ADVICE NEEDED: Best Antidepressant for Bipolar I? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

CA 2 NJ · 04-18-2007, 07:45 AM

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well and have a wonderful day! LOL I sound like Mr. Rogers... (for those of you old enough to remember the PBS TV Show Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.)

I would like to know what the best antidepressant is for someone with Bipolar. I currently take Prozac but notice that in the literature it lists mania and hypomania as side effects.

I should mention that I have just started taking Depakote ER at 500mg at bedtime so that should help with any wild mood swings. And if all goes well with the 500mg, My Psychiatrist mentioned going up to 1,000mg of the ER Version. In addition, I take 100mg of Seroquel at bedtime which is also supposed to help.

I am sure there are MANY of you out there who have Bipolar and have had to take an antidepressant with or without a mood stabilizer. So I am wondering, which one(s) have worked best for you? Or have you heard of working best?

I have a friend who has Bipolar among many other things that are similar to me, and she swears by Effexor. I have taken Effexor, but that was years ago before I was diagnosed with Bipolar. When they said I had Major Depression and Panic Disorder. And I have to say it made my Panic Attacks vanish and I was able to tolerate it for 3 years. The longest I've ever been on ANY med. But it was the only med I was on, so I don't know how it would do in a combo.

Also I should mention that I have only been with my current Psychiatrist for about 3 weeks now and have only been on Prozac (now 10 mgs, was on 20 for a few days) for that amount of time. I'm not sure if it's working as I started taking it at the same time as Geodon. But I quit taking that yesterday because it seemed to give me extreme anxiety and insomnia. It was bad.

When I started seeing my new Psychiatrist, he gave me the choice of either Prozac or Effexor. He told me that Prozac is better for Anxiety and Effexor better for depression, so I went with Prozac because my anxiety has been horrible for months. Although I always thought Prozac is the most stimulating???

I can't say whether or not the Prozac is working or will work at 10mg or even 20mg, so I am not against it at all. And it does seem to help with my appetite, so I like that. But not enough to not feel my best on a day-to-day basis.

I just want to get some opinions from people who have been where I am. So if any of you have any information you'd be willing to share, I would be very grateful as I'm to go see my Psychiatrist soon and he wants to discuss this then.

Thanks so much for reading my lengthy post. I hope someone out there will give me something to go on as I NEED to get better. I've been out of work for almost 2 years because of all this!

Before I even knew I was Bipolar!

Take good care everyone. I hope to hear from you soon! Have a great day!

Hugs,
CA 2 NJ

Dee-nah · 04-18-2007, 07:56 AM

I'm BiPolar 1 as well and Prozac, made me extremely maniac!!! Right now I'm taking Trazadone as my antidressant along with a mood stablizer, etc.... Trazadone has treated me good and I am very happy with it, it's a sediated antidressant!

jules3 · 04-18-2007, 08:36 AM

Ca, it is so hard to help out with the medication questions..they reallly work differently with each person. my son has been on lexapro,cymybeax,effexor,prozac,lithobid ,sereqoul,wellbutrin ,zoloft,elavil and others that i cant remember all in the past year and half..still waiting for the correct diagnosis. he told me that prozac was the most stimulating and made his insomnia much much worse.

tsohl · 04-18-2007, 11:46 AM

Hello,

I wouldn't choose Effexor either. I've heard from a number of sources that it isn't that effective with bipolar depression. My son has rapid cycling bipolar 1 that was very difficult to treat. He switched pdocs 4 times and went through just about every med known to mankind. He finally found a new pdoc who had additional training in neuropharmacology who believes in medicating for the manic-depression, rather than giving meds for each of the symptoms you are experiencing. So my son was on lithium and tegretol and felt about 90% ok. Lamictal was added and that did the trick. He no longer has any episodes and has been stable and well for two years.

Lamictal is a good drug for those who can take it. It functions as a mood stabilizer and is very good for those who have depressive episodes. I would ask about adding it on to your depakote. You do have to introduce it very slowly and titrate up slowly to reach the optimal dosage for you, so it takes awhile before you start to notice that it's working.

Tsohl

scott111 · 04-18-2007, 05:11 PM

I have been diagnosed with bi polar for 7 years and do perfectly well now with my meds. I havent changed them in 5 yrs. A doctor should NEVER put someone bipolar on Prozac- it makes them more manic. I use Rispeerdal as a mood stabilizer, which I love, along with Serzone (anti depressant/anti anxiety) and wellbutrin XR. I found the right combo for me but everyone is different. Lithium treats the symptoms well but I couldnt take it long for the side affects.