there is no in between

90% of the time i'm depressed and restless, 10% of the time I'm high,restless,and extremely irratible. I can't ever relax. My life sucks. I'm on lamictal,risperdal, and lexapro. I think it may be the lexapro that is causing all this but you would think the risperdal and lamictal would be helping. Which meds to I need to be on?

I can't say what meds you need but I can only take a low dose of anti-depressent without throwing me into a mixed or manic state.

time .... it heals everything (or so people say)

but seriously .. hope you get right meds ... and best luck

Hello, Samuel1313, and welcome.

It would be extremely difficult for anyone who is not a specialist to tell you which medication (if one) is causing the problem for you. I could make a guess, but that's all it could be.

Many times when bipolar patients are taking several medications for treatment and are taking the same medications every single day the kidneys may have a difficult time of clearing the tissues and fluids of the acidic residue (or ash) which all medications leave. That would leave you with high acidity and the feelings accompanying that are like the ones you describe as your symptoms.

There is a laughable, harmless thing you might try that may help.
It's the modest little lemon. While the lemon is very acidic in taste, it
is digested as one of the most alkaline foods we can ingest, and it
will help the kidneys adjust to create a more alkaline fluid and tissue
ph value.

Try squeezing two fresh lemons into about 8 oz of water. Drink it;
(with no sweetener--which is highly acidic) if you don't feel a striking
change in feeling tone within 4 hours, repeat the procedure. That
should alter your feeling tone for the better for at least a couple of days.

I keep about a dozen lemons in my refrigerator just in case!

In my view, you should talk about your medications with your psychiatrist and get his opinion of what's the best thing for you to do.

(There is very little change in the ph of the system. That is strictly controlled by the brain, and the alkaline-acid balance of the sytem varies only a miniscule amount. I'm not talking about that ph; I'm referring strictly to the fluids and tissue acidity.)

It would be nice if this works for you; I hope it will. I know of some who
have had success with it.

Take care of yourself, please.

interesting, i'll give it a try

Sometimes we are so busy analyzing ourselves that every action and reaction is recognized as a symptom, so we completely overlook the 'in between'. I know I experienced this shortly after my dx, and it took me a while to realize I was amplifying my own experiences unknowingly. If I'm off track and this is not a possiblity, speak to your pdoc, either way, definitly try the lemon...

risperdal, and lexapro.... I HATED that combo when I was on it.. lasted almost 2 weeks before I had to call the doc one day saying i was going to cut off my skin, and shoot myself after if the side effects didn't stop... We r trying depokote now, but I am also a highly psychotic bipolar 1 person...... As of right now, I wanna just take about 5 pills of my trazadone and sleep for a few days, or die... Whatever comes first will work for me.... (this is all just me talkin)

I agree with trippin. It can be hell after diagnosis.

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Trazodone is unpleasant to OD on... I threw up so hard I peed all over myself... Ah the days...

I guess I'm lucky I've got in between days like today and I've been through my moods so many times I could care less about whether or not I want to smash my head in or laugh when I wake up tomorrow. I can deal with it.

So yea, if you don't off yourself or get hit with a bus, life goes on even bipolar life.

thanks, never thought of it that way..sounds just like me!

it's been rough for me also..i've been so damn irratable and have gone off into a psychotic rage several times..My doc mentioned something about weaning off risperdal and getting on lithium

Its entirely possible, it's happened way too many times to way too many people for me to deny.

Try focusing on just being, rolling with the tide... It's much easier than measuring each wave and trying to calculate how long you'll stay on it. Also, it makes the waves less daunting....

doc upped my meds, and then added an anti depressant to the mix, also put my name on the I need therapy list..

I was on lexapro for a few days last summer. During the short time I was on it, I became restless, irritable, suicidal, and experienced an increase in visual hallucinations. My pdoc promptly took me off of the lexapro, saying that bipolar patients often reacted that way to antidepressants. I was on abilify at the time, but it wasn't enough to curb the destabilizing effects of the lexapro.

I'm on another SSRI now, prozac, and have had no problems with it. It might be worth getting an appointment with your pdoc and asking to drop the lexapro and try a different antidepressant.

It sounds like your anti depressant isn't working as well as you need it to.
Journal your feelings and emotions daily, and then set up an appointment with your doc to discuss your symptoms and meds.

lithium and I didn't get along to well, but the depakote that I am on now, it workin wonders! even my boss notices a difference.. I just notice moer headaches because even tho my moods are under better control, my head has been racing and by the end of the day, my brain really hurts after..

I went back to the p-doc this week and he kept the 400mg lamictal, 30mg lexapro, and 3mg risperdal the same, and added adderall xr 30mg twice a day. He says next time he will probably bring down the risperdal, increase the lexapro, and add lithium. So far the adderall doesn't seem to be working whatsoever. I took 60mg of adderall xr this morning..it's been 5 hrs. and I feel nothing whatsoever. I'm actually really tired right now and have horrible focus.

Maybe he's drugging you TO much?