Feel like a chemical plant
Question:
I not only only feel like the "chemical plant", but I feel like I am the proprietor, the workers, the stock investors, etc! I have 3 Rx’s for BP, 1 for panic attacks, 2 for migraines, 3 for stomach/esophagus ulcerations and erosions, 1 for a clotting disorder, and 1 for the swelling associated with the clotting disorder. That brings the grand total up to 11/day! I tried to wean myself off of the 2 stomach Rx’s, however, I have to have them. It took days just to get me back on track. I can realte so well. I am very compliant, but you get sick and tired of it…evry 3-4 hours, there’s always something to take. I am tahnkful I am a RN and can manange my Rxs very well. Praecox
Response:
Hi Petri. I take lithium carbonate, 750 milligram per day – that’s three tablets. I never heard of lithium sulphate as a drug for BP. Can imagine it would taste nasty!
I don’t think that the salt in itself tastes worse than any other lithium salt. But it means you’d have to count atoms when trying to convert from the carbonate to the sulphate, unless you have conversion formulas (which I don’t have)… The sulphate was OK in its previous form, but then they couldn’t get the polyethylene they used in the tablet (for the slow-release thing) so they use something else, and basically it tastes salty. VERY salty and icky. I suppose I cou8ld get lithium citrate (which is avaliable in the US, I think, too), but the active ingredient is still the same – the lithium ion. I have no clue as to why they switched from citrate to sulphate tho, and why the rest of the world seems to favour carbonate. 
But the lithium part is the same. I should study to become a pharmacist…. /petri
Response:
X-No-Archive: yes
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just wondering if anyone else out there gets sick and tired of taking pills all day, every day. I take Neurontin 2x/day, bcp to regulate my Interesting, even when being on two meds I feel the same. It’s only two meds, but it expands into seven pills. The lithium is six of them. :/ And they taste horribly, too, now that they changed the recipe in manufacturing them. Luckily, I didn’t need much allergy meds this summer, it seems to get better withthat, otherwise I’d need to take two inhalers, one pill and eyedrops extra. So I guess I’m lucky in that aspect. But how many pills are normal for lithium in other countries? I take it as lithium *sulphate*, so milligram measurements differ from most other places. Each pill contains 42 mg of that, and 6 mmol of lithium ions.
Hi Petri. I take lithium carbonate, 750 milligram per day – that’s three tablets. I never heard of lithium sulphate as a drug for BP. Can imagine it would taste nasty!
Response:
sometimes i feel as if i would be much better off if i didn’t take my scripts anymore. in the past i have felt this way and have stopped my meds. the side effects seemed more troublesome than the bp. each time i went off meds the bp came back bigger and stronger to beat me down. recently i’ve felt the strong urge to quit the meds. i would love to be able to be free of the bp and to find out what "norms" do. i’d love to wake up each day and not have to worry whether i was going to have a down episode or completely humiliate myself during a manic state. unless some miracle cure is found in my lifetime, i expect to be bipolar until the day i die. therefore it’s in my best interest to keep taking my meds whether i like it or not. just remember you aren’t alone in feeling the way you do. there are millions out there who go through bp issues such as ours every day. thank you for your time. namaste’, cin Namaste’
Response:
etched permanently into the ether: I have wisdom from the mouth of one of my children, ten years old at the time, and maybe it will help you in your thinking about your meds. This son has Tourette Syndrome and we had spent the better part of a year working with the neurologist to get the right medication and the right dose worked out. Finally we had the best combination, and life was assuming a sort of routine again; my son was responsible for taking his medication at breakfast, along with the vitamins and mineral supplements we’d found helpful. He and I were talking about how he felt, taking all those pills every morning. His calm answer was, "I’m improving the quality of my life."
I was just going to say the same thing–and I take a whole lot more than Chris does! I have to lay out 2 weeks at a time, I take so many things. It is even hard to get the list on one sheet of paper for my docs! But, I keep on going, as I KNOW I feel better with them. Hugs, Nancy administrator/creator/moderator alt.med.fibromyalgia.recovery.info (moderated) alt.support.depression.manic.moderated to email me from news groups, just remove the Z.
Response:
Yes I get sick of it, and I take more than you, I take 7 RX’s for various things, 2 of them for the BP. Really the main thing that bothers me about it is the price. What I spend in rx’s every month is scary. If I could divorce the obnoxious husband I would lose the 7 that he takes too. cats – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just wondering if anyone else out there gets sick and tired of taking pills all day, every day. I take Neurontin 2x/day, bcp to regulate my monthly friend so it won’t aggrevate the bp, Adderall for adult onset ADHD (mostly only weekdays), and an herb for PMS. I used to pride myself on having no health issues to report to a dr. during a ckup, no meds, etc. Now I feel like damaged goods that will never again be without duct tape keeping me together. That in itself depresses me. An impending marriage breakup scares me only because what potential partner (someday) wouldn’t be scared away from someone so dependant on drugs to function? Thx for listening. I’ve got other rants I could start but I’ll just see what happens with this one! -c-
Response:
Chris, I have wisdom from the mouth of one of my children, ten years old at the time, and maybe it will help you in your thinking about your meds. This son has Tourette Syndrome and we had spent the better part of a year working with the neurologist to get the right medication and the right dose worked out. Finally we had the best combination, and life was assuming a sort of routine again; my son was responsible for taking his medication at breakfast, along with the vitamins and mineral supplements we’d found helpful. He and I were talking about how he felt, taking all those pills every morning. His calm answer was, "I’m improving the quality of my life." I loved that so much! Later I was able to tell my mother –who was having to take more than her usual medications after bypass surgery –what he’d said; she adopted that philosophy, too. All of us who deal with handling life’s difficulties are courageous, open to change, having to trust when there’s nothing much to go on except the hope that the new medication will help–maybe. We deal with so much, and we still find ourselves being our own advocates, explaining everything to our families and friends, trying to make the world a little better for ourselves and the next person. We deserve to be empowered! Any little change in thinking we can manage for ourselves is a step forward, in my opinion, and it feels so much better. Long post. I wish you well, Chris! Kathy
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just wondering if anyone else out there gets sick and tired of taking pills all day, every day. I take Neurontin 2x/day, bcp to regulate my monthly friend so it won’t aggrevate the bp, Adderall for adult onset ADHD (mostly only weekdays), and an herb for PMS. I used to pride myself on having no health issues to report to a dr. during a ckup, no meds, etc. Now I feel like damaged goods that will never again be without duct tape keeping me together. That in itself depresses me. An impending marriage breakup scares me only because what potential partner (someday) wouldn’t be scared away from someone so dependant on drugs to function? Thx for listening. I’ve got other rants I could start but I’ll just see what happens with this one! -c-
Response:
Just wondering if anyone else out there gets sick and tired of taking pills all day, every day. I take Neurontin 2x/day, bcp to regulate my monthly friend so it won’t aggrevate the bp, Adderall for adult onset ADHD (mostly only weekdays), and an herb for PMS. I used to pride myself on having no health issues to report to a dr. during a ckup, no meds, etc. Now I feel like damaged goods that will never again be without duct tape keeping me together. That in itself depresses me. An impending marriage breakup scares me only because what potential partner (someday) wouldn’t be scared away from someone so dependant on drugs to function? Thx for listening. I’ve got other rants I could start but I’ll just see what happens with this one! -c-
