It completely depends on the med and the reactions to the meds each person has. Every medication is different, every person is different.

The worst (and best) med I've been on is Seroquel. It was so sedating, I was falling asleep at work. It was horrible. I was also in a total brain fog and couldn't do much of anything right. It gave me such a hangover, that I needed an enormous amount of sleep to function. 'The best' part is that it got me out of a full-blown manic episode. It's just unfortunate that, after I got out of that, it was used as a preventative medication, to be taken daily, regardless of symptoms. I don't think Seroquel should be used to prevent episodes, I think it should be used to get people out of mania, and then tapered off, once it's safe.

I currently take Lamictal, which I've been taking for more than a decade. It's helped immensely with depression, and I've never felt any side effects.

I also take Abilify to prevent hypo/mania (Lamictal has only helped with depression for me). I initially had side effects, especially getting very dizzy when standing up, and it took nearly a year for that to go away. What never went away was the shaking of my hands (it has a name, I always forget it). For that I take 2 propranolol every day. I've been relatively stable for 2.5 years now.

More recently, a low dose of Zoloft was added. It was added for situational depression and I think I should probably get off of it, because the situation -and the depression-have passed.

I'm also on klonopin for anxiety and sleep. I take it in the morning for anxiety (with A LOT of coffee) and in the evenings to help me sleep. Most of the time it helps me sleep; when it occasionally doesn't I take Zzzquil, which my pdoc doesn't like.