Facing a crisis after a non-psychiatric hospital stay

[Fauxpal]

Hi

I was admitted to my local hospital on Friday after suffering a seizure for the first time in my life. I'm diagnosed bipolar with some major anxiety, and my prescriptions prior to my admission were

Wellbutrin SR 200mg twice daily

Lamictal 150mg twice daily (mood stabilizer)

Neurontin 300mg three times daily (anti-anxiety)

Levora (birth control)

Xanax .25mg twice daily as needed

Rozerem at bed time

They of course saw Wellbutrin and decided to blame the seizure on that, but I'd been on a high dose of it for years and (as you can see) am taking two anticonvulsants with it... I've heard that the amount Wellbutrin lowers the seizure threshold by is not as much as some sensationalize it to be as well. They also decided that a mass in my brain an MRI detected two weeks ago could have absolutely nothing to do with it either, just the wellbutrin. The doctor decided that without even looking at the MRI images by the way. To "fix" this, they cut my Wellbutrin from 400mg a day to 200mg a day with no tapering whatsoever. Does that alarm anyone else? I feel like cutting down that much with no taper is more dangerous than having kept me on it. I've been a mess since I started the lower dose, my mood swings are back full swing (no pun intended) and I'm having scary thoughts ie I feel like I'm going to end up hurting myself somehow because I feel too miserable to be alive... all the great progress I made over the past 4 years has started to unravel and I'm freaking out.

Am I wrong to think this was a bad decision on the doctors' part? I wasn't scheduled to see my psychiatrist for about 3 months since we didn't make a change to my meds (although something got screwed up with the Neurontin so that's something else I need to tackle) and tomorrow is a holiday so I won't be able to talk to them til at least Friday... I'm hoping when I do contact them I can get an emergency appointment squeezed in, am I being too optimistic in hoping for that? The doctors ended up raising my lamictal to 200mg twice daily, but I couldn't even get the new RX today because my insurance was being monstrous. They didn't bother to change the 12 hour wellbutrin to the 24 hour one while I was in the hospital either. I'm getting so desperate that I want to just start taking my regular dosage again without consulting my physicians, but I know jumping up by 200 is dangerous too -- but if someone here has the experience to tell me it would be alright I am more than open to that advice. I cannot wait any longer to get back to the 400 and I'm worried I will end up back in a psychiatric ward if I have to.

Best part is they couldn't find a cause for the seizure. EEG came back normal. No epilepsy. But let's not address the mass on my pineal gland or anything, heaven forbid we discuss that as a possible cause! Also, I had a 3 month long UTI that resisted the antibiotics I took for it... they treated it with cipro in the hospital via IV but due to an allergic reaction they had to stop the cipro after just a day or two. Anyway...

I don't know what to do and I need help.

Thank you.

[LaLa]

Hello, Fauxpal, welcome!

Does that alarm anyone else?

Yes, it does alarm me! I'm sorry doctors are treating you so carelessly . I really hope you'll get an appointment with your psychiatrist very soon and that you'll safely come back to your suitable dose of the med. I also wish you to find out soon what's got wrong (the cause of the seizure, ...)...

I don't have any experience with these meds of diagnoses myself, neither with American (- I suppose) health care system, so I can't help or advise you. I just suppose it would be best for you to "advocate for your rights" and to get appropriate medical attention - if not from the doctors you've seen so far, then from some others you could (- I hope) consult.

In the meantime, I would suggest you to try to treat yourself well. Are there any ways you can relax and decrease your anxiety (about this situation)? Have you someone to talk to, to take care of you a bit, to keep you safe, to have some fun / relax with...? I know your current acute problems preoccupy you a lot, but I think you'd also need (besides and active approach to finding better help) some rest and distraction from the anxiety.

Best of luck!