Thank you for your response. I can see that I need to give you more information regarding my query.

I sought out treatment in 2006 and was originally diasgnosed with major depression and put on Lexapro. This had some efficacy in the short term, but as I got more relaxed with talking to a psychiatrist, the diagnosis became Bi-polar I. I have as previoulsy indicated since then taken an array of medications to try to stabilise my moods etc, but with limited and sometimes no positive effect. Seroquel was useful for a time, but did not help keep me stable, even upping dosages did not help. Lithium made me a zombie and I coould only function for a maximum of 2 hours before I was flat on my back for the rest of the day. Not particularly helpful for work, driving or basically anything. Tegretol and Epilim similarly gave me no joy, with me having major problems with bleeding and thrombosis appearing all over my body, etc. Cymbalta was trialled with equally ineffective results and probably made me more manic and unstable. Paxam did help with my anxiety issues, and stopped me having full blown attacks. Then I had Seroquel XR, and that was a complete disaster. I could not stop thinking about suicide 24/7, and I was literally going completely ga ga.

As for alternative therapies, I have been doing Yoga for years and was in fact a teacher until I had 4 disc ruptures in my Thoracic spine. I now have 6 ruptures from neck to upper lumbar. I still do yoga though not at the level I was at before, I meditate, have gone back to regular accupuncture, I eat really well and look after myself in every other way.

My problem with medications, not just for bi-polar has been something I have had all my life. I cannot take many medications any longer as I have such adverse reactions as well as allergic ones, so even when I do get sick which is rare and I need to take antibiotics, I have a lot of difficulty finding something that my system can tolerate. Luckily for me I have a GP who is well aware of my problems and invariably I am prescribed child dosages as adult strength for most things is contraindicated. I am only very tiny (35-40kg). Added to that the CP450 test showed empiraclly that I only require small doses of anything for them to be effective. My Father had the same problem and drugs that should have been fine sent him hysterical or zombied.

My other dilemma with the medications especially the ordinary Seroquel is that it locks me up shockingly, which sends my pain level through the roof. I have constant pain with my back already, though this is not new in itself, as I have always had back pain owing to a double scoliosis, bad horse accident, motor vehicle accident, a fall from 2 strorey building, ladders, you name it and it has probably happened to me. How I have not broken any bones or been rendered paraplaegic is a mystery to most. And even though I have such pain all the time, I am still as flexible as rubberband, and no-one would guess just what agony I am in. Stoic yoga mindset at play. I have avoided pain medications for the most part, though as more things go wrong in my back I am finding I have to take a 10mg Oxycontin and sometimes up to 2 more days than not. This is not something I want to do either, but I have to function at work and at home, and they do actually work for me. Opiates, not the synthetic kind seem to be tolerated well in my system with little if any side effects.

I realise that I present a problem for the medico's out there, but until I was diagnosed, I was still going about my life without medications just fine. The same things were happening then.

This is very longwinded I know and I apologise for that. Without giving you my full medical history I realise things are difficult.

Thanks for your input.

I seem to have somewhat of this same situation. I have tried Prozac, Effexor, Lamictal, and Abilify and with the first two mentioned, I did really well for about 9 months, than became rageful or "manic" to an extreme that I couldn't deal with. The prozac also left me with crying spells constantly, when normally I don't experience the depression part of bipolar as severly as the mania. The lamictal and the abilify (I just remember that I tried Paxil once briefly, too) just did plain weird things to me. My doc rx'd Abilify, said it was a stimulant and to take it in the morning, and it knocked me completely out for 10 hours straight. I had to have my husband pick me up at work because I looked (and acted) like a drunk. I have adverse reactions to medication. Whenever someone says, "this made me sleepy, or this made me hyper, I usually end up with the extreme opposite symptom."