step two

so, dr.b. says she is on board if dr.s. is.  next stop, dr.s.  after pleading my case and promising that my partner will get me to the hospital if the "shit hits the fan", he agrees that it is probably a good idea to figure out what my baseline is.

at the time, I was taking the following meds:

• Lyrica - 150mg/day
• modafinil - 200mg/day
• rabeprazole sodium - 20mg/day
• Cymbalta - 90mg/day
• lithium citrate - 3tsp/day
• lamotrigine - 75mg/day

my medication rituals were so engrained into my days.  in the morning I would get up, get coffee started, put all of my pills into a little bowl and mix up my lithium and juice.  and then down the hatch with it all.  bedtime was very similar, but with fewer pills.

the first day of the vacation was february 9. I dropped down to just taking the lithium and Cymbalta.  I was down to 60mg of Cymbalta and 2tsp of lithium.  it felt pretty awesome to not take all the other stuff.  oh yeah, I also took the rabeprazole sodium until I was done with the psych meds.  

things went pretty good during the wean down period.  every 5-6 days I dropped out 30mg of Cymbalta and a tsp of lithium.  as of february 19, I was med free!  wheeeee!

how hard can it be?

for most of the last 19 years, I have been medicated.  between meds for the ulcer I got when I was 16, to the anti-depressants that I have been taking since I was 19, and then the pain meds in the last 3 years, I have been very medicated.  there comes a time, when you are taking so many medications, that you really can't tell if they are helping or not.

I have an IUD in to help with vertigo/dizziness/nausea and then am taking at least 2 medications that have dizziness as a side-effect.  makes it hard to determine if the IUD is working or not.

a few months ago, a medication vacation was suggested to me by a non-doctor person in my life.  I can't recall exactly who it was, but that isn't really important.  the important thing is that it brought to my attention that it was possible that I stop taking all these meds and then look at where my baseline is.  once the baseline is established, then we can take a look at the remaining symptoms, and know that they are really symptoms!  they are actually coming from my body, not from an interaction between my body and a med, or two or more meds.