Any of you take anti-depressants?

Payne1, if it was just a matter of becoming manic, and then being able to fix it easily with a guaranteed recipe (eg. stabilisers), it may not be such an issue.
I went severely manic on a few weeks of Prozac, and no AEDs or Lithium could reel me in for 18 months. The only thing that subdued my mixed episode was major tranquilisers ("antipsychotics") which numbed me so much I was practically unable to function at all. My Pdoc won't let me near any antidepressant or stimulant med.
Unfortunately for me, my first pdoc didn't seem to comprehend the risks of getting it wrong up front.
Some folks are lucky and ADs don't give them much trouble. Others stand to lose a lot from that little experiment.

A psychiatrist told me that BPs need a mood stabilizer, an antidepressant, a sleep aid and an antipsychotic. I've been on Lamictal, Wellbutrin XL, Klonopin and Abilify for years without a manic episode. I like wellbutrin because it is easy to adjust and causes no weight gain.

I have been on Prozac for nearly three years now. I haven't gone manic on it, but I have also been on other meds on and off that would put me into a mixewd episode or a hypo/manic episode. Wellbutrin caused too much anxiety at a therapeutic dose so I had to go off of it. Otherwise, a low (150) dose did nothing.

Right now a combo of Prozac, 40mg, Depakote, 500mg, Neurontin, 1800mg, Geodon, 60mg, Trazodone, 100mg, Prilosec (for the heartburn that Depakote causes) propanolol, 20mg, Levothyroxine, (I forget the dose) and twice a week ECT is helping. I would love to get off some of the meds so I can lose the 70 lbs I put on since starting meds.

Yeah, and that's EXACTLY what I don't want to have happen. Good suggestion, thank you!

I'm prescribed an anti-depressant (Zoloft).

But being prescribed and taking a medication are two different things
RB ♥

Well, I got my official "bipolar" diagnosis this morning along with PTSD, and something else I've already forgotten. (My goodness, my memory is horrible...I can hardly wait to see how badly it dulls when I start taking these drugs. Sigh.) We're starting on the Lamictal (lamotrigine), but she told me that she will be adding an antidepressant in a month on top of it. I'm hoping for a good result.

Oh, A report: My pdoc did put me back on Wellbutrin and now has increased my Wellbutrin by doubling it. I asked her if she could do that because I was still not back up to where I was doing very well. That was over a month ago. I told her I would let her know if I started swinging from the chandelier. So far I have found that I have more energy, but no manic symptoms. And I am really working hard at trying to lose the extra pounds I've gained due to meds (and an overactive fork.) So far I've lost about 4 pounds. Not too impressive, but it's a start!

I was on an anti depressant for a shirt period of time however i didnt have such good results as i ended up back in the hospital for suicidal thoughts and even worse started to plan it out. So the anti depressants didnt work for me, we tried several, but that doesnt mean it wont for others. So like i am be willing to try anything just be aware that there maybe bad results of course you have to think mostly that there could also be good results.

I have been put on Prozac, Paxil, & Zoloft in the past (by several different GPs and PDocs). Abilify was added to combat the mania. The only thing Abilify did was give me rather severe akathisia. That was not fun. My current Pdoc took me off of Zoloft rather quickly when I started to tip into mania. In his opinion, Bipolar Disorder patients don't mix very well with ADs.

Sometimes, though, we have no choice but to take ADs. I'm one of those.

Recently, on my pdoc's advice, I tried to discontinue a low dose of Celexa with near-disastrous results---I slipped into such a state of agitated, irritable, crawling-out-of-my-skin pissiness that my family was ready to throw me out of the house! Thankfully, he's more open-minded about bipolars and ADs than the average pdoc, so he gave me back my little bit of Celexa and voila`! Life is good again. The downside being I'll have to stay on the antipsychotic as well as the mood stabilizer, because I did flip into mania once on just the AD and the MS.

Payne - I take Wellbutrin too. Pdoc wanted to wean me off, but I have let her know I need an AD. So she agrees to let me stay on a low dose 75mg I think, so long as I take Lithium. Seems to be working for the time being. I still get the moods but not through the ceiling or deep in the dirt. So I can function, usually

Prior to my bipolar diagnosis, I was on Paxil for many years. It was a wonder drug for me and I regret ever going off of it. In fact, I am going to ask my pdoc if I can go back on it when I see him tomorrow. I have tried effexor and wellbutrin to try and get my mood up to no avail. I take lamictal to stabilize my moods, but it seems that it has only served to stabilize me in a depressed state. I get so sick of this............

I think it's doing the same for me.

I've been on Lexapro, Prozac, and Wellbutrin, but none of them helped. Celexa pushed me into a serious manic state. My pdoc is wary of mixing ADs with bipolar, but she might have to.

I take Zoloft and have had no problems with it causing mania. I also take Invega with my zoloft it seems to be a great combo for me. I would talk to your doctor and see what they think of this combo or another combo of meds for you. I have been on the Invega for 6 years now and have never had any side effects from it. The zoloft though I have only be on for a few months but it works well for me. I was on prozac before and it stopped working for me after 6 years of being on it. That's why I am now on the zoloft. Good luck hope they figure something out for you.