I’m seeing my psychiatrist tomorrow, we spoke on the phone and she said she is probably going to take me off the lithium as I’ve got really bad shaking and even at a reduced dose (600mg) I’m still shaking badly. I’ve tried sodium valproate before and it didn’t work for me. I’m just curious as to what other mood stabilisers people have found effective and any side effects you had? I know she’ll want to put me on another mood stabiliser but just wondering what the alternatives are. (I’m also on aripiprazole/abilify). Thanks.
I just started Topamax. I like it, I feel more emotions and my sugar cravings are less and theres a chance it can cut down on headache days so yeah it’s good. Pdoc just doubled the dose so we’ll see if that helps even more with all that crap.
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I’d not heard of topamax before, I’ll google it, thank you.
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Saw my psychiatrist today and she suggested Lamotrigine. Anyone here take lamotrigine and how do you find it?
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You should try propanol or something spelled like that. Don’t give up on lithium yet
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I can’t take propanolol because I have asthma, which is unfortunate as I was reluctant to give up on the lithium but the shaking is so bad I just can’t tolerate it 
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Sorry to hear. I was on lamictal but not long enough for it to work before a psych ward took me off it
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Thanks Moonwalker.
I’m on lamotrigine, also knoown as lamictal! It’s a mood stabilizer. I like it! I’m on like 200 mg or something, they slowly bumped me up from about 100 mg back in like 2012.
It makes me less sad and also it gives me the ability to get up and do stuff. I assume that is works on my mania, too, but since I get creative during manias, I tend not to particularly care if I’m slightly to mid manic.
The thing I worry about it getting up and doing stuff, and lamictal does a good job helping me do that!
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I’ve been on Lamictal (lamotrigine) for years, and it works well for me. I haven’t been manic in years, though I’ve still dealt with my share of depression. I don’t notice any side effects. I take 200 mg once a day.
It sucks that you can’t take propranolol. That’s what I took to calm the shakes when I was on lithium; I had fine tremors, primarily in my hands. It wasn’t too terrible, except that I couldn’t write legibly, that sucked. One doctor refused to give me propranolol. The only way I could calm the tremors without propranolol was to get a lot of alcohol in me, unfortunately.
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You could try lithium orotate. It’s over the counter and I like it.
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Alternatives are things like lamotrigine and sodium valproate. Sometimes lower dose APs like quetiapine and olanzapine can have mood stabilising properties.
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The Big 4
Lithium - Depakote - Tegretol - Lamictal
Topamax is sometimes used for Bipolar mood shifts, but it’s usually not as effective as the major mood stabilizers.
Topamax is sometimes used for weight loss.
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Really helpful answer, thanks everyone. I’m sorry you felt the need to turn to alcohol @Freakonaleash, the shaking is horrible. I think I’ll try the lamotrigine, my psych says it should be good for my rapid cycling. She also said I can take an AD along with it if necessary but it should be enough with the AP.
im curious as to when and how long into taking the lithium did you develop tremors. I have only been on a few months, i dont have tremors but i get this jittery feeling in my hands occasionally where it feels like im having tremors in my hands and lower arms but there is no movement, just the feeling of movement. Any body ever get anything like this? and could it be linked to my lithium?
I got really bad tremors from lithium during the summer a few years ago. But after that summer they went away and never came back. If you can put up with them for the summer maybe the same would be true for you ?
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I had good results with carbamazepine,
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My tremors started soon after starting lithium but got steadily worse to the point of violent shaking. I get the feeling of internal shaking too.
It was too bad to deal with for me, I shake so badly I can’t hold a cup of tea without spilling it, really violent shaking. I think lithium just doesn’t agree with me.
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I was telling people I had Parkinson’s disease