Bipolar meds

So I take the following and they work well for me...

• Lithium

• Lurasidone

• Lamotrigine

• Desvenlafaxine

• Melatonin

And a random assortment of other unrelated stuff (vitamins, pill etc)


Its a great combination, except for the following side effects (luckily there are only a few of them)

• I drink water....a LOT

• ... therefore I go to the bathroom a LOT ( boss once commented on it) 😑
• During times of high stress I find it hard to control anger (shouting and all)
• ...and I cut 😑

I'm trying to work on the last two.

Anyone else on this combo who can share stories / mitigation strategies?

Cheers

- L

When are you experiencing the anger/agitation? Is it during or outside of episodes?

When I increased my lamotrigine, my natural anger and agitation subsided. The increase even helped, to a degree, lessen the agitation I get during episodes. However, that's just my experience.

You should ask your psychiatrist if adjusting your antipsychotic and/or lamotrigine could help you.

As far as cutting goes, do you go to therapy? A therapist could help you learn techniques to find healthy ways to channel your feelings toward something healthy. Good luck!

I think my anger is reactive nowadays. Not too tied to episodes,thus my general confusion. It's the intensity that scares me.

I take 200mg lamotrigine twice daily but the game changer for my relative stability is lurasidone. Prior to that cutting was a very common occurrence. Now it's more when I'm struggling.

I have gone to therapy on and off but get really frustrated with the process so mostly relying on medication. I know the theory behind preventative measures but I can't quite seem to put it in practice...

On really bad days there's Olanzapine I guess :-\ I have a love/hate relationship with that one...

I am on two of those drugs lithium and lamictal. I feel they keep my mood even keel. How long have you been on this med combo?

About a year maybe? Tbh the lurasidone was a godsend. It ain't perfect but it's better than Olanzapine by a huge margin

Have you talked to anyone about diabetes insipidus? It's not diabetes like the insulin kind, it is a problem where lithium messes with your kidneys so they don't hold onto electrolytes which is supposed to happen to keep a balance between what you are drinking and peeing. With DI you pee all the time and pee the electrolytes right out.

When I was diagnosed with it I was peeing every 45 minutes. I really had no idea of this. I went in to the doctor with UTI symptoms or something that made him want to urine sample and that showed the specific gravity of my urine was almost too low to measure. They did a few other tests and I took a med called amelioride that kept my electrolytes where they belong and I stayed on that until I came off lithium.

DI isn't super common but it's not uncommon with lithium either. I think about 10% of people on long-term lithium eventually get it. It goes away when/if you stop the lithium.

I'm not on lithium, but I'm on lamictal. It's really helped me a lot. For a long time I was just on lamictal and alprazolam.

Wow I should ask my doc about that! I see her on Friday so not too long a wait

Not sure if amelioride is available in Australia (we are a bit backwards here lol!) But I will ask ☺️

Good luck at your doctor's appointment. I hope you get everything worked out.

Ahahahahahaaa!!

Randomness and funnies...

So one of my cats got diagnosed with anxiety not too long ago.

We are both medicated so we have a crazy cat lady and a crazy cat as well

Am I the only one who finds this so funny at this time of day?!

hi. i've somehow managed to avoid lithium. i also ditched depakote for trileptal. for me, the trileptal takes care of agitation, (hypo)mania, etc., with minimal problems. there's a baseline blood sodium check and then another one...8, 12 weeks later I think.

I just mentioned it because lithium is rough stuff, especially over the long haul. with neuroleptics/tranquilizers on board, there's even more potential for problems.

Trileptal is far from perfect, but...I can take it with a tranquilizer, and I still don't get EPS, much less TD. Depakote triggered hardcore akathisia and EPS w/ a tranquilizer I had previously tolerated reasonably well. Lithium is known to potentiate the toxicity of the tranquilizers, so you get more EPS, more TD, more NMS, and, according to some studies, more reduction in cognitive abilities over the long haul.

amphetamines are a godsend for some people, but they can cause problems for a lot of people, too, regardless of psych history. with tranquilizers+amphetamines, some "experts" think there's a higher risk of TD and EPS (tranquilizer+amphetamine combinations were once much more common...some were even available in a single prescription preparation, back in the day...).

Glad things are going welll for you.

Unfortunately that particular combination to date is the only thing that works well for me. For example I cut down on desvenlafaxine even by a *little* bit and I become suicidal.

Still conversation worth having with the doc

Admittedly I have always been on 1000mg lithium, my mood goes not well going up or down on it. Guess that's the sweet spot...

lithium,trazadone,propanalol,valium,hydroxyzine,an two others for night mares......do you still ever wig out though? I feel as if the meds are working most days i feel fine...but...some people just erk me the wrong way or ill see something on tv...or my daughter will act out an ill blow a socket.....any one else have this problem still with the meds?

i drink alot to also sweat really bad at even the least lil bit of sun.....i havent cut in awhile but i do think about it often.

Absolutely! Currently having an issue with the boss. I've detailed it in the work forum.

I get irritated as well with family. They are on the receiveing end of a lot of **** esp when I think I'm the only one who is right. Parents moved into my house recently....did not end well...

Although now we are ok

Luckily I don't sweat much or at least I think so.

So far so good. Haven't cut in 3 or so weeks

New here �� I’m on
Seroquel for sleep
Vraylar
Lithium
Lexapro
Klonopin

I take lithium.
600MG in the morning and 900MG in the evening. I have ben on every medication under the sun and the lithium has had the least side effects but it makes me feel slow, brain fog, and dizzy.