[vrba44070]

I keep sinking deeper into depression. This is the third week. I go manic really easily so I can't take antidepressants. I take Lamictal but can't switch to another mood stabilizer because the others caused dangerous side effects.
I feel overwhelmed because I went thru a manic phase and initiated all these projects and commitments then can't follow thru w/ these things because I feel too apathetic to do anything. I do this ALL the time and you'd think I'd learn, but I never do. I did cut back on some of my commitments. I dropped out of a drawing class and let someone else facilitate my bipolar support group.
I started 2 blogs and I try to post weekly. I get very little pleasure out of anything including eating.
Is anyone else having these kinds of problems? I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up until this passes.

My cousin went manic on lexapro so shes trying only 5mg. You should just try a lower dose of an antidepressant such as 10mg of prozac etc..

[intergalactictraveler]

If you're going manic on antidepressants, your doctor shouldn't be prescribing them and instead focus on what medication or medications will stabilize you. I went over the top as my pdoc upped my Prozac 24 years ago. Didn't sleep for two days and was hallucinating. A few months later I was hospitalized at the National Institutes of Mental Health. I'm not going into my whole story because it sucks but there are plenty of stories, here and on other sites, about people who went manic on ADs'. They're not for everyone and in the hands of a second rate psychiatrist, they're DANGEROUS.

[sheltielover2013]

Celexa is my antidepressant. Any dose higher than 10 mg pushes me into mania, but 10 mg seems to at least take the edge off of some of the depressive cycles. Ask your psychiatrist about low doses of antidepressants.

Sounds like you might be med resistant. Some of us are. I take a medication called Deplin--which is a food med-- and supplies folate (vitamin B9) to the brain which can be used to build serotonin. That's the neurotransmitter that provides the "good feeling tone".

70% of depressed people are lacking in the stomach enzymes that convert folic acid into folate, a form that can cross the blood-brain barrier and provide relief and increase in serotonin. Only a genetic test can determine that, but my psychiatrist felt that it should be prescribed and if it worked, there'd be no need for genetic testing.

I have no idea how your psychiatrist would feel about that for you, but you might inquire about it. It can't hurt, that's for sure.

I hope you're feeling better soon. Prayer going up for your relief and peace now.

[sheltielover2013]

Originally Posted by intergalactictraveler

If you're going manic on antidepressants, your doctor shouldn't be prescribing them and instead focus on what medication or medications will stabilize you. I went over the top as my pdoc upped my Prozac 24 years ago. Didn't sleep for two days and was hallucinating. A few months later I was hospitalized at the National Institutes of Mental Health. I'm not going into my whole story because it sucks but there are plenty of stories, here and on other sites, about people who went manic on ADs'. They're not for everyone and in the hands of a second rate psychiatrist, they're DANGEROUS.

I take lithium and Depakote as my mood stabilizers and they control my psychotic manic episodes fairly well but I still have psychotic depressive episodes. You can use antidepressants CAREFULLY with your psychiatrist's supervision even if they tend to stimulate mania. I take celexa in a low dose and my psychiatrist discontinues it if I show signs of mania (sleeplessness, random fanciful activity, rambling speech, etc) I also take two antipsychotics (Seroquel and Risperdal) for the delusions and hallucinations that sometimes accompany my depressive and manic episodes..

[BipolaRNurse]

Originally Posted by sheltielover2013

Celexa is my antidepressant. Any dose higher than 10 mg pushes me into mania, but 10 mg seems to at least take the edge off of some of the depressive cycles. Ask your psychiatrist about low doses of antidepressants.

That is EXACTLY the same position I'm in. The therapeutic range for Celexa is not just narrow, it's almost nonexistent for me. I can't do without it (I tried last summer, and it was a disaster) but if I take any more than the 10 mg my pdoc allows me, it throws me into mania.

It's funny; of all the psych meds I'm on, Celexa is the one he really keeps on a short leash---I can't have any more than a 30-day supply at a time. That's because I like my hypomanias, and he knows it. A while back when I was depressed, I asked to have the dose increased and he said, "I know what you really want, and NO!!" He upped the Lamictal instead, and that took care of business. So that's what we do whenever the down cycles hit me, which isn't all that often (I tend to have more mania than depression).

I totally understand! Thinking of you. Want to type more but I feel poorly lately. Sent you a PM.