need a antidepressant that doesn't make you manic...

[dragonfly]

sorry i didn't answer ,i was on epilim which is the same a depatoke or whatever it's called and the dose just kept going up and up cos it stopped working at least twice and then i was also on an antidepressant at the same time plus temaze and diazapam then i think there was a change with the anti depressant to avanza which is the one with the antihistamine i don't remember the actual drug name,and then it was switched to lithium and some other antidepressant i can't even remember what that was called,still with the benzo's and masses of pain killers cos of the migraines and tension,that was really ffucked up,i was the biggest zombie then,i feel like my head was on another planet for so long,then i just had enough so i stopped taking it all,then of course i flipped out and was in hospital i don't have any idea what they gave me i think there was an anti psychotic and some mood stabiliser,they talked to my husband about it but he doesn't remember either,then they sent me back to my doc like i was in trouble and i walked out,then i found a new doc and she was closer and heaps awesome she totally supports me doing it my way and just gives me diazapam and temaze for sleep for when things are getting on top of me and she does monthly reviews just to be sure i am ok.i haven't tried prozac,over here they called it lovan,so my doc and i are thinking it may be useful for when the depression sets in hard and won't piss off,i hate putting bandaids on my fingers before i cut myself and i hate medicating myself if i am feeling alright,i think this is the only way i am going to get on with my life just acting on how i am feeling at the time it happens ..most of the things i have taken stop working after about 6 months anyway..i have my puppy now and everything is going great,so for now i am feeling good.my docs probably freaking out cos i haven't seen her for about 2 months...she'll probably ring me soon.anyway there's the story...of the past 4-5 years of my life since i was diagnosed,before that i drank and smoked(ciggys and green)and took a huge heap of herbal meds for stress and anxiety and depression,i have recently since being of the pharm stuff i have been using the herbs again ,i think they do help..get the chi flowing...god that was alot of typing....

[lulu000]

hi, i've just been put on steraline today cause i'm going through a anger moment and anxeity, alongside seroquel and benzo's and zopiclone which i think are crap by the way which the doc said this would help, they said i'm bp 2 so didn't matter that it's anit-deppressent cause most bp2 are on them, the last lot i was on trasadone made me speedy, so see what these do, i would rather mania then rage at the mo, has i'm so tired of it all...

hope things get better for you soon dragonfly..

[goosemuffin]

I am on abilify and it has helped greatly with the depression. It's for my mood stabilization actually  but it has helped me out of my slump to a certain point.

[Blooboo]

Jesus?! Why are doctors still putting people with bipolar on steraline? It's well known to cause rapid cycling, it was awful when I used to take it, I was literally cycling every hour! It really annoys me when doctors are so incompadent.

[spongebobfan]

Hey there,
 
I'll start by saying that it looks like you have a very interesting conversation started here! Unfortunately I just took my lunesta and can't focus to read all the posts. So if somebody already said this I apologize. I have been put on several antidepressants in the past prior to the BP diagnosis. They actually dx me with atypical depression. I think I tried Prozac, lexapro and wellbutrin. None of those were super helpful. After i started the wellbutrin in particular though i started having some manic-ish states. I don't really know what classifies as hypomania or regular mania but it ended up getting pretty bad. So finally the doc decided on BP NOS (not otherwise specified) and switched me over to lamictal which is a mood stabilizer. I have found that it works pretty well for me. I still have mood swings but not nearly as bad. To be honest they could be the same swings normal people have but I really don't know what normal is ;-) Anyway life is a lot better with it than without it. I do still sometimes wish I could use an antidepressant with it cause if i swing i tend to swing down. Anyway point of the story is maybe you should try out lamictal?
I don't know anything when it comes to alternative therapies for BP so I'm no help in that area. Sorry