What medication suits you best?

[isha]

Hello everyone

My name is Isha and I am new to this Bipolar forum.

I am sure we would all like to know

what medications you find the most relieving of your negative symptoms?

I have had what is termed a lesser form of Bi Polar ie; Psychomania.

I have been on Sequorell slow release for 2 years of 50mg....Plus Lovan. They seem to work well, however my side effects are now far outweighing the benefits.

Symptons 

ravenous appetite, unrelenting in fact...now fat and unhappy... now overweight, my Psychiatrist says eat carrots....I'll give him carrots"!
nightmares so real, they drain me of happiness
short term memory loss eg ahhh what's my name?...I now feel I do have problems...can't remember how to spell, remember phone numbers, even my age sometimes. ( I feel like I have dementia but with my issues they fluctuate, one day remember, next moment I forget
sinus issues;  eternal sniffing especially upon waking up or laying down...it makes me choke like a tap permanently turned on
anxiety big time....now pick off my finger nails....never done that before, leave alone feelings of general panic for no obvious reasons

Well I am sure I am not alone.....but for some stupid reason I am hoping for some miracle drug that will allow me to live a healthier life....

thanks for reading this....please share your best meds

Isha 

[goosemuffin]

Hi and welcome!
Great post, you'll get some great responses about this, HOT TOPIC!

I am currently only taking ativan prn. Was on a slue of them but just got in one of my funks and decided to come off, again. Hoping I don't chicken out and go back on.

The best for me as far as anti psychotics was abilify (also used for depresseion and stabilization for me). I had to come off because I was becoming a stiff.
I've been on quite a few but the abilify is the one that I remember did have positive.
The worst for me was the lithium, it made me all hairy and crazier and seroquel knocked me on my butt and I couldn't function, at ALL.
I guess the rest didn't have enough a positive or negative impact to matter so.

Glad to have you here!

[Phyllis]

Hey there, Isha!

Welcome aboard!

I've been on all kinds of meds from the beginning.... Right now I am on Seroquel XR, Ativan, Wellbutrin XL, Lamictal, and Lunesta. This is the combo that seems to work best for me. I have gained massive amounts of weight being on the Seroquel. In the beginning of my journey, I was on 600 mg. Then I was taken down to 300mg. Now, I take 150mg 2x day if needed. I went to extended release because I was suffering from akethesia. Which just means you have ants in your pants that make you do the hula dance and you can't stop. 

[dionomo]

hi isha

im bi polar 1 so
i like lithium [for mood stabilizer] with a side of symbyax which is zyprexa [for anti-phsycotic] and prosac [for anxiety]together with some temazepam [for sleep]
but due to a lack of money and such
i take lithium and risperidone and temazepam
and deal w whatever these do not

[sine]

Hello Isha:

I take Depakote ER 1500 mg and Seroquel 50mg.

I know how you feel with the side effects; I am experiencing mucho weight gain, bloat, and I feel lethargic; I convinced my pdoc to change my medication, so we are going to try Risperdol in about 3 weeks and see how that works compared to Seroquel.

So far, Depakote ER has worked very well for stabilizing my mood, but I needed an additional medication to stop the paranoid, racing thoughts I have, and Seroquel works, but the side effects are almost too much to handle.

[Dreamline]

BP1 here...
I've tried tegretol (did nothing but sedated the hell out of me, complete zombie),
lamictal (worked great no side effects until I got a rash and had to quit)...
thus far my best friend has been lithium (I just deal with the side effects (uncoordination, memory loss, tremor, less concentration)
and diet and exercise (side effects: fitness, good health, thicker shinier hair, resistance to disease, healthy energy level, more stable mood, increased strength, faster reflexes, improved sleep...etc).

[dm52]

Hi Isha,

Think I am BP2, as never had too extreme mania and mostly depression. Was on Seroquel for nearly a year. Worked good to keep symptoms at bay but tiredness and weight gain were pretty unbearable. Put on about 33kg in about 6 months, 20 or so of this was in a month or 2 which was not real comfortable. Started on 600mg for about 6 months and then tried tapering down over a few months. Ended up on 200mg, but still too tired (problem going to sleep in meetings at work) and sick of being so fat.

Went off everything for about a month, but started to get a bit irritable. Went back to Pdoc and got started on lamotrigine about 6-7 weeks ago. No real side affects as yet, and seems to be helping a bit (only fairly low dose so far, 50mg). Going up in dosage very slowly as they reckon that decreases the chances of getting the rash.

How far into taking lamotrigine did you get rash Dreamline? From what I have heard it usually happens pretty early so I am hoping I am not going to get it, and this will keep me level.

[Dreamline]

I think I had been on 100mg for a week or so when I got it.  It was a mild itchiness and redness and not obviously visible tiny bumps everywhere.  So if you notice anything call your doc ASAP (even if after you have been on it for a long time).  I hope the lamictal works for you, it seems to be (aside from the rash) pretty mild as  far as side effects go.

[dm52]

Thanks for that. Yeah so far no real side affects for me with the lamotrigine, so if it works I will be pretty happy. I seem to one of the fortunate ones with medication so far in terms of it working to control symptoms. Seroquel was good, just had bad side affects. It seems a many people have had a much rougher time finding a med that will work well.