How many meds till you found the right one?

I've been on 4 different meds and still none have really helped me out. How many/how long did it take you to find one that worked?

Lamictal
Lexapro
Gabapentin
Latuda
Abilify
Seroquel
Rexulti
Adderall
Strattera
Ritalin
Klonopin
Ativan

And still counting

I started taking psych meds about three decades ago. I've been on at least 25 medications over the years.

I'm so scared my doc will be like "well these didn't work so none will, you're on your own, kid" but if you've been on that many that's reassuring for me since I've only tried a few at this point. Thank-you

That's such a long time of suffering I'm so sorry you haven't been able to find the right one but I hope you're managing well <3

MANY more than 4. It took quite a while (honestly years) to figure out what worked best for my symptoms with the least side effects, what didn't stop working on me, etc.

Thanks I'm probably going to ask my doc about trying a combo this time and see if anything starts helping more

16, then there was finding a right combination so then the number became exponential. It was worth it though to find the right cocktail as I can live now.

Thanks this is actually giving me some hope that I'll find the right one for me and I'm not really a lost cause

I've yet to find something that helps for the depression. 13 meds (counting just AP, AD and lithium - not counting benzo's and other sleep meds), 51 ECT treatments and 6 years of therapy.

Tbhimscared, Your pdoc won't give up on you. S/he will work with you until you find a medication that works for you. You'll hit on the right med combo. Just keep pursuing (((HUG)))

I hope so too right now I'm trying to plan what I'll say the next time I go so that I can explain what's wrong (better than previous times I've tried to explain) and I can tell her what I want "fixed", I just feel so annoying going to her and saying nope that one didn't work

Aw, don't feel like you're being annoying. That's her job, and most people have to try several meds before they hit on something that helps.

I went back many times and also worried my doctor would give up. He didn't. We just kept trying new things until something finally worked.

I have been on some many meds over the years. Many times it can take a combination.

Dont give up hope just let your Doctors help you.

When I became manic for the first time, depakote worked right away
When I went psychotic for the first time, seroquel worked right away
Depression has been a different story.....still working on it after having tried just about everything. Lamictal, finally, worked, but I don't know how much it's helping now, after 10 years.

I found the right one on the second try. Zoloft then Lexapro. I was on it for two years doing fine and then my family who are not really sure what to do or say about mental illness said that I should go off because I was doing better. Maybe I was doing better because I was on the medication. But anyways, I went off, things went bad (developed severe depression), and tried to go back on Lexapro. Didn't work anymore. Went onto Luvox. Now I'm on Effexor XR I believe. It may just be Effexor, though I'm 90% it's the extended release version. So 4 different medicines, though I'd count it as five, since going back onto a medication that used to work didn't work anymore. Good luck to you though

I have been on quite a few anti-psychotics. First was olanzapine. It worked but oh boy I piled on weight and was too sedated on a low dose. So three years later I was put on quetiapine didn't need to go into hospital so was lucky. They put it up three years later when I stopped taking full dose and got unwell.
Then I got put on a Compulsory treatment order and I was put on Risperidone and it never worked (I refused to take it) then I was put on clozopine and I couldn't tolerate it, could have possibly died if dose was increased so then it was arapiprazole and just didn't work then back to risperidone but injection. I knew it wasn't working. Had ECT made things slightly better. Lied to the doctor that I was seeing things - horrible frightening things so my new doctor put me back on quetiapine even though I was sectioned for seven months to find something other than quetiapine. Last month my thyroid was playing up because of lithium but I thought it may have been the quetiapine as I had been on that the longest. So I tried Amisulpride, and guess what - didn't work so back to old faithful quetiapine .

Like Terabithia I have struggled for ten years with the depression side of things as well as the psychotic symptoms. So I'm on combo of mirtazapine and venlafaxine and they help.

So unsuccessful medication for me - amisulpride, arapiprazole, risperidone, clozapine and olanzapine is horrible. Haliperidole didn't like that. So my tally is five seems small compared to these other stories

I been on invega, resperidone and halodol injections not all at once but they all didn't work. I have olazanpine and now on abilify they aren't working and have gone through psychosis twice sober on abilify it's been the scariest thing ever and once I begged my pdoc to put me in the psych ward! She said couldn't do it I don't know why they were horrible the hallucinations, the paranoia everything was just horrid! I was okay 15mg but no she has to put me up to 25mg then everything has gone downhill!