new med suggestions?

anyone have any success with medication?


i'm running out of meds to try and i'm getting worried?

What combinations have you been on?

i have been on a TON, litereally a TON of medication combos, been in and out of the hospital 10 times in like 2 years

currently i'm on cymbalta, depekote, zanax, adderall, and one other i think

I've cycled through most MS and AD's. All AD's made me manic except viibryd (my pdoc's last ditch effort) probably because it also has AP qualities. The only anti-convulsive MS that has ever touched my BP is lamictal.

I can't help you with AP's because I only take mine PRN and it took my therapist 2+ years to get me to that point.

Adderall you should not be on while your BP is not controlled, Depokot is to touchy for me it only help if I took it at the exact same time over 30 min missed forget me not being a *****, I was on cymbalta for maybe 2 weeks that turned really bad.

As for zanax my pdoc refuses to prescribe benzo's but use another anti-anxiety class.

I'm still experimenting too, a year and a half later. I was actually stable for about six weeks recently, then summer happened and a new job happened and I got overexcited and now I'm fighting with BP again. So my pdoc upped my AP again a few days ago and told me to call back if I'm still over-amped on Friday. It's Thursday morning and I've been up for almost 22 hours. Hope that extra dose kicks in soon, I love my hypomania but this is getting out of control.

I had great success with Zyprexa (and also a gross amount of weight gain). Seroquel is a close second for me in terms of effectiveness, but doesn't have the ridiculous weight gain. Lexapro was the best AD I've been on that didn't make me manic. Viibryd is alright I guess. Nothing to rant or rave about. Just kinda "meh".

But I've been on so many meds...

Geodon with Depakote (together) worked to keep me stable and sleeping, but gave me a horrendous tremor that thankfully went away after stopping them.

Abilify was terrible for me because it made me even more depressed, but I know a lot of people have success with it.

Latuda was the last med I was on, and it did me okay...except that I wasn't always compliant since it requires you eat with it, and I tend to restrict due to anorexia...so even if I did take it, at least once a week I would throw it back up because I didn't have enough food in my stomach and that's how my body would react to it. Then I didn't take it for 2 days in a row, and I went hypo/manic, saw my pdoc, and she put me back on Seroquel.

So now I'm currently back on Seroquel after a few months off it, and I'm doing a lot better than when I wasn't taking it (so it's much better than Latuda, IMO, but you could always give Latuda a try)...and I've been taking it now for about 3 weeks I think and there have been no side effects. I'm not sure if it's because I've taken it before or if it's just something that my body reacts well to. I didn't have terrible side effects when I first started it though, I remember that. It was about a year ago. I've messed with the dosage a lot, and have switched between IR and XR. XR is a bit better for me in one way since it lasts longer, but the IR helps me sleep better...so I've been playing around with taking most of my dose at night and a small amount in the morning to keep myself level.

Another one I've read about is Saphris. People say it tastes horrible (it's a sublingual) but it's effective. A lot of people compare it to Latuda since they're both rather new.

i had real success with haldol but they took me off it. now i am doing well on geodon and topomax. no luck with any of the other meds. it took me years to get the success with what i have.

Just my opinion,

Has your Pdoc ever thought about the idea of you being off meds for a couple weeks to allow your body to natural detox from all the chemicals in medications? Whats the worst that will happen you end up on the psych ward ?.. You have been there 10 times in 2 years. Anyway .. Maybe worth a discussion with your Pdoc .

Good luck and I hope you find something to help

I've had tremendous success with my current cocktail of meds. It's taken a long time and many many different combinations to find the right ones. My cocktail is in my signature below!