What is your maximum number of meds?

The recent thread about how many meds made me curious. I'm currently on 7/8 meds (I don't know if cogentin counts) which is the most I've ever been on. I'm just interested in what the highest number is for other people. Also, if you know, how many cocktails have you tried? I'm on #67 (not counting dose adjustments). That's why I'm ok with being on so many meds, I know exactly how treatment resistant I am.

I don't feel comfortable with more than two psych meds, though I will say there is no specific reason for this. It's just a 'thing' to me, I guess. This is in addition to depo-provera, which is a form of birth control that shuts down my periods (this is actually a major help to my mental health, so I consider it a med in a way).

But if it is a "thing" and you find nothing works in 2 med combinations would you move on? I'm also curious about this because I never really had the chance to have ground rules about "I won't gain more than _" "won't take more than _" "won't take meds from ____ class" etc. The best I had was that I was afraid of Seroquel b/c the psychiatrist where I used to work used it to snow people and I was terrified that it was what the drug did so we didn't use it until a last resort and I didn't want Zyprexa b/c my family history with diabetes is pretty scary. But then I took Seroquel and it was fine and still is (although I gained weight and have side effects but I'm also on a lot of it) and I tried Zyprexa and it did nothing for me so the diabetes wasn't an issue although it remains something we're cautious about with Seroquel. So far my blood sugars remain great and I've been on Seroquel 8 years so hopefully my genetics don't kick in and I stay free of diabetes since I don't need anything else to deal with.

The max I've been on is 11. Plus Flexaril and I have a Mirena bc. I'm down to 5 plus Flexaril and a cranberry supplement. And I still have the Mirena. Plus two PRNs.

I have no idea how many cocktails I've tried. I'm med resistant, so a lot. Lamictal is the only thing I've always been on.

Yeah, the effect of monthly fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone on women's mental health could be a whole topic of its own.

I've never been in that situation, so it's hard for me to say with conviction. I'm fairly new to trying meds after years going unmedicated (aside from a few shots at SSRIs which went horrendously). I feel like it's a "thing" for me, because I don't like the idea of not being able to tell what is coming from which med(s), be it good things or bad. On many meds I would feel like I was just being hammered in a suppression sort of way, at which point I'd feel like just give me some damned valium already and call it a day.

Menopause and the improvement I've had from it overall (just not the last 7 months but my therapist tells me that despite adding more psychosis these 7 months are better than prior episodes) is the best thing that happened to my bipolar. The Mirena was the worst thing that ever happened to it aside from maybe SSRIs. It shouldn't have caused problems but oh the problems it caused......removing it meant a hysterectomy (ovaries left so a speeded up but natural early menopause that started long before the hysterectomy) but that was way better than the horrible things I went through with the Mirena. Ugh. But at least other bipolar women at my hospital now are getting recognized to have Mirena issues sooner than they used to because it was so extreme for me.

I am nearly through menopause now as best as I can tell and I don't miss the hormones at all. I know someone who is afraid menopause will totally destabilize; for me it was the total opposite.

I Once left the hospital with,
2 AD
2 AP
2 benzos
1 mood stabilizer
1 med for headaches
1 med for the thyroid that the lithium caused

Don't know how I was able to function, my quality of life was nil.
Now I'm I'm,
1 mood stabilizer
1 sleep med
1thyroid med

And I'm the most stable I've been in years
And yeah, I'm past menopause, that may have a lot to do with it, I love being a crone.

The most I was ever on for bipolar at once was 5 I think (a couple of those were probably PRN for sleep and anxiety). I was never very comfortable with more than 3 on a regular basis, preferably 2. I'm also someone who has found menopause an apparent blessing for my bipolar symptoms. I've been med free pretty much from the time I realized I was entering menopause. Could be coincidence, but I think it definitely helped.

I don't guess I really don't know what my max would be. All together psych meds and non psych meds I am taking 7 meds at the moment, many of them two times a day. However to me it is what it is, I know that this combination is working for me so I am okay with it. My total number has gone up and down over time.

I've been on so many different cocktails, I can't remember them all. I'm currently on 3 if you include the nuvaring and another drug is prn making the total 4. I think the max I've had is 4 and I think that is more than enough.

I'm on the most I've ever been on right now, which is five.

I wish my new pdoc would be okay with me staying on clonazepam because than I could say three and be totally comfortable with that!

Now I'm feeling really medicated b/c my 7/8 only includes cogentin (8). It doesn't include thyroid, prescription and OTC for constipation, asthma med, migraine med (plus 2 PRNs for that), Nexium, or vitamins/calcium supplement. I think I'm taking 22 pills per day right now (granted loxapine is 3 of those and Seroquel is 4 of them). But it's what I need and it's temporary. Still, lots of pills....

It always seems like more too if you have to break them up over the day, or, for me, if you have to take three 100mg pills of lamictal.

I feel like a frickin old person or something. Lol.

After my sister had her bone marrow transplant, she had 38 individual pills to take every day, and some of them were very time contingent. In addition, we had three IV's and several topical steroids to deal with. They literally gave her a fishing tackle box they had all divided up and labeled by day and time. It was crazy. Her entire day was spent trying to get those pills down which was a challenge because her appetite was very touchy, her gag reflex was strong. Not fun.

Lolagrace, I can't imagine. When I was on lamictal the taste of it made me gag so I was put on the children's "chewables". Those chewables tasted horrible too so I didn't chew them but mixed them into baby food fruits (variety so I didn't just become unable to tolerate applesauce or pudding which happened quickly) and took them one at a time for 7 pills and then my other 25 pills for the day in slightly larger numbers because I gagged really easily. I remember going on websites for parents of kids with cancer to learn how to swallow pills. I can't imagine even more than that and time contingent plus with other meds to manage. It would have been a 24 hr job for me. Now I swallow huge globs of them but those days when I was new to this and learning were tough.

It was. The whole gag reflex issue I was convinced was completely psychological which ended up being confirmed. She acquired a virus that caused significant memory issues, and suddenly she had no problem swallowing pills anymore. She didn't remember that she hated taking pills. Her husband and I said we'd know her memory was returning we she started fighting the pill taking again. Unfortunately we never saw that day, but it was an interesting observation.

I'm sorry she went through so much. IT sounds like you were a good sister to her.