what meds do you take

Question

Hi I'm currently on lithium, lamactil,clonazapm,and Seraquil by far Seraquil is the worst one in terms of side effects for me, I was wondering what you guys, take for bipolar pros consider, I'm wondering what else to tell my psychiatrist because I don't like Seraquil and I wanna take something else, any suggestions?  Thanks.

weaver71 · Accepted Answer

I am on lithium only. My doctor is very conservative and is not one to give a new pill for every symptom. I felt like I needed something else, but she upped the lithium and said it takes awhile to balance out. Next visit I said I was a little better but still was struggling. I like her, she just said to give it time, as long as I can manage, let the lithium work as long as possible. My last episode, I lost my memory. I couldn't feel or think straight for a long time, psychotic breakdown she called it. I can feel my mind healing. I am still having ups and downs, but no extremes yet. That is what I want, to feel still, but not go psychotic. Then my therapist said that it is normal to feel like normal is odd, I have only known extremes all my life. My doc said I may
End up On seroquel or depakote, but she believes in low a dose as is effective and only add another med after an honest try of one at a time. I'm glad I've held out so far, I have been able to manage with lithium, though the first month was rough. We will see what happens. I didn't have my usual Fall Equinox meltdown, so that is progress. It really does have to do with the individual mind, but my doc has about 20
Bipolar clients and none of them take more than 2 meds. Maybe that is rare, but I trust her patience and lack of throwing pills at symptoms is part of why she is successful with less meds.

weaver71 · Answer

I second crazymeds.us, packed with great info. It has helped me for sue. It has a very no-nonsense way of explaining things about meds for bipolar.

Anonymouse88 · Answer

I would suggest checking out this page: http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MedClass/MSMeds for an overview of your options based on FDA approval and drug class (Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic).  Depending on your dose of Seroquel, the side effects you're getting, and the reason you're taking it (i.e. which symptoms you're trying to control), a dose change or another AAP might be good.  There's also this list http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/moodstabilizers.htm#symptoms, and the site itself is good, although a bit out of date in some sections.

pcrissy · Answer

Thanks for your response, if you need to add anything else maybe a anxiety pill, I would advice against Seraquil ,but sounds like your hanging in, thanks for your input appreciate it!!

seblass · Answer

I've found that the less medications I take for maintenance the better. At the moment I take Sodium Valproate in a high dose and that seems to be all I need. It really depends on the condition you are in and how your illness effects you. I was on Seroquel Xr for 10 months and it fixed me up, but destroyed my personal life completely. Made me entirely robotic, so I decided it just wasn't worth it. Generally a mixture of either lamictal or lithium and another anticonvulsant is required, once you've balanced out, to maintain a healthy balance.

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