Neurontin and bipolar disorder

[octagon]

Hi My mother has suffered from bipolar disorder. She has been taking lithium and her doctor recently tried to cut down the amount of her intake due to potential for the onset of Parkinson's disease. when this happened she did not take well to reduction and eventually was raised back to her normal dosage 900mg as well a small amount of seroquel to bridge the gap until the lithium was effective again. Subsequent to this the seroquel was discontinued and mom was doing well (by her normal standards). At this point the doctor decided to switch from Lithium to Neurontin. She has been on the Nuerontin (900 mg) now for two weeks and she has been in the worst state she has ever been (very disorganized thoughts, crying, depression, lack of sleep.) When I contacted the doctor today he suggestted hospitalization. I oppossed this greatly and explained that to me this was a function of her discontinuance of her previous medicene (lithium) and her not taking well to the neurontin. He agreed and now she is on the lithium and seroquel (again as a temporary bridge). She also currently and historically takes 10mg of lexapro and 3mg daily of clonopin. My question is - Is Nuerontin FDA  approved for bipolar disorder and is it an effective monotype therapy for the disorder?  Would you reccomend other alternatives such as depacote or tegretol. She did quite well on depacote about 6 years back but it was discontinued because of hair loss.  Also she is very fatigued all the time. Is this the function of her medicene? Is there anyting I can encourage her to do such as exercise daily to help her fatigue. I am sure her fatique is also a function of her weight - 5'2 - 190 lbs., but again I think this steady weight gain is a result of her medicene. Additonally she does go to counseling once every 3 weeks, and I feel this has been very benefical.

Any suggestions and input on medicene choices, the effectiveness of neurontin as a monotype drug, and the catalyst of her fatigue as well as iniatives to combat it would be greatly appreciated.

thank you very much for your time.
Regards

[Baadsie]

This is for don'tlikemeds. Checkout www.alternativementalhealth.com and look at the articles on BiPolar. You will be surprised at the links to food allergies and Hypoglycemia. Processed sugar is a bad one for mental health and wellbeing.

[dontlikemeds]

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  I've tried many meds. Depakote did not help it just made me gain weight and I discontinued meds.  I functioned ok for about a year and now went back to counseling and the doctor tried Topomax because I refuse to take meds if I'm going to gain the weight back because it took a while for me to lose it.  The topomax made me a zombie and I had a few violent outbursts and even smacked my husband so I discontinued that too.  Well today I go and get Neurontin prescribed starting with a very low dose (100mg daily). After reading a few posts I am very discouraged and not sure if I even want to try it.  I think I'm quite happy being hyperactive and functioning even if it means I have small meltdowns from time to time.  If anyone out there has had a positive experience with the Neurontin I'd love to hear about it otherwise I'm just going to hold off on this **** and continue the way I've been going(like the Energizer Bunny).

[geod]

-- I was diagnosed rather late, at 34, and prescribed Depakote and subsequently Neurontin.  Only side-effects have been sleepiness.  Aside from that, elevated hypomanic phases, if that's even a term, were still a problem.  A new doc has pulled the neurontin in favor of risperdal, 2x a day at .25mg each.  I sleep wonderfully and, oddly enough, perhaps, feel better.  Thoughts?

[maximink]

I have been dx w/ BP@ for about a year.  I was on Depakote for the first 6 mos.  I was taken off because of weight gain and hair loss.  At this time I was put on Neurontin, about 800 mg per day for about 4 mos.  During this time I was very, very depressed and then became suidical.  I was hospitalized on 12/23/02 for 7 days.  The new psy doc increased my Neurontin to 2800 mg/day!!!!!  Along w/ that she placed me on Seroquel.  I also take Topomax, Kolonopin (which I am slowly stopping), and Prozac.  I had a very hard time adjusting to the Neurontin.  It took me about 2 months to get adjusted to the 2400 mgs.  Once you are adjusted though, I feel that it does help.  If we HAVE to take SOMETHING that is not natural, I guess this is an okey alternative.  I am not happy about aking meds at all, but.......  Anyway, I don't know if this helps,just my experience.  Best wishes********

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It was a very wise decision to discontinue the neurontin.  It causes just the kind of disorientation that you described in many people.  As you noted there are several other medications for bipolar that are useful and can become substitutes for lithium.  I think you should continue to encourage her mother to exercise and to see her therapist.  Other than that you must be sure that you have confidence in the doctor who is managing her medications.

[keeknap]

hi, i take nouronton for an anxiety problem and the side affects are sleepyness and you feel a little sluggish but the doctor told me to take them at night untill the feeling goes away. so far so good and it really helps me sleep. although ive only been on it for a week. i took one pill 100mg today and it really didnt bother me too much. yeah. i take wellbutrin for depression. works great. good luck