It may not always be this way. I am no poster child for medication success. I've been on everything except Invega which I can't take because I'm allergic to risperdal and they're related, Saphris because it interacts with Seroquel and Fanapt which has not come up for some reason (I think it may have which would mean interaction and I don't remember it). I've been on at least 64 cocktails. And while it's true that right now my life is a huge mess I have had times when I felt ok. I was sedated during those times; that's unavoidable for me it seems because my body burns through lower doses like it is just water. So I always wind up where I should be sedated. And if I'm not manic I think I am (it's been so long now I forget). I certainly can't work anymore and sedation is a HUGE part of that. For me it does get better and worse; when I'm manic I can't be sedated. The concoctions I've been on would scare some people and it hasn't bothered me. I've been on 1500 mg of Seroquel for 2 months now, which is nearly double the FDA approved dose (and I do this with a pdoc who is also a phamacist and who is at a hospital where things are tried so this isn't a bad thing) but even that plus 5 mg of valium added to my 2 mg of klonopin, handful of Seroquel, and 2 or 3 other sedating meds don't work. So when I'm manic I can't be sedated but when I'm not I'm suddenly going to be on 1500 mg of Seroquel and depressed and unable to function because of the high dose knocking me out.

I just know that there was a time I found a balance that lasted well over year and if I hadn't gotten whooping cough and been very sick for 3 months and then dealt with lung damage causing allergic asthma with allergies to everything it would have gone on a lot longer. And I never thought that was possible. It took the MAOI to make that happen for me. Which is extreme. MAOIs aren't easy drugs and they are stimulating so it takes some balancing to get sedation right again (I had to switch from ativan to klonopin and double Seroquel from 300 to 600 mg) but I was really good in that time. And so even knowing that I've been on every reasonable drug for me (I have older ADs but am high risk with those so they are a last resort) until something new comes out I do still believe it's possible. It happened once and even though whooping cough and surgical complications pretty much destroyed my life after that I can't stand to live without thinking something will help eventually.