Med Question? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

loufrank · 09-18-2007, 04:04 PM

I know different things work for different people. I was just curious as to which meds have worked well for others? I am doing better with my depression but still have a ways to go. I have been trying for over a year to find the right combo and was just wondering what meds others have found useful for bipolar. Thanks.

Jenn4508 · 09-18-2007, 04:54 PM

Hello and Welcome. I have been trying for years to get the right combo. I know that I did just find out the other day after having blood work that I had an appt with the shrink and I told him I just cannot continue to take these meds as there has been no improvment in a year. I think this time he actually looked at the blood work. My shrink had me on 1000 mg of depakote, 100 mg of seroquel, .5 mg of xanax 3x per day and 40 mg of ritalin per day along with sleeping meds. He tried 8 different sleeping meds none of them worked. Getting back to the appt., He said that for Depakote to be at a working level to be able to reach the part of the brain that it needs to get to the blood level needs to be 50, mine was 43, so it was like all this time I was taking nothing. He increased my depakote to 1500 mg, my seroquel to 200 mg, and kept the others the same. However, I also take topamax for migraines and I also suffer from fibromyalgia. For the fibro I take 6 pain pills per day, 4 muscle relaxers, 1 anti-inflammatory and get trigger point injections on a regular basis. So I take a total of 26 pills per day.

What meds are you currently on and how much? How long have you been taking them.

keep posting, because I care.

Paige1989 · 09-18-2007, 05:13 PM

Wow...twenty-six pills? I doubt I could juggle that many with times and dosages and all. :S

I'm on 400mg. Lamictal, 150mg. Seroquel, 1mg. Klonopin, and 1-2mg. Ativan PRN. I generally take the Ativan twice per day, adding up to two mg. because if I don't, I end up getting anxious over something stupid so I take it in the morning and midday. The Lamictal is split into two 200mg. doses - one when I wake up and one at night. The Seroquel, I take two hours before bed (though sometimes I'll go to bed earlier or a little later, depending on the night) and it helps me sleep plus it helps with my mood. Klonopin, I take at night for anxiety as well. It took two years, a hospital stay, and a gazillion different combinations to get to this one...I've been on Geodon, Abilify, Ambien CR for sleep (instead it made me manic :S )...and that's just the tip of the ice burg...I can't even remember half the meds I've been on...I know I started out on Zoloft because it was thought that I was depressed, but it made me manic, thus the new dx....

Good luck.

~~Paige

loufrank · 09-18-2007, 06:35 PM

Hi Jen. Thanks for responding, wow, 26 pills. I feel foolish now as my amount seems minimal next to yours. It's not that I fear medication, but I am VERY sensitive to medicine and tend to pick up the side effects easily. Part of the problem is also that my diagnosis is still a little confusing to me. I have had a few depressive episodes, anxiety, panic attacks, off and on since 21. Mostly triggered by stress. 2 years ago, after my daughter was born, my thyroid crashed. It's now been regulated by synthriod, but the depression spiraled. My pdoc diagnosed me with Soft Bipolar...basically more lows then high, anger, irritablity, etc. He does not believe that I would have a high manic episode, although there have been some things I have done in the past that makes me doubt that...Anyway, I have been trying different meds. Right now I am on synthroid, Lamictal 200mg, provigil 200mg, xanax as needed. I tried a few AD and hated them due to side effects. I work 25 hours a week, have a 2 year old, and lead an active life, so I am cautious with what I take. I also have some issues with food, so the weight gain factor scares me. Anyway, I feel "ok" for the most part with what I am on, but still am having some pretty bad ups and downs. I guess I need to be open minded and learn by trial and error what works for me. Thanks again for the responses. I see my pdoc this week, so I'll see what he suggests.

Jenn4508 · 09-18-2007, 07:23 PM

Please don't ever feel foolish. There are many who have been through so many diagnoses and doc and different meds that there are no foolish questions. I started off diagnosed as depression, then severe depression, then generalized anxiety disorder and that was the last 25 years. They didn't figure out until a little over a year ago I was BP 1. Once I started reading and doing a lot of researching on my own it made a lot of sense. I will tell you that you can have high anger and irritability on the manic episode. So don't think that that is only on the depressive side. It can go either way. You can do some research and find that out in just about anything you read. That comes on either side of the pole.

Hang in there and keep posting. It does help. I have to keep the faith that one day the combo will work.

God Bless and Big Hugs to the both of you.