Podcasts about lamictal

NO ADS ON PATREON - www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Summary Dave opens Dopey Wednesday by getting mad at Reddit, reminiscing about Penn South, the old Walter Reade theater, flea markets, and losing his apartment to heroin addiction. Then Ian from Paris calls in with a disgusting kratom-vomit sex story. Dave reads Spotify and Patreon comments about Zach Noe Towers, Chet Holmgren, Sassafras, Euphoria, Katz's, white claws, Amanda de Cadenet, and Dopey Nation recovery time. Then Dave interviews Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS and host of No Magic Pill. Blake talks about giving away 100 million shoes, Shark Tank, psychedelics, depression, getting misdiagnosed as bipolar, getting off pharmaceuticals, suicidal thoughts, San Pedro, “I am enough,” sobriety, quitting alcohol and nicotine, and using creativity, photography, therapy, and connection to rebuild his life. All that and more on a not too Dopey episode of Dopey! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brett records an episode without Christina and Jeff and chats with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) about her start as a mommy blogger and longtime Mac podcaster, her tech-support work, and the strange lack of closure when online friends disappear. They trade mental-health and chronic-illness updates, Adderall vs. Vyvanse, difficulty finding curious doctors, and being labeled “worried well.” Don’t worry, they nerd out on mechanical keyboards, Karabiner, and remapping keys. GrAPPtitudes include Bartender 6 Pro, Sortio for AI tagging, Sketch Party TV, and Karabiner. Sponsor OneSkin improves your skincare routine with science-backed skin care products. With over 10,000 five-star reviews and validation from clinical studies, OneSkin has made a name for itself in the skincare industry. If you’re interested in trying OneSkin for yourself, you can get 15% off your order with the code OVERTIRED at oneskin.co/OVERTIRED. Chapters 00:00 Meet Melissa Davis 00:56 Early Podcast Days 02:20 Tech Support Seniors 05:52 Digital Legacy Work 06:50 Sponsor: OneSkin 08:14 Mental Health Check In 08:34 Insomnia And Focus 13:19 Doing Time Tracker 16:04 Suspenders And Stenosis 20:18 Mobility And Home Hacks 22:10 Melissa Health Update 23:25 ADHD Meds And Mutations 25:25 Curious Doctors Matter 27:59 Vyvanse Vs Adderall 30:26 Tracking Mood With Data 32:27 Cane And Somatic Therapy 36:09 Somatics For EDS 36:50 Yoga Modifications 38:19 Polycystic Liver Shock 39:20 Fatphobia In Healthcare 40:56 Pole Dancing Reality Check 41:55 Mechanical Keyboard ASMR 45:56 Nail Art And Picking 49:09 Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole 01:00:59 Shortcuts And Muscle Memory 01:03:12 GrAPPtitude App Picks 01:14:07 Karabiner Power Tips 01:17:30 Wrap Up And Thanks Show Links hEDS Doing Timing Royal Kludge Keyboard Gamakey Silent Linear Switches EPOMAKER Switch Benefit Section EPOMAKER AegisSil Keycaps Set SketchParty TV Karabiner Sortio Bartender Pro Day One Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Nails and Keys with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) [00:00:00] Meet Melissa Davis Brett: Hey, this is Brett Terpstra. I am without my usual cohorts, Christina and Jeff. Um, so I, I wanted to, you know, get a, get an episode out for all of you listeners, and I reached out to Melissa Davis, known as The Mac Mommy. Um, I don’t, I, I don’t know if they’re still known as The Mac Mommy, but in m- in my lifetime they have been. Um, Melissa, why don’t you introduce yourself, let people know, like, M-Ma- long time, like Mac personality, podcaster. Tell us where you came from. Melissa: Where did I come from? Outer space. Uh, I came from being a mom. I, I, I will admit, this is hard to admit, But I will admit I started out as a mommy blogger. That’s, like, kind of a bad word nowadays. Brett: back, back, yeah, this is way Back when Melissa: [00:01:00] Yeah. Early Podcast Days Melissa: so we’re talking, like… Well, my oldest is gonna be 20, Brett. My oldest is gonna be 20 this summer. End of, end of June he’ll be 20 years old. So that’s about how long I’ve been doing podcasting. I mean, I started, I started, like, when… Well, you know what? I started listening to Adam Christianson’s The MacCast Brett: But you know what? I started Sure. Like one of the very first podcasts, Yeah. Melissa: still, I still listen to him on the Mac Geek Gab. Like, his voice is just so soothing to me. I used to… Like, that was the f- Back when I had, I had, I remember I had, like, an old G4, uh, Quicksilver Mac, and in the stinky little back room of our old house. And I used to, I used to download the podcasts, burn them on a CD, put them in my Walkman, ’cause I didn’t have an iPod yet at the time. I wasn’t that… I was never really that cutting edge. And I’d burn them on a CD, I’d put the CD in my Walkman, and then I would sit and nurse, I would nurse my baby. I, [00:02:00] and I would have to tuck the, uh, the headphones, you know, I’d have the ear- the, the wired, kinda like I have now, uh, and tuck it behind my back, like, behind my shoulder, because otherwise he’d, like, yank on the cord. And I would just listen to podcasts while I nursed. And I… And then, uh, then I met Victor Cajiao, and I started just kind of being, like, a serial podcaster, showing up here and there, and then it just kinda grew from there. Tech Support Seniors Melissa: Um, and I do… So I do tech support. I’m an IT tech s- tech support person. I… People call me their computer guru. I mostly work with, uh, the senior population, our, our vintage people, which I, I’m slowly becoming one of them. We’re all, we’re all gonna go that way. Brett: I feel like anyone who does Mac tech support deals with probably an, a, a population that skews older. Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it’s actually, it’s actually more– I will say it’s actually more difficult to work with somebody younger. Like, especially people my age or people [00:03:00] that are like, say, in their sixties I consider pretty young, 70 even. Uh, yeah, so but it’s, you know, the people are so, so interesting. You can learn so much. I love working with this population because they’re like encyclopedias, and the stories they tell you and the things you learn, it’s pretty amazing. And I could just, I could just spend– I have actually spent all day with some of them. Some of us just have really great chemistry and, you know, it’s… They– I, I’m also– I have ADHD, that’s no secret. And I think when you get older, um, not– it doesn’t affect everybody, but I do see a lot of what could be either they, they have ADHD or it’s like a– Brett: they have Melissa: of creeps in and it’s just a natural process of aging, cognitive decline. So, yep. Brett: have a lot of patience. Sure. S- some of my, some of my most interesting relationships over the last 10 years have been with, uh, Mac users in their late 70s, [00:04:00] 80s. And, uh, like they’ve been– They’re very– Like, they’re definitely… The people that I’ve known have been technically capable and very interested in learning. That’s why they follow me. That’s how I meet them, right? They’re like, they read my blog, which is just all nerd stuff. And, and so they’re, they’re technically competent, and they’re doing things that I can only aspire to be doing in my 70s and 80s. Um, I had a guy who was writing his memoirs at, in between like mountain bike rides. And so here’s the thing, though, is when you, when you know someone online and they’re in their 80s and you stop hearing from them for a Melissa: Yes. Yes. Brett: you have to assume that they have passed on. and that is sad, and you never really get any closure because you don’t know their friends or family. You [00:05:00] never get like a notice, an obituary. You don’t, you don’t know where these people go, um, and you don’t know how to check in on them once your normal channels of communication are severed. Melissa: Yeah, we’re at that age where we probably start reading the obituaries. Like, I haven’t heard from so-and-so in a while. Let me check the obits." Brett: I had, I had– Before NVUltra went on for, what’s it, like five years now, uh, without a release, um, I had a project called BitWriter with David Halter. And Melissa: remember you mentioning that, yeah. Yeah, and you wondered. Mm-hmm. Brett: he stopped responding. Melissa: you find out any at all? Any, Any, concrete… Brett: Nothing. I have put feelers out everywhere I can think of. I have no idea what happened to him. Melissa: went Richard Simmons, huh? Brett: yeah. Yeah. With less Melissa: No contact. No contact. Aw. Digital Legacy Work Melissa: I, I’m lucky that, uh, in my line of [00:06:00] work, I do typically hear from the family if they’ve passed on, because I form kind of a bond with a lot of people. I, I typically don’t lose clients unless they die, so… Brett: and you have some, like, in real life connections to Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do, I do both. I do… I have some clients where I’ve never met them in person, I’ve only ever done remote. Uh, and then, but most of my clients are, are local, the majority of them. But I, I still s- see them remotely too, so yeah. I’ve, I’ve actually been hired by some people, um, mostly I’ve had two male clients who they got a terminal illness, they knew they were terminal, and they followed me online and they pretty much hired me to take care of their surviving spouse. So that, that was… that’s a difficult thing, but I’m just honored that they chose me to, to help them out with that. So I’ve kind of been a bit of a digital undertaker in that regard. Sponsor: OneSkin Christina: I want to take a moment to share something that has significantly improved my skincare routine, OneSkin. [00:07:00] So we all have those days when our skin doesn’t feel its best, and I’ve certainly been in that boat, especially recovering from surgery. And I was tired of navigating through endless products that promised results, but often fell short. And that’s when I discovered OneSkin. It was founded by scientists dedicated to longevity, and this brand stands out for its commitment to real science over marketing hype. They tackle the fundamental question of how to actually slow down skin aging rather than just masking it. And their groundbreaking ingredient is, uh, ZeroS01, and it’s a proprietary peptide designed to help deactivate the damaged cells that contribute to aging skin. Since incorporating OneSkin into my routine, I’ve actually been noticing some improvements. My skin feels smoother. It looks more vibrant. Um, it’s definitely more moisturized, and so this is benefiting from its focus on supporting collagen and strengthening the skin barrier. With over 10,000 five-star reviews and validation from clinical studies, OneSkin has made a name for itself in the skincare industry. If [00:08:00] you’re interested in trying OneSkin for yourself, you can get 15% off your order with the code OVERTIRED at oneskin.co/overtired. That’s 15% off at oneskin.co/overtired using the code OVERTIRED. Thank you for supporting our show by checking them out Mental Health Check In Brett: Um, so do you wanna do a mental health Melissa: Sure. Brett: I, I know, I know you’ve listened to the show before. I know you know how this works. Melissa: how this works. Brett: Would you like to start? Melissa: I think I would like to hear you start, and then I’ll, I’ll add on Brett: that sounds good. Insomnia And Focus Brett: Um, so sleep continues to be a major issue for me. Um, I actually for four days in a row last week, I got eight hours of sleep a night, which was insane. I felt so good. Um- The first night… So I take [00:09:00] Lamictal for bipolar, and if I miss my evening dose, I crash and I sleep in the next morning, and I sleep soundly. Like, it’s the best sleep I can get. And then I wake up and all of a sudden the withdrawal kicks in, and then I’m shaky and dizzy for half an hour after I take the dose. Um, but that’s after, like, a solid night of sleep, and it never works two nights in a row. And, like, I’ve tried, like, maybe if I take Lamictal in the mornings instead of the evenings, maybe I’ll sleep through the night. It doesn’t work after that first missed dose. Um, but then I just, without making any changes in my lifestyle, started sleeping, and I thought finally after, like, two years of insomnia, I had turned a corner, because I can’t remember the last time I got eight hours of sleep for more than two nights in a [00:10:00] row. And then it ended, and then I was up. I’ve been up since 2:30 today. Melissa: I wondered, yep. Brett: I mean, I went to bed at 8:00, so that’s still nine, 10, 11, 12, 11, Melissa: I actually dozed off on the couch around 8:30. Like, if only I could just be in my bed right now, just be, like, transported. Yeah. Oh. Brett: Oh, I, I wish. If I could go back to bed… Like, sometimes I’ll, I’ll lay back down around 7:00 or 8:00 and get, like, another half hour of sleep, but it’s really that, like, uninterrupted block of deep sleep that I need, not… I take naps during the day, and I can usually fall asleep for half an hour, um, given that I’m usually functioning on five hours of sleep anyway. But anyway, um, I– That, that’s just kind of par for the course for me, so, like, any, any of our listeners know that that’s gonna be the first thing I report. Melissa: are you, [00:11:00] like, kinda competing? Like, are you trying to get eight hours because that’s what’s prescribed? Have you ever thought about Brett: be- actually, what works eight and a half, like I’ve, I’ve… Back when I had the option to sleep more than five hours, like, I did a lot of kind of experimentation and Melissa: know where your sweet spot is. Brett: Well, it… See, the sweet pot- spot changes as you age, though, and you need less sleep as you get older. So, so I can’t say for sure that eight and a half hours is still my sweet spot. Um, and I think honestly, if I can sleep seven hours, I feel pretty good, and I consider seven hours a good night’s sleep. Melissa: Yeah, ’cause mine’s like between four and six. Brett: really? Yeah. See, Melissa: feel Brett: I don’t function well. Oh, I don’t function well on anything less than seven hours. Melissa: I just have a love-hate relationship with sleep. I just don’t– I just hate to sleep. I just would rather be doing other things. Life is [00:12:00] just too interesting. Brett: I get that. I– get that. I– as someone who’s bipolar and has had like manic episodes where I’m up for five days straight, like I, I love not sleeping. Um, w- when, when I have the mania to give me energy and back it up. It’s when I’m just dragging all day and feel like a zombie. The thing– The, the plus side to it is the more tired I am, up to a certain point, the better I can focus. Like my brain slows down and it’s really easy for me to get into hyperfocus. And like most mornings I’m up at, you know, 2:30, 3:00 and I just start coding. And I can not only hyperfocus, but I can switch focus between three or four different projects like simultaneously. I hit compile on one, I move on to the next one, and I can rotate [00:13:00] through them and like keep track of all of it. And then right around 10:00 AM, my ability to do that ends and suddenly I like flip to a project and I cannot for the life of me remember what I was doing, which is why I’ve spent my life building note-taking apps and, and time tracking tools. Melissa: Yep, same thing. Doing Time Tracker Brett: dude, h- d- I don’t… You might not be familiar with my project Doing. Melissa: N-no, but I– you alluded to something. that’s not what you’re working on with Dan though, is it? Brett: No, no, that’s gonna be Melissa: Dan on that too. I, I, don’t know what it is yet, but yeah, I’m, I’m Brett: Oh, it’s… Yeah, it’s gonna be cool. Melissa: that’s so exciting. Brett: no, Doing is a command line tool where you can type things like, “Doing now podcasting with Melissa,” and it starts a timer for like what I’m doing now, and then I can ask it if I leave and come back, I can say, “What was I doing?” And it’ll tell me, [00:14:00] “You’re podcasting with Melissa.” Obviously, that’s a weird example ’cause I’m not gonna leave in the middle of this. But then it can give you like totals, time, tag-based time totals, uh, for your week and everything. It can show you like what you finished yesterday. Um, it’s not so much a task tracking app as it is a tool for keeping track of what you’re doing in the moment. Um, for, for people like me who switch between four projects at once, it’s really handy. And some guy, some fucking guy Melissa: Some fucking guy. Brett: it, rewrote it in Rust, and it is really good. it is really good. Uh, he like, I- Oh yeah, I use Melissa: Okay, ’cause Brett: This is, this is separate. this is this is a little more ‘ intentional than Timing. Um, I use both. They kind of work together, and Doing can actually import Timing’s JSON exports. So you can turn your, you can turn [00:15:00] all your Timing data into command line, uh, readable Doing files. Um, but anyway, this guy rewrote it in Rust with my permission, and he gave me full credit on the page. And I think I’m switching ’cause Doing is written in Ruby, and Ruby is slow, and Rust is fast. And like my Doing file where it stores all of my current projects, like my Doing items, gets so big that it can take Doing like up to five seconds to respond when I ask it, “What was I doing today?” Which is five seconds is a long time on the command line. Um, and his Melissa: pretty instantaneous. Brett: his version is like 100 milliseconds. Boom. But anyway, Melissa: It’s almost like you built your own little AI thing. Like, what was I doing? What Brett: kinda, kinda, yeah. Melissa: you doing, Dave? Brett: This is, this [00:16:00] was built long before AI was a common thing, but the other thing that’s contributing to my mental health Suspenders And Stenosis Brett: is suspenders. Melissa: Ah, yes. Brett: So I have I have gained 100 pounds, um, not, n-not of my own choice, but like I had rapid weight gain and I recently got a stenosis diagnosis, which I hate the Melissa: telling you, I’m telling you, we’re like 23 and me here. I’ve got that too. Brett: apparently during one of my, like when I gained 50 pounds in like six weeks, my body was looking for places to store all the new fat and decided my spine might be a good place for that. Um, so I have fat in my spine and I have degrading discs. This is separate from my love of suspenders, so I’ll get back to [00:17:00] that. I, um, Melissa: Wait till you get it in your eyeballs. Brett: Oh, for real? Melissa: Yeah, you can have… I have, um, what’s it called? Cholesterol. Yeah, if you look at your eyes really close, if you see like a white kind of w- ridge around your irises, that’s cholesterol. Brett: Oh, wow. Yeah, I hope, I hope that hasn’t happened yet, but who knows? Um, Melissa: Brings out Brett: I– So I have all this, I have all this extra weight and I had a lot of trouble with belts. A, belts hurt ’cause they dig into my, my gut, and they don’t really work. I, every, every time I stood up, my butt crack showed and I had to like wiggle my pants up. And then I I tried a pair of suspenders and it was like a l- a switch had been flipped. All of a sudden my pants just stayed up without any constriction around my waist, just like they just stayed with me wherever I went. And now I can, [00:18:00] I can tuck my shirts in and it actually looks kinda cool when you got the suspenders look going on. Which means, so like for a long time I only wore one brand of shirt, um, and because they, it was, it fit my belly and it was long enough and like it wasn’t, wasn’t baggy around the top and didn’t hang off my belly like a muumuu. Melissa: Mm-hmm, Brett: And like, so I, I, I only wore this brand of shirt and I own like 15 of them, and I would just cycle through Melissa: dresses, they’re just your Walmart $10 cotton tank dress. Love it. Brett: Yeah. But now that I can tuck my shirts in and feel okay about it, I can buy those extra large nerd shirts, ones with funny slogans and stuff on them. And normally those would hang straight down off my belly, and I hate the way that looks. But now I can tuck those in, which means I can get back to wearing funny, [00:19:00] ironic T-shirts, and it, it’s like opening up a whole new world of possibilities Melissa: That is a bonus for mental health. Brett: every day now I put on my suspenders and it makes me happy. Um, Melissa: wonderful. It’s almost like a, like a mobility aid. Brett: Kinda, yeah. Melissa: yeah. Brett: of, I– So I, I have a monopod, um, like a tripod that folds up into a walking stick, and it’s nice and light and it is an adjustable height ’cause it’s designed to be used as a camera tripod. Um, and I’ve started walking with it Melissa: yeah. kinda like you’re Brett: I c- yeah. Yeah. Like one of my fat friends has s- literal like ski poles. They’re like half height ski poles and they walk with them and it helps them a ton, and I Melissa: Yeah, hikers use those. Brett: try that out. But a walking stick [00:20:00] really does help with my stenosis, but I can still, even with a stick, I can only walk for about five minutes, which is about .3, Melissa: Yeah. Brett: 3, .3 miles. Um, and then I have to stop and sit, and it’s been a real pain, literally. Mobility And Home Hacks Melissa: And is standing difficult, too? Brett: standing is worse than walking. Melissa: thing, yeah. Standing’s worse. Brett: Yeah. Like if I am in the kitchen and I’m at the stove cooking, before the onions start to brown, I have to sit Melissa: Yeah. Yep. Brett: Uh, so we now have a stool in our kitchen, Melissa: Do you have one in the shower? Brett: yes. Well, our shower, our shower has a nice, like the back of the tub is a seat. Melissa: Oh, okay. Yeah. Brett: I don’t know if this house was designed by old people or not, but, um, but it’s certainly everything is relatively [00:21:00] accessible in that way. Um, but the stool in the kitchen means I can cook dinner. Emptying the dishwasher is the worst for me. That just like bending over, picking stuff up, and then just moving back and forth, like the five feet across our kitchen. My– I, it takes me three stops, three rests to get a dishwasher emptied. Um, and then I’m kind of ruined after that. I hate it. And I hate that I Melissa: stress mat? Brett: What’s that? Oh, you mean Melissa: mat to stand on? Gotta get, gotta Brett: think that would help? Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have Brett: used to have one Melissa: and one in front of the kitchen, and I don’t even, I don’t even, do the cooking. Brett: Ha. I used to, I used to have one of those in front of the stove when I w- when I didn’t have pain, but just because I was really getting into cooking and I was spending a lot of time, and I was starting to feel it in my knees. Um, yeah, maybe I should do Melissa: I think it’s a fatigue [00:22:00] mat, I think they call it. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, Brett: That sounds Melissa: plus they look cool if you get little designs on them and stuff. Yeah. Oh, we could spend the day talking about just mobility aids and ergonomics and all that kind of stuff. Melissa Health Update Brett: Well, it’s your turn. Talk about whatever you like. Melissa: Yeah, you give me some ideas to talk about. Um, yeah, I struggle with a lot of the same things that you do. Um, I’m always like kinda comparing notes every time you post something. I’m like, "Oh No, ‘Cause you talked about Have you … You haven’t started the injections yet, have you? Brett: No, and they just delayed those. I don’t get them until like June 20th or something. Melissa: nervous about those for you, because I’ve had those and I’ve decided to just swear off them, so I’ll just kinda give you just a heads-up. I mean, it does raise your blood sugar, so that’s not great, and, um, it can give you the roid rage, kinda make you angry, so that’s something to watch out for, and more weight gain, so …But it’s like one of those things where you just have to kinda try [00:23:00] it and see if it works, because if it does work, then you could be more mobile and then maybe drop a few pounds and get some of that weight off of your spine. But if it doesn’t work, just know that that can happen, Brett: my doctor did not mention any of those side effects, so good to Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s the chronic life, so that’s, that’s what, that’s what, uh, affects my mental health, so I’m, I’m really good at faking it. I am actually … I will say I’m actually feeling a little bit more even. ADHD Meds And Mutations Melissa: I’m on, uh … I love when you talk about different prescriptions and stuff. Uh, I just mentioned, so I’m taking Adderall. That is, ugh, it’s a mixed bag. Um, I wanted to ask you about Vyvanse, cause that’s the next thing for me, but it’s, like, super expensive, so I’m trying to make Adderall work as best I can, but I’m, I’m in the process of playing with the dosage. But I think she told me, like, the highest was 30. The thing is, uh, I’ve had genetic testing done, and [00:24:00] I have this condit- not a condition, but it’s a I’m a mutant. It’s a genetic mutation called, it’s, it’s just initials. It’s MTHFR, lovingly known as Brett: you process your, your, chemicals twice as … fast. I have Melissa: Yes, faster processing in the liver. So that’s when she told me, ’cause she started, uh, me out on methylphenidate, and I was like, “Well, what about Adderall?” Because it, I see it work for my kids, you know? The kids are chip off the old block, right? And so I’ve had them tested too, and all three of us are positive for that. It’s lovelin- lovingly known as the motherfucker gene mutation. Um, yeah, so, and it is. It’s, it’s quite a bitch, um, ’cause it causes a whole bunch of other problems. And of course, we’ve talked about Ehlers-Danlos, so I have, uh, hypermobile Eh- Ehlers-Danlos. I’m having a hard time … I’m just having a hard time with that in general, mental health wise, because there’s just not enough awareness about it, enough people, and doctors, doctors and nurses. And you know, I’ll, I’ll say I wanna, I would love to be able to get [00:25:00] to a point where I can just say, “I have H-E-D-S,” or heads or what- however they’re gonna pronounce it, and, like, somebody know what that is when I go in for an appointment. But I still have to explain it, you know? And then that, that cuts into my time. ‘Cause they only … When you’re, when you’re our age, they only give you, like, 15 minutes, if that. When you’re much older, ’cause I’ve had to take, I’ve had to take family members to the doctor, they get a whole lot more time. But, uh, you know, it’s like, "Oh, you’re, you’re too young to be this sick. You’re too young to be this old," Brett: Right. Yeah. Curious Doctors Matter Brett: Um, I did– I found that doctor for me that knew exactly what all those acronyms meant, knew exactly, like, not only did they know what POTS was, they knew like seven different kinds of POTS and what tests to use to narrow it down. And then she got called up to National Guard Melissa: Oh, I wondered, I wondered, what happened to that doctor, ’cause it sounded so Brett: I waited. I was on a, I was on– I w- I had an appointment scheduled that was gonna be six months from the time she [00:26:00] left. Um, and I had it scheduled, and it was on July 7th. And then I got a letter in the mail saying that her Guard duty had been extended, and now I can’t see her again until September. And, like, I’ve, I’ve tried seeing other doctors that work with her, but none of them have the knowledge she has, and it was such a relief Melissa: Is this the curious one? Okay. I always think about you whenever I’m either looking for a provider or in the, in the midst of, of getting, you know, shuffled around to a new provider. I’m like, “I hope they’re curious,” ’cause that made– that meant so much to me when you explained about how a doctor needs to be curious. I’m like, “That’s what I need.” I need somebody… Or even just my therapist. I have a new, a new therapist that I see, and she’s really curious, and I really, really like that about her. That’s something that helps with mental health, is when somebody’s curious, ’cause I’m Brett: it goes h- it goes hand in hand with credulousness. Like, [00:27:00] first they have to be willing to believe you, and like, especially when it comes to invisible issues like EDS. Like, you have to be willing to believe a person and then be curious enough to look for answers. Like, the first step is believing, and the second step is curiosity. Melissa: Yes. I’ve already had my patient record marked as… Have you ever heard this one? Worried well. Brett: No. Melissa: I looked it up. It’s basically hypochondriac. Brett: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna guess. That Melissa: Yep. I actually– I was proud of myself because I actually did confront the doctor about it and I said, “What does this mean?” I said, “I, I looked it up and it kinda concerns me ’cause it makes me look like a hypochondriac.” And she said, "Oh, no, no, that’s just a, a code that we use when we don’t have something else to assign to it so that insurance will pay." Bullshit. Brett: Yeah, right? I feel like that’s exactly the kind of [00:28:00] thing insurance doesn’t pay. Melissa: Mm-hmm. so Vyvanse Vs Adderall Brett: what do you wanna know about Vyvanse? Melissa: Um, a- and I know it’s different for everybody, but I just kinda wondered what your take was on it. Um, how– can you compare it to Adderall at all for me, Brett: Yeah. Melissa: no comparison? Brett: it’s basically a non-abusable, I would call it lower lying version of, of Adderall. Like, it’s in the same family of stimulant as Adderall, but it can’t– It isn’t processed or it’s… I don’t remember how the mechanics of it work, but you can’t snort it basically. Like, it doesn’t, it doesn’t do anything Melissa: Which I wouldn’t wanna do anyway ’cause there’s nothing up here. Brett: Sure. Sure. And then, yeah, I’m not suggesting that was gonna be a problem for you. Um, but it’s also, like, it’s way, um, for me anyway, it’s way calmer. [00:29:00] Um, and there are people that say it doesn’t do anything at all. Um, especially a lot of people, a lot of people say the generic version doesn’t do anything, um, and that the name brand version does, but I haven’t found that to be true. Like the generic, which you’re correct, still costs like 200 bucks a month, um, for the generic. Um, but it is– It’s not my favorite. Melissa: I wondered why– what made you stop taking it. Did it just not work for you? Brett: No, I still take Vyvanse. Um, yeah. Um, I used to take, um, Focalin, which I loved. Melissa: That really worked for my kiddo, yep. Brett: but it also triggered my mania, Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brett: so I was always walking this line of like, do I wanna be super productive and manic with like weeks of depression in between, [00:30:00] or do I just wanna be somewhat productive and stable? Um, which is why I’ve stuck with Vyvanse, and my doctor loves it enough for me that she won’t, she won’t prescribe anything else for me at this point. Like, I’ve asked about switching. I’ve asked about moving back to Adderall and things like that, but, Melissa: It seems like you’re, like you’re kinda on an evening out. Brett: Yeah, I haven’t had a manic episode for a couple years now. Tracking Mood With Data Melissa: Do you track it? Do you– Like, have you ever seen those– I keep seeing these ads for it ’cause, you know, the algorithm feeds us the stuff for wearables that are, um, called– I think it’s called Visible, so it makes your symptoms more visible instead of invisible. Like, do you track it? Do you Have you nerded out on your own data? Brett: like my mania and depression? Melissa: Yeah, like do you track it and look at graphs or anything like that to Brett: See, I’ve never had to use an external tool because I can just look at GitHub contribution graphs, and I can look at [00:31:00] my RSS feed, and I can see exactly, like for a period of like eight years, I can pinpoint exactly where my manic episodes were, um, because that data is historically preserved out there on the internet for all to see. Um, it’s, yeah, it’s– Well, and that’s, like I built tools that gathered that, those various sources of data. Um, and then there was a, a tool called, um, I forget. Melissa: cool, though? Hmm. We’ll think Brett: But it could pull, it could pull in all that data. Um, Bell Beth Cooper, Hello Code, I can’t remember the name of the app. Melissa: Yeah, it’ll come to you eventually. Brett: sure. Uh, but it could pull in like your GitHub, uh, commits along with like what the weather was at the time, how many songs you listened to that Melissa: Oh, day one sorta does that, yeah. Brett: Does it now? Melissa: A little bit, yeah, your locations, [00:32:00] um, if you turn on some of those things. Like not– I don’t think it does the music and things like that, but Brett: I haven’t used it for a while. I haven’t used it for a Melissa: I was gonna switch to the journal app. I was actually really… I held off on upgrading to Tahoe for the longest time, but that one kept nagging at me ’cause I thought, oh, you know, maybe. I mean, as much as I love Day One, I, I thought about, I thought about actually switching over, but no. I tried it. I’m, I’m gonna stick with Day One. Brett: Cool. All right. Cane And Somatic Therapy Brett: Um, so did you have, did you have more to add to your Melissa: Oh, I was gonna, I was gonna add on to what you were talking about with the suspenders. I did start… I think you probably… Well, yeah, you commented on it. Um, I started using a cane, and that I have mixed feelings about that. Um, I should have brought it in here so I could show you. I’ll show you later, ’cause, uh, anyway, it’s, it’s purple. I did get a pimp cane. That’s what my husband calls it. I thought, damn it, if I’m gonna use, like, a cane, then it’s gonna be [00:33:00] purple, and I’m gonna like looking at it, as much as I hate to use it, so. So I’ve been trying to use it. I… What you were talking about with, uh, with finding a curious doctor, I do have new physical therapist, um, so I’m really happy about that. Same kind of thing where she’s super booked. I think that’s just how it is. Like, the really good ones, they’re good, and, you know, it shows because it’s, it’s hard to get in to see them. So yeah. So I’m, I’m looking forward to that. We’re gonna be doing… Have you heard of somatic therapy? Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah. So ha- have you tried it? Do, do you like it? Okay. That’s, that’s what I’m embarking on. Brett: I actually have a friend who teaches classes in it. Melissa: Oh, Al probably knows about that. Brett: y- yeah, Melissa: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll Brett: and it is, it is amazing how hard just doing things, doing motions you’re used to, but doing them very slowly and intentionally. It is like you– Just like, Just like, doing y- like a clamshell where you drop your knee, you’re [00:34:00] on your back and you drop your knee down to the side and bring it back up. Like that motion, most of us, even infirmed people can do that okay. You try to take… You try to do that and take like five breaths in each direction, and you’ll start shaking. It’s very Melissa: Ah, uh-huh. Yep. Brett: Yeah, but it’s good. Like it’s g- it really retrains your muscles. It really, it strengthens, retrains, and helps with, uh, finer motor control. Melissa: Oh, that’s interesting. Yeah, I, I’m, I’m a little bit on the skeptical end of it, so that’s why I’m, I’m glad that, that you, you vouch for it too. It’s like I know that it works, but I just… I guess I wanna understand the science of it a little bit more. Like, for example, I’ve tried, uh, acupuncture, and I just didn’t feel like it did, did anything for me. I think you have to be, like, a believer, and I just Brett: think so. Melissa: I, I, I even did that on purpose knowing that I kinda felt like it wasn’t gonna work. I was like, well, what if I just go into this? ‘Cause, [00:35:00] ’cause I talk to people and they’re like, "Well, you have to believe in it." I’m like, but what if I don’t? I just don’t, you know? I’m, I see it Brett: it’s not medicine if you have to believe in it. Melissa: Yeah. I mean, I see it work for other people. I know there’s, you know, such a thing as placebos and things like that, and I don’t know, it’s, it’s woo-woo and I, I, I like woo-woo stuff. I, it just, it didn’t do anything for me, so… It’s not to say that it doesn’t work for other people, but it just did not work for me, and I, I kind of, I, maybe I just, uh, did that on purpose when I, I try- probably just tripped myself up going into it thinking, well, I just don’t believe it, so if it works, then there must be science behind it. And then, then, I’ll believe. But it didn’t work out, so. So the, I’m a little bit on the fence about the somatic thing, but the, the, the gal that I’m working with is just so, she has EDS herself, and like, like what you were saying, like, she, she knows all about it and she could even, you know, tell me the, the type that she has, and I was like, I met, I met, actually last week I met two zebras in one week. [00:36:00] You, you’re familiar with the, the zebra mascot? If you, uh, the saying goes, if you hear hooves, think horses. But we’re not horses, are we? Yeah, so Yeah, so that’s, that’s our, our Somatics For EDS Melissa: EDS Brett: somatic– somatics you don’t have to believe in for them to work. Melissa: Okay, that is Brett: it’s an actual physical therapy method that trains the finer muscles, um, that surround your larger muscles and, and strengthens those, and it– Yeah, it’s for real. It’s, yeah, it’s not like a… It’s soma- I think, Melissa: w- totally Brett: ’cause I I had the same reaction when someone said somatics, ’cause I think, “Oh, that’s some holistic idea of the body, um, of soma,” and it’s… No, it’s, it’s got legit physical therapy behind it. Melissa: And, Yoga Modifications Melissa: you used to do a lot of yoga too, so that probably makes Brett: I still do. Melissa: Yeah? That’s [00:37:00] wonderful. Brett: it’s gotten really hard. Um, I can’t, I can’t– So I get dizzy Melissa: Yeah. Brett: going from sitting to standing, um, and my back gives out if I am in, like, horse or warrior two for more than a couple minutes. Um, and I can’t do cobras because I have a belly like a nine-month pregnancy. Um, so I have to do, like, prenatal yoga, um, which is actually a thing. Melissa: that’s a good idea. I’m glad you brought that up. I should look Brett: a- and I do chair yoga, um, where I I take the class that everyone else takes, but I modify it to work with… Like, there, there are defined moves that you do with a chair instead of. Instead of doing down dog, you do, like, a 90-degree down dog holding the back of a chair. Um, and you put, like, a knee on the chair to do warrior two, so you’re actually [00:38:00] resting. And Um, and you can do it fully seated too and get at least the arm exercises out of it. So I’ve been trying to maintain, maintain flexibility and some endurance. I’m not doing yoga the way I used to do it, but I am still Melissa: I’ve seen some of your poses. It’s pretty impressive. Brett: Yeah, back in the day. Melissa: W- when you could be upside down. Polycystic Liver Shock Melissa: I should look into that because I, you know, although I’m done having babies, like far done having babies, I have… You probably know about this too, I have polycystic liver disease, which is a really rare type of liver disease, and it’s not fatty liver. Oh my God, I have to keep telling doctors that. That’s the other thing. It’s like, it is not fatty liver. It is not. It- they’re cysts. It’s a totally different thing. I’m basically full of bubbles. So I… But it feels like that’s why I went in to get it. I didn’t actually get that checked. I found it accidentally when I went in for an heart, for a heart CT. That’s when they found it, and for a, a breast MRI, so [00:39:00] both those, those types of scans caught it. The other parts were fine, so my heart’s fine, so that’s a relief. But yeah, so this was a bit of a shock. And so I don’t know exactly what it means moving forward, um, but my entire liver is, like, engulfed in cysts, so. Right? But my blood work is, is fantastic right now, so I’m just gonna keep Brett: That’s good. Melissa: hoping it stays that way. Brett: That’s something. Fatphobia In Healthcare Brett: Um, I I have heard for a long time about, um, doctors being fatphobic and, and always assuming that, um, always assuming that your health i-issue is because you’re fat and not even looking for underlying issues, which has been an interesting experience for me because that really never happened to me. Melissa: Mm. Brett: Um, at least not once I switched to Gundersen from, like, a local clinic. Then I realized that it’s not just being fat that gets you [00:40:00] stigmatized, it’s being a fat woman. Melissa: Mm, I was gonna say try having a uterus and being Brett: yeah. Yeah. Um, like I talked to one of my best friends, April, who he’s, has been on Melissa: by, women doctors. Brett: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s, that’s what April tells me. She tells me all these horror stories. Even after finding care she trusted, she still has to deal with people saying, “Well, if you just lost some weight.” Like, she’s been fat her whole life. She’s in better shape than most skinny people Melissa: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Brett: I mean, she does sit-ups with 50-pound plates and does, like, five, 10 miles at a time on her, like, on her bike and, like, she’s in great shape and still has to walk with the ski poles, and she’s getting her second knee replaced this week. And, like, it, it’s just infuriating to hear the way that doctors dismiss Melissa: You know what the problem is, Brett? Brett: goes through [00:41:00] when Pole Dancing Reality Check Melissa: Not enough doctors have watched fat pole dancers. That is the problem right there. They need more education. Brett: Um, yeah. There’s, there are a couple of, um, queer burlesque shows Melissa: shows, yes. Brett: in my area that almost always include a plus-size pole dance, and it is amazing to Melissa: Oh, it’s mesmerizing. It should be an Olympic sport. Remind me to send you the, the link to, unless you’ve already seen it, have you seen the Deadpool pole dancer? Brett: No, I don’t think Melissa: you are in for a treat. We might just have to put that in the show notes, but I don’t know, I don’t know if your listeners are that, are into that It’s fully clothed, but it’s, there’s even blue Crocs involved. Brett: So this is nobody that you’re seeing on the Melissa: I wondered, yep. I wondered, yeah. Aw, he looks so soft. Mm. Mechanical Keyboard ASMR Brett: So you’ve [00:42:00] gotten really into mechanical keyboards. Melissa: have, I have. In fact, uh, I was gonna, I was gonna see how this might sound, but I, I brought my little box of key caps to show you so that I could say, welcome to my ASMR channel. Brett: That would… is is that a thing? I bet there are ASMR, like, key switch testing. Melissa: yeah, yeah. I’ve run across a couple of videos where, you know, they’ll have a hashtag ASMR in there, and that’s, that’s what it is. Do you experience ASMR yourself? Brett: No. Melissa: No? So when you listen to those videos you don’t get like the s- the tickling of the spine and stuff? Brett: No. Melissa: I do. It actually, it goes, it… I forget. I always forget what the acronym stands for, but it, you know, has something to do with the meridian. So if you can i- imagine your brain like split in half, and I feel it right on this side. It goes, it goes like the, down the back of my head, behind my ear, and down into my shoulder. It [00:43:00] is the funkiest feeling, and I love it. I love it so much. Even when we were talking about animals in the, in the beginning and I even had a cat that would come and just like kind of lick my ear and, oh, I just, I love that. Most people cannot stand that sound. They have the opposite condition where they can’t handle somebody chewing gum. My grandfather had that. Um, some, some kinda, it ends in a tonia. Misatonia or something like that, um, where… I don’t know. Do you have any of those like sound sensory issues? I have a lot of Brett: really don’t. I’m very, I’m very, like, sound Like, I like loud, heavy music. Like, that does something for my psyche. Um, but general sounds, they neither bo-bother me nor stimulate me. Melissa: imagine what that’s like. I just can’t. I’m So bothered, and my kids too, and you know, ugh, God, Brett: So El Melissa: has been problematic. Brett: El is, El is, definitely sensitive to sound, um, in a way that Like, even my [00:44:00] mechanical keyboards can’t be, can’t be on the same floor of the house as Elle. We pretty much live in silence, and that’s fine for me most of the time because, like, it just doesn’t affect me either way. So, like, keeping things quiet is easy, and I focus well in silence. And then when Elle’s gone, I blast my music, and w- when I’m in the car, I blast my music, and then the rest of the time I live in the quiet place. Melissa: Mm-hmm. In The Quiet Place. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, we have- something a little similar, but m- my husband and I have, uh… We have our his and hers kind of setup here in, in the, in our den, in our inner study. So he’s got his side and I’ve got my side. So we’re together, and he does a lot of grading papers, and he’s really good about putting his, his earbuds in and just tuning the whole world out. He’s… It’s fascinating to watch that man just [00:45:00] execute. I mean, I just am so envious of people who can just execute. But the, the, the, yeah, the sensory, it’s all about the sensory stuff for me when it comes to keyboards. I actually thought about… I don’t know how popular it would be, but I also thought about making a podcast, a video podcast, that would highlight the intersection of nail art and mechanical keyboards. Because I’ll tell you, that’s actually what… I’ve always loved mechanical keyboards, but yeah, the, the one that I had, someone had given me a, a Matias, and oh, it’s, it’s so loud, but it’s like high-pitched. It’s kinda sharp. And it was even kind of annoying to me after a while. And then it does not, it’s not a mechanical keyboard in that you can’t pull the switches out, so you’re kinda stuck with what you got. Like, you might be able to change the key caps if you could find them, but couldn’t change the switches. And something happened to the S key, and I was like, “All right, it’s over,” so. But I can’t get rid of them either, so one of these days I wanna have like a display of, of keyboards. [00:46:00] Nail Art And Picking Melissa: But what got me, what got me into saying, “Okay, I’m finally, I’m just gonna invest in a keyboard because it’s ergonomically important to me,” is I have… And I can’t pronounce it, so I’m not even gonna try, but there’s a condition, and it’s a self-diagnosed thing. But I, I am a picker. I pick my skin a lot. Um, I think it’s called derma something Anyway, so I wasn’t gonna try to pronounce it. But, uh, I’ve always had that condition since I was a kid. I didn’t even know it was a thing. I just thought everybody get, uh, picks. But then during the pande- during the pandemic, it got super bad. Like, I had, I had, um, some panic attacks and, you know, as a lot of probab- people probably did. But it got so bad to the point where I had picked my fingers and they were bleeding and they were throbbing and they were hurting. And I said to one of my kids, I said to my youngest, I said, “Can you just, like, if I, if I’m picking, can you just let me know?” And then I regretted doing that because then he took it on as this, like, full-time job, you know? And it kinda [00:47:00] gave him anxiety, and I thought, “Oh, okay, that, that was a bad thing to do.” So I s- I let him off the hook. I said, “No, you don’t have to tell me anymore.” Um, because, yeah, ev- even if I went to, like, just kinda, like, clean under my nail or something. So it was actually causing a real problem for the family that I was just picking so much. And it’s not just my fingers, it’s, like, other parts of my body. So I thought to myself, “Well, what can I do about this?” And so I started putting fake nail tips on. And I hate to be all, like… I don’t know, I’m not, I try not to be, like, a very vain person, but I really started kinda falling into the nail art side of things, and I, I just recently learned how to do gel and work with, um, uh, what’s it called? Uh, not resin. So I… Oh, that’s another ASMR thing. Do you like to watch resin pours? Brett: I do, actually, yes. Melissa: that’s… Okay, so if you like resin pours, if you like to watch the viscosity and the way the, the chemicals, like, form together and when they, when they mix colors in and stuff, [00:48:00] that’s what it’s like with nail art but on more of, like, a macro level because it’s, you know, you’re working with small stuff. Like, just, just recently I learned how to do… So I’m showing Brett this on, on camera, but I recently learned how to do the kind of nail polish that you take a magnet and you run the magnet along it, and it makes this, like, a cat’s eye. Brett: Yeah, that’s cool. Melissa: I love it. So, so that, so combining nail art then, and I thought, “Well, now I’ve got these long nails,” but all of my keyboards have been these flat, really low-profile keyboards. And, you know, I just, I started to dread it. So then I was kinda caught between a crossroads. Like, either I leave nails off and I can type really, really fast and have high accuracy with no nails, but then as soon as, as soon as I get, like, a little snag or something, then I start picking and then it’s just, it’s all over then. Or I try to find a way to work with these nails. So that’s what I started thinking, “Well, maybe if I had higher keys.” And so then I just, yeah, rabbit hole. [00:49:00] Went down the rabbit hole, and I’ve, I’ve just kinda been there ever since. And, uh, it really, I think, uh… Let’s see. How long ago did this start? It’s only been about maybe like six months or something like that, so. Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole Melissa: But in that time so I’ve started, um, building a collection of switches. So I’ve been really interested in both the key caps and the switches. Um, I’ve got my baseboards. I like my Royal Kludge the best. This is… I’m gonna show Brett my Royal Kludge. So, so this is what it’s looking like right now. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: It is very purpley. Um, I did post some pictures. I can… I don’t know if you do pictures in show notes, but I could take some pictures for you It’s got a knob. It’s got, um… Let me see if I can do it real Brett: Do you use the knob. I have a couple keyboards with knobs and even a joystick, and I never actually use them Melissa: Good question. Um, I, I use it, I try to use it for volume at [00:50:00] times, and that’s probably what I use it for the most. But this one does have a… Let’s see if I can get this into focus here, backwards and upside down. It’s gonna be upside down, but you see how you can put, you can put your logo Brett: Oh, yeah. Nice. Melissa: got my The Mac Mommy little logo on there. Otherwise, it gives you the time in military format, so that’s kind of handy to have. Um, but yeah, it’s… To be honest, I, I love the, I love this Royal Kludge because it’s nice and heavy, and I love the form factor. It’s got a number pad, um, because I’m, because I am a grown-ass adult and I need a number pad. Um, but it’s nice and heavy. It doesn’t, it doesn’t move around my desk a lot. I kind of have to type, like, kind of crooked, ’cause that’s just the way my neck goes to the wrong way and stuff like that. So I like being able to fit it on my desk. I have a, I had a larger one made by Red, uh, what is it? Redragon. This is the one that I started [00:51:00] out with. Gonna make lots of noise here. But as you can see, this one is way bigger. And it was, as much as I liked it, I mean, I fell in love with it, but what was happening was my accuracy was, like, really thrown off because I fe- I kept feeling like it just needs to be, like, a couple centimeters to the right or a couple centimeters to the left. It just wasn’t centered very well. So this one, my husband gets all the hand-me-downs, so that one went over onto his desk. Uh, and then I also have a baby keyboard here, and this is another Redragon. This is my little mini one. Brett: that’s, that’s the kind of keyboard I mostly use, like a 70% keyboard. Melissa: Yeah, I think this one’s even 60. Um… Brett: My– The one I’m using right now is, uh, 60. There’s no, there’s no function row, there’s no arrow, there’s no keypad or, like, arrow pad. Um, Melissa: No [00:52:00] arrows? How do you live without arrows? Oh, do you, you mapped your keys to something Brett: so it looks like this, Melissa: nice. I love the Brett: that the, the space bar is split in two. Yeah, my, my, my partner says it looks like, uh, gay ’80s. It’s all pink and blue and purple. Um, but the, the space bar is split, and the right half of mine functions as something called a mod key, and when I hold that down, then my I, J, K, and L keys become arrow keys. Melissa: Oh, wow. Brett: once you get used to it, you never have to take your hand off the home row. Melissa: Oh my God, that must be amazing. Brett: It– Yeah, once you get used to it, it, it’s so… Like, g- moving to a keyboard that doesn’t have that is kind of tortuous. On my MacBook Pro, I have remapped it using Karabiner so that Melissa: [00:53:00] That’s what I’m using. Brett: if I hold, the semicolon down with my pinky, then H-I-J-K-L become, Melissa: Oh, nice. Brett: become arrow keys, so I still don’t have to move my hand all the way down and to the right. Like, that’s such a inefficient movement that then I have to, like… Because I don’t have great feeling in my fingers, so finding, on a low-profile keyboard, finding the, the homing buttons again Melissa: Oh, do you use the humming buttons? See, that’s the thing, I was never taught that. I mean, I took like a ty- I took like a typewriting class back in high school, and I just didn’t like it. I, I just taught myself. I just… I’m an autodidact that way, so I just taught myself. Brett: my dad, back in 1984, we had a typing program on our PCjr, and I Melissa: It wasn’t Mavis Beacon, was it? Brett: remember. I don’t remember. All I know is, like, It taught you touch typing, and it would give you [00:54:00] these lessons, and you would basically just mirror what was on screen. And at the age of seven, I was typing at about 68 words per minute on an, on an old IBM PCjr keyboard. Um, got a lot faster through high school and everything. But yeah, I was, I was, from day one, I was raised to be a touch typist, and, and I took all the classes they had in school. Melissa: But you still touch Brett: labs. Yeah. Melissa: Uh-huh, yeah. So you don’t do the home rows. Brett: No, that is touch Melissa: Oh, touch typing, so you do feel… for the bumps. Brett: Yeah, I feel for the bumps, and then I just, like, my f- my key, my fingers never really leave the Melissa: Oh, yeah. See, I wish I could do Brett: centered home row. Yeah. It’s, it, it’s good. Um, Melissa: And you’re using the split, so my gosh. Brett: What– You get used to that too. Um, like, [00:55:00] I can’t do it with the split far apart. I’ve seen people use, like, splits, like, way out to the sides, and I can’t, my, my brain doesn’t do that. Like, my hands have to be within, like, six inches of each other. Melissa: I always thought, it would be so cool to have something where you could have it, like, raised up like this, right? And use your hands sideways. Brett: Yeah. Well, that’s I mean, that’s essentially, I have, on the bottom of this keyboard, I have these risers. Melissa: Oh, uh-huh. Oh, Brett: So it sits, right now I have it at about a 45-degree tent, tent, tent. Um, but it can go up to more like an 80-degree tent, where you’re actually Melissa: Wow. Brett: uh, almost like you’re clapping, you’re typing. Um, I don’t Melissa: of that. I have a, a, handshake mouse. Brett: Vertical mouse. Melissa: You like… Is that what you have for a mouse too? Brett: no, I, I love Melissa: Trackballs. Oh, trackpads. Oh, okay. Brett: Apple’s Magic Trackpad changed my life. I’ve never used– I’ve never gone back to a [00:56:00] mouse since the first Magic Trackpad came out. Melissa: So you’re all about the gestures then? Brett: yeah, Melissa: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’s great. Brett: Bet- bet- better touch tool for the win. Melissa: You know what it is for me, is because of the type of work that I do, and this is very much true for both of us, you do these things because of the type of work that you do. The type of work that I do, I’m in everybody’s homes, so I have to ty- I have to be able to type and use their mouse and, I mean, it’s actually a very dirty job. So I keep hand wipes with me everywhere. Um, that, that was why during the pandemic I was like, “I am not coming to your house and I am not touching the stuff that you just picked your nose and…” Yeah, mm-mm. But, so, so i- it’s been kind of keeping me almost like a purist in a way as far as keyboards have gone all these years. I, I finally just kind of let go and embraced this recently, th- which is why I’m so excited and why I’m just kind of nerding out on it, because when, when I worked [00:57:00] in, like, I’ll call it the industry, um, I got my f- my start in prepress. So I worked in prepress, I was a typesetter, and we had… That’s what I kind of miss. We had the old clunky beige keyboards, and I had my muscle memory such that I think my o- my Option key would have, like, the indentation of my nail on it. You know? ‘Cause I had, just like you have, keys that are programmed. I could… I was a Quark queen. I don’t know if you’re familiar with QuarkXPress? Brett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was a graphic designer. I I know Quark. Melissa: Yeah, I loved it. I was… And, and I used it back in the OS 9 days, OS 7 really, is when I started out. Uh, I did not like the OS X vers- OS 10 version of Quark. Did not like it at all. Brett: No, but that’s Melissa: it was slow. Brett: Adobe came out with, what was, what was Adobe’s… InDesign. Yeah. By the time I had started, by the time I had started my own ad agency, we were all InDesign. Melissa: Oh, [00:58:00] nice. Okay. I mean, it was a Brett: and none of the, none of the print shops expected Quark files Melissa: Yeah. Oh, it was so expensive. I remember I had to buy it when I was in college, and I remember it cost, like, $800. I’m probably still paying for that, damn it, in interest. Yeah, so that, that’s how I got my start originally, and that’s how I was doing… I, I went to… So I have, I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I went to college in order to be a designer. I wanted to be a designer designer, and that’s what I, what I thought I was good at and thought that I liked doing, ’cause, you know, “Oh, you’re a girl. Go to art school. You like to draw.” You know? I’m always bitter about that because I really wish that I would’ve been able to go… I mean, this was, you know… I’m, I’m 51, so this was back in the day where girls, girls don’t do computers and girls don’t do coding. G- girls don’t do computer science. They didn’t even call it computer science. They didn’t even call it graphic design back then. It was commercial art. Um, so I studied that and, you know, I liked it ’cause I thought, “Well, this is what I could, I could take my art and make [00:59:00] a living into it.” And then fast-forward, um, I just started to fall in love with the technical troubleshooting side of things. So as, as good as I was at the technical typesetting and the technical, like, putting prepress things together, you know, um, uh, key sheets and s- you know, things like that. Do you remember, was there, uh, did you ever use a program called Quick Keys? That was one of the ones Brett: familiar. Melissa: you could map your own keys to things. So w- when I was in prepress and doing typesetting, I used that program and I, I mapped all my keys, and I had all these quick keys and stuff so I could go really, really fast, you know? So when they wanted something done fast, they gave it to me, and I could just fly through documents with this. But then as people learned that I was good at this kind of stuff and troubleshooting, they’re like, “Oh, hey, Roger needs, you know, has a problem. Can you go help him?” So I’d go over to his cubicle, I sit down, and he’s got nothing. You know, he’s got [01:00:00] no quick keys, no nothing, and you just kinda get lost because your muscle memory just adapts to it. And I couldn’t help people the way… And, and that was what it was about for me. I really liked more helping people and troubleshooting and the technology side of things than the actual design process. So I kind of went to the other side with it. And so I just kind of, like, vowed that, okay, I’m not gonna do any kind of, like, customization on my own workstation because then I’ll, my, my muscle memory will map to it, and then when I go to sit down to help somebody else, I won’t… You know, I’ll be so much in my own world that I won’t be able to help them. And so I just kind of, like, remained a, a pu

Discover the raw truth about traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD in law enforcement from retired officer Jeff Casselman, who served 27 years in the military and at Lorain Ohio PD. After multiple concussions from cruiser accidents, bar fights, and on-duty violence, Jeff faced memory loss, rage blackouts, seizures, and three failed marriages before a diagnosis changed everything. He shares powerful stories: brutal fights, bizarre calls (like a grim reaper walking a goat), heartwarming redemption with a former addict he helped save, and the "Wild West" days of policing. Jeff founded the Sentinel Neuro Awareness Institute and authored Survival Guide to educate officers, departments, and families on recognizing cumulative brain damage early—before it destroys careers, relationships, or lives. Topics include: firearm concussion risks, hyperactive startle response, adult-onset ADD from head trauma, medications like lamotrigine (Lamictal) for impulse control, and why early awareness matters for cops, veterans, and contact-sport athletes. If you're in law enforcement, a first responder, veteran, or love someone who is—this eye-opening interview reveals the hidden neurological toll of the job and how to fight back. Jeff's Book https://a.co/d/09rr36Ge Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/1FRkgeRM8F/?mibextid=wwXIfr Contact Steve - steve@thingspolicesee.com Support the TPS show by joining the Patreon community today! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=27353055 Sergeant Steve YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@TheSergeantSteve      

Been on keto but not seeing the mental clarity you expected? Book a free call with Robert Sikes: ketobodybuilding.com/callDave Schmitz was told he'd be on psychiatric meds for life. Bipolar diagnosis in his 30s, five years of feeling emotionally numb on Lamictal. Then he went full carnivore. One to two pounds of ground beef daily. Six months later, he forgot to take his medication and felt fine. On this episode of Savage Perspective Podcast, Dave shares how strict carnivore eating and a shift in gratitude helped him ditch the pills his psychiatrist said he'd need until the grave. He also runs a keto restaurant on Route 66, homeschools seven kids, and has some thoughts on why Americans can't handle bread anymore. If you're weighing keto vs carnivore for brain health, this one hits different.Get Keto Brick: https://www.ketobrick.com/Subscribe to the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/42cjJssghqD01bdWBxRYEg?si=1XYKmPXmR4eKw2O9gGCEuQChapters:0:00 - Introduction and Connection Through F-Bomb3:45 - How Keto Keto Carnivore Restaurant Started8:20 - What Is an Episode of Bipolar Disorder?12:15 - Why I Was Prescribed Lamotrigin for Life16:30 - How My Son's Food Restrictions Changed Everything21:00 - Why I Decided to Try Full Carnivore24:45 - Taking Fenbendazole and Forgetting My Medication29:20 - Could Parasites Cause Mental Health Issues?33:10 - Heavy Metals, Mercury Fillings, and Brain Inflammation37:45 - How Colloidal Gold May Have Helped41:30 - Mental Health and High Fat Diets Connection45:15 - Running a Restaurant with 7 Kids49:00 - What Homeschooling 7 Children Actually Looks Like52:45 - Why Europeans Can't Eat American Bread56:20 - How Gratitude Started My Healing Journey1:00:15 - Sticking to Carnivore Without Being Dogmatic1:04:30 - Training Your Brain to Say No

What if coming off psychiatric medication didn't have to be terrifying?In this episode of The Holistic Psychiatrist Podcast, Alice W. Lee, MD, speaks with Amanda, who shares her experience of withdrawing from three psychiatric medications (Lamictal, Wellbutrin, and Levothyroxine) — smoothly, safely, and easily — after being medicated for most of her life.Amanda (38 y.o.) had been on psychiatric medications since her early teens, following the loss of her grandmother and years of emotional experiences that were misunderstood and medicalized. Over 25 years, she was prescribed numerous antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and stimulants, alongside navigating addiction, misdiagnosis, and deep self-doubt.In this candid conversation, Amanda reflects on:Why her most recent withdrawal experience was radically differentHow belief, self-responsibility, and boundaries played a roleThe impact of grief, trauma, and identity on mental healthWhy addressing root causes matters more than managing symptomsThe importance of practitioner trust and mindsetWhat long-term recovery (including sobriety and self-work) made possibleThis episode is not medical advice, nor a promise of identical outcomes — but it is an invitation to rethink what healing can look like when approached holistically, thoughtfully, and with deep respect for the individual.If you or someone you love feels stuck, fearful, or unsure about what's possible beyond medication, this conversation offers grounded hope, clarity, and perspective.Support the showTo sustain my work as a holistic psychiatrist and support my efforts to improve psychiatric treatment for all through my podcasts, articles, website, and YouTube channel, please show your appreciation and help champion holistic psychiatry by clicking HERE to contribute!Click here to listen to all of The Holistic Psychiatrist Podcast episodesContact here to email Dr. Lee directly. If you like this podcast, please give it a 5-star rating and share this with others! Thank you! For more about Dr. Alice W. Lee, please visit: Website: www.holisticpsychiatrist.com More stories and insights: Holistic Articles YouTube: The Holistic Psychiatrist To schedule consultations or appointments, call Dr. Lee's office at 240-437-7600 Dr. Lee is located near downtown Stamford, Connecticut. The content provided by this podcast is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This podcast is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical p...

Lauren Henry Brehm joined the podcast to discuss her book The French Court: Essays from One Family's Legacy of Mental Illness and her journey through mental health, family trauma, and personal transformation.Opened up about her grandmother's undiagnosed OCD and its generational impactShared her own suicide attempt and living with Autism Spectrum DisorderReflected on her divorce after 29 years of marriageDescribed her experience in the psychiatric ER and ongoing therapyDiscussed psychiatric medications: Cymbalta, Buspar, Lamictal, TrazodoneMemorable quotes:“I don't want to escape my life, I just don't want it to hurt so much.”“A smile is the shortest distance between two people.”“I learned that I have something to offer everyone.”Purchase Book: https://tinyurl.com/French-Court Thrive With Leo Coaching: If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey.If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help:In the US: Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386Outside the US:International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them.

Private class action lawsuits play a significant role in the vindication and development of U.S. antitrust law. But what are attorneys and courts to do when they know there's an injured class, but are not quite sure who's in it and who's not? Tram Nguyen, Ph.D., an economist and Managing Principal at Edgeworth Economics, joins Alicia Downey and Matt Reynolds to discuss how economic analysis can help overcome issues with ascertaining class membership, particularly in the context of the pharmaceutical industry. Listen to this episode to learn more about not only the "ascertainability" requirement in class action litigation but also Tram's favorite beach destinations. With special guest: Tram Nguyen, Ph.D., Managing Principal, Edgeworth Economics Related Links: George Korenko & Tram Nguyen, Finding Uninjured Consumers In Drug Antitrust Class Actions  George Korenko & Tram Nguyen, Lamictal and the Myth of “Generic” “Pay-for-Delay” Cases  George Korenko & Tram Nguyen, Don't Count Out Numerosity  Hosted by: Matthew Reynolds, Huth Reynolds LLP and Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC

Send us a textExplore the mysterious changes that depression triggers in the brain, as we unravel the complexities of neurotransmitters and their crucial roles in mental health. Join us as we break down how dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin shape our emotions and mental states, and discover how SSRIs can help manage depression by influencing these chemical messengers. We'll discuss the challenges of diagnosing mood disorders, given their subjective nature and the lack of definitive tests. Our 'Winner of the Week' segment brings a heartwarming story from Cape Verde, where a couple's compassionate rescue of a dying donkey leads to unexpected joy and miracles.Next, we turn our attention to psychiatric medication, focusing on the intricacies of finding the right dosage with insight into the use of Lamictal. Understand the importance of regular consultations with your psychiatrist to track medication effectiveness and side effects, and hear about the role blood tests can play in managing side effects. From there, we lighten the mood with a fun chat about fantasy football, highlighting our league standings, followed by the heartwarming tale of Chip, a lovable cockapoo from the Detroit Dog Rescue in search of a forever home. We wrap up with a powerful reminder that changing your mindset can transform your life, and the simple yet profound impact of kindness and laughter in our daily interactions.FIND ME:My Website: https://motorcityhypnotist.com/podcastMy social media links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motorcityhypnotist/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCjjLNcNvSYzfeX0uHqe3gATwitter: https://twitter.com/motorcityhypnoInstagram: motorcityhypnoFREE HYPNOSIS GUIDEhttps://detroithypnotist.convertri.com/podcast-free-hypnosis-guidePlease also subscribe to the show and leave a review.(Stay with me as later in the podcast, I'll be giving away a free gift to all listeners!)Change your thinking, change your life!Laugh hard, run fast, be kind. David R. Wright MA, LPC, CHTThe Motor City Hypnotist

Poet of the Week, November 11–17, 2024. Full text of the poem & interview: brooklynpoets.org/community/poet/marlee-alcina-miller

Welcome to today's episode where we discuss another mood stabilizer, Lamotrigine (Lamictal). --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/psychrounds/support

This is the 27th podcast episode for the Psychiatric Medication Podcast Series. Series Description: Current literature indicates that podcasts can be an effective educational format to reach health professionals across the continuum of medical education, addressing a myriad of topics pertinent to providers. This episode serves as an overview of Lamotrigine/Lamictal. This podcast season is the second released by East Carolina University's Office of Continuing Medical Education and may be beneficial for physicians, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurses. This podcast season is comprised of approximately 30 episodes, each focusing on different psychiatric medications for the non-psychiatric provider. Those tuning into the podcast's second season will receive a primer on the "bread and butter" behavioral health medications for primary care: antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers. Episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays.Irene Pastis, MD & Daniel Majarwitz, MD

Just the other day I received a text from one of our wonderful FM attendings in our group concerned about refilling a patient's Lamictal in early pregnancy. When asked if that was acceptable to do, I quickly answered ABSOLUTELY. We've come a long way in understanding bipolar disorder and a long way since lithium was first described for its use. While its use in psychiatry dates to the mid-19th century, the widespread discovery of lithium is usually credited to Australian psychiatrist John Cade who introduced it for mania in 1949. The first randomized trial was published in 1954 showing efficacy for this mental health condition. The drug was not US FDA approved for treatment of bipolar disorder until 21 years later in 1970. Thankfully, now- safer options of medical therapy are available for reproductive age women. In this episode we will summarize the data on medical therapy for bipolar disorder. Which medications are preferred? Are serum drug levels recommended? Does lithium really cause Epstein's Anomaly? And what drastic move did the UK perform to reduce fetal exposure to some medications commonly used for bipolar disorder in reproductive age women? We'll explain it all in this episode.

In the episode, "Tapering Off Antipsychotics: Avoiding Withdrawal, Practicing Self-Care(S5, E4)," I share my journey I started 2 years ago when I decided to officially remove psychiatry from my life and get off their forced meds for good. Most psychiatrists have no interest in helping a bipolar get off their meds, so I went out on my own, assembled a support group around me, did the research, and invested in my healing. Now after putting my goal front and center for the last 2 years, I have committed to a long and slow taper from Seroquel and Lamictal, and luckily, I've suffered no withdrawal symptoms yet. So check in to see if any of my advice can help anyone taking on the process. Those mentioned in this podcast:Dr. Mark Horowitzhttps://markhorowitz.orgDr. Lynn Parodneck, MDMedical Marijuana Practictionerhttps://www.drlynnparodneck.comRobin Queen, psychosocial spiritual counselorhttps://slowmedicine.org/about-robinWarren Falcon, dream therapisthttps://falconwarren.blogspot.comChaya Grossberg, holistic healerhttps://chayagrossberg.comLyle Murphywww.alternativetomeds.com#psychmedswithdrawal #bipolardisorder #antipsychotics #bigpharma #forceddrugging #chayagrossberg #mania #depression #psychiatryisnotscience #markhorowitz #medicalmarijuanaPlease visit my website at: http://www.notascrazyasyouthink.com/​Don't forget to subscribe to the Not As Crazy As You Think YouTube channel @SicilianoJenConnect:Instagram: @ jengaita LinkedIn: @ jensicilianoTwitter: @ jsiciliano

Download the cheat: https://bit.ly/50-meds  View the lesson: https://bit.ly/LamotrigineLamictalNursingConsiderations      Generic Name lamotrigine Trade Name Lamictal Indication seizures r/t epilepsy, bipolar Action Inhibits sodium transport in neurons Therapeutic Class anticonvulsant Nursing Considerations • may cause suicidal thoughts, dizziness, behavior changes, nausea, vomiting, photosensitivity, rash, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome • use caution with oral contraceptive use • assess mental status • assess for seizures • do not discontinue use abruptly

Lamictal was a drug prescribed to me to stabilize my mood. Did that happen? Was it a good thing?

Is it possible to safely come off psychiatric medications associated with the consequences of a brain tumor? 29 y.o. Tina and her mom, Janine, share their experiences as Tina heals from a cerebellar tumor at 17 y.o. and then a mental health crisis ten years later. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and medicated with Lamictal and Olanzapine, Tina felt flat, tired, and stressed. How did she overcome her life challenges? What important insights does she have for those who also want to taper off their psychiatric medications? This podcast will inspire hope as Tina and Janine share their miraculous healing journey.For more about Dr. Lee, please visit:Website: www.holisticpsychiatrist.comYouTube: The Holistic PsychiatristClick on the Holistic Updates Sign up for weekly stories and insights: Holistic UpdatesTo schedule consultations or appointments, call her office at 240-437-7600The content provided by this podcast is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This podcast is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.

What does a holistic psychiatrist use to help resolve bipolar disorder and Lamictal/Lamotrigine withdrawal? Dr. Lee explains the core issue in bipolar illness from a holistic psychiatric perspective and goes over her favorite supplements for treating bipolar disorder and Lamictal/Lamotrigine withdrawal. Listen as she goes over each supplement and provides reasons why they are important for healing this difficult condition.For more about Dr. Lee, please visit:Website: www.holisticpsychiatrist.comYouTube: The Holistic PsychiatristClick on the Holistic Updates Sign up for weekly stories and insights: Holistic UpdatesTo schedule consultations or appointments, call her office at 240-437-7600The content provided by this podcast is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This podcast is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.

Although Jane never believed she had bipolar disorder, she was prescribed Lamotrigine/Lamictal for bipolar disorder in 1982. In 2018, after taking Lamictal for over 36 years, she wanted to get off of it safely. Is it possible to come off a medication after taking it for over three decades? What needed to happen in order for her to have a safe withdrawal? Jane and I revisit her healing journey: what needed to heal and how it was accomplished. What has life been like for Jane without a psychiatric diagnosis, chronic mental health symptoms, or a need for a prescription medication? Listen as Jane and I catch up on her ongoing adventures.For more about Dr. Lee, please visit: Website: www.holisticpsychiatrist.comYouTube: The Holistic PsychiatristClick on the Holistic Updates Sign up for weekly stories and insights: Holistic UpdatesTo schedule consultations or appointments, call her office at 240-437-7600 The content provided by this podcast is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This podcast is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.

In this episode, we hear from Heather McCarthy, mother of O'Shea McCarthy, known as Shea, who was born in December of 1988. His love of art and music was apparent from an early age, and by the time he reached adolescence, he had become proficient in a variety of instruments and was the recipient of numerous art awards. Shea excelled in his studies throughout his K through 12 education, especially in his love of nature and science. Upon graduation from high school, he was admitted to Purdue University where he was accepted in the Earth and Atmospheric Science Program. Prior to undergoing corrective surgery for a deviated septum the summer before his sophomore year, Shea was prescribed an extremely large dose of the antibiotic Levaquin. After a three-week course of this veritable atomic bomb of antibiotics, Shea's life would never be the same. Heather remembers that her son became a shadow of the “intelligent, curious, beautiful young man” he was as he was suddenly struggling with anxiety, cardiac issues, insomnia, and a host of other adverse effects caused by Levaquin. Despite telling his treatment providers that he believed his condition was the result of an adverse effect of Levaquin, they chose a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and subsequently prescribed a host of psychotropic drugs that included Risperdal, Lamictal and Ativan. [Heather McCarthy] I think these drugs are so insidious on how they affect your spirit and your mind and, my belief, your soul, because it's such a slow walk. It's such a slow chipping away at who he was. And his anxiety was all the time. He, you know, was twitching a lot and he had so much anxiety. And I think he just got tired. And how degrading it is to not be listened to and to not be believed. I mean, we have medical records that says, “I'm afraid,” he's telling his therapist, “I'm afraid I'm going to crash my car." In hindsight, it's just this ridiculous, to me, belief that he was — you know, he's going, he's getting the treatment, he's going to get better. Like, this is going to pass. This is a brilliant young man. You know? Like, this is going to pass.” Heather McCarthy is an attorney from Northwest Indiana who holds advanced degrees in public administration and English lit. Prior to establishing a private law practice, she was an executive in the mental health industry. She served in the role of vice president at the administrative services organization for Regional Mental Health Center, the facility that treated her son, O'Shea. After his death, Heather pursued an eight-year legal case alleging medical malpractice of the mental health treatment providers in the wrongful death of her son. She also testified, with numerous other victims, at the 2015 FDA hearings that resulted in additional black box warnings for the antibiotic Levaquin and the acknowledgment of a disability, Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability, of which symptoms include cardiac issues, insomnia, restlessness, and psychosis, some of which can be permanent. Heather also supports the efforts of MISSD in creating awareness about akathisia, a condition that was fatal for Shea after receiving mental health treatment.In this episode we hear two interviews with Heather, the first of which was recorded in late 2019, following the MISSD organization's silent auction in Chicago. At that time Heather's lawsuit was in progress and she was not permitted to make mention of it. Later, we hear an interview recorded just last month, following resolution of that litigation.

Welcome to another episode of The PO3 Podcast (Episode 40). In this episode of the PO3 Podcast Marcus Marx talks about the nasty side effects that are occurring from the bipolar medication "lamictal" and the struggles that follow. We also discuss religion and where each of us stand on that topic. Follow the PO3 Podcast On Instagram @PO3_Podcast --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/po3podcast/support

Welcome to another episode of The PO3 Podcast (Episode 38). In this episode of the PO3 Podcast , Jonathan Tovar opens up about some of his personal adversities he has faced over the years and what tools he used to overcome them.He also takes a moment to self reflect and answer a few difficult questions. Marcus Marx describes his experience with Bi-Polar medication Lamictal and the effects that are taking place. Follow the PO3 Podcast On Instagram @PO3_Podcast --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/po3podcast/support

Welcome to another episode of The PO3 Podcast (Episode 36). In this episode of the PO3 Podcast , Marcus Marx and Jonathan Tovar discuss Marcus's first week on his bipolar medication" lamictal" or "lamotrigine" and the anxiety's leading up to the first dose. We also discuss the book "The end of Mental Illness " By Dr. Amen, a Clinical Psychologist . This is part 1 of episode 36. Part 2 will be uploaded Thursday morning at 9 am. Living with mental illness, the struggles, the stigma and everyday life. Marcus Marx will discuss his everyday struggles living with his Mental Health issues. For AUDIO version of this podcast follow us on Anchor! https://anchor.fm/po3podcast Follow the PO3 Podcast On Instagram @PO3_Podcast --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/po3podcast/support

This week, Peter Simons covers the first peer-reviewed scientific article with specific guidance for discontinuing antipsychotic drugs, a study that found transcranial magnetic stimulation no better than sham treatment for bipolar disorder, and an FDA drug safety communication about the risk of heart arrhythmias with anticonvulsant drug lamotrigine (Lamictal). Major Publication on Tapering Antipsychotics Released Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Ineffective for People with Bipolar Disorder FDA Drug Safety Communication for lamotrigine Visit madinamerica.com for more news, articles and research updates.

Listen to an audio podcast of the March 31, 2021 FDA Drug Safety Communication that FDA review of studies show a potential increased risk of heart rhythm problems, in patients with heart disease taking lamotrigine (Lamictal). FDA requiring studies to evaluate heart risk across the drug class.

Purpose: Learn how a holistic and integrative approach can help a person withdraw from Geodon (Ziprasidone), Lamictal (Lamotrigine), and Wellbutrin (Bupropion) easily and successfully!Allyson is a beautiful, vivacious businesswoman who had taken three psychiatric medications for 11 years when she began working with me to help her withdraw safely. We talk about her healing process: her motivations for doing so, the preparation required, and what she learned along the way. We also discuss how things are different for her now that she is off her medications and thriving. For more about Dr. Lee, please visit:Website: www.holisticpsychiatrist.comYouTube: The Holistic PsychiatristClick on the Holistic Updates Sign up for weekly stories and insights: Holistic UpdatesTo schedule consultations or appointments, call her office at 240-437-7600The content provided by this podcast is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This podcast is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.

In this episode Nick talks about meeting his new psychiatrist and the process that led up to that first appointment.Feel free to join our Facebook group, "Regular People Talking About Mental Health".nickandtriciapodcast@gmail.comwww.NickandTricia.com

This episode tells the story of me leaving one psychiatrist, and finding a new one.  This involves topics related to medication, psychiatry, therapy, support networks, growth, and hard work.  Primary medications touched on are Depakote, with references to Lamictal and Lithium.

Radical Treatments for your McMental HealthSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/degeneratenation?fan_landing=true)

Topics include sexy penguins, the magic of lasers, outrage porn, and saying no. Plus, an important potato chip update. And we F**k/Marry/Kill the pop stars of our youth. Not (yet) sponsored by Lamictal.

In Episode 3, Christina will tell us all about Lamictal, bad times at the University of Wiscomptin, hypochondriasis and share her thoughts on male proportionality. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/liza-chapa/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/liza-chapa/support

Just a quick podcast on how I love Lamictal and a warning about benzodiazepines and Ambien. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bipolar-mixed/support

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/_Usci1VDUaA   A large, multicenter study of  222 breastfeeding babies and their mother shows that insignificant amounts of most anti-seizure drugs pass from mom to babe through breast milk.  The one drug that did pass was lamotrigine marketed as Lamictal.   Nearly 50% of babies had undetectable levels of drug in their blood, and the remainder had insignificant quantities.  Lamictal did pass through more readily into breast milk than the others, and its concentration in the baby depended upon the mother's dosing.   This study concludes that mothers, taking most drugs for their seizure disorders, can safely breastfeed.  As always, you should consult with your own doctors before proceeding.   Birnbaum AK, Meador KJ, Karanam A, et al. Antiepileptic Drug Exposure in Infants of Breastfeeding Mothers With Epilepsy. JAMA Neurol. Published online December 30, 2019. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.4443   #Breastfeeding #antiseizuredrugs #antiepileptics #lamotrigine #Lamictal  

In this mini-episode Dr. H opens himself up for major audiophile shaming as he (reluctantly) reveals his three desert island albums. With this revelation complete, he then moves on to the challenge at hand-- which three psychiatric medications are at the top of the heap, combining efficacy, safety, and breadth of symptom coverage?A hint-- they all start with the same letter. And they are all generic. And psychiatry would be greatly hamstrung without them. Guesses?? Dr. Hhttps://www.craigheacockmd.com

La lamotrigina è un farmaco usato in psichiatria come stabilizzatore dell'umore con la funzione anche di prevenire gli episodi depressivi.Qual'è la posologia della lamotrigina? Quali effetti collaterali ha la lamotrigina? Vi spiego tutto in questo breve video...Vi interessano la Psichiatria e le Neuroscienze? Bene, allora iscrivetevi a questo podcast ed al mio canale YouTube e seguitemi sul web tramite il mio blog https://www.valeriorosso.comInoltre andate su Amazon a dare un’occhiata ai miei libri:“Psicobiotica” - Un nuovo modo di intendere il rapporto tra la Mente ed il Corpo….andate su: https://amzn.to/2IZwjhm“Psichiatria Rock” - 50 pensieri off line dal mio blog….andate su: https://amzn.to/2IVKKmJ

La lamotrigina è un farmaco usato in psichiatria come stabilizzatore dell'umore con la funzione anche di prevenire gli episodi depressivi.Qual'è la posologia della lamotrigina? Quali effetti collaterali ha la lamotrigina? Vi spiego tutto in questo breve video...Vi interessano la Psichiatria e le Neuroscienze? Bene, allora iscrivetevi a questo podcast ed al mio canale YouTube e seguitemi sul web tramite il mio blog https://www.valeriorosso.comInoltre andate su Amazon a dare un’occhiata ai miei libri:“Psicobiotica” - Un nuovo modo di intendere il rapporto tra la Mente ed il Corpo….andate su: https://amzn.to/2IZwjhm“Psichiatria Rock” - 50 pensieri off line dal mio blog….andate su: https://amzn.to/2IVKKmJ

Welcome to the Optimal CEO Podcast. This is Dr. Brian Brown. Join me on today's episode where we'll be discussing how I went from depressed and suicidal to naturally restored and ended a 16 year relationship with psychiatric medications. Thanks for joining me today. Last week, I explained how I discovered at age 45 that I'd been dying every single night since age 5… and how that journey gave me a profound appreciation for functional & integrative medicine. I also discussed why a blended approach is the best approach to wellness and why many wellness gurus are off-base when they tell you that their way is the only way because it's the availability of blended options that bring about wellness success in this complex system we call the human body. Today, I'm gonna to continue my story and tell you how I found a way to get off of psychiatric medications after 16 years. Let's jump right in… I've been practicing psychiatry since 1998. I've treated children as young as age 5… adolescents… young adults… middle-age adults… and senior adults. In that time, I've treated thousands of patients who were not content with life. If “happy” is defined as “feeling or showing contentment,” then I've met a lot of people who were not content (not happy) with life in their present situation. Depression and anxiety are rampant in the Western world, yet the only answer that traditional medicine seems to have is in the form of developing the next “latest and greatest” magic pill. I've actually been one of those “discontent . . . unhappy” people myself. All my life, I had longed to become a doctor. I had felt this calling since I was a young boy. It's all I'd ever dreamed of and all I ever talked about. It's what I had my sights set on. I wanted to help others and was hardwired from birth to be an empathic, caring individual. Also, in my mind, it was a way for me to find some happiness. I developed a hardworking nature right from the start: I started mowing yards when I was nine years old and started flipping burgers when I was fifteen years old. I've done everything from changing oil and pumping gas, to patching flat tires, to driving a gas truck, to unloading trucks at UPS. I'm thankful for those experiences because they have gifted me with the work ethic and people skills I have today. Because of my hardworking nature, the academic rigors of my training were second nature to me as evidenced by being a straight “A” student through my high school, undergraduate, and graduate studies. My story actually begins in the spring of 1997 when I was in my next-to-last year of professional training. One of our lectures had just dismissed for a fifteen minute break in the middle of a four-hour stretch. It was an unusually beautiful spring day, so I went outside to get some fresh air and enjoy the tulips that were in full bloom. I went to the third floor balcony that overlooked a park, the closest thing to nature near my lecture hall. I was right in the middle of my lifelong dream on that third floor balcony. . . but I wasn't happy; somehow, happiness had eluded me. I would later realize that by this point, I had been struggling with depression for about two years and that health professionals had the highest rates of suicide among all other professions. As I stood there on the balcony, propped against the balcony railing and facing the street below, I saw a dump truck speeding down the road in front of me. As the truck approached, I had a flood of emotion as all of the blood rushed from my head. I became dizzy andthe whole world around me spun out of control in a maze of vertigo. My heart was racing, and I was overwhelmed by a nauseated feeling in the pit of my stomach . . . Yet, at the same time, I had a sense of immediate relief and heard a small voice whisper, “It's over now.” It wasn't a horrific voice. It was a peaceful voice. You see as that dump truck sped by, I experienced all the sensations of being thrown over the railing into the path of the oncoming truck below—I had actually envisioned throwing myself over the rail. All of this happened in a matter of seconds. I still remember that feeling to this day. I also remember, in that split second, not knowing whether it was actually happening or all a dream. Sadly, part of me hoped that it was real. When I came to my senses and realized that it was all a vision, I was scared. It rocked me to the core. I immediately had flashes of my beautiful wife and my two beautiful daughters who were three and six at the time. Guilt and shame immediately set it. How could I have such a vision? How could I even feel hope that it was actually happening? What was wrong with me? I left the balcony that day and never stepped foot out there again. I was so ashamed. I didn't tell anyone what happened until about twenty years later. And it wasn't until a year after that incident on the balcony that I confided in a colleague that I'd been struggling with depression and anxiety. She never asked about suicidal thoughts, and I never told her… And I sure as heck didn't tell her about the dozens of other times I had avoided the impulse to swerve my car into the path of oncoming traffic while driving. She put me on Prozac, and it was at that time that I began a sixteen-year journey into the world of “chemical happiness.” I've often reflected why I went on the that first medication. The only conclusion I can draw is that I was new in my profession… in the field of psychiatry… and it just made sense. It was the way I was trained. I told myself, “Brian, why wouldn't I do this? It's what I'd do for one of my patients. Some people get their “chemical happiness” fix through drugs or alcohol, and others, like me, get their fix through antidepressants.” This is how I rationalized it. Isn't it funny how we as humans will find a rationalization for most anything that we want… or anything that we are doing… just to make sense of it all. But… I don't beat myself up too much over this journey, because my knowledge was limited when I made the decision. I guess you can say I wasn't as enlightened as I am now. And… I would even add that it was this journey that has allowed me to help so many others. So… in a strange way… it had to happen… and again, here's the rationalization of it all. Now, let's get back to the rest of the story. In the course of sixteen years, I tried nine different psychiatric medications in the pursuit of happiness… medications like Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Buspar, Lamictal, Strattera, and Provigil. None of these gave me the happiness I wanted. In fact, they made me feel numb. I couldn't feel anything. I had no emotion. And on top of that, I gained 170 pounds… At 390 pounds, I guess you can say I was “fat and chemically happy,” but I would use the word “happy” very loosely. Over time, I grew to hate the very pills that were supposed to make me feel normal. And yes, I use the word “normal” very loosely also. More than anything, I wanted off these medications. I tried a number of times to stop taking them, but I failed every time. The withdrawal side effects were not fun. Did you know that the drug companies that make these medications will tell you that they are not addictive? In the purest sense of the definition, maybe not, but in reality definitely so. When you try to stop these medication and have symptoms like rebound depression… rebound anxiety… nausea… headaches… and irritability… just to name a few… there's no doubt that these drugs are causing addictive problems. Unable to effectively get off these meds, I repeated the vicious cycle of finding the next pill that would hopefully work and not have major side effects. Oh! And speaking of side effects. They are horrible! Depending on the drug, you can be excessively sleepy and want to sleep all the time OR not be able to sleep hardly at all. You can have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, increased appetite, loss of appetite, anger, rage, irritability, no libido, erectile dysfunction… and these are just some of the most common ones. Oh… and the yawning can be terrible… yawning all the time… and there's nothing you can do about it. During my personal sixteen-year journey into “chemical happiness,” I was treating patients with these same medications that I tried… They were dealing with the same side effects… and dealing with the same withdrawal issues. I followed the mantra of my professional training and just accepted that this was the way things were supposed to be. Again, I rationalized it with another professional mantra that we were offering the very best treatments available… after all, what other options were there. How naïve that was to say that… but it's where I was at the time. During that time, I mostly treated patients who were in their mid- to late thirties and older. They would tell me that they were feeling unhappy . . . but many of them would follow it with, “But I know it's not depression . . . it's got to be something else . . . some kind of imbalance.” Most of the time, they would follow it with a laundry list of psychiatric medications they had tried—none of which worked well. Then one day, around the age of forty, it dawned on me: maybe my patients had been right all along! Maybe my medical training had failed me. Maybe the pharmaceutical industry had lied to me. Maybe there were answers outside of traditional medical approaches. I had to find a different way of doing things. From that point forward, I made it my mission to become a student of the best alternative therapies that a person could use to physically and emotionally regain happiness from the inside out. Now, believe me, I knew that walking down this road could mean committing professional suicide. You see, I had been practicing psychiatry for years now. I was a company man. I spoke for numerous pharmaceutical companies. I talked the talk and walked the walk. I believed the lockstep answers fed to me in my medical training, and, not ironically, these same answers were fed to me by the drug reps that made sales calls on me at my office. For those of you who may not know, here's a bit of insider information… a peak behind the curtain, if you will. As a prescriber, you don't get asked to be a speaker for a pharmaceutical company unless you're a high volume prescriber… that's the first thing you need to know. And secondly, Big Pharma has pockets deep enough to be very persuasive. They provide prescribers with the most recent studies… all of which happen to prove their point and sway prescribing in their direction. They are fully aware that prescribers are busy and have little time to do in-depth clinical reading of professional journals. But the proverbial rabbit hole goes deeper. All you have to do is follow the money. Open up most any professional journal, and you will find TWO to SIX page advertising spreads for this drug or that with a cost-per-ad that will rival advertising costs in major secular publications. These same Big Pharma companies are the ones that will pay $100,000 or more for a booth at a professional conference. I give you these tidbits to let you know that the information medical professionals have at their disposal is tainted… and the professional organizations are tainted… they have been corrupted by Big Pharma. I've lived it. I've seen it first hand. And, as you may recall from podcast episode one, the numbers show it. The U.S. is almost last in health outcomes and almost first in healthcare spending. When are we going to wake up and recognize the disconnect here? But, I digress. Until this point, I had been 100 percent sold on the fact that pharmaceutical drugs were the answer, but that day I had my epiphany, something inside of me snapped. I was repulsed by all the lies propagated by Big Pharma . . . lies fed to me during my education; lies that led me down a path of unrest; and lies that certainly didn't reverse my depression. I couldn't live like this anymore, and I couldn't keep poking pills down my own throat and down the throats of my patients either. You might say I had a professional mid-life crisis. I refer to it as an awakening. I remember resolving in my mind that I couldn't do this anymore. Either I was getting out of health care altogether or I was going to reinvent myself. I set out on a journey to find answers, and it came in the strangest of ways. While away at a cardiovascular conference, the keynote speaker, who was the world's foremost authority on cholesterol, said something that lit a spark in me. Here was a guy being paid big bucks by some Big Pharma brand to speak about cholesterol. Instead, what he did surprised the audience. His entire lecture was on the natural treatment of elevated cholesterol. I have to admit, I was in awe. As a former speaker for Big Pharma brands, I knew what it meant to do what he was doing. He was committing professional suicide, but he didn't care… something that I later confirmed in a conversation with him. During that conversation, he also shared some insights that changed the course of my professional career. He pointed me in the right direction, telling me who I needed to study under to gain the knowledge and expertise that I needed. I immediately started seeking that education. After studying under the guru that he recommended for less than three months, I closed down my office practice. I had never been so sure of something in all of my life. I kept doing inpatient work to pay the bills, but I didn't darken the door of an office for nearly a year and a half. I went on to train under this guru for a total of three years. During that first year of training, I began implementing the techniques on myself… and guess what? I began to feel better. I began to lose weight and keep it off. My energy came up. My mood improved. I had stumbled onto something big. I eventually stopped my antidepressants completely in the spring of 2013. Finally, I was free. I had become an escape artist! I had escaped the confining boxes that Big Pharma and traditional medicine had me trapped in. It was a beautiful thing. But something still wasn't quite right. Sure, I was off antidepressants and happy for the first time in nearly two decades. But something was off. Then, it dawned on me. I had to share this with others and help them become escape artists too. In my second year of functional & integrative medicine training, I re-opened the doors of my office. This time, I wasn't practicing psychiatry. I was so turned off by traditional psychiatry that I didn't even want to be associated with it, and I was proud that I had escaped that box and was now beginning my journey to help others escape that box too. I laugh about it today, but it took me two years to realize that I never left psychiatry. I recall coming home one day and saying to my wife, “Guess what? I realized today that I never quit practicing psychiatry, I'm simply doing it differently. I'm doing it holistically.” Always the voice of patient wisdom, my wife said to me, “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to figure that out.” You see, it wasn't enough for me to transform myself. I had to pay it forward. I had to share other people… a way to get out of the confining boxes that traditional medicine, Big Pharma, and others try to put us into. And, that's exactly what I do today. Sure, my repertoire has far surpassed natural mood management. In my office, we manage auto-immune disorders, obesity, nutritional deficits, PCOS, menopause, andropause, gut issues, and thyroid dysfunction… just to name a few. But… since this episode is focused on the natural recovery from depression, I'll leave you with this. Throughout my years of traditional psychiatry and functional psychiatry, a few things have remained consistent… Research shows that women and men in their early thirties begin to experience a decline in hormone activity by as much as one to two1 to 2 percent per year… and this decline continues through the rest of their life. I don't think it's a coincidence that according to the National Center for Health statistics, women age 40 to 59forty to –fifty-nine have the highest rates of depression over any other age group (12.3 percent in fact%)… suicide rates among men are highest in their fifties, and, regardless of gender, those age 40 to 59forty to –fifty-nine are the least happy when compared to every other age group.? Sadly, with hormone disruptors in our diet and environment, we are seeing the ages for these statistics drop. So.. is hormone decline the cause of this depression epidemic in adults age 30 and over? I certainly think it's one of the main causes. In fact, since I've been practicing functional medicine, I've developed a very good track record at helping people avoid antidepressants and helping them come off of antidepressants… all by natural means. And… now that I have a functional medicine background, when we look at those in their late teens and twenties, I often find nutrition, diet, gut disturbances, PCOS, and/or thyroid as the cause. Many of you listening to this podcast may have been struggling silently for years… Or perhaps this is a new struggle… Either way, you need the help of a functional & integrative-medicine provider because most likely your regular medical provider doesn't have the necessary information to help you take back control of your life. Don't be forced into boxes of an antiquated system that you have no business being put into… boxes that follow old, unchallenged treatment modalities. You can easily find yourself in a cycle of being bounced around from doctor to specialist to new specialist with different results and no clear answers. Sadly, when traditional medicine can't find the answer to what ails you, it will typically use depression and anxiety as the default diagnosis box to put you in. If you don't take away anything else from this episode, I want you to leave with this… Be informed… know your options… stand up for better alternatives… and find your voice!!! Join us next time where I'll be talking about the last segment in my personal story. From 390 lbs. To A Fit Without Diet Pills

I've been practicing psychiatry since 1998. I've treated children as young as age 5… adolescents… young adults… middle-age adults… and senior adults. In that time, I've treated thousands of patients who were not content with life. If “happy” is defined as “feeling or showing contentment,” then I've met a lot of people who were not content (not happy) with life in their present situation. Depression and anxiety are rampant in the Western world, yet the only answer that traditional medicine seems to have is in the form of developing the next “latest and greatest” magic pill. I've actually been one of those “discontent . . . unhappy” people myself. All my life, I had longed to become a doctor. I had felt this calling since I was a young boy. It's all I'd ever dreamed of and all I ever talked about. It's what I had my sights set on. I wanted to help others and was hardwired from birth to be an empathic, caring individual. Also, in my mind, it was a way for me to find some happiness. I developed a hardworking nature right from the start: I started mowing yards when I was nine years old and started flipping burgers when I was fifteen years old. I've done everything from changing oil and pumping gas, to patching flat tires, to driving a gas truck, to unloading trucks at UPS. I'm thankful for those experiences because they have gifted me with the work ethic and people skills I have today. Because of my hardworking nature, the academic rigors of my training were second nature to me as evidenced by being a straight “A” student through my high school, undergraduate, and graduate studies. My story actually begins in the spring of 1997 when I was in my next-to-last year of professional training. One of our lectures had just dismissed for a fifteen minute break in the middle of a four-hour stretch. It was an unusually beautiful spring day, so I went outside to get some fresh air and enjoy the tulips that were in full bloom. I went to the third floor balcony that overlooked a park, the closest thing to nature near my lecture hall. I was right in the middle of my lifelong dream on that third floor balcony. . . but I wasn't happy; somehow, happiness had eluded me. I would later realize that by this point, I had been struggling with depression for about two years and that health professionals had the highest rates of suicide among all other professions. As I stood there on the balcony, propped against the balcony railing and facing the street below, I saw a dump truck speeding down the road in front of me. As the truck approached, I had a flood of emotion as all of the blood rushed from my head. I became dizzy andthe whole world around me spun out of control in a maze of vertigo. My heart was racing, and I was overwhelmed by a nauseated feeling in the pit of my stomach . . . Yet, at the same time, I had a sense of immediate relief and heard a small voice whisper, “It's over now.” It wasn't a horrific voice. It was a peaceful voice. You see as that dump truck sped by, I experienced all the sensations of being thrown over the railing into the path of the oncoming truck below—I had actually envisioned throwing myself over the rail. All of this happened in a matter of seconds. I still remember that feeling to this day. I also remember, in that split second, not knowing whether it was actually happening or all a dream. Sadly, part of me hoped that it was real. When I came to my senses and realized that it was all a vision, I was scared. It rocked me to the core. I immediately had flashes of my beautiful wife and my two beautiful daughters who were three and six at the time. Guilt and shame immediately set it. How could I have such a vision? How could I even feel hope that it was actually happening? What was wrong with me? I left the balcony that day and never stepped foot out there again. I was so ashamed. I didn't tell anyone what happened until about twenty years later. And it wasn't until a year after that incident on the balcony that I confided in a colleague that I'd been struggling with depression and anxiety. She never asked about suicidal thoughts, and I never told her… And I sure as heck didn't tell her about the dozens of other times I had avoided the impulse to swerve my car into the path of oncoming traffic while driving. She put me on Prozac, and it was at that time that I began a sixteen-year journey into the world of “chemical happiness.” I've often reflected why I went on the that first medication. The only conclusion I can draw is that I was new in my profession… in the field of psychiatry… and it just made sense. It was the way I was trained. I told myself, “Brian, why wouldn't I do this? It's what I'd do for one of my patients. Some people get their “chemical happiness” fix through drugs or alcohol, and others, like me, get their fix through antidepressants.” This is how I rationalized it. Isn't it funny how we as humans will find a rationalization for most anything that we want… or anything that we are doing… just to make sense of it all. But… I don't beat myself up too much over this journey, because my knowledge was limited when I made the decision. I guess you can say I wasn't as enlightened as I am now. And… I would even add that it was this journey that has allowed me to help so many others. So… in a strange way… it had to happen… and again, here's the rationalization of it all. Now, let's get back to the rest of the story. In the course of sixteen years, I tried nine different psychiatric medications in the pursuit of happiness… medications like Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Buspar, Lamictal, Strattera, and Provigil. None of these gave me the happiness I wanted. In fact, they made me feel numb. I couldn't feel anything. I had no emotion. And on top of that, I gained 170 pounds… At 390 pounds, I guess you can say I was “fat and chemically happy,” but I would use the word “happy” very loosely. Over time, I grew to hate the very pills that were supposed to make me feel normal. And yes, I use the word “normal” very loosely also. More than anything, I wanted off these medications. I tried a number of times to stop taking them, but I failed every time. The withdrawal side effects were not fun. Did you know that the drug companies that make these medications will tell you that they are not addictive? In the purest sense of the definition, maybe not, but in reality definitely so. When you try to stop these medication and have symptoms like rebound depression… rebound anxiety… nausea… headaches… and irritability… just to name a few… there's no doubt that these drugs are causing addictive problems. Unable to effectively get off these meds, I repeated the vicious cycle of finding the next pill that would hopefully work and not have major side effects. Oh! And speaking of side effects. They are horrible! Depending on the drug, you can be excessively sleepy and want to sleep all the time OR not be able to sleep hardly at all. You can have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, increased appetite, loss of appetite, anger, rage, irritability, no libido, erectile dysfunction… and these are just some of the most common ones. Oh… and the yawning can be terrible… yawning all the time… and there's nothing you can do about it. During my personal sixteen-year journey into “chemical happiness,” I was treating patients with these same medications that I tried… They were dealing with the same side effects… and dealing with the same withdrawal issues. I followed the mantra of my professional training and just accepted that this was the way things were supposed to be. Again, I rationalized it with another professional mantra that we were offering the very best treatments available… after all, what other options were there. How naïve that was to say that… but it's where I was at the time. During that time, I mostly treated patients who were in their mid- to late thirties and older. They would tell me that they were feeling unhappy . . . but many of them would follow it with, “But I know it's not depression . . . it's got to be something else . . . some kind of imbalance.” Most of the time, they would follow it with a laundry list of psychiatric medications they had tried—none of which worked well. Then one day, around the age of forty, it dawned on me: maybe my patients had been right all along! Maybe my medical training had failed me. Maybe the pharmaceutical industry had lied to me. Maybe there were answers outside of traditional medical approaches. I had to find a different way of doing things. From that point forward, I made it my mission to become a student of the best alternative therapies that a person could use to physically and emotionally regain happiness from the inside out. Now, believe me, I knew that walking down this road could mean committing professional suicide. You see, I had been practicing psychiatry for years now. I was a company man. I spoke for numerous pharmaceutical companies. I talked the talk and walked the walk. I believed the lockstep answers fed to me in my medical training, and, not ironically, these same answers were fed to me by the drug reps that made sales calls on me at my office. For those of you who may not know, here's a bit of insider information… a peak behind the curtain, if you will. As a prescriber, you don't get asked to be a speaker for a pharmaceutical company unless you're a high volume prescriber… that's the first thing you need to know. And secondly, Big Pharma has pockets deep enough to be very persuasive. They provide prescribers with the most recent studies… all of which happen to prove their point and sway prescribing in their direction. They are fully aware that prescribers are busy and have little time to do in-depth clinical reading of professional journals. But the proverbial rabbit hole goes deeper. All you have to do is follow the money. Open up most any professional journal, and you will find TWO to SIX page advertising spreads for this drug or that with a cost-per-ad that will rival advertising costs in major secular publications. These same Big Pharma companies are the ones that will pay $100,000 or more for a booth at a professional conference. I give you these tidbits to let you know that the information medical professionals have at their disposal is tainted… and the professional organizations are tainted… they have been corrupted by Big Pharma. I've lived it. I've seen it first hand. And, as you may recall from podcast episode one, the numbers show it. The U.S. is almost last in health outcomes and almost first in healthcare spending. When are we going to wake up and recognize the disconnect here? But, I digress. Until this point, I had been 100 percent sold on the fact that pharmaceutical drugs were the answer, but that day I had my epiphany, something inside of me snapped. I was repulsed by all the lies propagated by Big Pharma . . . lies fed to me during my education; lies that led me down a path of unrest; and lies that certainly didn't reverse my depression. I couldn't live like this anymore, and I couldn't keep poking pills down my own throat and down the throats of my patients either. You might say I had a professional mid-life crisis. I refer to it as an awakening. I remember resolving in my mind that I couldn't do this anymore. Either I was getting out of health care altogether or I was going to reinvent myself. I set out on a journey to find answers, and it came in the strangest of ways. While away at a cardiovascular conference, the keynote speaker, who was the world's foremost authority on cholesterol, said something that lit a spark in me. Here was a guy being paid big bucks by some Big Pharma brand to speak about cholesterol. Instead, what he did surprised the audience. His entire lecture was on the natural treatment of elevated cholesterol. I have to admit, I was in awe. As a former speaker for Big Pharma brands, I knew what it meant to do what he was doing. He was committing professional suicide, but he didn't care… something that I later confirmed in a conversation with him. During that conversation, he also shared some insights that changed the course of my professional career. He pointed me in the right direction, telling me who I needed to study under to gain the knowledge and expertise that I needed. I immediately started seeking that education. After studying under the guru that he recommended for less than three months, I closed down my office practice. I had never been so sure of something in all of my life. I kept doing inpatient work to pay the bills, but I didn't darken the door of an office for nearly a year and a half. I went on to train under this guru for a total of three years. During that first year of training, I began implementing the techniques on myself… and guess what? I began to feel better. I began to lose weight and keep it off. My energy came up. My mood improved. I had stumbled onto something big. I eventually stopped my antidepressants completely in the spring of 2013. Finally, I was free. I had become an escape artist! I had escaped the confining boxes that Big Pharma and traditional medicine had me trapped in. It was a beautiful thing. But something still wasn't quite right. Sure, I was off antidepressants and happy for the first time in nearly two decades. But something was off. Then, it dawned on me. I had to share this with others and help them become escape artists too. In my second year of functional & integrative medicine training, I re-opened the doors of my office. This time, I wasn't practicing psychiatry. I was so turned off by traditional psychiatry that I didn't even want to be associated with it, and I was proud that I had escaped that box and was now beginning my journey to help others escape that box too. I laugh about it today, but it took me two years to realize that I never left psychiatry. I recall coming home one day and saying to my wife, “Guess what? I realized today that I never quit practicing psychiatry, I'm simply doing it differently. I'm doing it holistically.” Always the voice of patient wisdom, my wife said to me, “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to figure that out.” You see, it wasn't enough for me to transform myself. I had to pay it forward. I had to share this gift to help transform other people. And, that's exactly what I do today. Sure, my repertoire has far surpassed natural mood management. In my office, we manage auto-immune disorders, obesity, nutritional deficits, PCOS, menopause, andropause, gut issues, and thyroid dysfunction. But… since this episode is focused on the natural recovery from depression, I'll leave you with this. Throughout my years of traditional psychiatry and functional psychiatry, a few things have remained consistent… Research shows that women and men in their early thirties begin to experience a decline in hormone activity by as much as one to two1 to 2 percent per year… and this decline continues through the rest of their life. I don't think it's a coincidence that according to the National Center for Health statistics, women age 40 to 59forty to –fifty-nine have the highest rates of depression over any other age group (12.3 percent in fact%)… suicide rates among men are highest in their fifties, and, regardless of gender, those age 40 to 59forty to –fifty-nine are the least happy when compared to every other age group.? Sadly, with hormone disruptors in our diet and environment, we are seeing the ages for these statistics drop. So.. is hormone decline the cause of this depression epidemic in adults age 30 and over? I certainly think it's one of the main causes. In fact, since I've been practicing functional medicine, I've developed a very good track record at helping people avoid antidepressants and helping them come off of antidepressants… all by natural means. And… now that I have a functional medicine background, when we look at those in their late teens and twenties, I often find nutrition, diet, gut disturbances, PCOS, and/or thyroid as the cause. Many of you listening to this podcast may have been struggling silently for years… Or perhaps this is a new struggle… Either way, you need the help of a functional & integrative-medicine provider because most likely your regular medical provider does not have the necessary information to help you take back control of your life. Don't be forced into boxes of an antiquated system that you have no business being put into… boxes that follow old, unchallenged treatment modalities. You can easily find yourself in a cycle of being bounced around from doctor to specialist to new specialist with different results and no clear answers. Sadly, when traditional medicine can't find the answer to what ails you, it will typically use depression and anxiety as the default diagnosis box to put you in. Be informed… know your options… stand up for better alternatives. Alright, that concludes today's episode. Next time, I'll be talking about the last segment in my personal story. From 390 lbs. To A Fitness-Work-In-Progress

The post lamotrigine (Lamictal) Nursing Pharmacology Considerations appeared first on NURSING.com.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body's infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly. A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety Released 4/25/2018

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body’s infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly. A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety Released 4/25/2018

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body’s infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly. A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety Released 4/25/2018

This week, we interview Laura Delano. Laura is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Inner Compass Initiative and The Withdrawal Project, which aim to create safe spaces for people to connect and the opportunity to learn about and be guided through the process of getting beyond the mental health system and off psychiatric drugs.  The passion she feels for the mission and vision of ICI arises from the fourteen years she spent lost in the mental health system and the journey that she’s been on since 2010, when she chose to leave behind a “mentally ill” identity and the various treatments that came with it, and gradually began to rediscover and reconnect with who she really was and what it means to suffer, struggle, and be human in this world.  Since becoming an “ex-patient”, Laura has been writing and speaking about her personal experiences and about the broader social and political issues sitting at the heart of “mental illness” and “mental health”. Since 2011, she has worked both within and beyond the mental health system. In the Boston area, she worked for nearly two years for a large community mental health organization, providing support to and advocating for the rights of individuals in emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, and institutional “group home” settings. After leaving the “inside” of the mental health system, she began consulting with individuals and families seeking help during the psychiatric drug withdrawal process. Laura has also given talks and workshops in Europe and across North America, facilitated mutual-aid groups for people in withdrawal, and organized various conferences and public events such as the Mad in America International Film Festival.  In this interview, we got time to talk about Laura’s personal experiences of the mental health system and what led her to co-found the Inner Compass Initiative and The Withdrawal Project. In this episode we discuss: Laura’s experiences as a patient in the mental health system, starting treatment aged thirteen and leaving the system behind aged 27. How she spent much of that time as a compliant patient, taking the medications and following the advice of her doctors. That, by 2010, she was on 5 medications (Lithium, Abilify, Lamictal, Effexor and Ativan) and had spent the last decade becoming worse and unable to properly engage with life. How she came to read Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker and that it was a profound moment of realisation. That Laura decided to take control of her life and became determined to get off the drugs as quickly as possible. How traumatic it was to come to the realisation that almost everything she had been told during treatment was overly simplistic or incorrect. That Laura did experience feelings of being a victim of psychiatry, but realised that this increased her emotional dependency on psychiatry and that it was necessary to move beyond that to feel free. That these experiences made Laura passionate about her own process of healing and rediscovering herself and helping others to find their way back to themselves after being psychiatrized. That as she healed she moved into a space of acceptance and gratitude and felt that the period around three years off the drugs was when she came to feel really alive and motivated again. That Laura feels that if we are going to move beyond the mental health system, it is about helping people to realise they don't need the mainstream system and point them to alternatives at a local level and creating physical spaces where people can come together. How Laura came to co-found The Inner Compass Initiative and The Withdrawal Project which aim to create safe spaces for people to connect and the opportunity to learn about and be guided through the process of getting beyond the mental health system and off psychiatric drugs. That The Withdrawal Project was highlighted in a recent New York Times article discussing antidepressant withdrawal. How ICI and TWP present information on many aspects of psychiatric drugs and withdrawal to help guide and inform people who do want to start the journey off their psychiatric drugs and away from the mental health system. That TWP connect is a free peer to peer networking platform that allows people to connect one on one with others who have similar experiences. How a similar peer to peer system is available on ICI to enable conversations about moving beyond the mental health system. That Laura wants to encourage people not to give up because we do heal from psychiatric drugs and that we need to spread that message far and wide. The need to both learn and unlearn when approaching how we take back our power and control of our lives after psychiatric treatment. How important it is to properly prepare before starting to taper from psychiatric drugs and how the Withdrawal Project can enable that preparation. The ‘speed paradox’ when coming off psychiatric drugs. How people can find out more about The Inner Compass Initiative and The Withdrawal Project. That Laura is keen to support local community initiatives to get underway. Relevant links: The Inner Compass Initiative The Withdrawal Project TWP Connect Learn about psychiatric drug withdrawal Inner Compass Initiative’s The Withdrawal Project Gets Mention in The New York Times—Is the Tide Finally Turning? The New York Times - Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit Read more about Laura’s journey into and out of the mental health system Laura’s presentation in Alaska, 2015 Anatomy of an epidemic by Robert Whitaker

FDA Drug Safety Podcast: FDA warns of serious immune system reaction with seizure and mental health medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal)

Mr. Joe discusses a "new" feeling that has emerged due to stress. He discusses some recent side effects from an increased dosage of Lamictal. Mr. Joe then goes on to define obsessions and complusions, along with descriptive examples of each disorder. 

Mr. Joe updates us on his Bipolar medication regiman, and speaks on mental health in the work place. In addition, Mr. Joe speaks on some of the side effects from Lamictal. Finally, Mr. Joe questions whether we should offer sympathy towards family members, namely those who struggle with addiction & mental illness.

Mr. Joe updates us on his children and discusses his recent hypomanic episode. He addresses topics such as rage, irritability, Lamictal dosages and mixed states. Mr. Joe defines Bipolar I in great detail, along with psychotic symptoms, as well as his recent explosion towards his wife.

Homocysteine & The Depression ImperativeThere is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.~ Ernest HemingwayDr. Andrew Farah is a forensic psychiatrist, a psychopharmacologist, the author of a remarkable new book, http://geni.us/farah (Hemingway's Brain), - and an all-around deeply interesting guy on many levels. In this interview, our second after our first delightful http://corebrainjournal.com/114 (Hemingway's Brain CBJ/114) discussion, is again most entertaining, and prescient regarding the brain awareness changes today taking place in both our society and our neuroscience community. Here Dr. Farah dives from the commanding precipice of brain injury, art, and history into the deep caverns of neuroscience: brain molecular physiology. This Depression Imperative encourages more precise thinking with more predictable outcomes for treatment failure on many levels. Here we start with depression. Brief BioDr. Farah is a native of Charleston SC and now serves as Chief of Psychiatry at the High Point Division of UNC Healthcare. This report addresses fresh details regarding the homocysteine theory of depression [1], and the use of reduced B vitamins for depression and neuroprotection, particularly the prevention of dementias. Yes, he's a neuroscience expert as well. The standard of care for depression in those distant Hemingway years dramatically differs from today. Today we know more about multiple causes of depression and, as Dr. Farah so articulately reports, the biology of brain deterioration for a complexity of biologically relevant nutritional contributions that mushroom into depression over time. Homocysteine presents a fresh marker, a depression imperative for all of us working with mind science. Farah's 2 CBJ Episodes: A Mix of History, Art, Metaphor, and RealityDr. Farah's depression imperative lessons go beyond just memorable - to transcendent. Mark down this interview as also unforgettable. - Thanks, Andy. And, if this is your first meeting with Dr. Farah, fasten your seatbelts for a curious journey with a commonplace blood test with standard, insurance supported, testing protocols. ----------- Dr. Farah Reports On The Homocysteine Depression ImperativeMy curiosity started in residency around the subject of Treatment Failure [spp-timestamp time="4:17"] Our depression treatment protocols haven't changed since 1957 [spp-timestamp time="5:05"] Why consider homocysteine in the first place [spp-timestamp time="7:50"] What happens when we lower homocysteine [spp-timestamp time="11:13"] The Prozac paradox and the alpha-2 receptor [spp-timestamp time="13:30"] What happens to the building blocks for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_neurotransmitter (monoamines) [spp-timestamp time="15:50"] Reduced B Vitamins and the specific pathways [spp-timestamp time="18:53"] The specific nutrient supplements involved [spp-timestamp time="23:30"] Why 5-MTHF didn't work so well [spp-timestamp time="23:54"] The problem with Lamictal for Bipolar II [spp-timestamp time="30:15"] My thoughts on homocysteine measurement/values [spp-timestamp time="35:01"] Why brain cells die in the first place [spp-timestamp time="41:12"] Closing on the epigenetic contributions as well [spp-timestamp time="50:38"] ---------- Previous CBJ Interviews on Trauma, Stress, TBI, CTE, and DepressionCBJ Veterans Page - http://corebrainjournal.com/vets (http://corebrainjournal.com/vets) - Updated regularly CBJ/Dr. Bill Walsh on Methylation Details - http://corbrainjournal.com/025 (http://corbrainjournal.com/025) Our most frequently downloaded Episode.  ----------- Dr. Farah's Helpful Bonus DownloadTheory Into Practice -Addressing the Homocysteine Basis of Depressionhttps://corebrain.lpages.co/cbj-download-126-farah/ (At this Link) ------------ Website, Book & ReferencesCorrelation of Clinical...

When we hear the term “mental illness” we dismiss it as rare, someone else's problem, or a criminal issue. It isn't: it's more common and afflicts more of us than you might believe.  One out of every five adults or around 43.8 million Americans are diagnosed with some form of mental illness every year. This means anyone who isn't suffering directly from mental illness is most likely living with or knows someone who is.  So why is it still being marginalized? This week I share my experience living with my brother who suffered from schizophrenia. My guest Tiffany discusses having bipolar disorder and tackling her personal demons.   

Two topics: A Northampton, Massachusetts woman talks about her near-fatal drug reaction to an off label prescription of Lamictal, and Brooklynne Michelle discusses the Mosh Knit podcast -- about knitting and bipolar.   [Read more...]