I realize that NO ONE wants to have to take meds, but I'm just asking if you like APs, ADs, or mood stabilizers in general? Like, do they help you, or do they hurt you in some way?

I stopped Seroquel on my own and I got my old bubbly personality back! Yea!

I feel that too much mood stabilization prevents me from feeling emotions. I was so numb on that sh_t. 400mg Lamictal, 450mg Seroquel. That'll do it to ya, I promise that.

[Wild Coyote]

I deal with BP II, so the only APs I try are the ones also used for bipolar depression (of which I endure a lot).

I do not get along with most meds, of any category. Not only do they not help, I have lots of side-effects.

That said, I am currently using a few psychotropic meds which I do get along with: citalopram, Wellbutrin, Latuda, Adderall. I can just barely function on 4 meds targeting depression.

I am grateful I can tolerate at least a few meds which can, at times, be helpful.
I'd be in deep trouble if meds were not helping at all or I could not tolerate any of them. Most likely, I would have had a very short life.

Good thing all meds are "weight-neutral." I have gained a lot of weight on med trials in the past. Yuck.

I am very sensitive to all kinds of meds, not just psychotropics. My drug allergy list is huge.


WC

[scatterbrained04]

Mood stabilizers are ok-ish. Except for Latuda, I hate APs and have quit all others I have taken inside of a month. Probably good that I'm BP2 in that regard and don't need them often. I have never taken ADs but probably wouldn't touch 'em with a 10 foot pole.

[bizi]

I really like my geodon, it keeps me sane.
Not sure if the lamictal keeps me sane too.
These are both weight neutral meds, Having said that...I did gain 33 pounds last year but not from meds or changes....it was from drinking and eating too much.
bizi
Glad that you are ok blue, worried about you.
(((((HUGS)))))

[wildflowerchild25]

I like my med combo. It lets me lead a normal life. Without it I'd be nonfunctional. Yes, I have side effects. But they are tolerable and I'd rather be able to live my life with some side effects than be a completely nonfunctional adult.

[bioChE]

I don't "like" any of my meds.

[Naynay99]

I don't know if my AD or mood stabilizer actually does anything for me anymore.
But even when it was helping me, a part of me was still just as scared of the medication as I was of the mood symptoms the medication was supposed to treat.
But I am still here. I tend to attribute that to me and not the meds, but who knows...

[*Laurie*]

True, I don't want to be on meds...I don't want to have mental illness. But since I do, I'm very grateful for meds, for any that work for me, because I have a life.

[Leia78]

I don't enjoy taking meds or like them but I have a combination that does allow me to have a life that's not interrupted with mania and depression for now. Mania for me is not euphoric or pleasant. It's uncontrolled energy with rage and I'm so uncomfortable, I can't stand the feeling of my own skin. It's like electricity buzzing through me all the time, it's impossible to be still. I have a million projects and ideas, start them all, finish none and am convinced I'm the most intelligent person in existence. I'm not nice, I'm actually pretty mean when I'm like that and I don't sleep. I was awake for 2 weeks one time. That's my record. And depression is just as bad. I don't have shades of gray with depression. I go from day 1, I don't feel so great to all the way to the bottom to the pit of blackness, I want to die in a heartbeat. I was like this for years on various combos of meds that worked for a little while and then stopped. It's just been the last little bit that I've found something that works. Seroquel worked but I wrecked two cars in one summer while taking it and it made me gain weight, too. I don't take it anymore.

What I'm taking now works without any side effects. I still feel a normal range of emotions. I don't like taking meds and I loathe the thought of having to most likely take them for the rest of my life but I'd rather be well than live in chaos without them.

[rwwff]

Stabilizer - like a lot.
AP - undecided, but generally quite hopeful.
AD - no way in h*** will I risk such a thing.

That said, the AP has some "activating" characteristics that may remove the AD discussion from the table anyway. Would prefer to just do AP+therapy baby sitting instead of an AD.

[still_crazy]

anticonvulsants are OK with me, except for depakote...can't tolerate it.

antidepressants are not something i like long term, but i do appreciate being able to take them now and then and get thru the (very) dark patches better.

antipsychotics/tranquilizers....well, they're necessary for some of us, me included. I'm glad I got into alternative medicine (orthomolecular), because I can tolerate a full 30mgs/Abilify (which I need) w/o much in the way of adverse effects. Maybe one day I'll be able to do a very slow dosage reduction.

Just a reminder of this post from a few weeks ago:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/bipo...-going-do.html

You might revisit your posts from the beginning of March (just a short 4 or 5 weeks ago) to remind yourself about what your medication non-compliance does to your mental state.

[Nammu]

AP, not like nor dislike, it allows me to function
Mood stabilizer, dislike cause it's like wearing a straightjacket on my feelings
AD's, oh heck no those should be illegal.
Benzos, nope, increase instability

[5150DirtDiva]

The one AP I did try made me hallucinate visually and tactile, it also make me feel cray-cray.

I need a mood stabilizer, they really take the edge off.

The only AD I like is wellbutrin, otherwise I get fat (thus unhappy), lethargic and they really do not make me feel better, just numb.

Never taken benzos, but I would like to try them to help me calm down at times....

[RainyDay107]

Lamictal and my ADs, yes. Geodon, my AP...I accept but wish I didn't need it. At least I'm just on one AP now. I was on two for a long time. Bipolar 1 with psychotic features.

[Unrigged64072835]

My current med combo is pretty good. I need a mood stabilizer and an AP most of the time. Occasionally I'll take an AD if my depression is bad, but usually that doesn't last long as they give me side effects. Some of the APs do that too, but I don't feel bad on them.

[Wander]

I don't like any of my meds but saying that the Lithium stabilises me and Ability keeps to psychosis at bay. Would rather be off Seroquel, Clonazepam and Prozac (although the Prozac seems to be shooting my mood up which is great!) Getting off Clonazepam would take 6-12 months as I am addicted, evil med.

[jacky8807]

I like meds when I need them. right now I am very very stable on just klonopin. According to everything I read about BP and its history that could last year's. Or I may be crazy in a month lol.
but when I'm manic -depressed -mixed -psychotic yes meds do the trick
I think they are overprescribed for hypomania and no I don't seek out meds then
I just don't like how they make me feel once the episode is over and I don't like the health side effects. weight gain is a NO for me. my course of illness is episodic more than chronic though

[xRavenx]

AP's are super annoying as far as side effects, but they've helped a lot as far as mania, but on doses on the higher side. I can't go too low on an AP, or it's almost a guarantee it will push me into mania. Mood stabilizers are very important too. I can't just be on an AP or just be on a mood stabilizer: they must go together in order to help.

AD's scare the crap out of me. I am never going that route ever again after going through mania, psychosis, and Mixed mania. Luckily, my pdocs have been in agreement as far as that goes.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I like any med that lets me have quality of life instead of a life of constant misery and suffering. I long ago had to come to terms with the idea that the meds that are most likely to work for me are the ones with evil side effects. I hate the weight I've gained. I hate the fatigue. But I accept them and am even grateful for them because they are part of what makes me able to get out of bed and enjoy life. Of course I'd rather not need them but I'm glad to pop every single pill I'm prescribed.

[neverending]

I have have to take the meds. It's not an issue of like or dislike. I have absolutely no decent kind of life without them and in all probability wouldn't even still be alive now without them. Or I would be constantly going in and out of IP. I have to be on them all, AD, AP, mood stabilizer, benzo, n sleeping pill. Instead of numbing me I have the energy to be creative and clearness of mind to think that I don't have off medicine. I don't have to deal with the confusion, inability to concentrate, paranoia, rage, racing thoughts, suicide, self harm, etc. N the list goes on. So for that I m very thankful they now have the meds available that I m on that weren't available for me when I was younger.

[BipolaRNurse]

I don't like anything about taking meds, except for the fact that they keep me together. I HAVE to be medicated to have any quality of life; I seriously doubt I'd even be here if I weren't.

There are times, of course, when all I want is to stop meds and let myself experience hypomania again. I crave it---that energy, that motivation to go and be and do---but there's no guarantee that it would stop there. It would be just my luck to keep going, right into the danger zone, and God only knows what would happen if mania were to grab hold of me after such a long time of being stuffed down with meds. No thanks!

[VerMOZZica]

I hate taking meds but I need them.I think I would be even more of a mess without them.Yeah some of them had bad side effects like the lithium that made my hair fall out and the lamictal which made my face swell up.But I tolerate them because I`m feel even worse without them.

[cmorales]

ADs help with the depression and a little w social anxiety (Celexa), but they also give me ED which, as you likely know, is frustrating as hell.

As far as anticonvulsants go, I have only tried lithium. It did not sit well with me. It exasperated my psoriasis; taking it to a whole new level. A Level that made me go to yet another doctor who gave me methotrexate -- which, if you don't know, requires you to take a folic acid pill every morning, 6 days a week, and then 10 methotrexte pills all at the same time. (Well, you coul take them one at a time if you want, the point is they all must go down in one sitting.) The dry mouth was nothing. Lithium and the methotrexate are what drove me away from meds to begin with -- because I, like many of you, hate taking pills... it's the swallowing for me. They almost always get stuck.

APs tend to work best for me so far. Luckily the sensitivity to pharmaceuicals allows me to take a slightly lower dose (7.5mg vs the full 10mg). The only major side effect was weight gain (the first time out on Abilify).

After my break last year, I've been back on meds now for just about 2 months. This time around, we are foregoing an AD (which appeared to be working with the AP to make me lethargic, thus contributing to the weight gain). These day, we're sticking with Abilify as a mono-treatment, mostly, aside from my zolpidem prn for zzz. Leaving the AD out has kind of tethered the weight gain... a bit. Sure, I've put on a few lbs since going back on (like 8-10) but it's nothing compared to the 50+ I gained the first time around.