bit more involved but it is possible.
Yeah i was on it years ago. One thing i'll say about it is you'll hear massively mixed reviews. Some people will say it worked wonders and others hate it. Its a bit like marmite. It does have some pretty nasty withdrawl symptoms though so don't come off it cold turkey. I did and it was a terrible mistake!
I agree in that it's like marmite, I personally didn't like it and it didn't agree with me but I know people who swear by it and say it's totally changed their lives so I guess it's a try it and see sort of thing. I hope you get on well with it though.
I know the med is used for treatment resistant depression but I haven't had any personal experience of it. I hope it helps you. Please leave the cut alone xx
Yup, its vegemite alright, I've been on it 3 years this october and I have a love hate relationship happening with the stuff, I love it coz it gets me outta bed and happening but I hate it coz I start to believe I don't need it anymore so I stop taking it and the side effects kick in and I turn into this blithering crying mess that hides in the bedroom all day acculmating a huge amount of tissues on the side..
But dam.. When I'm happy, I'm really happy, its my own errors that let me down with that medication.. I guess just be proper with it would be my best advice =)
It's the only AD that's worked for me - I went up gradually from 75mg to 150mg to 225mg of the slow release so I take it once a day (in the morning). The first week or so I had bad insomnia and slight appetite suppression (not nausea). The insomnia wore off but the appetite suppression didn't (I'm a size smaller now!). I occasionally forget in the morning and miss a dose without any side effects, although I've read that for some people even being and hour late gives withdrawal effects. But it's been great for me and fewer side effects than SSRIs, which didn't work anyway!
I was on venlafaxine for 2ish years i think, it was the best one for me, but came off it partly because i had night sweats and when i stopped it, the night sweats stopped, they were dreadful too, waking up twice a night drenched, not fun.It took me quite a while to come off it.. dont just stop it cold turkey or anything. I hope it helps :)
Regarding the not being friends outside of group, we have the same rule and i can see why. The last thing you need when you are ill yourself is someone who has your number, address etc and ends up using you as a therapist. Remember we (with BPD) tend to have instable relationships so for you both to have it whilst you are in therapy is not a great idea.
Re the Venlafaxine, I missed a dose one day and it made me soo ill mentally and physically but other than that the only side effects i really got was night sweats but even they have died right down.
I'm currently on Venlafaxine - 150mg in the morning and 75mg at night. going up to 150mg in the morning and 150mg at night if things don't change. It doesn't seem to be doing much for me to be honest, except I do seem to be getting hot flushes a lot recently - dunno if it because of this though. hope it helps you
<3 Katie x
Thank you so much to all of you for your feedback! I appreciate it majorly, any input is apprecited!
I know I'm gonna be extra annoying now, but I've also now been put on Quetipine 100mg. Same Q, ha. I know I'm being so annoying!!! So many med changes happening ;s
Also, I was told we could make friendships when group ends but when I begin STEPPS the people I make friends with may go to that group too, so I dunno what'd happen then. And yeah, it is all due to how we are with our illness/disorder/whatever, how we are in friendships/relationships, and the dangers should I say of us becoming friends. Just hard not to, y'no? But my session today was one of the best by far of all (eve though only had 3 including todays) in regards to me speaking more, asking questions more, interacting with the group more, etc etc. So I'm quite proud of myself, even though it's actually pathetic that I struggle with communication so much lol.
Anyway!
I hope you don't mind me asking for experiences of Quetipine(sp?), just all these meds changing, sorry guys. :(
They're changing your meds a hell of a lot aren't they hun?! Have they stopped the AD or is it an addition? I'm on quetiapine and overall it's really helped me. I don't like some of the side-effects that I get (everyone reacts differently though), BUT my functioning even with the side-effects is better than it is if I don't take it. It's just been licensed for use alongside anti-depressants to augment their effect, or it can be prescribed (usually off-label if it's for BPD) to act as a sort of mood-stabliser and to reduce anxiety. It should also help you to sleep. I'm surprised they're changing your meds so frequently, must be a bit of a nightmare for you. They'll find the right combination, it's just a bit trial and error for a while and then some adjustment of doses and times. Are you on normal release or extended?
As far as my experience with making friends in group (I have been attending group therapy for BPD for just over two years now - combination of DBT, schema therapy and CFT), there are good reasons for their being cautious. I don't necessarily agree that they should ban you from making friends, I personally think that it's more helpful to explain to people why they don't think that it's a good idea and allow you to make your own choices. We aren't banned from having contact with other service users, the only rule is that if you contact another group member in a crisis, you must take their advice if they tell you to seek medical attention or call the crisis team. So if Joe Bloggs in my group text me tonight to tell me that he'd just taken an overdose and I told him to get himself to A&E, he would have to do that or face being discharged from the group.
My personal experience of making friends in these sorts of settings is that it generally isn't healthy long term. I have made a few very close friends in groups and whilst IP, we got each other through some real crap and I still love them dearly. But in the long term, it just wasn't good for us. The relationships are based on an aspect of your life that you're trying to move away from, you become very close to people because you have so much in common and you understand each other and know how to support each other, but a relationship based upon an illness generally can't be healthy. Staff used to tell me this all the time and I took no notice of what they said whatsoever, but with hindsight I agree with them. You're an adult, you should be allowed to make your own choices as far as who you choose to have relationships with. I'm sure there are circumstances where people in treatment together form friendships that develop into healthy functioning relationships once they have recovered, but just bear in mind that they are the exception and not the rule and remember that your safety and well-being have to be paramount. You can't save anyone else, you can't fix anyone else, as much as you want to because you're a caring person. And investing too much into someone else's issues can be a huge detriment to your own recovery. Take care of you first. It might sound selfish, I'm not telling you not to care or to want to support others because that's a wonderful quality, just be mindful (you may have had enough of that word in group already!! :P )
Look after yourself, if you want to know anything else about meds or group work my inbox is always open.
RBT x
I give myself very good advice
But I very seldom follow it
Could explain the trouble that I'm always in...
I know, I'm getting sick of all these med changes in such short time.
I'm still on the Venaflaxtine(I'm awful with these names), it's in addition to this new one now.
Blah, yeah, it's like, right, now what's the next med and dear god will it bloody help this time?! :l
Oh&I'm on normal release as far as I know!
Thankyou so much for the advice about making friendships in group. I may make a few friendships when group ends, but if we are in the same group in STEPPS, I probably will have to stop the friendship... I dunno how it goes, it's all new to me!
I just wanna be there for this one particular girl so much. We really seem to get on. We smile at each other a lot in group and I comforted her when she cried in group and we had a small chat on way out, I just so badly want to be friends with her but I know I'll instantly get attached and then the usual **** will happen with my symptoms in friendships/relationships, or she'll have difficulty in it too, but it just feels nice to be friends with someone who understands, like, literally, really does.
But I also know it can be dangerous and damaging in some ways... you're right, and so is the group leader person... I know...
I'm on Quetiapine 250mg, i don't think 100mg is low but they say it works as a mood stabiliser when used at lower doses and more as an AP at higher doses. It helps me sleep which is amazing, it also (i think) stabilises my mood. Im on exactly the same meds as you :) and im in dbt lol give it a go its been good for me, and maybe it will work for you as well x
Heh, I will give STEPPS a go, and continue with the last session in 2 weeks.
He said he is gonna try 100mg to begin with, and then to tell my CPN how it is, and adjust the dosage if needed I assume or change or I dunno, usually how it goes. -.-
Makes me feel like a hopeless case even more with all these damn pill changes.
My psych said that the highest dose he would consider for quetiapine prescribed to help with anxiety and BPD related symptoms would be around the 350-400mg mark. It's a bit difficult to give an idea of what dose is "normal" for this type of use because as it stands it is off-label. I started out on 25mg just to take the edge off my anxiety and flashbacks etc at night but it's been upped periodically and I'm now on 350mg. I used to take the extended release once a day at night but I found that the normal release twice a day suited me better.
100mg is probably a good starting point, you obviously don't want to be on any more than you need to be but you need to have enough in your system to know whether it's helping, there's a lot of fine-tuning I'm afraid.
You're absolutely NOT a hopeless case, I just read your thread in R&V and my heart goes out to you. Please please please don't believe that things will be like this forever. The idea that PD's are untreatable and life-long is outdated and simply not true. Meds can only do so much because they're really just about managing symptoms but the right therapy can change your life completely. Having BPD means that the foundations on which your mental and emotional landscape have been built on are faulty, with the effect that everything built on those foundations is shaky and unstable. This isn't your fault. The good news is that you can rebuild the foundations and over time everything built on top of the new foundations will be stronger and more stable. I wish there were a simple, easy way to fix this but there isn't. Therapy gives you the tools to change how you see yourself and the world but you have to put your faith in them and put the work in out of session. I know a lot of the stuff they ask you to do seems silly or cliched and it doesn't feel like it's ever going to make things better, but I absolutely promise you that it all works. I really realised how much all the (what I initially thought of as crap) mindfulness and all the other jargon they throw at you actually works this week. I had some really horrific news on Friday, and everybody has been waiting for me to fall apart, including me. Not so long ago I would have fallen apart and would have probably been hospitalised by now. But I'm still here, in one piece, because I've practiced all this crap for years now and it actually does work. It's still not easy and to say that I have my moments would be an understatement, but it's getting there. I've gone from being classed as chronic and pretty hopeless to having a very good prognosis. Don't give up on yourself, things can change and underneath all the pain you're feeling you're a wonderful person. Don't lose sight of that.
Also, I feel like a real cow for maybe sounding a bit cold as far as your relationship with group members goes. It's wonderful to offer support and to be able to receive it from someone who really actually gets it. It's a testament to your character that you feel so strongly about wanting to be able to be there for this girl. All I'm saying is to be aware and don't lose sight of the fact that you're both there for a reason and that you can't fix each other. Relationships for people with BPD can be a really difficult area, we become very strongly attached to people very quickly and as a result can end up being hurt very badly. But you clearly understand all of this and that shows great insight and self-awareness. I'm making huge assumptions about people I don't know, but just going by labels (which I hate doing), boundaries are likely to be a huge issue for both of you, so long as you know what your boundaries are and you maintain them and don't become enmeshed in other people's issues, you'll be fine.
RBT x
I give myself very good advice
But I very seldom follow it
Could explain the trouble that I'm always in...
Candy Tetris
Mahjong
Othello
Mumu
