Medications

Hello all i thought i might make a list of medications i have been on and how i felt on them. If anyone would like to add to the list that would be a great help for other bp people and deciding what meds to be on.

All Antidepressants - made me loopy and celexa made me psychotic.
Deepakote - dull, numb feeling of carelessness. no weight gain, could not concentrate.
Abilify - lots of akathasia, restlessness, and made be feel dumb.
Latuda - restlessness
Saphris - restlessness, no weight gain, good sleep
Lamictal - more active, helped my depression, more motivation
Lithium - dull, no personality, no motivation, loss of interest,

I have been on, over the last ten years I'd I can remember

Lithium
Olanzapine
Depekot
Carbamazepine
Antidepressants make me suicidal so not aloud them
Ability sent me manic
Asenapine didn't work
Quetiapine slept all the tome
Sycrest couldn't tolerate side effects
Respiridone raised my prolactin
Amisulpride raised my prolactin
Diazapam prn
150mg quetiapine at moment to make me sleep
Lamotragine
Now on pipothazine depot injection for about 3 weeks and I'm so tired

I'm not sure this is them all, but I've relapsed on each one at some point.

Sertraline (zoloft) INSTANT hypomanic pretty much. never lost control to that extent before. Fortunately my impulses are mostly harmless!

Lamictal - so far only on 37.5mg. It doesn't seem to have caused any side effects and I feel normal.

prozac-very bad mania by day 5
paxil- hypo after one dose
ativan- mello/nice
valium-mello/nice
xanax-mello/nice
lithium-normal but with a touch of weight gain and gurgly stomach.

Trazadone: Really bad blood pressure drops even at tiny doses. Made me STONED.

Zoloft: Think it made me hypo, otherwise didn't do anything. Gave me restless legs and sweating a TON on dose upages.

Ativan: Makes me chill and tired

Zyprexa: calms me down and knocks me out for about a day.

Hydroxyzine: complete BS, glorified Benadryl. Don't know why I still have it in my sig.

Seroquel: really good for mood stabilizing, but I started gaining weight like crazy.

Abilify: Note to self: don't ever stop this one cold turkey (again). Not sure how I feel abut it otherwise. Not sure if it ever really did anything.

Prozac ~ No side effects, helped get me out of a deep funk, and sparked lovely hypomanias when
mixed with enough chocolate, coffee & Lucozade.

Tegratol ~ I felt intoxicated on a high dosage, thus the need for Lucozade above, not at all sure if it helped (took it with prosac).

Risperdal ~ Sedating for 3 months, 1 more reason for daily bottles of Lucozade made me lactate, but did help quiet my mind and curb rage

Lithium ~ Numbed me, made me stoopid, screwed up short term memory, erased longterm memories permanently, caused tremors that lead to zero fine motor skills, and also had me suffering from perpetual starvation. Oh and did I mention the backne? Yeah, my back went through puberty for a while there

Was on the lithium for a shorter amount of time (6 months) than the rest. For obvious reasons

Fluoxetine (Prozac) - A slight antidepressant effect after a few weeks of taking but not a huge boost when stuck in a severe depressive episode. This was at 40mg. No positive effect at 20mg.

Risperidone (Risperdal) - A slight sedative effect made me feel lethargic. Was very effective dimming down irritability and relaxed me within 30 minutes of taking orally.

Lorazepam - A big sedative effect. Very affective at treating anxiety and irritability experienced. Was taken off this medication after a few weeks due to the big risk of addiction.

Propanalol - A mildly effective beta-blocker for my anxiety. Would take one up to three times a day as required, which brought a subtle change in anxiety symptoms following onset in the work environment.

Citalopram - Experienced more side effects than on any other antidepressant I've taken. Dry mouth, irritability, nausea, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping and less interest in sex. No use for my mood, didn't help a bit at 20mg. Couldn't try a higher dose as interactions with Quitiapine can be dangerous. Now switched for Sertaline as its more compatible with Quitiapine.

Quitiapine (Seroquel) - For a while, very good at stabilising my mood and slowing down rapid cycling. Makes me very sleepy so I take it at bedtime. 200mg was effective enough but now I'm having to have it increased as my antidepressant dosage is increasing and I am finding the smaller does inefficient. Now on 300mg and once again it's beginning to do its job stabilising my mood but I stuck in depression/mixed episode. Dose is still being increased to try and get it back on the efficacy level it was before.

Sertraline - Only just started this medication today, on 150mg. I feel a bit sleepy though may not be med-related.

Olanzapine - Made me sleepy and led to large weight gain. Good at stabilising mood and treating psychosis but clean knocked me out at times during my hospital admissions. Had more weight gain on this tablet than any of the others.

Slow-Release Melatonin (Circadin) - No side effects whatsoever. I use it to help me sleep. I can't judge the effectiveness because I take it with Quitiapine and that's what seems to knock me out.

RB.

For those who are really have a difficult problem with psychotropic medications, I'd suggest that you check with your insurance company and see if you are covered for examination
by an orthomolecular physician/scientist. These people have the edge on medications, in
my view, for treatment of mental illnesses.

For one thing, they do extensive blood work before ever diagnosing definitively an illness
of a person. That way, you are assured that you are being medicated for something
in your system that needs real attention, and often it's in the vitamin deficiencies
that they find problems. Those have no ill side effects if taken in appropriate dosages.

From looking at the lists of meds provided, I can see a couple already that may be
difficult with regard to side effects. (All of them have side effects, some more difficult
than others, and they all leave an acidic ash-- or residue.)

Prozac causes a drain on the levels of vitamin B6 in the diet. It is wise to add a
supplemental Vitamin B6 to the diet if you're taking Prozac. (I think it's a good medicine,
frankly, for me.)

Propananol (or Inderal) can have an effect on cardiac ryhthm. Inderal is also capable
of causing lung collapse (unless its formula has been changed in recent years).

Melatonin is valid for a maximum of 3 months. After that, it's no longer effective. A
better choice would be 5htp Tryptophan (regular tryptophan can't cross the blood-brain
barrier, and is not useful for sleep enhancement)

It is not suggested that one take Tryptophan (or 5htp Tryptophan, either) if you're taking Prozac; there's some possibility of negative interaction with both in the system.

Lamictal (which is one of the best bipolar II treatments, in my view) can cause acne,
as Lithium can. It can also cause hypermanic activity if the patient is sensitive to it.
(There is a syndrome also that is dangerous if one breaks out in the early weeks after
beginning Lamictal; in cases like that (rare for adults-99.9% safe) one has to drop the
medication immediately and call the psychiatrist. ( I think it's called Stephen Johnston's
syndrome, or something similar.)

Valium can be addictive.