I, too, was put on ad's, because I was going to my GP & he dxed me as having major depression. He didn't make the connection that my mother had bipolar & it is highly genetic. I didn't go to the doc when I was hypomanic so he saw only one side of my illness. I became hypomanic on the ad's, but just thought, "Wow, I feel GREAT. These drugs are really working." Then I would fall into another depression in 6-8 weeks & the dosage was increased or if it was too high already, I was switched to another ad. This went on for over 30 years! I was on every ad practically & anti-anxiety drug. When I was finally dxed with bipolar I at age 48, I was so relieved. Maybe I could now get some help, which I did, but I had to go to a psychiatrist. GP's are not really qualified to treat or dx bipolar, IMO.

I was first put on Depakote (helped with agitation, did nothing for depression), then Lithium (impaired kidney function from that so I had to get off it, but it did help tremendously with mood), then through a year of trial & error to see what worked with the least amount so side effects.

Keep asking your doc questions. Report any side effects & be prepared to experiment quite a bit before the right combo of drugs is found. Good luck & welcome to PC.--Suzy