I'm 47 and was just diagnosed after my 19 yr old son was. I have been through every anti-depressant and many doctors over the years. I had extensive neurological tests done 10 years ago when I could not function, could not remember the simplest things. Diagnosis was that it was from long term depression. I acted more like the typical symptoms when I was younger. I have been depressed all my life. 13 years ago It got so bad I could not function in the workplace or as homeroom mother etc. It has progressively gotten worse until now I sleep or want to sleep all the time. I rarely go out of my house and I've gained 100 pounds. Lamactil makes me very ill, lithium knocks me out. My doctor says the only drugs left for bi-polar, that I have not already had, have a sedative effect, but he doesn't know what else to give me, so now we are starting on those, starting with Geodone. I already sleep all the time. What else can I do?
Q: I can't tolerate the medicine for bi-polar disoder, what can I do?
In short- you have a road ahead of you that will take time to travel. It took 20 years to get me on the meds I needed. I cannot take lithium either. THERE IS HOPE. It is not a quick overnight success to get the right medicine. Feel relief for the moment that someone has finally found the reason for your problems. I am mixed bi polar. I tend to be more depressed than manic. I take lamictal now. I cannot take an anti depressant. I know that you want it "fixed" immediately because you are tired of being this way. Take a breath. Give feed back on how the medicines are making you feel. Keep a journal. It helps. If everything is okay, dont worry about it. If you are yo-yoing do the journal they can get more information from what you write down than from you saying that it has been so-so. It takes about 5 years to accurately diagnose bi polar. More if you change doctors. A pattern of it on paper weighs a lot more than verbal. It goes with you if you change doctors. Basically it is your own personal chart on yourself. The worse part is over. Give yourself time. Remember to breathe and use this site to find coping mechanisms. Life with bipolar is not a dead end street. There are ways to feel better and be stable. Just like the meds it takes time for you to find your ways to deal with it. No one has the easy button. But you have a huge group of friends that understands now. You are not alone.
Leslie
I have suffered from bipolar for a very long time. If you already sleep alot the Geodon is going to make you a zombie. I was on it for a long time. It made me twice as deppressed an d so wiped out I couldnt function. I have been on 200 mg of seroquel for two months and it has helped slow the manic episodes but has made the depression alot worse, however it does not make me sleep, so that is a plus. Good luck .
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