[BusyMomma2]

Ok. Still here. Still miserable. 200mg lamictal 1500mg lithium and can't sleep. Ambien alone isn't cutting it. Adding now 50mg seroquel and ambien combined. Came home early to sleep. Still awake. Sucks.

What did you do for your mania?? I feel like the lithium which I have been on for almost two months just isn't working. What worked for you???

[TRNRMOM]

Originally Posted by BusyMomma2

Ok. Still here. Still miserable. 200mg lamictal 1500mg lithium and can't sleep. Ambien alone isn't cutting it. Adding now 50mg seroquel and ambien combined. Came home early to sleep. Still awake. Sucks.

What did you do for your mania?? I feel like the lithium which I have been on for almost two months just isn't working. What worked for you???

i'm bp2 for more than 35 yrs. (hypomania, no depression w/lots of anxiety and agitation) and have been on 450 mg. lithium all this time, w/a 1/2 klonopin daily for about 2 yrs. just lately i have found that taking ambien for sleep is like eating m&ms..does nothing and the racing thoughts are going constantly during the nite. just started taking 1/4 of a 25mg. seroquel for sleep and that little bit works, and kills the racing thoughts. pharmacist said ambien won't kill the racing thoughts. good luck in figuring it out. am female, 65 yrs. old.

[BusyMomma2]

I came home and took 50mg of seroquel and 10 mg of ambien and I feel hyped up. Wtf???

[sweepy62]

i cant sleep much either its strange i am sleepy yet restless and agitated been on lithium for 3 weeks

[BusyMomma2]

See. I think it's the stupid lithium.

I'm on lithium too and I still get a lot of mania. I've tried Lamictal, Tegratol, Depakote, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify, Risperdal, Thorazine, Ect. Seriously huge list and nothing has seemed to work out that well. The only med I have kept and stayed with has been lithium, why? I'm not even sure. None of the benzos help me sleep when I am manic.

I've sort of given up on meds, I've tried countless combos and after 7 years I just sort of came to the realization that for me there just might not be a right combination. I guess just keep plugging away at it and hopefully you will find something that works for you.

[BuggsBunny]

1800 mgs of trileptal keeps my mania in check. For sleep I use a cocktail of ambien, flexeril, and Klonipin. It seems to work pretty well.

[sweepy62]

i was manic last month a couple of weeks after now im zapped of all my energy yet i cant seem to sleep i know my pdoc is gonna want to raise my lithium after the blood results cause i know 600 is a starter dose she said

[hamster-bamster]

When Depakote was added to Lithium, I felt an effect on mania. Also, some doctors recommend Zyprexa PRN to sleep off mania. Just do not take it longer than a few days.

[cocoabeans]

Curious, Zyprexa isn't something I'm on but, why not more than a few days?

[BusyMomma2]

Cocoa beans I would assume its similar to seroquel... Easily addictive and stops workin without higher doses? Meant to be used as an SOS?

[moremi]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

When Depakote was added to Lithium, I felt an effect on mania. Also, some doctors recommend Zyprexa PRN to sleep off mania. Just do not take it longer than a few days.

Im curious about zyprexa also. I cant take antipsychotics like seroquel long term but short term seems to help get the mania away. I am looking for something as a as needed for hypomania. Something I can take when I feel it coming on. I think I will talk to my doctor about it . I have thorazine for one right now but its not exactly working but its only a low dose too.

Zyprexa is one of the stronger atypical antipsychotics. It's one of the best known for weight gain, metabolic disturbances, and it has very strong sedative qualities. Some pdocs do not like to keep patients on Zyprexa long term because of the side effects including risk of diabetes and body temperature regulation ( neuroleptic malignant syndrome ).

When I am manic my pdoc works me up to a high dose but I've had to go over the recommended highest dose to stabilize. At that dose the side effects are unbearable. I feel pretty much like a vegetable. It does work tho. There is Zydis Zyprexa which is said to cause less weight gain. It's a wafer that melts in the mouth, and here in Canada costs even more than Zyprexa. I found the side effects of Zydis Zyprexa more manageable. The extra cost might be worth it if any of you are considering Zyprexa.

Some dr's are prescribing antipsychotics with little care, for almost anything. These drugs are handed out more casually than ever before. They have serious risks involved and major side effects. Just a word of caution, I think the medical community needs to dial back the use of these drugs and appreciate that these are very strong medications. I do see their use and helpfulness when dealing with bipolar. I just wish dr's were more informative when it comes to the risks associated with these meds.

Sorry, really not trying to sound preachy, just saying make sure you look into these drugs before hand because in my experience dr's hand them over with informing the patients of the risks. My dr's certainly didn't tell me about the serious risks involved.