I'm bipolar II also, and 90% of the time I'm down too. My pdoc said that Lamictal addresses all of my issues so I'll see what happens. I know she said I have to wait two weeks until I start to feel any effects and by then I'll just be hitting 50mg. I wonder how long it takes to get up to therapy levels?
I've tried the abilify & lithium, neither worked for me. Abilify turned me into a zombie & lithium made my anxiety worse.
I had a doctor who gave me just an AD before they knew I was bipolar and it made me crazy and to this day I've never been prescribed another, even with a mood stabilizer.
Taking a new med, especially one with side effects this bad is scary for me. I took my first dose last night and made it through so hopefully I don't have any side effects with this one.