not that anyone with BP would know this from personal experience...but I'm just curious after seeing how differently my husband (who has very classic unipolar depression) and I reacted to zoloft...made me wonder what would happen to him if he took something like lamictal or lithium. Any ideas?

[Ellie_jo]

No clue but now I'm also curious!

[Wild Coyote]

There is probably more than one answer, as each med is so different. Some mood stabilizers are used in unipolar depressions, esp. Lamictal.
Atypical and/or treatment resistant depressions are sometimes helped with meds like Lamictal, Seroquel, Latuda, Abilify for instance.


WC

Some of the older ones used to be used as a pre-med, I.e. To make people drowsy before a surgical operation.

[Nammu]

I think that depends on if they use them long term or just temporarily.

I don't have on BP...but have been on meds that would be more often seen in that diagnosis. The latest being lithium. It's apparently good for treatment resistant depression and preventing recurrent suicidal thoughts. I have to agree with that... I feel like this is the first med to help me in nearly 6 years.

[Secretum]

I think it depends on the neurotypical. Two bipolar people can have a very different reaction to a given bipolar med (and I, as one person, have had different reactions to the same med myself, when on it at different times).

Also, people with unipolar depression aren't "neurotypical". "Neurotypicals" are people who don't have any psychiatric or neurological quirks.

Originally Posted by Secretum

I think it depends on the neurotypical. Two bipolar people can have a very different reaction to a given bipolar med (and I, as one person, have had different reactions to the same med myself, when on it at different times).

Also, people with unipolar depression aren't "neurotypical". "Neurotypicals" are people who don't have any psychiatric or neurological quirks.

I didn't mean to imply people with depression are "neurotypical" (I actually really don't like this term in general). Sorry for the confusion. What I should have asked was: my husband and I have different mood disorders and reacted to the same med very differently (he got better, I got worse). This made me wonder what would happen if he took the meds that are supposed to make me better - and, further - what would happen if someone with no mood disorder took them? Like, would it make someone 'high' or just really numb?

For example, my cousin - who does not have ADD (or any other MI) - takes adderrall sometimes and it basically functions like speed (which, as far as I can tell, is NOT the intended outcome of the medication and it doesn't work this way for people who actually have ADD). In the past when I took an SSRI I described it as a combination of ecstasy and crack (not this time though, for whatever reason). I just wonder what something like lamictal or lithium would do for someone without a mood disorder.

[raspberrytorte]

It probably wouldn't do anything.

[jacky8807]

I feel like if you put someone without an mi at all on bp meds it would screw them up and they would end up symptomatic of bipolar on meds. They mess with chemistry

[jacky8807]

Because I have read stories of this happening in misdiagnosis. The person got crazy from taking the meds so they added more meds until the person finally got off and they were better