[saucygirl31]

hi everyone.

been here before, back again.

BP1 w antisocial features.

i went from lamictal 300 -> 400 this summer cuz i got manic. i am also on vraylar 6.

anyone else find meds loose effectiveness? how often do u change meds? will i just be cycling between meds for the rest of my life once i hit the max dose? like lithium to lamictal to depikote back to lithium back to lamictal etc?

thanks.

[Wild Coyote]

Hi saucygirl31,

Welcome!

I am sorry you have been experiencing some difficulty with meds.
It's been my experience that I have repeatedly tried the same meds. If meds worked at all, In time they did not.

Currently, I have found a med that helps; I am afraid it will stop working someday.

Nice to have you posting!

[saucygirl31]

thank u.

yeah, I have the same fear.

it's only natural to gain tolerance right?

i wonder if needing to change meds is the case w everyone w legitimate bipolar, and maybe those who stay on one med have a less severe case or other issues all together?

not to downplay anyone elses problems, just a theory.

oh and thank I everyone who greeted me on the Goals thread!

lose not loose lol.

[~Christina]

I have been on all kinds of meds , doses up and down, some Meds quit working. Etc etc

Everyone reacts so differently. I know some one who has been on same base meds for almost 2 years and doing really well and I know people who have been struggling for months to find baseline.

The only “ Rule” that Bipolar really follows is that it will indeed ....cycle.

[saucygirl31]

harsh truth I guess.

thank you.

Originally Posted by ~Christina

I have been on all kinds of meds , doses up and down, some Meds quit working. Etc etc

Everyone reacts so differently. I know some one who has been on same base meds for almost 2 years and doing really well and I know people who have been struggling for months to find baseline.

The only “ Rule” that Bipolar really follows is that it will indeed ....cycle.

I see it exactly as Christina wrote above. It all seems to vary.

In recent years, I have been on the same mix, but I have breakthrough episodes (mostly hypomanic/manic end) every so often. My Seroquel XR dose goes up and down up and down, a lot. I still have even more room to go up on my Seroquel XR dose, if necessary. A second antipsychotic was added to my mix in recent months, but it sits there at the starter dose. That could go up if I get depressed, but I doubt it will go up if I have another manic episode. I don't see Latuda as a med for my mania.

I try not to get too disappointed when I have breakthrough episodes. I've accepted that it's the nature of the beast. When we all have long periods of stability, I think it's partly luck, partly the med mix, partly healthy living and low stress.

[saucygirl31]

such a dumb mistake of me to over look everyone has unique brain chemistry. i guess I just now know I can break through to mania on high dose lamictal and vraylar (which aside from schizophrenia treats specifically mania/mixed mania).

lithium worked well but I hope I don't need to go on it cuz I heard it's bad long term and my depression is better treated w lamictal.

but TBH my baseline is kinda like... boring. that's why I do drugs but I'm on probation w random testing and violated already so if I violate again I go to jail.

i just wanna feel strong feelings without getting out of control.

Originally Posted by saucygirl31

such a dumb mistake of me to over look everyone has unique brain chemistry. i guess I just now know I can break through to mania on high dose lamictal and vraylar (which aside from schizophrenia treats specifically mania/mixed mania).

lithium worked well but I hope I don't need to go on it cuz I heard it's bad long term and my depression is better treated w lamictal.

but TBH my baseline is kinda like... boring. that's why I do drugs but I'm on probation w random testing and violated already so if I violate again I go to jail.

i just wanna feel strong feelings without getting out of control.

What other bipolar medications have you tried beyond Lamictal, Lithium, and Vraylar? Some medications just didn't have enough oomph for me.

[saucygirl31]

ive tried seroquel, latuda and abilify too. in fact I'm on seroquel now as a PRN. only 50. i used to be on 800 in one of the wards, and 200 before I was even diagnosed. i like it I guess but I am always congizant of how many meds I'm on and try to minimize it.

latuda and ability made me like dizzy/foggy. peculiar how Seroquel was the preference, but we're all unique.

edit: also Invega and zyprexa

I take Seroquel XR as part of my base mix, but I also use regular Seroquel as a PRN to control breakthrough mood elevations. I completely understand the frustrations of the ups and downs and medication changes.

I've experienced feeling baseline as boring, especially after periods of mania or long-term hypomania. I know that whatever "positive" effects on mood a drug or alcohol brings, can certainly be missed. In my case, I figured out that a period I called "baseline" was really very mild depression. It took me a while to really get back to the "true" happy baseline I knew before bipolar disorder or during better days. I started to question what my true baseline even was. Those days were clouded by years of mood issues and substance abuse. I had to learn what true stability really was, and appreciate it. And there is a lot to appreciate about it.

I'd never been a real fan of 12 Step programs, even though I have surely attended well over 1000 AA meetings these past 13 years. The funny thing is, excluding the religious rhetoric, later down the line I realized I had actually fulfilled those 12 Steps. Having done so, I recognize a great advancement in my recovery. Through recovery, I found that happy baseline. I achieved completion of the so-called 12th step.

[saucygirl31]

that's awesome I'm glad u found a good baseline and was able to get use from AA. my DOC is meth and I'm almost a month clean and it's not that bad being stable I def appreciate it but yeah being "up" is cool too which is primarily why I switched from lithium to lamictal but I never expected to break through lamictal AND vraylar to true mania.

keep it up best wishes.

[~Christina]

Originally Posted by saucygirl31

such a dumb mistake of me to over look everyone has unique brain chemistry. i guess I just now know I can break through to mania on high dose lamictal and vraylar (which aside from schizophrenia treats specifically mania/mixed mania).


lithium worked well but I hope I don't need to go on it cuz I heard it's bad long term and my depression is better treated w lamictal.


but TBH my baseline is kinda like... boring. that's why I do drugs but I'm on probation w random testing and violated already so if I violate again I go to jail.


i just wanna feel strong feelings without getting out of control.

Okay .... you said baseline feels boring? So you do drugs?

Well here’s the thing it’s common for those of use to feel “ boring” at baseline why??! because we have such extreme Highs !!!’ that how can stable not feel at least a bit boring??

My hypo is fantastic , everything is bright and shiny , music is magical , I have amazing abilities to create wonderful stories or things. But then it quickly turns to an ugly dark angry mess.

I’ll take my feeling a bit bored to having my emotional well being implode and leave a path of destruction in my wake that I need to clean up and make amends for.

It’s good that you can’t “ use drugs” because it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find any kind of stability with Bipolar using street drugs or more than the occasional drink.... so for that alone I’m grateful you can’t risk failing a drug test, jail would only destabilize you further.

Stay smart

[saucygirl31]

that's correct.

yeah I'm lucky that drugs don't trigger episodes for me but I hear u. totally do not recommend doing drugs. everyone's different.

yeah baseline is better than being depressed. thank God for lamictal. i just chase those highs.

anyway back to med effectiveness - ur right, if bipolar has once consistency it's inconsistency. my pdoc said himself, saucy I know u like ur hypomania so I'll take u off lithium and put u on lamictal. eh, was good for a while but I like being in control and mania is not controllable for me without meds. I just have a feeling next spring will be even worse and I'll need lithium again.