Medication Mixtures

[oneofthree]

I have not actually been given more than a hazy diagnosis. No offense intended to the professionals, but, every psychiatrist seems to hedge when I ask what my diagnosis is, or why the particular med is being prescribed and what it will do. Here's a brief history of what's been prescribed and combined:

1/02 -  Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily)
1/29 -  Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w Trileptal 150 mg (1 tab 3x daily)
5/13 -  Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w Trileptal 150 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w klonopin 1 mg (1 tab 2x daily)
5/22 -  Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w Trileptal 300 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w klonopin 1 mg (1 tab 2x daily)
6/15 -  Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w Trileptal 150 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w klonopin 1 mg (1 tab 2x daily) comb/w Zyprexa 5 mg (1 tab 2x daily)
6/269 - Lorazepam 1 mg (1 tab 3x daily) comb/w Trileptal 150 mg (1 tab 2x daily & 2 @ bedtime) comb/w klonopin 1 mg (1 tab 2x daily) comb/w Zyprexa 5 mg (1 tab 2x daily)

This combination seemed over the top and precipitated some manic behavior. All of this medication was removed and Depakote 250 mg (1 tab 3x daily) was issued as it's replacement. Im probably borderline in some capacity with a touch of seasonal affective disorder. I have always been very emotional, and when life is at it's worst, as in this year for me, symptoms exhibit themselves in what apparantly can be explosive ways.

Bottom line is this: I believe that the combination of central mood system depressors was not healthy for me. I never felt they were helping me and made this repeatedly known, only to be dismissed. On the last day before checking myself into a hospital, I had some wine with the pills and no one could have predicted the results. The bottles said, moderate alcohol consumption, and I thought I was o.k.

I recognize my mistake in that arena, but there must be something more to the story. I drank much more than that having no reaction, until the last medicine change. What can you tell me? Thanks!

[susieq87]

I am not sure what help you need.  Most mood stabilizers should not be mixed with alcohol, my opinion only.  I don't believe we can predict the outcome of any situation when mixing pills and alcohol.  It sounds like being very emotional is part of your personality.  When it gets to the extremes as you have said it does, if it causes problems, you might need medication.  What is the depakote prescribed for?  The above sure sounded like a lot of medication.  I hope this helps.

[oneofthree]

The Depakote, as with everything I was given, seemed to be prescribed for reasons never fully explained. At the time, I was merely diagnosed with "Situational Anxiety", and later, I began hearing terms hinting at mild depression or possible bi-polar indications. The Depakote was issued to replace everything else... what for exactly, I really don't know. I'm fairly happy with my current Psychiatrist, and I've been moved from the 750 mg per day of Depakote to 300 mg per day of Neurontin. As you can tell, these are not serious outburts of mania, nor are they bi-polar extremes or I'd be on a real dose of these meds. I think that the stress in my life combined with alcohol caused most of the mess, and strangely, the meds only made things worse. I wish I had been clearly directed as to what these meds were capable of, and that they were, in fact, central nervous system depressors.

Mostly, I just hoped for some of what you've given me, an assurance that I'm not off my rocker in thinking this was an abundance of pills to be ramped up on when I really didn't need all of that.