[nataliepatricia6183]

What are some of your experience with mood stabilizers? What are some of the best ones to consider with hypomanic phases?

Thanks
Natalie

[leomama]

I don't know what hypo mania is. I take lamictal for c-PTSD.

[SingDanceRunLife]

I've been on:

- Lamictal
- Depakote
- Geodon
- Lithium
- Seroquel
- Zyprexa
- Latuda

My favorites are Seroquel, Zyprexa and Latuda because for me, they were the most effective with the least side effects. Seroquel had no side effects for me, Zyprexa made me gain weight when I took it the first time, but when I took the Zydis version the second time I didn't, and Latuda just make my stomach upset if I don't eat enough with it.

Depakote, Geodon and lithium all gave me a tremor (Geodon was the worst, Depakote second, lithium third). Geodon also made me super tired so I couldn't take it in the normal 2 dose a day fashion, I had to take it all at night.

Lamictal didn't really do a ton for me, and it gave me a rash, so I gave up on it.

But remember, everyone is different! So just because I had certain reactions to some meds doesn't mean you will.

[gayleggg]

Saphris works well for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blue_Bird]

Depakote works great for me.

Lithium I got toxicity with and ended up in the ICU for a week and on dialysis

[nataliepatricia6183]

Thanks,
Yeah I'm on Geoden right now and it actually gives me insomnia unless I take Ativan with it. It keeps my mind racing....I think I need a mood stabilizer as I may have bipolar 2 with some hypomanic episodes. Not sure but I'm seeing my PDOC tomorrow. I hope she gives me something that works this time.

[dillpickle1983]

Zonegran (Zonisamide) works wonders for me, I've been on it for almost 2 years, Its under prescribed as not many people have heard of it.

[pearlys]

Im on lamictal. So far no mania but doesnt help my depression either. My manias were mainly induced by paxil. We added sertraline now but still no lift in mood. Dont even know what stabilze feels like. I just feel dull, i dont care much about life, about being depressed and passive all the time. Sometimes I think quitting meds if it doesnt make any difference at all. I know for everyone its different but I would like to hear your experience as well.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Lithium worked great for my moods however it gave me constant, I'm talking everyday diarrhea. Eventually I had to stop taking it because I got toxicity. I tried lamictal and got severe mood swings and mixed episodes everytime I titrated up so that was quickly dropped. Now I'm on trileptal and it's worked great and for the first time in a long time I'm stable.

[Cat_Lover_58]

My experience was lithium, trileptal and then lamictal! The last one seems to have helped my mood stability. This was an experience that lasted off/on for, maybe 7ish years.

I've been on 3 drugs that can be considered mood stabilizers, but I took them all for unipolar 'psychotic' (pdoc says I'm psychotic, I disagree) depression, so I can't tell you about how it worked for (hypo)mania. However I can tell you about side effects.
Lithium: no side effects at all. Not even toxicity, which is nothing short of a miracle given that I wasn't drinking for a while while on it. (I was psychotic and thought drinking (as in: consuming liquids, not alcohol) would make me immortal - given that I wanted to die, I refused to drink)
Zyprexa: totally rebooted my sleep cycle. I was barely sleeping before, even though I was taking a variety of other sleeping meds. I took 10 mg of Zyprexa and slept. Wonderful drug. I gained weight, from underweight (BMI of 16.5) to almost overweight (BMI of 24.9) where I remained for a while, then my weight increased to a BMI of 26.7. I'm losing the kilos without trying now that I'm tapering off, though. (I slowly went up to 25 mg - am now tapering off and currently on 7.5 mg)
Abilify - I didn't notice anything. No effects, no side effects, nothing. So I tapered off. Only thing I noticed while/after tapering off was that my appetite increased, but pdoc isn't sure that's related.

[bolair811]

The first mood stabilizer I tried was Abilify (given during my first psych hospitalization for severe depression and constant suicidal thoughts). It made me feel a little bit restless but I do think it helped lessen the intensity of my suicidal thinking. Looking back, I was still taking Cymbalta when Abilify got added on, and I now know that Cymbalta was the major contributor to my suicidal thinking. So, when I didn't get better and ended up going back inpatient 2 months later, I was put on Depakote. I honestly don't remember much with it because all I did was sleep, for a month. And apparently I ate all the time too because I gained about 15 pounds in that month.

About 8 months later, I was experiencing raging suicidal thoughts again, and the psych nurse prescribed Saphris. It made me sleep too, but not constantly like Depakote. And I had this weird restless leg thing with it. Overall, I think it made things worse (but then again, I was taking Cymbalta again, so that wasn't helping matters). So, 10 months after my 2nd hospitalization, it was back in for my third (and final time) so far. During THAT hospitalization, they took me off Cymbalta (realizing the connection) and off Saphris. They started me on a fairly high dose of Paxil and began slowly adding in Lamictal. It took forever to get up to a therapeutic dose, but I honestly believe that medication has stabilized me and helped my moods and thinking not feel so completely out of control. I haven't had a serious depressive episode since I began taking it 4 years ago. That is far and away the longest time I've gone without an episode. I did eventually switch to Prozac because Paxil became too sedating, but otherwise, Lamictal and I have a wonderful relationship. It has been a miraculous med for me.