[Anxiousvalkyrie]

I see a lot of you are taking antidepressants as part ofy the our treatment. I can't tolerate them, they make my mania exponentially worse. I've been off and on antidepressants a lot in my life. It wasn't until an ER psychiatrist I saw a few weeks back saw I was on Cymbalta and took me off of it that I learned they could affect mania.

Looking back at my life over the past 15 years or so my worst manic episodes happened while I was on antidepressants (usually Zoloft)... And I'd always go off my meds while manic and things would improve.

Has anyone else experienced this problem with antidepressants and mania? Conversely for those of you that do take them, how are they helping you?

I think antidepressants are okay if (1) you're not sensitive to them, and (2) you're on 1 or more effective mood stabilizers.

It sounds like you're really sensitive to antidepressants.

I'm not super sensitive to them. Sure, they make me manic without a mood stabilizer, but I don't become manic when I'm on a mood stabilizer.

They help my depression a little bit

[Icare dixit]

No, simply because I never tried any, ever, but 5-HTP/serotonin did cause a mixed state. It would probably intensify mania further as well if it got more gradually "worse".

[Icare dixit]

I think no-one should use antidepressants longterm. Under no circumstances.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I can't take SSRIs no matter what. Other ADs have worked for me with mood stabilizers to balance them out. I've been on Emsam for almost 7 years now and while there have been times the dose has had to be adjusted to decrease the stimulation it works well. I probably am on a little more AP than I would be without an AD but without an AD is not an option; we've tried and it was awful. And since I need an AP anyway I don't think a little dose increase is that big of a deal.

Unless the individual is on mood stabilizers, they shouldn't be taking an anti-depressant

[st0psign]

I used to be on remeron for my anti depressant, definitely worsened my mania

[Victoria'smom]

With out an Ap I could not be on antidepressants. They cause me mixed episodes.

[wiretwister]

lexapro send me ip years ago ... my pdoc would not give me a ad ... but I have been on lamictal for so long he finally relented and I now take a low dose of doxepin .... it does help .... helps with sleep ... helps with stress ... and I believe it is helping my mood for the good .... I think the answer is to use as low a dose as you can get results with ... good luck ..

I'm on a low dose of amoxapine for an AD. It initially made me go mixed manic but now that I'm on clozapine it's all good, and helps tremendously.

[bizi]

I am BP1 and can't take any antidepressants, they make me go manic.
I even went manic on trazadone this last time, which is in the antidepressant class.
sigh
so I stick to my lamictal and geodon and klonipin.
bizi

[Crazy Hitch]

I'm currently on Cymbata, which is closely monitored.

If my mood starts elevating, I'm tapered off them.

I've been on AD in the past when hypo and they've shot me straight to mania.

[winter4me]

This reminds me of a funny story (I know it is not a funny topic in general but...)
Years ago, in a small, very nice, long gone nursing home there was a woman who was particularly difficult. She was fairly healthy (physically independent, lived in the assisted living area), but always angry, sarcastic, and verbally threatening. It was somehow more sad than annoying. Her son in law doctor was called frequently by her with complaints, he would call each time to let us know that he knew we were doing our best, and that this was her usual behavior. A low dose of prozac was tried. The second day she began to smile, not only smile but the woman was tripping, she saw "lovely birds" all positive wonderful things, she was smiling, she had energy. We watched her and felt some regret that we really did have to stop the med.
I remember thinking how sad it was that her likely bipolar illness had never been diagnosed or treated. She was just seen as "difficult" all her life.

[gina_re]

I'd like to think the ADs keep me functional to be around people and get out of bed, while the mood stabilizers keep them in check.

[hopeless2015]

We just added a low dose of Paxil to my cocktail last week, my depression has been severe, I'll be keeping a close eye on this

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[bizi]

Originally Posted by hopeless2015

We just added a low dose of Paxil to my cocktail last week, my depression has been severe, I'll be keeping a close eye on this

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I hope the paxil helps you.
((((HUGS))))
bizi

Originally Posted by Anxiousvalkyrie

I see a lot of you are taking antidepressants as part ofy the our treatment. I can't tolerate them, they make my mania exponentially worse. I've been off and on antidepressants a lot in my life. It wasn't until an ER psychiatrist I saw a few weeks back saw I was on Cymbalta and took me off of it that I learned they could affect mania.

Looking back at my life over the past 15 years or so my worst manic episodes happened while I was on antidepressants (usually Zoloft)... And I'd always go off my meds while manic and things would improve.

Has anyone else experienced this problem with antidepressants and mania? Conversely for those of you that do take them, how are they helping you?

Dear Anxiousvalkyrie,

I was put on Bupropion (a stimulant; I assume a stimulant is an antidessant) in 2011 for a depressive episode that started in 2007! The only problem is that when my depression lifted earlier this year (due to trying psychotherapy), I found myself in a mania more extreme than I've ever experienced!

The Bupropion kept me going when I was depressed (2011 was the first time I ever saw a psychiatrist) but I think it is one of the reasons I am now so anxious and aroused. I usually sleep 4 to 5 hours a night and can't nap much. I made an suicide attempt last year after quitting the Bupropion for 30 days so my therapist and psychiatrist say that if I stop I could relapse. I definitely wonder about the Bupropion.

At first the mania was welcome. It was so much better than being depressed! However, sometimes in the evening when I can't sleep, the mania makes me feel almost insane. I've been prescribed Trazadone also (sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't)

The biggest way the Bupropion helps me is it decreases my appetite (when I'm depressed I gain weight). It also keeps me going when I am depressed. There were no problems getting to work, taking care of the house, etc.

I have cut back on the Bupropion but haven't stopped. Never making an attempt again is more important to me than anything else. I hope the mania will become less intense. Some days it does.

Hope this isn't too much information,

Myst

[gina_re]

Originally Posted by hopeless2015

We just added a low dose of Paxil to my cocktail last week, my depression has been severe, I'll be keeping a close eye on this

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I LOVED Paxil, but it 'helped' put on the weight. Keep an eye on that.

I had the same reaction to Paxil that you had with Zoloft. I found out via my own research that AD's can induce mania in certain people. Doctors should tell every person taking an AD about these risks. This is not something I should have had to figure out the hard way. I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way as well. (((Hugs)))

[cashart10]

I have had AD both induce and increase mania. Despite this, I am on remeron because I had been so depressed for so long. It has worked tremendously in pulling me out of depression and I have been stable rather than manic or mixed.

[Nammu]

I'm one of those who found out the hard way. It took years of doctors telling me it was all in my head.......then da, they woke up and agreed antidepressants cause mania and mixed states. I think it's actionable if a dr doesn't inform a patient up front to watch for mania if they put anyone on an antidepressant.

Antidepressants aren't candy to be handed out willly-nil lay to any one who walks in.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I know this isn't true for everyone but remeron for me seemed to be a mood stabilizer. Weak but enough that I got through grad school by the skin of my teeth before bipolar took over my life. Later I took it at a higher dose and it didn't have that effect but at the lower doses it seemed to keep me from flying out of control. My first hypomania was after my junior year of college, I started remeron a few months later and stayed under control enough to finish school 2.5 years later. Since I've always been so hard to control I thought that was a pretty amazing thing but definitely not true for everyone.

[MusicLover82]

I only take antidepressants when my OCD and depression get severe. I was taken off Zoloft a while ago because it was making me hypomanic. Now, my pdoc is trying me on Abilify to see if it will help stabilize my moods and OCD. I think my pdoc feels that my OCD is related to my bipolar, so he mostly treats the bipolar with antipsychotics and mood stabilizers rather than going for antidepressants.

[Dontspeak]

Whenever I see an AD prescribed for a BP, there is going to be an antianxiety right there with it. Almost all of the time it's going to be a benzo. I'm not judging you, but I might be judging your doctor. That might be but the two go hand in hand, and let's face it, this is the rest of our lives, and that is not a rest of your life class of drugs.

I was diagnosed during a mixed state brought on by Wellbutrin. Tried Lexipro to combat depression brought on by Lithium, had mixed state. Took Buspar, nice try, Buspar is a sugar pill

[GoingInside]

Lots of problem for me.
My troubles started with depression that kind where you literally lay down to die and don't do anything at all, anything(so you get the picture).
Before even starting to take anti depressants I was already out of bed after few months due to my mother and relatives trying everything they could. I was 15 years old at the time.
Then as my shrink wasn't making progress enough for me to have the courage to go back to school she told me to see a doctor that prescribed me Rivotril, which didn't help but didn't make that worse. When another doctor prescribed me something else(another antidepressant), that for the life of me I can't remember, I went completely manic, even having hallucinations.
This all led to me being committed to a mental institution. There I was diagnosed as bipolar, in 2006, being 16 years old. After about 2 months I was out and I think I may have development PTSD after what I saw and experienced there.
Anyways the same doctor from that institution was treating me outside but she was never satisfied with my slowness once mania was out. However I've always been like this before my depression, perhaps I always had dysthimia and didn't know...I'm pretty sure I may have avoidant personality disorder. She would prescribe me antidepressants, never satisfied she would keep increasing doses until she got the result she wanted. Instead I'd get manic, lose all my progress in school, make a fool of myself, ruining my life every damn time. Then I was back to the many pills to stabilize myself and becoming this walking drooling zombie.
And then I was the normal slow myself, not manic, quiet, shy, introverted again and she would start all over with another antidepressant.
This went on for almost 5 years. When I look at it I was some sort of lab rat outside of a safe lab. Even putting myself at risk of suicide and injuring myself physically under the effects of antidepressants.

Only when I went to another doc in 2010 that changed my medication and removed completely antidepressants I could be stable again. If I had reason to be depressed in 2005, my depression became devastatingly worse after all I've been through. I could never ever get confidence in myself again, always thinking when I'd blow everything away.

And turns out that 6 years after being out of antidepressants I didn't get mania not a single time. However I didn't live my life as I could because the sense of imminent threat at my back will haunt me forever, the memories of the mental institution, the on going depression and more than anything the shame.

So there you have, for some people antidepressants are poison, like cocaine or something(I mean, the effects of cocaine people describe, I never took any illegal drugs, just what was prescribed to me and I got messed up anyway).