Meds for Bipolar

[HHH3]

I was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2 a couple of years ago (although looking back it’s clear I’ve had it since my teens). Still trying to find a medication that will actually help to, at the very least, stop the lows being quite so low.

So I was just wondering what other people take and how you find it.

DD2 was diagnosed with juvenile bipolar affective disorder at 15. She’s stayed stable on risperidone.max she has ever been on is 2mg. Currently on 0.5mg plus Sertraline 100mg. However she could do with coming down on the Sertraline she’s not depressed and being over medicated is making her very tired. She’s now 20 years old.

What do you take at the moment?

DH was only diagnosed 20 months ago. We had an awful 5 months where we was on Olanzapine which led to some really awful down periods and extremely heighented anxiety and panic attacks.

He now takes Quietepine and Fluxotine (Prozac). One is a mood stabiliser for the highs and the Prozac for the lows. From my perspective it seems fab. Same old DH, all the good bits without the ‘uncertain edge’ that he alway had, where you’d never know what he was going to massively over react to.

DH misses his ‘highs’ because he felt invincible all the time. But the consequences of chaos he left in his wake is still a work in progress

I take Lamotragine. I still get lows every now and then but nothing compared to before. I find it brilliant.

Thanks everyone.

I’m currently on nothing apart from a tiny dose (25mg) of quetiapine to help me sleep.

In the past I’ve tried olanzapine but I couldn’t cope with how hungry it made me and the weight gain (I also have an ed).

Until recently I was on vortioxetine and lamotrigine. I thought they weren’t doing anything so came off them under the guidance of my psychiatrist. Coming off the vortioxetine changed nothing but not long after coming off the lamotrigine my mood started to dip. So I guess it was keeping things stable to some extent.

I’ve just tried aripiprazole but I couldn’t tolerate the side effects and we think it was interacting with a med I take for physical health.

My psychiatrist is calling me later to discuss where we go from here. I definitely need to be on something.

I’m reluctant to go back on the lamotrigine unless we can’t find anything else though. Although now I can see that it was helping day to day, it wasn’t stopping the lows or even stopping them from being quite so low. When I’m that low I have multiple suicide attempts and one day I’m going to succeed if I can’t get this under control.

@AndyWarholsPiehole what dose do you take?

I was mis-diagnosed with bipolar disorder so unsurprisingly the meds didn’t have any great effect on my moods. I actually have ADHD and have found Elvanse helps to control the emotional disregulation I used to suffer

I take 175mg @HHH3

@SHNBV interesting that you were misdiagnosed. I was misdiagnosed for 15 years but now have the bipolar t2 diagnosis which fits really well (I have other diagnoses too).

@AndyWarholsPiehole thanks. I was on 300mg

You could try Lamotrigine with an anti depressant added? I take lithium but took lamotrigine in the past. In hindsight I can see it did work really well though I did get low mood from time to time, usually 2 weeks max.

@SHNBV if you don’t mind me asking, what symptoms caused you to get misdiagnosed? I worry all the time I have the wrong diagnosis

I take 150mg of lamotragine and 10mg aripiprazol. It’s been a bit of a trial and error to get to this combination / dosage but it seems to be working for me - I still get downs every now and then but they are nowhere near as bad as they used to be.

I’m on abilify & lexapro 😊

I take lamotrigine 200 mg, sertraline 100mg and have a monthly aripiprazole depot injection.

@Rose5678 I was taking vortioxetine with the lamotrigine. It’s the only antidepressant I’ve been able to tolerate but it still didn’t help stop the lows being so low.

@Olimar how do you find the injection? Do you get side effects?

I don't get any side effects, apart from a sore arm for a couple of days afterwards. I have the injection because I have previously not been great at taking my medication. I either feel fantastic and like I don't need it anymore, or I get delusional and paranoid that I'm being poisoned. Having the depot means I stay sane enough to take all my medication all the time.