Meds..... Effective or Not.

Hello,
How do you know when a change in meds is necessary if you have a cocktail, or were prescribed two or more meds at the same time. How to wean out the non working one.

I don't dictate what meds I can and can't take and I leave that for the pdoc. I didn't go to medical school. How I can tell the difference between a med change or work with my T is how I'm feeling. Lately, everything is good in my life, no complaints, financial issues, job issues...nothing I can think of. So I feel it is med related and that's why I'm always bothering my pdoc. When I work more with my T is if I am ruminating over some aspect of my life I need a little more help with.

I personally am a big hypochondriac with my MI and I see my p-doc probably too often, so I might not be the best person to answer this question. However, I can tell you when my p-doc would probably consider it time to try a new antidepressant or medication helping with depression. He generally looks at my sleep patterns, eating patterns, and relationships. If there is a disturbance there, he would definitely consider a change. Also, the other obvious signs: s******* thoughts, being depressed most of the time, spending too much time in bed, frequent anxiety attacks, etc. I would write a list of your current symptoms so you can be prepared to tell your p-doc exactly what is going on and how often your symptoms happen. Now, if you're depressed half the time, and the other times you are either normal or hypomanic, make sure you include that info as well. That may be cause for your p-doc to want to prescribe something different than an antidepressant (e.g. Latuda for bipolar depression). Best wishes! I hope you get relief ASAP!!

P.S. P-doc always asks about my energy level, too. That's a biggie. My energy is always good, so I think that is why he never prescribes me anything for depression.

Well, I know something is off with my meds... because I only started cycling rapidly once I started taking them lol

I don't know how this is going to get fixed, but we're trying out Lamictal to see if it helps stabilize my mood and reduces the rapid cycling.

I suspect there's something going on with Latuda or Lexapro. Im not sure which one it is because I started taking both of them around the same time and that's when the rapid cycling began. Of course, maybe it's not one of them, but both of them... Or maybe they interact in a bad way.

This is exactly what I wanted to illustrate. But my mind is off today.
How to know when one specific med is not working when you have a cocktail.
Thank you.

Doc should be making one change at a time. If you change two variables at once you dont know cause and effect anymore, its bad science.

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Well, you could have an *** of a pdoc who maxes out the dose of what you are taking and then just adds one (or two) med to your cocktail...thus the 7 meds including 3 (two of them heavy) anti-psychotics I am taking.

I can't wait until next month when we will have good insurance so I can change pdocs and hopefully downsize my meds.

That's something only your psychiatrist can help you with. As another poster pointed out, you should always make one change at a time. Otherwise, you won't be able to figure out what is causing what.

I track this by knowing what each medication is supposed to do for me. I take several medications and it's even possible that some of my reactions are due to physical rather than mental illness, so I've become practiced at this. I also really trust my pdoc - and since she's the 4th one I've had in 20 years, this is saying something big. Of course, I'm much more open now than I used to be with my pdocs.

Figuring out meds is partly a trial and error process, too. You've got to be hypervigilant, keep mood charts, and be open with your therapists and pdocs. That's the combo that works for me.