[MusicLover82]

UGH!!!

I have been having some really bad side effects lately (don't feel like explaining or typing them all out... yes, it's a long list). I suspect either Lithium or Xanax, along with Abilify (which was just increased). I see my pdoc on Monday and I'm nervous about making changes.

What do you tell yourself when you know there are going to have to be major changes in your meds so you don't worry so much about it?

Oh, and another question: is it possible to find stability on mostly antipsychotic treatment and not so many mood stabilizers? I find APs work best for me, and I want to bring that up with my pdoc in case he wants to take me off Lithium and perhaps not give me a replacement. As far as mood stabilizers go, I think we're at the point where all he can give me is Depakote and I don't really want to jump from the frying pan into the fire. I am already on Trileptal, and I have bad side effects on Topamax (confusion spells) and I'm allergic to Lamictal. :-P

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Lithium gave me constant diarrhea! I mean, I had to run out of class in the middle of an exam kind of bad lol. I also got toxicity from it. Abilify gave me restless leg and heart problems. Some people can get stable from APs alone I guess but I always need a stabilizer. My stabilizer now is gabapentin and I don't even need my benzo anymore because gaba works on the same receptors. That along with geodon is working great for me so far. As far as a med change goes, if my appointment is like in the next few days I just stop taking the med that's causing me problems. That is if I know it's going to be discontinued.

[Wild Coyote]

Experiencing lots of side-effects can feel quite disparaging.
I find many drugs have intolerable side-effects.

Some people do okay on one AP as a mood stabilizer.

Although I am on Latuda, I take Depakote as a stabilizer. Latuda is not recognized (by all doctors) as one of the APs which can serve as a singular stabilizer (as it targets bipolar depression). (I have found Latuda also helps me experience less c-PTSD dissociation.)

I do not know what I would do without Latuda and Depakote. I feel fortunate I can tolerate them.

I hope you find helpful answers on Monday.


WC

[Gs550]

If I'm worried about changing meds (I will be shortly, so I understand) I tell myself it doesn't have to be forever. If I get bad side effects or its not really helping we can change things. That usually helps me feel less nervous. You get to decide what you can tolerate. For example, geodon gives me visual disturbances but it also makes me feel pretty great so I tolerate it. I'm sure most people wouldn't. But it's entirely up to you.

I was on just geodon for a while and it lifted me out of bad depression but it didn't stabilize me. I still cycled a bit. So we added depakote.

[wildflowerchild25]

I am stable on just an ap and an ad. The ap keeps me from going high but doesn't work for depression, which is why I need the ad as well. I don't know about using just an ap (mono therapy), but it may be worth a shot. I never had much luck with traditional mood stabilizers either.

[Unrigged64072835]

Some APs can double up as stabilizers (Latuda being one of them). It's what I'm on now.

Since I've been IP for most of my med changes I didn't have to worry too much.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Yes I've also heard that geodon can double as a stabilizer. I'm doing great on it. I really hope it doesn't poop out on me!