It has been an interesting process, but I think I have finally figured out the medication issues. Here's the lay of the land:
1. I have always been sensitive to medications; they either work for me or the SEs are unbearable.
2. I have never had any luck when I have been placed on the generic brands of medications. Celexa especially; I was on it for 10 years, tried the generic several times and paid for it.
3. I have also been on Neurontin for the past 10 years. In a past post, I wondered if they decrease in dosage is what was causing me so many problems. However, I am back on the brand name of the medication and there's a HUGE difference between the two. Thinking back to my history with Neurontin, here are some things that I have figured out:
----From 2001-2006, it was a very good medication for me. I was just taking it for anxiety and was always on the brand name. Back then, I never had to take more than 600mgs of it and it worked very well.
---In 2006, the school pharmacy I was going through would only give me the generic version. It's all my school insurance would cover. THIS is when I started having problems with it; it didn't work anywhere near as well, it actually increased my anxiety significantly and caused me depressive episodes. The brand name never did this to me. I decided to dump it that year because of all of the problems it was causing.
----I stabilized completely last summer and I was on the brand name version of the medication. When I switched over to the generic, I started having problems and had to increased the dose from 900mgs to 1600mgs over the space of a few months. Any changes in the dosages over this time dropped me into a deep depression and I HAD to drop the dosage many times because it was agitating me. I just assumed it was because I was adjusting to the medication.
----My shrink upped me to 1800mgs two weeks ago and we decided to go with the brand name. I found, very quickly, that the 1800mgs of brand name was too much; it was putting me to sleep. So, I dropped down to 1200mgs (with her consent) and I have no problems whatsoever. I am taking the same dosage I was back in last August and I was completely stable back then. A 300mg drop with the generic would have wrecked me but I have been kosher. The brand name is FAR more potent and it has been drugging me up, more so than the generic version. It is almost a completely different feeling; strange. But I am completely stable.
So, I am very optimistic, I realize that the generic version of the medications can cause me problems and that the brand names work much better. It looks like I may be able to drop down to a lower dose which is good. 900mgs stabilizes me very well without drugging me up. I never even tinkered with the generic Lamictal; figuring that it would cause me problems.
Has anyone else had these kinds of issues with the generic brands of medications?