[Matt1972]

33 year old male with bi-polar. 1500 mg. Depakote + 225 mg. Effexor daily for the past 17 mos. I'm still having debilitating depression.

[darkeyes]

You may want to ask your pdoc to give a different (meds) a try, Depakote and Effexor didn't do anything positive for me, but we are all different.
I do not want to sound like I am a"sales person" for Lamictal (Lamotrogine) but after several different meds it has helped greatly, and the nice thing is no weight gain or fatigue, also I haven't needed any antipressants along with it like I had in the past.
It is a med that slowly has to be titrated, and closely follow with your pdoc in the begining, but it has been great for me, I am Bipolar-II (mild) so again meds work differently for different people.
BTW another nice thing vs. Depakote you do not have to have monthly blood work up (liver) so that is a plus for people that may not want to get poked every month and make the time to go the lab. The fatal rash that is mentioned in the side effects for Lamictal are very rare, when I first read about it I was a little scared till I heard the percent is very, very rare. Only thing over long term is slight dryness around the hairline of the face and back of neck, no big deal, and in my case it may be cause I am getting old, ha!ha!
Just my too sense, btw I am 47, be 48 in Jan. old, eh? ha!ha!

Take care,

DE

[cocoa]

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33 year old male with bi-polar. 1500 mg. Depakote + 225 mg. Effexor daily for the past 17 mos. I'm still having debilitating depression.

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HI MATT AND WELCOME

YOU MAY FIND YOU GET MORE HEPLFUL REPLIES IF YOU POST IN THE BIPOLAR SECTION.
I'M 37 AND WAS DIGNOSSED ABOUT 11 YEARS AGO. FOR A LONG TIME AFTER MY DIGNOSSES I HAD BIG PROBLEMS WITH DEPRESSION. I THINK A LOT OF IT HAD TO DO WITH BEING ON MEDICATION THAT WORKED WELL ON KEEPING THE HIGHS AWAY BUT DID LITTLE FOR THE DEPRESSIVE END OF IT. I'VE BEEN ON THE MEDS. YOUR ON BUT THEY WEREN'T FOR ME.
I FOUND THAT AN ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUG SUCH AS "SEROQUEL" WORKS WONDERS FOR ME. IT REALLY KEEPS THE DEPRESSION AWAY. YES THESE DRUGS HAVE MOSTLY IN THE PAST BEEN USED FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA BUT THESE PAST FUE YEARS DOCTORS ARE USING IT MORE AND MORE FOR BIPOLAR DISSORDER WITH SUGSESS.

I HOPE YOUR DEPRESSION INPROVES

JACQUI

[Wants2Fly]

Welcome, Matt. I don't know anything at all about bipolar meds. The forums are a supportive group, and I hope you get some insights from others who are more knowledgable. In addition to the bipolar forum, there's one devoted to medications.