October 21, 2010
Better Living? Agreed but Still Skeptical
So I googled ‘trileptal & alcohol.’ It took me a while to even find their interaction mentioned on all of the websites that came up. You never know which are written by the pharmaceutical companies themselves, and which are government funded supposedly ‘objective’ sources anyway. The ones I did find read: “Alcohol consumption may increase sleepiness. Avoid drinking alcohol while you are taking Trileptal.”
So there. It certainly doesn’t nullify, but may actually increase the effect. Shall I call old coot MD on that? Next visit we’ll see.
Now Pat, that’s not fair, how about ‘wise very experienced psychiatrist?’ But I can’t resist the: ‘who probably worked for 50+ years with folks far less ‘higher functioning’ than lil’ ole me.’
I finally got and read his report on me. Wanna know what he said?
It was two typed single pages, from one yellow page of notes I saw him take. At 80 he must still have a pretty good memory. Basically it said I was ‘oriented, alert, pleasant, open and cooperative. No indication of a thought disorder, no indication of cognitive impairment.’ Well that’s a relief, guess I’m not really ‘c-razy!’ The mood disorder questionnaire indicated ‘hypomania.’ How he got the numbers he inserted into these five AXISI:, AXIX:2 – AXIX 5 I don’t know … but it says I might ‘feel better, steadier, able to focus better’ with this oxcarbazepine (generic Trilleptal).
Ms. MFFC counselor tuned into the resistance, rebellion again and said we were just trying to get ‘the appropriate threshold’ for me. She also likened it to (I think her own) drug experiences in the 60’s or 70’s; we swallowed the pill, or ate a bite of the brownie, to better experience the ride. So why didn’t I just see it that way?
She convinced me, I’m taking two in the morning starting tomorrow and will report to both her and him in a month.