[annielovesbacon]

I have been searching for the right medication for nearly three years with no luck. For the first two years I tried AD after AD and none worked, some made me feel worse. Last year I found out I have BP2 so that explains that!

But since then I have tried Lamictal, which seemed to work for a while and then stopped working when I had a major depressive episode this summer. So I tried Latuda next and couldn't tolerate the side effects (I was falling asleep at work!) now I have been on Seroquel for two months and I'm still in a depressive episode, so my pdoc just added Wellbutrin (which I have taken in the past).

I will wait a few weeks to see if the AD helps but honestly I am running out of hope. It feels like I've tried everything and nothing helps.

[Victoria'smom]

Off and on mostly on 12 yrs. However it's my fault I refused an AP for 8 of those years. My meds are not perfect but they're better. It helps they're desolvable because I really suck at taking pills. I need higher doses of my medication. I've went up in lamictal. It's an ever evolving.

[TheSeaCat]

I too am Bipolar 2 and have tried what seems like everything. I was diagnosised in April of this year. I also tried Latuda and like you I had miserable side effects. I have found Seroquel to be the most helpful and it has snapped me out of the depressive episode granted I did have to go to a higher dose to make sure it also killed the hypomania. I can honestly say I'm the most stable I've been in months. It takes a while till that combo works but when it works you notice. I know it's frustrating but hang in there.

[Wild Coyote]

For me, it's ongoing. It's like trying to hit a moving target.
It's been many years of trying and retrying meds.


WC

[~Christina]

My latest combo of Latuda and Lamictal were doing a decent job until recently.

It’s a balancing act and pure luck I think.

[Pookyl]

It took about 4 months to get roughly the right medication. However, I am still 4yrs later having my dosages tweaked.

[WinterWolf]

My understanding of prescribing medications for people who have bipolar, is the equivalent of hunter using scattershot to take down a bear. It'll probably notice getting hit, but it's unlikely it'll take it down. It's not a perfect science by far, and any prescriber worth their salt will admit that - but you just gotta keep trying different things until the right concoction works.

[BipolaRNurse]

I finally found the right combination 2 years ago. It's had to be adjusted a few times thanks to my changing needs, but overall it's a good cocktail that's kept me mostly stable except for a few hypomanic episodes and mild winter depressions. I'm happy with it, especially after the last uptick in Zyprexa this summer which totally smoothed me out and now I have NO bipolar symptoms. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

[Guiness187055]

I have been lucky about 2 years

7 or 8 years.

Originally Posted by annielovesbacon

I have been searching for the right medication for nearly three years with no luck. For the first two years I tried AD after AD and none worked, some made me feel worse. Last year I found out I have BP2 so that explains that!

But since then I have tried Lamictal, which seemed to work for a while and then stopped working when I had a major depressive episode this summer. So I tried Latuda next and couldn't tolerate the side effects (I was falling asleep at work!) now I have been on Seroquel for two months and I'm still in a depressive episode, so my pdoc just added Wellbutrin (which I have taken in the past).

I will wait a few weeks to see if the AD helps but honestly I am running out of hope. It feels like I've tried everything and nothing helps.

still trying.... wondering if I'll ever find something suitable!

[Aviza]

Took a solid year. Meds didn't work that previously had found a new med it worked. I deal with side affects cause the med works for me. Drink caffeine don't have the sleepy. I'm on latuda. Roprinole for restlessness got that from abilify. I'm content med wise.

If "the right medication(s)" pertain to just bipolar disorder and exclude side effects and other psych issues, my answer is perhaps four years, though I had been on other medication mixes that showed great promise.

As for my best medication mix (it's always been more than one medication) in most respects (bipolar stabilization and mildest side effects) my answer is 11 years.

I'm still disabled. Given this, some may say I've never found the "right medications", but I wouldn't agree with that. What is most disabling to me now are the still open wounds of trauma from my illness experience, and the thin-skinned susceptibility I still have because of them. There is no medication(s) in pill form to ease those. That "medication" is to be found via continued therapy, additional mental healing, and endurance training, of a sort.

[*Laurie*]

I'm not exactly sure how to answer. I've been on meds for 33 years. A certain combination works for a while, then the season changes or other environmental events take place - or I have internal changes for whatever reason - and my meds need to be adjusted accordingly.

[Blueberrybook]

Still searching, and I've been in the psych system 20 years...

It has gotten better & worse but only once was I stable for 6 months.

About four years I think. I'm still tweaking the doses and such but overall it seems like I got the right cocktail.

[pirilin]

Took me seven years to get rid of the wrong meds. Which are mostly all in my case.

[Nola0250]

It’s been nearly a year and I’m close but not there yet on Latuda, lamictal and Wellbutrin. I have some side effects - lamictal causes balance issues, Latuda makes me tired and blunts me. Mild lingering depression remains but otherwise doing much better in the last 6 weeks.

[Faltering]

I've been diagnosed for ten years and still haven't found the right combination.

[Sunflower123]

It took me several years but I found the right combo several months ago. Right now...SAD is kicking my butt so I may be searching again. I wish you luck.

[Sliders]

It took me approximately 12 years.

[Nammu]

Let's see....1986 until 2014..... Minus about 6-7 years when I refused meds totally.....still way too long but then the one that works, latuda, is a relatively new med that wasn't around years ago. So in conclusion I was just born too early...still growing up in the 60's had its perks.

[annielovesbacon]

Thanks everyone... I'm glad some of you have found the right meds and I am keeping those of you like me who are still searching in my thoughts.

I have been taking wellbutrin for a week now (as an addition to seroquel) and I have been feeling better, however I don't know if it's due to the meds or if it's a coincidence. It seems like it's too early for it to be the medicine but I don't know.

[downandlonely]

The problem for me with anti-depressants is that they work well for a few years and then stop working. Then I have to switch. That happened to me with Zoloft and Lexapro. I am now taking Cymbalta and Wellbutrin, and they are working pretty well.

[Tryingtobehappy5]

This thread makes me feel bad. When I started meds and it went bad the drs said it could take up to 6 months to figure it out and I felt like I wouldnt be able to take it. Im almost at 2 years and Im no better than I was before I started all of this. All it has gained me is 3 nights in the drunk tank and 5 stays in the psych ward. Oh and a serious love of whiskey