welbutrin

[adel_ezz]

I am looking for AD tolerated by Bipolar patients. I heard that welbutrin is the right one for them otherwise one runs the risk of trigerring mania. alright many recommended this med. Yet another person in one of the groups drew the attention that welbutrin is not tricyclic, neither SSRI but called a stimulant. I wonder the meaning of that. I googled for welbutrin and mania and discovered that it can trigger mania too. Does anybody know the efficacy of such AD for bipolars and whether there is an alternative to it for BP pts.

That AD can induce mania which doctors attribute to the course of the illness is a subject to great controversy. Does anybody know the last word in this regard, i.e. whether a person becomes manic under AD should he be treated as BP or this another say here. e.g. BP III , cyclothymia, etc... less than BP
thanks
ezz

[shortcircuited]

My source is my psychiatrist.

Blood testing:  Yes, I was thinking primarily thyroid.  But for some reason they do a full blood screen on patients here, so there may be other things that can make it look like bp.

[adel_ezz]

>once you've gone manic, you are more likely to have it happen again, no matter what started it.

unfortunately, I had my 2nd mania. Is this definite from well informed sources or out of experience with others?

>A good psychiatrist will do blood test and rule out other things before going with that diagnosis, though

what blood test there is pls!
are you speaking about thyrodism?
thanks
ezz

[shortcircuited]

BP is "increasing" because awareness is increasing, so people are getting diagnosed.  Also, more and more people are taking anti-depressants as it has become more acceptable in society.  Sometimes the AD helps point out an underlying bp problem or speeds up developing bp symptoms that may or may not have come out later.  

Unfortunately, once you've gone manic, you are more likely to have it happen again, no matter what started it.  Thus most people are going to have to continue to deal with it no matter how it started.  However, if I were young and the only symptom I had was mania on an AD that I was able to stop taking, I would want to wait to see if any more symptoms emerged before starting a course of maintenance meds.

BP is also "increasing" as a catch all for some doctors--if you can't quite label it, then call it bipolar.  A good psychiatrist will do blood test and rule out other things before going with that diagnosis, though.

[adel_ezz]

This is a subject of great controversy (look into literature) and this is why I am asking vividly. i suppose one can be manic on AD especially on tricyclics the one I used for 5 consecutive years. It is said on its brochure. This question is that I will never give up asking it until I get a satisfactory answer. There are 2 schools: Akiskal et.al where 1 mania is enough to be dx BP whether due to AD or not, others say it's unfair to dx BP if the reason was an AD induced mania. That is the point and I wish to investigate this. The reason why I tend to say it's AD inducing mania is that the no of BP in recent years rose tremendously beyong expectations, can you tell me why?. Now if it is AD which causes a "normal" person to be manic it's unfair that he gets BP drugs for the rest of his life. Some are bloody poisonning
ezz

[shortcircuited]

Wellbutrin is probably least likely to cause mania, but there are always exceptions.  If you become manic under an AD, chances are you have an underlying problem or tendency.  It is not "normal" for someone to get manic on an AD.

[triedeverymed]

I know so many people on Wellbutrin with Bipolar it's not even funny. Having said that I couldn't take it because it did make me more shaky and kept me up too much. But for some reason it seems to be the one doctors use the most. I have also met people on here who take Zoloft,Celexa, and Lexapro. I know the ones on Lexapro have had great success. Hope that helps.