Bipolar...Lithium...Still Depressed...More Drugs??
Yes, I am bipolar. I take my Lithium by day and Klonopin (1) @ night to rest, and , oh yeah, Provigil to stay awake in the daytime BUT!!! For the past one year, I have survived Breast Cancer, the surgery, the radiation, the vocal cord paralysis because of the radiation AND such children and step-children problems that there's no way to express them here. Now, oh, I forgot to mention unemployment and Major medical bills. Ok, NOW, of course, I am fighting depression. Emphasize fighting. I talked to my psych & he said it would be fine with him if I took an anti-depressant BUT the Lithium should be helping. Yes, it is helping but the depression is taking over.
I understand lemon and lemonade. I take my meds. What's the opinion on taking anti-depressants along w/ mood-stabilizer, such as Lithium?? I've had docs give too many drugs before and am petrified of it happening again, therein lies my question!! Is it appropriate to NEED anti-depressants w/ a mood stabilizer? What about a depressed Bipolar...even when the depression is well warranted.? What's the BEST, most up-to-date course of action???
**Docs in this area are very afraid of treating the anxiety/depression w/ old standard drugs because of a recent rash of suicides. Problem is: all of us aren't suicidal.
Hi
I take Sodium Vulproate daily as a mood stabilizer.
When I get depressed I take prozac
When Im manic I take Olanzapine
Need to watch then though Prozac can cause mania and Olanzapine can cause depression
Seems to work to an extent for me
Vicky
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Hi Beth, I've done all the meds you have listed. The provigil was awesome until I got hives. The rest didn't do much. These are my present meds: Lamictal relieved the chronic depression and stopped the inner rage fire. It also gave me ego boundaries. Cymbalta stopped the pain of depression just like the advertisements. Effexor gives me steady energy to stay functional all day. ritalin gives me the ability to focus and channel the energy. Risperdal suppresses the free floating anxiety and obsessive thinking.
I posted a question about hormones affecting the bipolar cycling. You may want to check out pyroluria. It is genetic inability to utilize B6 and Zinc along with other issues. I started on B6 100 mg/day and now have upped it to 3x/day. What a huge difference. I was on abilify which was a gift from heaven. Every issue I had cleared up. I wasn't rescuing people, i really liked myself and others and the constant death and suicidal thoughts stopped. They just stopped!!! I was shocked to find I was making plans for the future. That I was even looking forward to the next day. I knew why people thought/think suicide isn't a good idea. Then I ended up with side effects and abilify needed to be stopped. The B6 doesn't give the full satisfaction of Abilify but it is a good viable alternative. The research on B6 shows it to be helpful for bipolar and schizophrenics. SAD is kicking in and I'm going to up the B6 to 4x/day. Well, I should say "we". my pdoc is monitoring this with me. Hope this helps. Judy
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