I have spent enormous amounts of time at the extreme end of the down pole. Have been on way too many antidepressants to even remember them all. The problem with traditional antidepressants in bipolar 1 is that we are trying to play this very delicate balancing game between depression and mania/psychosis. You're too low and it's awful and potentially dangerous. You're too high and it's a disaster and potentially dangerous. It's very, very hard to just dial it right in to somewhere nice in the middle. That said, I have had good luck with a few antidepressants (and not gotten manic) including Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, and Remeron. I had a bad reaction to Emsam and I don't think it really helped me very much, but others have had good experiences with it. I don't think lamictal did anything for me but lithium, contrary to the traditional teaching about it, is clearly helpful for my depression. No question about it.

There are a million options. Keep talking to your pdoc and I'm sure you guys will come up with a good plan. Just don't be surprised if you have to make some adjustments along the way. As this thread shows, everyone responds to a given antidepressant in his or her own way.