[bpinOk]

Well saw the doctor yesterday... Not to soon either as I had a suicidal thought yesterday. Was put on celexa 40 for depression and lithium 300 for my mania... kinda scared to take meds but I need them... How was everyones experiences with these meds and what about side effects.

[usbusi]

I didn't want to have to get blood tests for Lithium, as you need them since it is toxic at a certain level in the blood. I was given Abilify while hospitalized for mania, which is an anti psychotic but seems to work to prevent full blown mania at least, so maybe it works as a mood stabilizer also -- I take it still at a lower dose. I also take Wellbutrin (generic) anti depressant which did more for me than Celexa.

[bpinOk]

I don't mind getting blood drawn actually

[gary290]

Originally Posted by bpinOk

Well saw the doctor yesterday... Not to soon either as I had a suicidal thought yesterday. Was put on celexa 40 for depression and lithium 300 for my mania... kinda scared to take meds but I need them... How was everyones experiences with these meds and what about side effects.

Some people do okay with meds while others don't. I used to do good with meds but now I'm very sensitive to the. I used to take 900 mg of Lithium but had to stop due to some heart problems. Now I'm on Risperdal and Effexor XR but can't seem to tolerate anything else. We are in a dilema of sorts: needing the meds but fearful of taking them due to side effects and the such. All I can say is that I wish you the very best.

[bpinOk]

Originally Posted by gary290

Some people do okay with meds while others don't. I used to do good with meds but now I'm very sensitive to the. I used to take 900 mg of Lithium but had to stop due to some heart problems. Now I'm on Risperdal and Effexor XR but can't seem to tolerate anything else. We are in a dilema of sorts: needing the meds but fearful of taking them due to side effects and the such. All I can say is that I wish you the very best.

Thanks I appreciate that

[hamster-bamster]

300 mg is a starting dose of Li and your doctor will probably titrate you up while monitoorig the blood levels. Drink water or tea to keep yourself hydrated which is always a good idea but on Lithium, an absoute must.

[bpinOk]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

300 mg is a starting dose of Li and your doctor will probably titrate you up while monitoorig the blood levels. Drink water or tea to keep yourself hydrated which is always a good idea but on Lithium, an absoute must.

Yeah that's exactly what she told me... Gonna do a trial period of 300mg and then go from there

[MilitaryMech]

Starting meds... willingly is one of the first steps towards getting really healthy.

There is no shame in taking medications. If there is no shame for a diabetic taking insulin to correct a deficiency, then there is no shame for us taking meds to correct a deficiency in us.

Hello, BpinOK,

Welcome. Glad you decided to communicate with others who have inherited bipolar
illness or have had traumatic experiences that caused it to appear.

While you are just beginning with a specialist's help and advice--and medication prescriptions-- you will be going through an adjustment period. Once you have passed that point, you may likely want to do some things that will be of a self-help nature to enable you to keep medications at a minimum if possible.

Experience has taught me that over a long period medications may need adjustments, changes, and more improvement may occur with your doing certain things to help yourself.

One of them will be your diet: you need to make sure that you are ingesting good
amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids and are watching your intake of transfatty acids so that you don't have too much of that in your daily meals. (The American diet, unfortunately, includes far too many transfatty acids and not enough Omega 3 (fish oil) fatty acids, which is characteristic of the Mediterranean diet--and that's much healthier for you than the western diet, as a general rule.

My psychiatrist told me initially to avoid alcohol because it makes bipolar illness worse. She also warned me about eliminating caffeine, as well, because it makes bipolar illness worse. I would add that some people are able to use caffeine; but if we are sensitive to it, it's the last thing we need to include in our diet: that means coffee, tea (although drinking milk after ingesting tea will cut the effects of tannin in tea), and chocolate--often a favorite among many. (And anything else with caffeine in it.)

That's down the line, however, but something to keep in the back of your mind.
Right now you may wish to adhere strictly to your psychiatrist's efforts and prescriptions and see how you fare.

I certainly wish you a lot of success and a good stabilizing of your blood chemistry.
That will go a long, long way in helping you feel much better and live more contently.

Good wishes,

Genetic

[~Christina]

I can't do Antidepressants , flips me right into an angry mania. I take Lithium and have for a year. I've had blood work twice, I test at the bottom level of "theraputic" so pdoc and I are happy.

As advised drink loads of fluids.

Good luck

[bpinOk]

Thanks everyone for your comments and support

[Victoria'smom]

I only had bad side effects with anti depressents.

[bpinOk]

Made me drowsy after first dose, but just need to get used to it

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm concerned that you were started on 40 mg of Celexa. Usual starting dose is 10 mg and titrate up to 20 mg after a couple of weeks. The danger of any antidepressant is that they can switch a bipolar person into mania, and the higher the dose, the higher the chance that this will happen.

I understand the doc wanting to jump-start things to get you out of the depression quickly, but that is a whopping dose for anybody right out of the starting gate. I've been taking Celexa for a year myself, but my pdoc will only let me take 10 mg because he saw me flip into mania after I went to 20 mg. That's not to say this will happen to you. But I would be extremely cautious if I were you, and monitor yourself to make sure you're not ramping up into a manic episode. Just saying.