I'm at a loss.....

My daughther is bipolar.  She has gone from geodon, abilify, depakote, lithium, zyprexa, risperodol, and now currently on Lamictal and Lexapro, with Seroquel(only 25mg when needed for the anxiety).  We finally found a psychiatrist that would listen and start her on lower doses.  She had so many side-effects and she too, was medication sensitive....tachycardia, parkinsonism, flu-like syndrome with 102 fever daily.  But we started her on 25mg of Lamictal/day for one week then 50mg/day the 2nd wk, then 75mg/day the 3rd wk, up to 200mg.....and added the anti-depressant the same way....5mg/day for wk 1, 10mg/day in wk 2.  We have to continually adjust according to her cycling.  Luckily, I am a nurse and her mom, I am in tune to when she cycles and I try to stay on top of it.  But fortunately, Linsey has now accepted that she is Bipolar and is accepting to taking her meds and wants to find the right combination.  Hang in there....it sucks that it takes 6-8wks to see if the drug works and what kind of  side-effects they have on the person.  How can you expect someone to live with parkinsonism at age 19?   No, that's not acceptable....but it took almost two years to find the right combination for my daughter. Hopefully, it will get easier for you.  Try to convince your doctor to initiate lower doses and gradual increases as long as you are not in a severe manic state or severe depressed state.  My daughter is currently cycling and is now on 300mg of Lamictal and 5mg of Lexapro.  She was on Wellbrutrin for 2yrs, but it eventually caused alot of anxiety.  25mg of seroquel seems to help tremendously for anxiety attacks.  So she doesn't take it daily, only when she feels anxious.  Good luck and good health.  Stay  proactive.

Erin---I am so sorry you are having to go through what you describe. Don't give up! There is still a good probability that you and your doctor can find the right combination and dosages of drugs that will be effective. It took me years and years to get to the functional point I'm at now. One of the things I had to do to get where I am was to be assertive with my doctor (every time). This meant I ended up having to switch doctors on more than one occasion. (Doctor's get frustrated, too, and don't always know the best and latest information about treating their bipolar patients.) It sounds like you have educated yourself about the drugs you have tried. That's great! Keep it up! Don't let your doctor disregard your physical sensitivity (your reaction to the drugs' side effects) to the commonly prescribed drugs. I agree with the person who advised you try starting the drugs in small doses. Maybe this will help you find out if you can tolerate them.  Above all, don't give up! You are not alone...