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Ditto for me --more mania than depression, and tons of anxiety (Bipolar 1).
I suspect the pdoc nixed the possibility of Lamictal because it's more for depression than mania -it's helped me with depression, overall evened me out a bit, but useless with preventing or stemming mania (for me, anyway).
I'm on Seroquel as well (Lamictal, Seroquel and Klonopin) --it's very hard to get used to. It knocked me out more at first, on a relatively low dose, but as it was slowly titrated, I got more and more used to it. I've definitely discovered that the best way to avoid the worst side effects is to get enough sleep; when I don't, I wake up dizzy and faint -boatloads of espresso+strong coffee later I can function, but it's tough.
But it's helped a lot. I rarely get hypomanic episodes anymore (or they are super light), it's only major manic episodes that can still break through (like you, 1-3 times a year) but at least now I more often recognize when it's starting to happen (though not always, and my therapist helps with this), so something Seroquel is so good for is that if I start to raise the dose when I'm going into an episode, it's good at making it less extreme, it sort of starts the arc of coming down from it earlier, helps a lot with the agitation, etc. (unfortunately doesn't just stop it in its tracks, though). PRN titrating up has been hugely helpful for me -the rub is titrating back down when I'm better; I have to go through some comatose-time before I'm fully alert again.
I've taken klonopin for anxiety for many years, but I don't think it does much of anything. But I've noticed that Seroquel has ended up helping me somewhat with my anxiety.
Do you take Seroquel during the day, or only at night? I ask, because I take 100mg in the morning and 150mg at night, and it seems most people take it at night. I've taken it in the morning since the beginning. I'd probably have less trouble with sleepiness if I didn't, but I find it helpful. At night, it has the added benefit of helping with sleep --outside of mania, I've always had trouble with sleep to some extent or another, and this has helped a lot.
Best of luck and welcome to PC!
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