BPD and Phenobarbitol

Written by Dr. Leland Heller

QUESTION:

What a sense of hope and feeling of not being alone, after reading your book and finding your website. Where to begin. Major depression and thought disorder, OCD with excessive ruminating greeted me in1987. After years of trying multiple medication combinations as well as numerous Doctors, psychologists, evaluations at Pittsburgh and Cleveland Clinic, my diagnosis have come to consist of major depression, OCD,OCPD, Narcissism, ADD, BPD. The BPD has become more evident the past several years with the constant dysphoria you speak of, especially the profound emptiness, fog, numbness, difficulty with cognitive activities-memory recall etc...

It feels like my personality and mind continue to slip away into this emptiness and fog with no sense of self. Presently I take daily, Anafranil 75mg, Zyprexa 3.75, Seroquel 75mg. Risperdal .5 mg., Ritalin 5mg., Tegretol 100mg., Kava, Zoloft 25mg., Celexa 5mg., . Common therapeutic dosing makes me feel worse , so microdosing has helped the most to date. Each med. seems to hit different symptoms.

On occasion I have had several drinks at a wedding or out with friends and I could feel and see the inner chaos in my mind leave and the negative, critical inner jargon turn to positive , relaxed thinking. I've approached my Doctor with this, whom I've been an active patient with in trying to make this mental/emotional connection. I brought up the question of trying Phenobarbitol because I just feel my brain is wrapped too tight and that this might be the med. to make that inner connection and calm the inner chaos. He says that Phenobarbitol has no place in psychiatry and only if I can provide data showing this would he consider it. I feel that all the answers aren't known about BPD and nor do we all fall under the same chemistry for treatment of BPD but are each individuals. Why not try it? what if it does help . And if it doesn't at least we tried. If you could provide me with any info. or your experience with this I would appreciate it. I know it can be addictive but so is Ritalin.

Thank you for your time and for caring.

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

Thank you for your kind remarks.

I agree with your psychiatrist regarding Phenobarbital. It's a very addicting drug, potentially fatal with overdose or even just withdrawal.. Incidentally Kava Kava is also addicting.

Ritalin is NOT addicting! There's an enormous amount of misinformation about Ritalin.

I would highly recommend you look into the generalized anxiety disorder, particularly the cognitive component. It may be a crucial piece of your puzzle that's missing. You can get a lot of information on it with my new book "Biological Unhappiness."

Everyone needs all their diagnoses correctly made and comprehensively treated to have the happy, successful life we all desire.

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