[SingDanceRunLife]

Hey guys --

I'm BP 2, and my meds seemed to have pretty much pooped out on me. I'm seeing my pdoc tomorrow, and will most likely ask to be switched to something different.

I'm currently taking: Seroquel (300mg), Lexapro (20mg), Ambien CR (12.5mg).

I want something that is effective against depression, insomnia (the Ambien probably only works about half as well now as it did when I first started it), and difficulty concentrating, and also effective for anxiety/OCD since even that is flaring up, and something that won't cause me to gain a ton of weight either.

Past meds include: Zyprexa (amazing, except that I gained 30lbs on it in 2 months), Depakote, Geodon (together they gave me a tremor, and even with one alone the tremor persisted, and weren't particularly effective either, Abilify (made me more depressed), Lamictal (got a rash -- not the rash, but a really annoying one), Prozac (gave me headaches), Zoloft (made my hypomanic and jittery), Effexor XR (had terrible side effects all around, even at the low low dose of 37.5mg), Celexa (made me super tired, irritable and sleepy). I think that's it...

So yeah, I don't want to go back on any of the ones I've already tried...

Any suggestions of what I should look into/ask my pdoc about?

[Travelinglady]

I take Tegretol. It's not the first drug of choice, but it also treats my facial pain. Some people take Lithium, but I have avoided it because I don't like the potential side effects or the need to have bloodwork done frequently. But it might have to be an option for me at some point......

Lamictal seems to be the one favored by docs, but I had to go off of that, too, after many years.

Let us know what the doc suggests!

[SingDanceRunLife]

Got prescribed trazodone and Viibryd. Doctor isn't currently worried about mania or hypomania since it's been awhile since my last episode, he's more worried about the depression. Comes with the territory of BP II...but of course, the Dx stays since I have had multiple episodes. We'll see how it goes.

[roads]

I've been on Cymbalta with Topamax for quite a while. When despression hit hard a few years ago, and nothing else worked without side effects, we went from 60 to 90 mg of Cymbalta--initially proscribed because I suffered to much pain, and it helped with that. pdoc monitored everything closely for months & adjusted Topamax as needed--not all that much.
This has worked well for my BPII for over five yrs. right now I'm going through a period of grief that's not responsive to therapy & pdoc is modifying my meds temporarily.
Best of luck ... demand your pdoc find that best available meds for you ... not just something "good enough" or better than what you were on.