I don't like having to take Zyprexa & of course needed to take more during the holidays; I naturally drop from exhaustion after enough hypomania, but the Zyprexa seems to cause me to 'crash' even harder sometimes - it's too strong of a drug for me, I think; it was fine when I had my extreme mania, but now it's just overkill (my maintenance dose of 2 mg is ok, but when I get more manic & need even a little bit more, it makes me crash harder than going au naturel). I managed to be off of it for 3 months last spring, feeling so good that I thought I was ready for work. Well, the stress knocked me down & I was off again within 3 months...back on the Zyprexa & can't get off it or maybe need to go on something else instead... so I'm thinking more & more about trying Lithium, as an add-on, instead. GJ Gregory has been taking Lamotrigine (like me) for years, and now his doctor suggested taking "Lamithium", so to speak, adding on Lithium. The Lamotrigine works really well for the depression side (awesome drug & no side effects, for me anyways) and then the Lithium supposedly helps more for the mania side. The combo is working well for his moods (see his personal blog). I've heard good & bad things about Lithium, and I think I'm ready to finally take the plunge. My pdoc already said he doesn't mind me taking it as an add-on, but at this point, it is more my idea than his...
My husband's sister, cousin, uncle and grandma all have anxiety and depression (seems to run pretty strong in his family) but they all seem to respond well to medication. In my family, on my dad's side, ALL the women have dealt with depression, and many of the men and a few of the women with alcoholism (surprise, surprise). A few of them have definitely showed signs of Bipolar Disorder, but I'm the only one diagnosed with it. My sister has never had depression and seems to have my mom's genes (no mental illness) and dad's personality (easy-going), whereas I have more my dad's genes & my mom's personality (perfectionistic & high-strung!) which of course is not conducive to mental wellness. Helped me get ahead in my career & at school at least, up until I burnt out so bad, I'm down for the count now. I managed to get a great job with excellent benefits before my health really worsened, at least, so I guess I can take the good with the bad.
But I still have my 'good' days and bad days. Well, really, more like 'awesome' days and 'terrible' days, with some 'good' days in between. My body & mind seem to like going from 1st speed to 5th speed and back again. I'm like a fine-tuned Lamborghini (how's that for a positive spin LOL). Another reason I think the Lamithium idea might work for me, providing a more 'stabilizing' effect rather than the 'upper/downer' thing I get with my current Zyprexa/Prozac combo. Lamotrigine already does its job beautifully for the depression side (even when I drop from exhaustion, my mood does not drop below normal). So now perhaps the Lithium will work with it to take care of the high side of things.
