I'm on 50 mg of Lamictal and soon will be going to 100mg. I had 2 weeks of hypomania followed by about a week of feeling "normal". I could tell my mood was starting to decline and I thought it was just coming down from the "high" but then I woke up one morning and the depression had hit me full steam. Now I'm stuck in this hopeless, self doubting, guilt-filled, and no motivation rut. As I've seen many others say, I'd rather be hypomanic than depressed any day but it's unavoidable.

When I saw my pdoc last I was hypomanic. He could tell I wasn't taking my Klonopin often enough. It was prescribed originally by my primary doctor for anxiety as PRN. My pdoc said I need to take it regularly to help until my Lamictal is at full strength and working effectively. So I did that but now that I'm in depression mode, taking the Klonopin just makes me slower and more tired than I already am. I basically sleep all day long and then have to go to work in the evenings and try my hardest to stay awake. My husband and friend tell me that no matter what, I need to stay on the Klonopin as prescribed because the depression will eventually end and I will need to remain as stable as I can throughout the whole process. But I just.hate.feeling.this.way.

Those of you that are on benzos, do you take them regularly, even when not manic/hypomanic? They don't treat depression which is why I'm struggling with taking them during my depression but at the same time I want to keep things as stable as a I can with my medication.