academentia and academia

Can I take sleeping pills if I am on Lexapro (30mg) and Wellbutrin (300mg)?

I can't recall the name of the sleeping pills i have. they're generic, blue, oval shaped.

What common drugs can I take with Lexapro/Wellbutrin? What common drugs can I NOT take?

I couldn't find info online... thank you for all your help.

Anyone here have an anxiety disorder(s)??? I have Generalized and OCD. I am going to be a senior in college. I don't want to go back. My anxiety makes college horrible. I am currently in therapy which is helping a bit but I am worried I will backslide when I have to go back (in about 6 weeks).

Hi everyone!

I know I haven't been around much lately, but I've started a Twitter account to chronicle what daily life as young adult/student with a mental illness (specifically bipolar disorder) is like. My goal is to tweet every time bipolar comes up to show outsiders the way bipolar affects almost every aspect of my life, no matter how small. If you have a twitter account, please follow me and help spread the word so I can hopefully make a difference:

http://twitter.com/KoreProserpina

Thanks again!

x-posted bipolar survival

Or at least my dad thinks its ruining my life, ( Sorry Its Sort of Long for An Intro of What I'm Dealing With )

Wow, what a feeling. Here I am in Italy (and, in spite of my earlier depressing posts, I AM having a good time), and I decided to sign up for 3 online courses before I left. My mom told me it was great that I decided to take these courses, but that it'd be a lot of work.
I think I underestimated how much work it'd be, BUT, MUCH to my surprise, I've been amazing at organizing my time and getting work done early! I never thought I'd feel this great about my academic work.
I haven't been great about taking my meds because of the jet lag and whatnot, but I promised myself that I can't forget them again, because I NEED them. Without my ADD meds, I can't concentrate well. Without my bipolar meds, I'm a blubbering, self-loathing mess.
I finally feel normal. I feel like THIS is me, THIS is the potential that's hidden behind my disorders, and I FINALLY get it. :)

i don't understand my depression or myself. i have been on 300mg of wellbutrin for a year and recently added to that 10mg of lexapro (3 weeks ago).

i feel better and less depressed now. i just don't get it- how could that be? it's so weird. and it makes me want to get off the medication once finals week is over. i really don't understand how i'm supposed to be "okay" when i know that without medication i would not be okay.

i feel really confused. i just wish someone could understand what i'm feeling. or help me understand what i'm feeling. only 1 person in my life knows i am on medication but i need people to talk to about this. i don't have anyone.

Most people would be having fun in Milan. But not me. I'm extremely depressed right now I just want to go home. I've lived in Italy before, so it's not like it's this ''new experience'' that I'm wasting. I just want to go home.
First of all, I feel extremely ugly compared to everyone here. I'm very upset because my expensive flat iron pretty much exploded because I put the plug in the wrong converter. Now my hair looks awful. I feel FAT compared to all of the 90 lb girls prancing around. I look like a whale compared to everyone! And I hate that.
At home, I'm considered attractive. Here, I just stick out like a sore thumb. Ughh I just want to go home.

I hate being bipolar. My depression phases are awful because my entire chest  hurts and I feel worthless.

I'm taking an online course this summer because I found it easier to handle 12 credit hours during a regular semster as opposed to 15. I just got an e-mail from my professor congratulating me on my good test scores and asking me for advice to share with the other students. This put me in such a good mood! :-) I've always had trouble with school in the past and since I've started new medication I can't believe how well I've been doing! I don't mean to sound braggy, I'm just so happy I had to share.

I've learned, more or less, how to control the more obvious signs of freaking out, but I'm not sure it's a good thing. I'm just becoming more and more withdrawn and because I'm not crying, shaking or hiding these things are easier to hide. I think that's what is happening.

Basically... I feel paralyzed. I constantly picture hooks going through my body - right below my sternum actually - and yanking me forwards until I slam into the nearest wall. Or this spinning and twisting of my insides from my stomach to my throat. I constantly want to ask people to punch me in the stomach but instead I just lean over railings and let the metal or wood press into my stomach until I can cry. I want to scream - I do sometimes when no one is home but it isn't enough and it doesn't get rid of the stuff in me.

Is this familiar to anyone? I just feel so weird and self centered. I'm starting to find it really hard to be social because I just keep on picturing weird things like the hooks or crawling under the nearest table and pulling the floor over me. It's hard to be witty and fun when I'm so focused on this stuff and I don't understand because I don't WANT to be focused on this! I want to read and learn and have interesting conversations but I just can't get out of my head and I really really do want to scream.

So yes. Anyone else? I just don't know what to do and I don't know what to say anymore.

I have a mentall illness and it has been crazy trying to do deal with that and go to school. I have been diagnosed with my illness for about 2 years now. I got officially diagnosed around 18 and I will be 21 in 6 days, May 23rd!!! I have had so many struggles since I was little. I was adopted out when I was 3 because of several things that I believe may have contributed to my mental illness. I have been thinking alot the past couple of weeks because I want people who don't have a mental illness, eating disorder, etc. to know what we go through on a daily basis with our thoughts, actions, etc. I want people to understand the personal side of living with a mental illness. So therefore I am in the process of trying to get a book of poetry published wtih poems written by people with any type of mental illness, eating disorder, addiction, etc. I am wondering if any of you ladies or gents would like to contribute to the book. Suggestions of any kind would be helpful and much appreciated even if you don't want to submit a poem for the book. There are no guidelines for the poems that you submit. If you would like to submit a poem but wish to remain anonymous just let me know. If you want to include your name at the end of the poem that is up to. It is also up to you whether you wish to put your first and last name on your poem. I would really only like to accept 5 poems from every individual that would like to contribute just because I don't know how many poems I am going to get from asking. Any topic is fine as long as it deals with any type of struggle related to your mental illness and such. Oh and they can be happy poems too. Say whats from the heart. I have a couple of titles picked out so any suggestions, ideas or comments by anyone are welcome.
They go as follows:
Damaged Goods
The Dark Alley
Conflicting Emotions
Shades of Gray
And the subtitle I have picked out is going to sound something like this but I am not exactly sure how to word it:
A window into the minds of people afflicted with mental illnesses, addictions, etc.
Not really sure how to word it but again any suggestions, comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
If you have any questions send them to my LJ account.
And if this post has violated the rules in any way shape or form please let me know and I will delete it ASAP!! Thanks

Lists upon lists upon useless lists are eating my brain and dragging down my mood, academic performance, and social life. What is the OCD workbook and will it help me?

Dx: Panic disorder, adjustment disorder, possible PTSD, possible depression
Rx: Nothing atm

So... I've been a royal mess. Truly royal mess. My anxiety is somewhere around a level 12, regularly. Meditative prayer - my usual bad-time de-stressor - isn't helping a lot. I'm cycling through bad sleeping habits (little, restless sleep followed by sleeping almost endlessly) and really bad eating habits (the intense heat coupled with high anxiety means that my stomach can't handle a ton of food at once). My current only social outlet is a knitting circle - they're awesome, but it's not enough, if that makes sense.

I'm currently in talk therapy. I'm told I'm reacting to stressors in my life (my academia took a leap off the deep end, I'm dealing with sexual assault issues, interpersonal family issues) but I'm not exactly... functioning. I'm having really regular panic attacks (ie daily) and I haven't had that in years. I'm also having trouble with strange places/strangers (related to my sexual assault issues) that's kind of getting in the way of expanding my social life (and calming down/dealing with interpersonal issues).

I was on Zoloft for a while, at my last college. It worked really well. (I was also on benzodiazepines. I can't speak to how bad those were for me. I can't function on them.) It's been suggested (by more than one person at this point) that I look into going on Zoloft again. I was told today that, since I've been on it before and had good experiences (and don't have/know any psychiatrists in the area), I might be able to get it through my PCP. (I have a good relationship with my PCP - she's known me since I was a kid, I can talk to her, etc.). How do you do that? Is that a good idea?

Also - how do people deal with living with intense, crippling anxiety? It's basically destroying my life. (My academia is just fueling my anxiety and isn't stopping for the summer... I haven't had a break from it since summer 2007, maybe.)

Hi there! This is my first post.

I'm in college, while simultaneously learning how to cope with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder, mild OCD, various phobias, and intermittent depression. Although my symptoms used to be much worse, I still suffer from all of the above to some degree. I developed these problems when I was approximately thirteen, but despite that I thrived during my first year of high school. Ever since then my anxiety problems have begun to creep back into my life again, and I began to suffer psychosomatic illnesses around two years ago. The routine of college has done nothing for me, and I find myself frequently becoming over-stressed. It frustrates me because grades are important to me, but sometimes I feel like I just don't have the emotional energy to put in even basic effort. I'm seeing a therapist for this problem, and I also take medication, but they don't seem to be working much of late.