I have never reached the severity of needing meds. My hypomanias are short (in fact my ADD and OCD present much worse) though my depressions are horrid. Old T has suggested meds but she changed her mind again and thought we could work through it with talk therapy alone. She also said it was scary giving me the leverage of dangerous controlled substances because I have expressed sui tendencies.

I do feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of meds though since a pdoc and T have told me that there definitely will be side effects, particularly weight gain. I know it sounds extremely immature but I have body image issues and would rather suffer a nasty bout of depression than put on weight. This isn't for bipolar but I have heard many positive reviews about Adderall (which fortunately doesn't entail weight gain) so I am more willing to give that a go.