Quote:
Originally Posted by xp1155
When I saw one p-doc, she said there's a body of literature that suggests Bipolar individuals should only be treated with a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic because antidepressants don't work with those meds or might make things work.
Then, I saw another p-doc who said that it depends on the person. Some need one med and some need two or three.
A third p-doc said the literature suggests that a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic should almost always be augmented with an antidepressant.
I think it depends on how the p-doc was trained and which body of literature they believe/follow.
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Well, that explains a lot!
In this respect, I'm glad I go to a pill mill for my Rx's; they see so many people that they seem to be pretty well aware that different people need different treatments and sometimes that means a cocktail. In fact, monotherapy has never been presented as a viable option for me.
As I increased Lamictal, I was reducing Wellbutrin. I'd do really well for a few days after each Lamictal increase, but then the crushing depression would kick back in. I just went back up on my Wellbutrin dosage, and presto! I've been pretty stable since - much longer than previously - and had no med changes at my last pdoc appointment, for the first time in 2 months.
I might be able to reduce the Wellbutrin again when I'm less stressed and the days are longer and sunnier. At this point, I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to eliminate antidepressants entirely, but the rest of my life is (hopefully) a long time, so we'll see.