What meds have worked for you or haven't?

Abilify worked almost perfectly for me except for the fact that it gave me life threatening akisesia. On day 15 of Risperdal and am currently moderately to highly depressed but no longer at the suicidal level. Lamictal didn't work for me.

What worked perfectly for me were lithium, Vraylar, and Provigil for depressive episodes. Due to multiple hospital errors I've now been on Depakote and Ritalin only for about a month. Desperately seeking a qualified psychiatrist in rural central NY!!

Lithium has literally saved my life. Studies have shown that it significantly reduces risk of suicide. I have found that to be the case for me. Finally got put on a therapeutic dose prescribed my PCP. It's a miracle!

I take Lithium, Depakote and Quetiapine. I still wanna kill myself everyday.

I also took:
Abilify
Lamictal
Topamax
Orap (for mania, which is very good, but had to drop it for side effects)
Amitriptyline
Fluxetin
Venlift
Bupropion
Citalopran
Clonazepam (still take it)
Paroxetin
And many more I can record anymore...

May we adj your dx?

My current mix is the best mix for me (I take all generics):

- Tegretol XR 1400 mg (Stopped musical hallucinations/currently almost no side effects except maybe a little clumsiness. A keeper at this dose.)

- Lamictal 100 mg (Only took this much to pull me out of my worst depression in conjunction with an old med cocktail, but if I take more it makes me manic, plus cognitive impairment, but not at 100 mg)

- Seroquel XR 600 mg (Works very well at curbing my mania and even helping with depression and sleep, but does make it hard to lose weight and easy to gain some. I get a "hangover" in the morning if I take it too late at night. Believe me when I say that this antipsychotic gives me the fewest (or most bearable) side effects of any, and I've been on very many. I hope this dose can be lowered a bit eventually.)

I also take 0.5 mg Klonopin and 1 mg Ativan. I hope to soon be weaned off the Ativan to use it only as a prn. My psychiatrist is VERY reluctant to take me off the Klonopin, even though I'm not sure if it really does anything (long story). I am still taking 20 mg of Geodon, down from 160 mg. I hope to get to 0 mg Geodon next week AFTER ONE WHOLE YEAR OF BEING WEANED OFF!

There are some times during the day when I wish I had more energy. Perhaps my mix is slightly sedating, or I had too many years of being slightly to very elevated that I think anything below that is sedation. Aging and not trying to be more active surely also plays a part.

I was on Haldol for 10 years and even on that I landed in the hospital two Christmases ago. Since changing Pdocs in the summer, he changed the Haldol to Seroquel. I am not on high dosage, but it is such a miracle drug! It really calmed down the mania and even though I have trouble with sleeping it does what it's supposed to.

I have to say to anyone who is struggling with their meds, consider changing Pdocs if you can. Changing mine has changed my life completely. He actually listens to me and explains everything. Good luck to everyone!

Yes, a cocktail of meds is usually necessary. I've been through a lot of them. The current one seems to work really well for me:

Abilify
Wellbutrin
Zoloft

Ones I've taken and hated:
Clozaril ( gave me seizures)
Latuda (made me puke)
Prozac (doesn't work)

I liked Lamictal but it made my skin crawl

Unfortunately its just trial and error to see what works and that sucks for us. But when they find it it's awesome.

My magic combination is: lithium, Zoloft and vyvanse.

Clonazepam and ativan also work for anxiety, but docs only let me take them when absolutely necessary.

Failed: clomipramine, abilify, risperidone, busparone, ciplralex and I'm sure more.

The meds in my signature work great for me. They cause me to be a little flat but I can live with that its better than the alternative.