Mood stabilisers and SSRI's

[bernie40]

Hi,

I am on tegratol for my mood swings (bp II) but the downside is (no pun intended) that they seem to increase my lows in their lowering of my highs and swings.  My question is can an SSRI be taken for depression/anxiety/stress?  I know that an SSRI on its own can trigger mania etc but is it ok to take them alongside a mood stabiliser?  I am so fed up of the low days and over here they won't give you anything to help you feel "up".  

I was on citalopram (don't know if this is in the ssri group) 60mg whilst on depakote but that just didn't do any good either and I came off both (separately).

If not SSRI's then what else is there that I can look up and see if it is licensed over here (UK) so I can discuss with my psych next week.

Many thanks

[irishwriter]

was an inpatient recently and med student talked to me. i told him the most important thing he could possible learn was to hold onto his humanity and that if i see him ten years down the line and he has a god complex i'm just going to have to smack him!! my doc hates it when you act like you might have a functioning brain. pdoc is good but on the subject of meds tends to over ride what i want. i'm due to start lamictal on mon and know nothing about it. good luck with getting help and best wishes.

[LeftCoastChick]

Sometimes it takes a few tries with different meds to find a balance.

I had a full blown hypomanic episode on Cymbalta (SNRI), and SSRI's never did much good in the long run - citalopram is a SSRI - but they sometimes use low doses in conjunction with mood stabilizers. My pdoc is considering adding Wellbutrin as it doesn't usually cause hypomania. I am waiting until I am on the right doses of the drugs I am on now. I just got diagnosed end of July.

I was just weaned off Cymbalta, so not getting as many manic episodes. I have been put on Serequal and Lamactil. I believe both are available in the UK.  Serequal has a calming effect on me, and both drugs have anti-depressant qualities. Serequal has actually worked really quickly.  I am though waiting to to level out. I am rapid cycling and can have both depression and hypomania at the same time. fun times.
Make sure you tell your pdoc everything! Good luck and best wishes!

[bernie40]

Thank you so much for doing that.  I have tried zyprexa and mirtazapine but had bad reactions to them.  Tamoxifen is used as an anti-cancer drug over here so may not be licensed for use for other things (i shall take a look).

Glad you pointed out the "god complex", I must admit I hadn't contemplated that, so I shall word my request to pdoc more carefully, by asking what she suggests before mentioning the names of others.

[BipolarBear75]

I went on line to see if there were some medications I could suggest to you that were available in the UK. Based on my pharmacy tech knowledge, I came up with a new one called Stavzor, then loxapine, tamoxifen and olanzapine (zyprexa) and risperdal and mirtazapine. These are available in the UK (according to the net...so I hope I am right.) The tamoxifen is mostly for the mania though. The mirtazapine is for the depression....which I think you should have one of each to stabalize. Also, you have to be careful in how you ask for different pills....I know you aren't trying to seek drugs but doctor's can have the god complex and they don't take it very well when you try and ask for certain drugs over the other.