How Many Meds are You On?

Sorry to be a board hog and post two new topics in one day...

I feel like my psychiatrist has me taking too many medications, and I just want to know how many meds YOU are all on.

The current cocktail is Abilify, Trileptal, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, BuSpar, and Klonopin (as needed). That's SIX psych meds, and it seems a bit excessive to me.

Is it working? Well, sorta. But despite being on two antidepressants my mood still hovers on the lower end of the spectrum. I'm also tired a lot, and I've been gaining weight because I never feel full when I eat.

I'm out of the Abilify and I'm inclined to not refill it. It would be the first time I had EVER gone against the psychiatrist's instructions, but it's the one I think is most likely behind the weight gain.

I have a decent relationship with this psychiatrist, but I think he's a little too eager to prescribe me more and more medications. I don't exactly like being a walking pharmacy.

Thoughts?

Hmm. Let's see:

lithium
wellbutrin xr
pristiq
abilify
seroquel xr
lunesta
synthroid

That's seven. The lunesta is PRN. The synthroid augments the antidepressants. So take those away and it's five.

Your list looks about average to me. Don't stop that abilify without talking to your pdoc first.

Seriously, 2 topics in one day!

j/k

I take Effexor XR, Seroquel, Prozac, Adderall XR, and Klonopin along with my Synthroid, Mobic, Xantac, Flonase, Skelaxin, and Tylenol.

So basically, at night I take Effexor, Seroquel, Klonopin, and Skelaxin to go to sleep, then in the morning I take Effexor, Adderall, and the rest to wake up. Then at lunch I take another adderall, so I can stay awake for the rest of the day and make it home without going to sleep.

My mom constantly nags me about the amount of medication I take, but lately I've been very vague with her so when she asks I just tell her that it's none of her business.

I too feel like a walking pharmacy sometimes, but if it's working and the side effects aren't that bad, I don't really mind. Except for right now, b/c all the sweating is really annoying. Everyone else in the office is wrapped up in blankets, but I have my fan on high and I'm still sweating. I wonder if insurance would pay for botox if it was used to reduce the sweating....(it basically paralyzes the cells around where it's injected, hence less sweating).....

Right now my meds are a little confusing LOL...

Every day I take 100mg Lamictal 2x day, 75mcg Liothyronine 1x day (thyroid med that is also used to enhance mood stabilizer), 1mg Clonazepam PRN up to 3x daily, and 1mg every night.

My sleep meds are confusing as I alternate then. Every other night I take 10mg Ambien + 8mg Rozerem (with the Clonazepam) and on the alternate nights I take 100mg Seroquel (with the Clonazepam). Alternating them has helped them work better and for longer than previous sleep meds.

So depending on my anxiety, I take meds anywhere from 3x a day to 6x a day. But they're working pretty well, so that's all that matters to me.

Please don't stop the Abilify without discussing it with your pdoc. Suddenly stopping any medication can cause serious consequences. Take care...and don't worry about starting more than 1 post per day

Geodon
Lamictal
Valium
Ambien
Omaprazole

5; Seroquel, Lithium, Effexor, Klonopin, Vit D. The last is prescription strength.

I was on 8 at one point; he kept adding and adding. We differed on treatment and I found a new doc; I had to do a complete titrated clearing of my system which was rough. I'm now down to Geodon, Welbutrin XL, Topamax, Ambien prn with Vitamin B injections, relatively stable now for years and none of which I was on before. Talk him/her. The right "cocktail" is there.

Parnate
Nortriptyline
Clonazepam
Noxinan
Trileptal

And then I take some non-psych meds for other conditions. Sometimes I feel like I am over medicated like when my 82 year old mother takes less meds than I do.

My daughter is on Abilify, Lamictal, Gabapentin and Cogentin and a whole mess of vitamins and fish oil.

Wow, I am only on Lamictal 200mg in the AM and Lithium 900mg and Ambien as needed.

Maybe that is WAY too little. No wonder I bounce in an out of mania a lot.

Well I have recently decided to get back on meds... so I am only on Lamictal and Geodon right now. Will be asking for something for anxiety though next appointment. Geodon will be gone, I have breathing issues sometimes with it and that scares me to much. I have other meds but they are for blood pressure, IBS, and muscle relaxant from a car accident.

I'm only on 2: lithium and Zyprexa.

Though, it should be noted I only started medication a few months ago and my psychiatrist says he tries to keep all his patients on less than 3/4. He says it's rare for him to give more than 2, as most of his patients are fine on one and that in America heavy medication cocktails are more common. Plus, he tries to keep it cheap so he doesn't give scripts out to the more pricey meds as a first try if there's not a really good reason to.

What I'm on works-ish, for now. I still dip in and out of depressed and manic moods but they're way more manageable now. Though, I've always been good with any medication. I rarely get even the common side effects. I'm lucky I'm not sensitive. I can see how others could need more meds or more frequent med changes due to their body. It's not 100% certain how these meds work on the brain so trial and error is going to be a ***** with this regardless.

Edronax (Reboxetine) - A NARI (6mg AM)
Epilim (sodium Valporate) 400mg (One AM, one PM)
Alprazolam as needed up to about 2mg/day
Zopiclone 7.5mg to sleep at night

I think that covers all possible groups of psych meds, an anti-dep, a mood stabiliser, a sleeping tab and an anxiety med

I take Lamictal and Wellbutrin for bipolar, along with synthroid. This combo works well for me.

I sometimes take Klonopin for anxiety/panic, although I haven't taken any in quite a while, probably two months.

I take:

Topamax
Lamictal
Welbutrin
Prozac
Abilify

Zyprexa - for the "moods"
Nortriptyline - keeps me from vomiting too
Fludrocortisone - to raise my blood pressure bc it is too low when I stand up.
Vitamins
Fish oil - for anxiety
Klonopin PRN - I won't let myself have these very often. I was dependant on them before but don't want to be again.

I think I need something else to help with my depression bc I can't seem to kick this extremely depressed mood I have had for a couple of weeks now.

im only on Geodon 80 mg (supposed to be 160 but that makes me to zombie like) and prozac 40 mg

they took me off anxiety meds because he said it wasnt a long term solution

Weighing in on the other end of the scale... I'm on 200mg Lamictal/day and have alprazolam (Xanax) for anxiety/panic attacks as needed. I'm strongly suspecting I need a meds adjustment, which may well mean adding another to the mix or adjusting the current. Different things work differently and at different amounts for different people (is that enough differents? ), which is why it's not at all unusual to see so many mixes. It's not a bad thing in and of itself, as people often seem to think. The important thing is *what works* regardless of how few or many that means.

I've taken several medications during a depression and then slowly went down to only one when the depression resided. Perhaps you're in a really severe episode and need lots of meds at the moment, but later you'll go off them?

Why not just tell your doctor that you don't want to take a certain medication? It's not like he can force you. He can give you the little doctor speech, but ultimately it is your body. In fact, if he's worth his degrees at all he'll suggest something else. It seems that medications for bipolar disorder are pretty scary and a good doctor would understand that and understand that it's important for you to be comfortable with what you're putting into your body. Research alternative medications and see what he says.

hi, im on quite a few meds now, they are CELEXA, CONCERTA, ADDERRALL, PREVACID(prescribed for stomach problems ughh) XANEX, TRAZADONE, RISPERDAL, LAMACTIL, and PLAQUENIL, for lupus, and ARTHROTEC for arthritis, whew sorta overwhelming...so 10 in all with tylenol 3 and darvon as needed...

Wellbutrin XL
Cyprelex
Ativan
Seroquel
Aticand

Seroquel 25mg 2xday
Seroquel 100mg 2mg every PM
Wellbrutrin XR 150mg every AM
Cymbalta 60mg every AM
Topomax 50mg 2xday
Buspar 30mg 2xday
Bentyl 10mg 2xday
Klonopin.5mg 2xday (prn)
Xanax .5mg 3xday (prn)
Lunesta 3.0 mg 1 every PM

Forgot to add: Am off all the previous meds. for over 4 years now except for Buspar and Xanax .5mg 3xday., and Lunesta. Trying to get to a new PSy.Dr. and get on a new tx. Having a very hard time with MADD.

Hope this info. helps you.

I was on 6, now I'm on 2 for psych issues. This doesn't include my supplements. About a month ago I decided 6 was too much. And they'd tried everything on me. I have a one page sheet full of names of meds I've been on, one per row over the past couple years. I tapered myself off of the most recent (Lamictal, Wellbutrin, temazepam) and now am only on Geodon and Nuvigil and my thyroid medicine. It's working just fine for me. I have my down days, but really, I was overmedicated. Perhaps I'm just between episodes now. I'm thinking of going off of the last two this summer. If you feel overmedicated, talk to your doctor about what you might be able to test tapering off of. It's worth a try. Being on so many meds can't be great for your health what with organ issues and side effects. Docs should listen to your concerns.

I'm on 3 meds:

600mg tegretol (200 in morning, 400 at night)
200mg seroquel XR (night)
10mg cipralex (morning)