Anyone on mood stabilisers?

[PennyJenny77]

For depression? I saw my psychiatrist this morning. She's keen to put me on mood stabilisers as I keep having episodes of severe depression. It comes and goes. In between I am just normal. Not manic.

I'm taking a couple of weeks to decide. I'm looking for advice from others who've taken them. Did they help and what were the side effects like? I'm already on ADs. They don't seem to work.

I take quetiapine, have been taking it for 15 years. I know it can be used to augment antidepressant therapy - I was prescribed it for hypomania when my son was a baby and I reacted to antidepressants by switching into elevated mood. My experience is that they did help me with calming me and quieting my thoughts. I put a bit of weight on but nothing too bad I take 350mg now and I have a full time job etc and manage ok. I will say that it has not prevented me from going into depressive episodes when I’ve encountered a lot of stress but I definitely would have been a lot worse without them.
don’t be scared to try them - if they don’t agree with you you can always come back off them. They might be ready good for you xxx

I took low dose Quetiapine with my AD for a while. It was great for sleep but didn’t do much for my low mood at that low dose. I stopped taking it as I hate medication

Thank you both. What were you like initially, when you first started them? That's the bit I'm nervous about. ADs definitely made me worse at first.

The good thing about Quetiapine is that it starts working pretty much straight away. I went from sleeping a couple of hours a night maximum to being knocked out an hour after taking it.

Quetiapine, whilst a useful drug, is not a mood stabiliser, it's an antipsychotic. Mood stabilisers could mean something like lamotrigine or possibly lithium. It could also be valproate, but they don't usually prescribe that to anybody who could get pregnant. Lamotrigine sent me manic. Lithium I'm trying at the mo but it's a faff with blood tests weekly at the start. You really need to know which exact drug your psych is thinking of to make a decision. Did they specify, if you feel comfortable sharing?

That’s not correct. Quetiapine is also a mood stabiliser

Quetiapine is used as a mood stabiliser, but as a drug class, it's under the antipsychotics. So I'd be surprised for a psychiatrist to be meaning that if they were saying mood stabiliser. But it's possible.

I agree with @Crazyasfuck i definitely have it as a mood stabiliser. Texhnically it’s described as an atypical antipsychotic but, for example, the OP is being offered it essentially as an extra boost of antidepressant. I have never been psychotic I was put in it to stop
mood swings/hypomania.
i believe it’s much less likely to cause issues than say lithium which can cause kidney problems etc. I just get bloods and ecg once a year
@PennyJenny77 i was quite sedated for a day or two but quickly got used to it. I started on 50mg x

My psychiatrist does. OP is already on ADs and Quetiapine is used in conjunction with ADs for depression.

Could equally be lithium or lamotrigine as both are used for antidepressant augmentation (or aripiprazole or lurasidone even)

I definitely need to ask her more questions. I don't know which drug she was thinking of. Also, she's keen for me to start it as an inpatient. I am going to email her secretary tomorrow to find out more.

Nope. It’s an a-typical antipsychotic.

Off label uses include sleep aid and mood stabiliser, but it’s not a mood stabiliser

I take risperidone 2mg as a mood stabiliser although, like quetiepine, it’s technically an antipsychotic. I have long term severe depression for which I also take escitalopram and amitryptaline (which is also used by my neurologist as a painkiller - all very complicated!).
I really think I’m going to be on these medications for life, but I’m totally at peace with that - if I was a type1 diabetic I’d be on insulin for life! My brain just doesn’t work perfectly and needs an extra boost to work normally.
With these medications I can hold down part time work and also study for a career change. Without them I’m emotionally labile and unable to live a normal life. My moods don’t stabilise themselves - a simple little tablet twice a day sorts that out!

@PennyJenny77 not sure if you've found this site already, but it's got a bit about all the different meds people have mentioned so far.are mood stabilisers? www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/lithium-and-other-mood-stabilisers/about-mood-stabilisers/ Mind page. Wishing you all the best with everything including the admission if needs be xx.

I tried Aripiprazole before Quetiapine. It made me feel really good to start off with but then I had awful side effects (terrible feeling of restlessness and inability to sit still) so I had to stop that.

Sorry, I'm rubbish at pasting links, but hopefully that works

Is that private or NHS inpatient treatment OP?

Im on lamotrigine and its changed my life best drug I've taken

I'm so jealous, I really wanted it to work for me, it's got such a short side effect list compared to others. I was gutted when I went up as high as a kite!

It's private. I'm not sure I can commit as it's 2 weeks at least. I'm hoping I can start it as an out patient instead.

Aww its so frustrating how many drugs we have to go through to get the right one that works for us. When all you want is to feel "normal"

You absolutely don't have to answer as it's none of my business but if you do feel comfortable how much does that cost?

As it’s private, I’d say to go for it. It will give you time to have a rest and for them to monitor and look after you when you start the new medication.

NHS MH inpatient treatment is a completely different beast (I’ve had both and would never willingly have NHS treatment again)
Good luck xx

Mine was covered by medical insurance but it was £20k for 28 days inpatient treatment.

Shit thats expensive 😩