[ExI] IQ and mental health

[SR Ballard]

In the space of six weeks I had different doctors say I had: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Borderline, Atypical depression, and Schizoaffective disorder, so please take your pick, if you will. And they all agreed on EDNOS. (Now OSFED, I believe)

I take 100mg Lamotrogine, (150 in the fall/winter). The only side effect that really bothers me is my now ultra-sensative skin. Ex. If I was my hands more than a few times a day (I work in a restaurant) then my skin starts falling off. Other than that I’m just a normal person. And that’s an okay price to pay for being not-crazy. 

In the past I’ve tried Welbutrin, Seroquel, Depakote, Lithium, and a few other things besides which I don’t remember the names of. The cost of messing with something that works is much too high. 

SR Ballard

> On Aug 28, 2021, at 7:10 PM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Thanks for sharing.  If I may ask, what is the medicine and what is/are the diagnoses?  It sounds as if you might benefit from a change of medicine or dosage, what with all those side effects.   bill w
> 
>> On Sat, Aug 28, 2021 at 6:04 PM SR Ballard via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>> I have been diagnosed with multiple conflicting things by multiple different professionals who examined me within days of each other. 
>> 
>> When I take my medicine, I am a normal person. I can be irritated, or happy, or lazy, or work hard. I can let things go. 
>> 
>> Without my medicine I am angry over the tiniest things for days, sleep odd hours, up for 3-4 days at a time, then sleep 16+ hours per day for a weeks on end. I can’t shower, brush my hair, feed myself. I get impulsive and have all kinds of personal issues. I once even fled the country. 
>> 
>> It’s insane how 100mg/day can completely change someone’s life. 
>> 
>> But I’ve also had to accept that my medicine makes me “stupid”. I can’t hyperfocus for days. I can’t think as quickly. I don’t free associate nearly as fluidly. 
>> 
>> I don’t think my IQ has been much of a benefit in relation to my mental health struggles. It’s actively created a lot of situations where people guilt, shame, or blame me for my struggles, when in a way, if I do not have my medicine, I really can’t do much about it. 
>> 
>> SR Ballard
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