[AlexP]

Hi everyone, I saw my psychiatrist yesterday, my 3rd session with him, and he has now told me I have Bipolar I. It wasn't a shock, I was expecting it, and I am actually not too bummed about it because at least now I know what is wrong with me. He told me I meet all the signs & criteria for this & because I have had several severe manic episodes which have severely affected my life at times. I actually feel somewhat relieved because now I'm hopeful I can fight this & try to stay stable. The final straw was this summer when I had an intense manic episode that lasted several weeks that sent me to the hospital, paranoid delusions, having more risky sex than ever & getting by on hardly any sleep. Typically I get 1-3 severe manic episodes per year, and have since high school, so this is something I've dealt with for years and just wasn't aware what was wrong with me.

My doctor told me that it's not uncommon for people to have bipolar & also anxiety. He already gave me some Seroquel, I took it for about a week, up to 300mg but then cut down because it was making me SO tired & listless! He wants me to keep taking it. I didn't feel bad on it, just really foggy & confused. He said I need to give it more time. He is also starting me on Abilify. I don't know much about it other than the tv commercials I've seen. I wasn't aware it was used for bipolar treatment. He gave me a brochure to take home and read more about my diagnosis. He said the Abilify should help get me stable, & keep me there. I hope it works for me.

I asked him about Lamictal, because I had read about it, but he wanted to try the Abilify first because he said it's effective at preventing major mania like I experience from time to time. I don't have much depressive episodes, not nearly as bad as the mania. Can't remember exactly what he said about the Lamictal, but he dismissed it pretty much out of hand, indicating that it wouldn't be as effective for me since I have Bipolar I and not Bipolar II. Plus I'm already on Seroquel too which I think with the Paxil is what makes me feel so drowsy. I haven't had another manic episode since starting the Seroquel, knock on wood.

I'm also still on Paxil for my anxiety. It still isn't that great, it makes me feel out of sorts & weird. I am going down from 40mg to 20mg because I felt the 40 was too high for me & making me groggy, & he agreed. Plus he was worried being on just the Paxil would trigger a manic episode for me. So my new medical regimen will be Paxil+Seroquel+Xanax+the Abilify.

So yeah, I'm glad I can face this head on & hopefully keep myself stable. I'm sort of relieved someone has finally told me what's wrong with me & hopefully I can find a regimen that helps me. Hope some can relate on here to what I am going through. Has anyone had success/experience with Abilify/Seroquel plus an ssri for bipolar I? If the Abilify doesn't work out, I may ask him about trying Lithium.

[BipolaRNurse]

Your BP 1 sounds a lot like mine. I have more mania than depression and a lot of anxiety to go with it. As you can see in my signature, I'm on an SSRI, benzodiazepine, mood stabilizer and antipsychotic. This is a GREAT combination for me. Lamictal helps keep the depression away, and the Geodon is what really brought everything together.

For about 10 years I resisted treatment for what I suspected was bipolar, because I didn't want to take lithium and I didn't know there were other medications for it. It took me a year and a half to get the right combo of meds in the right doses, but it finally happened and I'm doing really well now. It's trial and error......you'll want to be patient and willing to try different meds, because most people don't find the correct formula right away.

Wishing you all the best!

[ultramar]

Ditto for me --more mania than depression, and tons of anxiety (Bipolar 1).

I suspect the pdoc nixed the possibility of Lamictal because it's more for depression than mania -it's helped me with depression, overall evened me out a bit, but useless with preventing or stemming mania (for me, anyway).

I'm on Seroquel as well (Lamictal, Seroquel and Klonopin) --it's very hard to get used to. It knocked me out more at first, on a relatively low dose, but as it was slowly titrated, I got more and more used to it. I've definitely discovered that the best way to avoid the worst side effects is to get enough sleep; when I don't, I wake up dizzy and faint -boatloads of espresso+strong coffee later I can function, but it's tough.

But it's helped a lot. I rarely get hypomanic episodes anymore (or they are super light), it's only major manic episodes that can still break through (like you, 1-3 times a year) but at least now I more often recognize when it's starting to happen (though not always, and my therapist helps with this), so something Seroquel is so good for is that if I start to raise the dose when I'm going into an episode, it's good at making it less extreme, it sort of starts the arc of coming down from it earlier, helps a lot with the agitation, etc. (unfortunately doesn't just stop it in its tracks, though). PRN titrating up has been hugely helpful for me -the rub is titrating back down when I'm better; I have to go through some comatose-time before I'm fully alert again.

I've taken klonopin for anxiety for many years, but I don't think it does much of anything. But I've noticed that Seroquel has ended up helping me somewhat with my anxiety.

Do you take Seroquel during the day, or only at night? I ask, because I take 100mg in the morning and 150mg at night, and it seems most people take it at night. I've taken it in the morning since the beginning. I'd probably have less trouble with sleepiness if I didn't, but I find it helpful. At night, it has the added benefit of helping with sleep --outside of mania, I've always had trouble with sleep to some extent or another, and this has helped a lot.

Best of luck and welcome to PC!

[Moose72]

Hello. Welcome. Just want to chime in and say I'm bp1 also and I just got out of a manic episode a week ago. I'm still trying to get ride of the tail end of it, in fact. Its difficult to tweak meds. Hopefully, you'll find something that works for you, soon.

[lifelies]

Welcome to PsychCentral forums!



My father used to take Abilify with an SSRI, if I recall correctly. I don't remember the name of the SSRI, though.
He recently went off Abilify and switched to another antidepressant which I think is not a SSRI. And he also started taking Topiramate (Topamax®) a while ago.
Perhaps I'm not right, I don't really remember it. I don't have Bipolar but apparently an alter in our system (Allie) has Bipolar II and all what we take is Hydroxyzine (Atarax®).
I wish you the best!

[Amelie10]

It takes a little time for the meds to even you out and you may need to experiment with the combination of meds, but stick with it. It is worth it. YOU are worth it.

hello and welcome.

i am sure you find your stay here at the forums helpful

[AlexP]

I have been trying Abilify for the last few days, but it's not working out very well it's making me trembly, on-edge, I'm actually afraid it may make me manic if I can't get some more sleep or settle down. I am going to try and get back on Seroquel because even though it was sedating, I did okay on it otherwise, & felt pretty good other than a bit of dizziness which I can handle. This Abilify is NOT fun! I called my psych's office, they don't make Seroquel XR in generic, so hopefully he has some more samples he can give me.

Still wondering if maybe Lithium will be an option for me down the road to keep me stable.