Hi mariela. I can't know what will work for you, but I will share my experiences as a person with bipolar type 1. Though I tend to lean much more to the manic side, I have definitely experienced stubborn depressions in my life.

Antidepressants only do me harm. Period. I haven't taken one for 9 years. I realize they have value for some people, though.

Stimulants make me manic.

I do well with medications known to have both antimanic effects and are helpful with depression, including Lithium, Lamictal, Seroquel/Seroquel XR, Latuda, and the sort. I must avoid medications that have been ONLY helpful for mania to the degree that they squash mania but leave me depressed. Depakote fits into that category for me. I do benefit from medications that are antimanics, but don't drag me down.

I find Seroquel XR quite helpful for both my depression and mania. However, it must be at the right dose. Sometimes the dose becomes too high, and actually having it reduced (vs. raised) provides me with depression relief. Then if my mania starts developing, my dose is increased again with good results. If I am in a mixed state with agitation, increasing is the usual best move for me. I respond much better to the once daily (evening) Seroquel XR than I did to the twice daily regular Seroquel. Seroquel XR still has sedating qualities for me and helps me sleep, but I find the sedation "peak", for lack of a better word, milder than regular.

Lamictal is activating for me, but a small dose of 100 mg is just right, along with my other meds. Tegretol XR is a balanced med for me, in that it helps with stabilization overall without making me depressed.

I have had a series of ECT about 9 1/2 years ago. It's not that bad and it does indeed help many with treatment resistant depression. It helped me, but then my doctor put me back on the same failed med cocktail from before it and depression returned. I needed the overhaul, but believe that the ECT I received might have made the new med cocktail capable of working when perhaps it would have struggled if I hadn't had the ECT.