BPD and meds

hi guys,
reading some of your posts, i realize that many of you are on meds. my comorbidity with alcohol and substance abuse at the time of diagnosis, excluded me from receiving psychiatric care (!!!) so actually they never "got hold of me" and I never actually received any meds. that was over ten years ago. I have managed without thanks to other things (psychotherapy, self analysis etc.)
My mood swings are still extreme with some really low downers that luckily only last a couple of days at the time but during which i am totally suicidal.
This would be very interesting for me to know:
How many of you are taking meds? what type? do you have multiple diagnosis? do they work? side effects?

I take meds and I basically have BPD and Bipolar 1. It took about four years to find the right meds (see my signature for a list), and I am so grateful to my Pdoc for figuring things out with me. I found taking an antipsychotic (Latuda) to be the most beneficial in terms of dealing with BPD issues. I don't really experience side effects except akathisia from the Latuda, and I calm it down with Intuniv (guanfacine). I was really struggling with DBT until I got my psychosis and paranoia from BP1 under control with Latuda...after going on it the skills became so much easier to access and utilize. And my relationships got better.

thank you caribee4me,i am glad meds can help you! good luck with your DBT skills training.

is anyone taking meds "just" for BPD?

I was taking venlafaxine and abilify. I found them yo be helpful at first but my body got used to them and they no longer helped so I came off them. I've been on a whole host of different meds and none of them really helped with my bpd.

I'm on meds for bipolar disorder. They worked at the beginning of my therapy but now it seems like I can't get out of depression and that hypomania disappeared after taking Lamictal for a while.

I think DBT would be more beneficial for BPD, but meds can be taken to reduce depression if it occurs or if you have other comorbid conditions.

I don't take meds for BPD just for depression. Recurring major depression is my other diagnosis and I take venlafaxine for it. It was my 8th attempt at an anti-depressant and the only one (finally!) that has given me a noticeable improvement.

I've been doing DBT for about two years now but have only really started to make progress with it since finding an antidepressant that works. It might be coincidence to a degree (maybe it would have taken that long anyway?) but I find that my head can now move away from suicidal thoughts long enough to actually process therapy and use/develop the skills I've learned. Getting my mood a little better, I can engage in therapy better. Therapy is where I see the solution to BPD for me.

Lamictal. I'm not bipolar, so it's just for BPD (and with a bit of a kick for depressive symptoms). I like to think it helps. Still upping my dosage (I'm perpetually saying that, but because hormonal birth control impacts dosage, it's taken me a while to titrate up). I feel like I'm slightly more capable of controlling my emotions. I still go into deep emotional holes, but I find that I don't stay there for as long. I really wish I could tell you that it was a miracle drug, but I don't think that's the case for me. I am though, again on what would be around/possibly below the minimal effective dose (hard to tell because of the interaction with the birth control).

I wouldn't recommend an anti-psychotic unless you really struggle with psychotic symptoms or heavy dissociation. All of my pdocs (and everyone else I've come across) have told me that the side effect profile for most of the medications definitely outweigh whatever good they could do, at least for me. In all honesty though, sometimes I want to become a fat zombie. Eating and feeling nothing and not giving a $hit seems pretty awesome right about now.

I was on Wellbutrin but it made things worse actually. It really increased my anxiety, which did not help with my fear of abandonment. And it made me sweat a lot and smell funky.

Also I started Strattera for my ADHD, which could also be messing with my results. I'm not the best person to ask because fairly recently my pdoc and I decided to increase one med, start one med, and go off one med at the same time. I think my brain is still adjusting.

I've off and on put a lot of faith in medications. I can't really say I'm feeling that positive about them right now. I'm also in a terrible mood and want to cry. Read what you will into the efficacy of my medications from that tidbit of information.

AmorousDestruction wrote:Read what you will into the efficacy of my medications from that tidbit of information.

I just read into that what I've already believed for some time. That you cannot treat personality disorders with mood drugs. It's not due to a chemical imbalance in the brain but a defect in the personality.

But my experience with different meds? I tried so many different SSRIs, neurontic, etc etc for depression/anxiey, and none had any effect.

Anti-psychotics? I wouldn't know, because I took them when I wasn't psychotic.

Lithium? That flattens out emotions for everyone. Normals alike. Already flat, that crap just made me an emotional desert all the time. Still had the depression though.

The only things that have ever worked for my anxiety are benzos and propranolol (or my favorite escape, pot).

So that's what I believe. I guess anyone can read into that what they wish too, lol.

I've been on a low dose of olanzapine for a while. I hated the weight gain bit (though now have that totally under control through diet and exercise), but just last week when I came back off it I realised how much it was doing to help slow down some of my thoughts, mood swings, paranoia and impulsive urges. I've also been on valdoxan for a little while- it's the only antidepressant I've been able to tolerate, and I've tried lots of them. I take xanax when my anxiety becomes intolerable.

I've just started on quetiapine in place of the olanzapine in the hope that it'll do more for my mood. Fingers crossed.

blank_identity wrote:I just read into that what I've already believed for some time. That you cannot treat personality disorders with mood drugs. It's not due to a chemical imbalance in the brain but a defect in the personality.

They can't treat a personality disorder with meds, no, but they can try to treat some of the other effects of it or those that go with it- the depression, anxiety etc that might go with it. There's lots of people out there who have diagnoses other than just a PD- so if the meds help their depression for example, they're going to have an easier time managing some of their other sypmtoms.

AmorousDestruction wrote:I was on Wellbutrin but it made things worse actually. It really increased my anxiety, which did not help with my fear of abandonment. And it made me sweat a lot and smell funky.

I've had some antidepressants that have done that too- really not nice.

blah. nevermind. not in the mood for circular arguments.