BPD and Meds….any one found anything which helps?

[sunnyjax]

I have my doctors appointment and she's pretty good in allowing me to try new meds. She will usually say well you can try this, this or this.

I would love to find something to stabilise my mood particularly. I am a high functioning BPD so I have a life to get on with and need to try to be normal. I have just started a business. I don't want to mess up AGAIN!  But it doesn't take much to send me into a spin and then Im a mess, can't answer the phone, can't face people, feel ashamed. You know how it works.

Just something would be great, any one found anything to help?

xx

[FaerieFires]

I'm taking venlafaxine at the moment, but I've been prescribed paroxetine now instead because I'd been using the venlafaxine as a weight loss aid... I tend to find that something to treat anxiety or depression works well, but avoid anything that can induce mania as that won't help! If you find anything out, please let me know!!

Best of luck,

 

FF

[Me myself and I]

I have been prescribed Lamotrigine mood stabiliser not bad. Stops the high 

[TRICKY70]

Hi sunnyjax,

I've been taking sodium valproate since my last hospital stay 4 years ago. For several years I didn't think it helped and was making my dissociation worse. I didn't take the regularly. Looking back I think this was just a sign of how ill I was - I think a lot of people don't take meds properly when ill. I've got a good GP and I've been taking them properly for a while now and I up and down my intake within a set range as to how I'm feeling. I certainly feel it helps. I still get intrusive thoughts but my emotional reaction is much more subdued and I seem to be more rational and able to notice them when its happening. I'm back working full time as an accountant and the medication can affect my concentration but I am able to get by (so far). I couldn't hold a job for a few weeks before without going sick because I couldn't handle work relationships etc.

So I certainly think it helps. However, equally beneficial for me was changing my view of life and avoiding triggers - alcohol and close relationships for me. The alcohol I don't miss but I hope to improve on the relationship front one day.

Hope that helps

 

Take care

[MischaD]

Hi 

I am on sertraline and propranolol for depression and anxiety and quetiapine as a mood stabiliser.  I would say that the addition of quetiapine in the last 6 months has been beneficial but it has made me crave sugary sweets so I have put on some weight.  I was quite underweight so have actually benefited but now I am at a point where I don't feel comfortable putting any more on so am trying to get an appointment with my psychiatrist to review this.  Apart from the weight gain I do like quetiapine.

Good luck

[tattoogirl]

I was at my hospital appointment seeing a psychatrist and he said that your medication will help with depression and anxiety but when it comes to borderline personality disorder its the therapys that will help with that.  Something to have a think about.  Im starting psychotherapy at end of september so see how it goes!

[TRICKY70]

Hi, yes that's an important point. There's no medication purely for BPD but there are mood stablisers, a d's and anti anxiety meds which help with the symptoms. It's my understanding that the percentage of people who become able to manage BPD well after therapy is quite high. Dialectic Based Therapy / Mindfulness seem to be the most appropriate combined with lots of determination.

[Bo]

Hi, just joined as I've been scouring Internet for help. I'm so low at the moment - been fighting (hiding it) again for 3 months and hit a wall again - I'm on venlaflaxin. I'm in a support group through the hospital, lovely group, but know it's not helping as I need more intense 1-1 help, but I don't have a go to point to get more help. Saw a CAT therapist (analytical) amazing and first person who diagnosed me 3 years ago (I'm 50), but couldn't afford to see her any more. Thinking of trying mindfulness as I just want be in the moment. Loneliness ithe hardest thing for me, yet when you feel like this you also don't want to see anyone - tricky! And the days so long - love nighttime!

I'm not very good with computers so have no idea how to get around this site! 

[claire2507]

Hi 

I just give up with all the meds and mucking about. I've tried so many things but the side effects are horrid. I'm in self destruction mode at the moment. I kinda want to be ill for someone to take notice of me as I'm trying to work full time, 2 kids and trying to hold down another relationship which is going the same way as all the others 

why do I even bother, it's all too hard 

[Han]

Hi. I'm new to this site and have found this post and replies very helpful. I have BPD and have only been diagnosed 3 weeks ago. I also have epilepsy. I am on Duloextine, pregablin, lamotragine and carbamazepine. I admit I am numb and tired all I've the time. The Dr is looking at my meds, I am semi functioning BPD woman. Hopefully the Dr can find a balance as fed up

[angel tears]

Hi

I take trazadone and quetiapine for bpd, overall when the doses are right I feel somewhat better which is much better than where I used to be!!. Sometimes my doses get altered when I get stressed and then depressed but when it's right it helps.

[NLTL]

How do you get meds for BPD if you live in the UK? Do you have to have been hospitalised? But then, isn't that mania and you are bipolar? My psychiatrist told me there were no meds for BPD ?!  Wouldn't even give me antidepressants. Said I had been on and off them for 20 years and sent me to a psychologist who gave me an online course. I still feel crap.

I feel if you live in the UK and have a mental health issue, no one is bothered unless you are dangerous or suicidal. When I went to my GP last year, I was getting several phone calls a week to see if I was going to kill myself. When I said I wasn't they seemed to lose interest. If you are a diabetic or drug addict or certain other physical illness groups, you seem tp 'drown in medical care' but if you are mentally ill, Drs, all of a sudden (to me) seem very reluctant to give meds. Why is this?

Personally I think over the last 10 years, there has been an explosion in prescribing for people who are a bit down and not actually clinically depressed. In my job in a pharmacy, we see scripts for prozac, diazepam and viagra together for one person. I thought loss of interest in sex and relationships was a key factor, so if you could manage to have 'relations', surely you are not truly depressed? Anyone agree or disagree???  I must admit I am rather miffed that the drug addicts get regular diazepam, and zopiclone and lyrica and venlafaxine, but I try to hold down some kind of temping job, yet get nothing. Personally, when I saw the shrink, I think the fact that I was doing some work really counted against me. 

[sheeba88]

Hi NLTL, 

I am sorry to hear about you experiences, often healthcare treatment in the UK for BPD or mental health is often variable depending on where you live. Some trusts have better mental health awareness and knowledge, understanding and sympathy than others. I have lived in 3 different places and all 3 had different methods and ways of handling me.

I would recommend you go back to your GP and ask to be referred to a psychiatrist. Most general GPs cant and wont prescribe a lot of medication for fear that it might make you worse in the interim periods when you first start taking them. A psychiatrist has facilities and resources to give you a CPN who can support you in the community so trying medications is a lot safer under their supervision and care. 

I have recently been re-referred to a psychiatrist to have a look at medication. I am currently on Fluoxetine which theyve increased recently to 40mg a day, after the increase and after a drink of alcohol I went into a psychotic state and self harmed and took an overdose - something I haven't done in over a year. I am on 10mg of Temazepam a day to help me sleep also. The prozac seems to be making my moods fluctuate more so, I get over excited and manic easily, but then drop low so quickly too. My reactions are intense and I just feel so up and down recently. My sex drive has gone too and I am more anxious recently than ever, very rarely leave the house or my bed!

I think the next step for me is the psych appointment on Monday 19th October, which theyll assess me to see if I need a re-diagnosis and then look at what treatment or medications I need. Fingers crossed.

x

 

 

 

[Leiya]

HI, 

I am currently taking Lamotrigine/Lamictal which can also be used to treat epilepsy, I've been prescribed this for about four months and am on 150mg at present (max dose 600mg). Lamotrigine is helping with the up's that I have but not the lows, I still have a lot of suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts but I think that this will resolve itself when I start having therapy.  Lamotrigine does not cause weight gain or a sedative effect and that is why I asked for it specifically. I was told that there are no drugs licenced specifically to treat BPD but that some can be prescribed off label (I had to sign something). Apparently there are trials going on with Lamotrigine for BPD and they look very promising http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10333987 although there are other studies that I haven't read which may say differently. 

Before suggesting Lamotrigine to my CMHT I was offered Seroquel/Quetiapine an anti-psychotic which is also used for BPD symptoms but I refused as it can cause weight gain and other unpleasant symptoms. I was on Fluoxetine for years before that which was ok at times but thinking back it probably contributed to some of my highs and bad decisions, in the end Fluoxetine gave me a weird and slightly funny side effect so my psychiatrist took me off it.