[nataliepatricia6183]

Hi
I thought it would be cool if us BP's shared
what our medication regime is and list the pros and cons
of each drug
I guess I'll start...

Lithium 600 2x a day just started - so far
feel a bit less manic, no downsides yet

Seroquel 100 - pros is relaxes me and slows
down racing thoughts cons are akathisia sometimes
and a bit more hungry

Clomipramine 150-I take this for trichotillomania
and obsessions

Trazodone 300-400 before bed
Great for manic insomnia and feel less anxious upon
waking cons- not sure yet

[TicTacGo]

This is gonna be an interesting one.

Lithium 400 2x daily for a year now- before first full blown manic episode. Only some gastrointestinal issues that are better now.

Seroquel 200 mg daily- 7 months ago after first full episode and hospitalization. Make me highly sedated if I take it too early/late. I am seeing a doctor about it on Monday and refuse to get refills until it is sorted out.

Concerta 27 mg daily- For ADHD.

Fluanxol 0,5 mg daily- BDD tendencies.

Xanax 0,5 as needed- the occasional panic attack.

*The interesting is that I have stopped everything except lithium and Concerta and so we can start with a clean slate from Monday onward. I was fine yesterday, the first day without it, but today I am starting to notice the signs. The little hints, but I do not want the medication to get a grip on me. So yeah, there is that.

[*Laurie*]

Zoloft-100mg.-Doesn't seem to be doing much. I'm titrating off.
Latuda- 160mg.-Good overall med, helps relieve depression. Causes significant tremor.
Seroquel- 50mg.- Using for sleep, but dropping down to 25mg. soon. Has caused major weight gain.
Klonopin- 1mg.- Slowly coming off this med.
Trileptal- 600mg.- Stabilizes moods.
Cogentin- 1mg.- Helps with tremor.

[still_crazy]

Abilify 30mgs--the heavy hitter. helps with probably 60-70% of problems that respond to psych drugs

Trileptal 1200mgs--controls agitation and levels out the rest.

Lithium - 1200mg daily for mania. Makes me thirsty all the time.

Cipralex - 30mg daily for depression/anxiety. Helps my anxiety a lot.

Risperidon - 1mg daily to boost the effects of the above two. Causing me to gain weight.

Ativan - .5mg as needed for anxiety. Life saver with panic attacks.

Zopiclone - 7.5mg for sleeping. Takes a while to knock me out, but keeps me sound asleep.

[nataliepatricia6183]

It's awesome to share stuff about our experiences...to hear our
medications are effecting us
Hope to hear some more ������

[hermitix]

Originally Posted by nataliepatricia6183

Hi
I thought it would be cool if us BP's shared
what our medication regime is and list the pros and cons
of each drug
I guess I'll start...

Lithium 600 2x a day just started - so far
feel a bit less manic, no downsides yet

Seroquel 100 - pros is relaxes me and slows
down racing thoughts cons are akathisia sometimes
and a bit more hungry

Clomipramine 150-I take this for trichotillomania
and obsessions

Trazodone 300-400 before bed
Great for manic insomnia and feel less anxious upon
waking cons- not sure yet

Just curious on your experience of clomipramine? It started helping me when I took it for a month but the side effects sucked 😞 And that was only 25mg for a month!

[nataliepatricia6183]

Good question ��
I take it for picking at my face compulsively and obsessions. I've been taking it for
a month and a half. The first couple weeks was at 50
then went to 100 for 2 weeks and been on 150 for two weeks
He doesn't want to go higher cause I have rapid cycling and mixed states bipolar

I feel it's awesome at relieving obsessions and intrusive thoughts
My picking is getting better too
The downside is dry mouth and sometimes I'm slight more energized than
I need to be
May need to go down
For bipolars these drugs don't make u sleepy.. at least not me
I get too energized and impulsive

[hermitix]

Good that you don't have bothersome side effects. I also took it for obsessions and intrusive thoughts and it began helping with those issues and also depersonalization and derealization, but the side effects were sweating/becoming hot easily, sexual issues, a little acne, and being unable to speak completely. Like, I would be mid sentence, then wouldn't be able to swallow or get the next word out as if I were choking over my words. Needeless to say, I couldn't have that while working a customer service job.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Vraylar 3 mg once daily - working great for depression and hypomania both. There's nothing I dislike about this drug; no side effects for me

Lamictal 150 mg - for hypomania; didn't seem to do very much for depression; not really sure how much this one is helping me but I'm hesitant to stop it. No side effects, nothing I dislike about it

Seroquel 50 mg - for sleep and OCD symptoms. Was on 400 mg and have dropped down to 50. Hated the weight gain and sedated feelings. I've tried to go completely off of it but my OCD stuff comes back with a vengance.

I'm thrilled to be on so few meds at low doses. The Vraylar has been a miracle drug for me. It took a while to kick in, but once it did, I really started feeling so stable.

[nataliepatricia6183]

Originally Posted by hermitix

Good that you don't have bothersome side effects. I also took it for obsessions and intrusive thoughts and it began helping with those issues and also depersonalization and derealization, but the side effects were sweating/becoming hot easily, sexual issues, a little acne, and being unable to speak completely. Like, I would be mid sentence, then wouldn't be able to swallow or get the next word out as if I were choking over my words. Needeless to say, I couldn't have that while working a customer service job.

I'm glad it's helped u too
Yeah now that u say that I've had the
word problem too

Good luck with the Meds

[nataliepatricia6183]

That's awesome! I'm glad you found combo that works for you. This is a tough disorder we all have. I really wanted to try vraylar as well but I can't afford it I have no insurance.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Originally Posted by nataliepatricia6183

That's awesome! I'm glad you found combo that works for you. This is a tough disorder we all have. I really wanted to try vraylar as well but I can't afford it I have no insurance.

Would your pdoc give it to you as samples? My insurance didn't cover it for a few months and then I was out of insurance for two months, so my pdoc just gave me sample boxes during those times.

[nataliepatricia6183]

Nope
It's the state mental health and they don't
have samples
He was going to put me on latuda but it
costs 1000

[benzenering]

Vraylar, 3 mg
Lithium, 900 mg
Lamictal, 200 mg
Propanolol, 20 mg up to 4x day PRN for anxiety
Also, levothyroxine 100 mcg for my thyroid that lithium is killing!

[popuri88]

Paroxetine hcl 10mg
Lamotrigine 50mg
Self-medicated with promethazine on emergencies (building up anxiety)

Started paroxetine with 20mg, but it sent me into progressive hypomania, so my doctor lowered it to 10mg and added lamotrigine. This dosage barely holds my depression though. I think I'll end up switching it for another AD, but paroxetine does help to keep anxiety at the bay.

Lamitor helps keeping hypomania away, but damn. My anger/depressive bursts triggered by other events (you know, when you become a feeling instead of having a bipolar mood swing) aren't affected by it at all.

[reb569]

I'm posting my daughter's meds here. She's was diagnosed bipolar 2 last fall during a hospitalization. She also has diagnosis of anxiety and mdd. She's currently in the 4 th month of a major depression but slowly improving.

Discharged from hospital on 600 tegratol, 200 serzone (nefazadone), 25 Seroquel for insomnia. Her regular pdoc took her off the Seroquel, then upped her serzone to 300. Depression was not improving so added desipramine starting at 25, now up to 200. It's starting to work but not there yet.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by nataliepatricia6183

Nope
It's the state mental health and they don't
have samples
He was going to put me on latuda but it
costs 1000

I'm on Medicaid and get Latuda at no cost. Also, the websites for various pharmaceutical companies often have programs you can sign up for to get free or low-cost meds.

[Travelinglady]

Tegretol--working well, but need blood work done every so often since it can have bad side effects

Wellbutrin--my antidepressant of choice

Trazodone-- works okay

Xanax--taking as little as possible since affects cognition

Cymbalta--helps pain and keeps me more active

They probably cause a few side effects, but they don't bother me much.

Episode-free for 6 years and counting....

(It took years to get me on the right meds, though.)

[rwwff]

Depakote alone for now, mood smoothed out nicely, hasn't been long enough to know for sure if it can take the depth out of my depression..

I've not talked about my paranoia yet; because, well, I'm paranoid of the people I would talk to about the paranoia! lol. NSA/CIA/FBI, bah, don't care. Psychiatrist??? meter-pegged.

[popuri88]

is it true that risperidone is not supposed to be a long-term option for bipolar disorder?

[nataliepatricia6183]

Originally Posted by reb569

I'm posting my daughter's meds here. She's was diagnosed bipolar 2 last fall during a hospitalization. She also has diagnosis of anxiety and mdd. She's currently in the 4 th month of a major depression but slowly improving.

Discharged from hospital on 600 tegratol, 200 serzone (nefazadone), 25 Seroquel for insomnia. Her regular pdoc took her off the Seroquel, then upped her serzone to 300. Depression was not improving so added desipramine starting at 25, now up to 200. It's starting to work but not there yet.

Thanks for sharing.. I hope she gets to a combo that works for her

[19J82]

Currently on Lithium 600mg daily. Slight hand tremor is the only issue. It seems effective thus far but only been on it a week and a bit.
Previously Depakote, went up to 750mg x2 daily and somehow that bumped me into a near manic state! I didn't find it very good, but it did stop suicidal feelings when I was low. Was on that for 2 months.
Prior to the above I had a month of Quetiapine at 300mg x2 daily but it gave me a couple of blood clots in my leg. Other than that it was pretty good at stopping hypomania/mania.

[Fresia]

Geodon- helps keep me more level for rapid cycling and mania. I am tired right after I take it but no fatigue in morning though and no other side effects.

Welbutrin XL-prevents frequent depressive swings, no side effects for me, love it and have been on this or its derivatives for decades. XL seems to work better for me in not causing a dip in the day like Welbutrin or SR did, that those I had to take throughout the day. XL I can take just in A.m.

Topamax- started taking it for migraines, had the added benefit of helping with the racing thoughts and mood swings, got off depakote as a result as it was no longer needed. Sleepiness with this one too after taking it so have to take it at night but always awake in a.m. Also have to stay hydrated. I have heard this can impact appetite, causing weight loss but it did not affect me at all, no changes.

Gabapentin- taking it for nerve pain (disc herniation) but had the added benefit of helping with migraines, anxiety, racing thoughts, and PTSD symptoms. Less appetite, causes drowsiness but am always awake in a.m.

The nice thing about all the meds that cause sleepiness or drowsiness is that it is rare now that I have insomnia. I do have to take Ambien which is still needed occasionally. I don't like that this completely knocks me out so that if there is an emergency I cannot function until a.m. I try not to take this unless I absolutely have to.