Hi wisewoman! I'm glad that your son is doing well. That is so refreshing to hear. Trial and error is the story of my life. It is so frustrating and I've quite frequently gotten to the point where it is extremely tempting to throw the whole whack of pills down the toilet and go drug free. However, when the rational part of my brain (or whatever is left of it) kicks in, I know that would definitely not be a good idea for me. Rapid cycling at least 30 times a day is pure hell!!! Certainly don't want to go through that ever again. As far as your comment about being on the right combo of mood stabilizer that could be sufficient for treating depression??? Not in my case, my depression goes way too low for the amount of AD properties that are in mood stabilizers. Lithium and Lamictal as far as I know, are the best mood stabilizers for treating depression in addition to the mania. Unfortunately, I've already ruled them both out in my never-ending trial and error search and I still had to take high dosages of ADs. Unfortunately, what works for one, may be different for another. I'm personally still looking for the right combo. I may have finally hit it now but I don't think my family would agree with that statement as my moods can get quite out of control as far as they are concerned. Only time will tell. I hope your son continues to do well.