[Miserlou]

Hey. this is one of my first posts here but i've just recently started seeing a new psychiatrist highly recommended by my therapist of 3+ years. I've been on almost every psych med. no joke, and i'm so sensitive that all of the side effects make the meds not worth it for me in terms of improving the quality of my life. so my new pdoc says we will try to get off of most of what you're on, except anxiety meds, and focusing more on therapy, etc. this means getting off of the 300MG trileptal and eventually the 20MG viibryd i take.

however, he told me to get off the trileptal first. since i'm on a low dose, cut it in half for a week then stop. it wasn't until after our appointment that i was wondering if i would start to get hypomanic without a mood stabilizer. however i was feeling kind of depressed and numbed out perhaps because of meds and i really didn't care. i miss hypomania... and actually feeling things. i feel brain dead now.

so it's been a week and i've successfully tapered off of the trileptal without any noticeable differences. i suspect because i am on such a low dose. i am still taking viibryd which is and SSRI of sorts but i don't really feel hypomanic or anything. i'm kind of having a hard time figuring out what this means. the reason i was originally dx'ed with bipolar II 3 years ago was because i got hypomanic from lexapro and have definitely had noticeable high times in my life.

what i'm wondering is... well first, maybe it is too soon to tell but why am i not flying off of the walls? isn't being on an antidepressant alone a disaster for people with bipolar? am i in for a surprise in a couple of days? i don't even really feel any withdrawal symptoms from the trileptal. however it took me months and months to get off of lamictal a year ago do to an allergic reaction. is this normal? could i maybe not be bipolar? i am so confused. any insight is greatly appreciated. sorry for the long post and thanks if you read it all.

[Travelinglady]

I'm not sure there's an official "rule" that says that bipolars have to be on mood stabilizers. But maybe your new doc is seeing how you do without one, and if you start having trouble, then he can put you on something. Lamictal is the standard stabilizer, and I'm not sure there are many others out there. I'm on Tegretol. It also helps my facial pain. I had to get off of Lamictal, too.

[DePressMe]

Meds are a difficult thing to understand...try not to base your diagnosis depending on what meds you are on. Remember that meds act differently for each person. Maybe your pdoc thinks its time to see if you are ready to come off your meds. They will sometimes do that because a person's mental illness will change over time. ........D.

[Miserlou]

you guys are right, thanks. I'm always stuck on how things should or shouldn't be. it is good that i am stable enough to be taking what i'm taking now. time will tell!

[sewerrats]

I don't take a mood stabilizer for bipolar, I do use lexapro , but my mood stabilizer is Ativan, it only works for me now has a prevention.