I’ve already done the lithium and lamictal thing. Felt they didn’t work but maybe that was a different point in my life…I had less insight too into what worked and what didn’t. Haven’t tried depakote. Any others? My pdoc will ultimately guess what works for me but wondering which one you like the best. I had a psychotic episode on lithium AND lamictal. But I wasn’t taking an antipsychotic at the time so maybe it’d be different. Discuss mood stabilizers. Thanks!!
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Ya I think lithium is giving me suicidal tendencies. I have been fine on it for a while and then suddenly as I get a increase dosage I get them. I wish I didn’t have to be on one I’m really going to have a deep convo with my doc soon
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In my country it’s called Depakine, it’a a mood stabilizer and i don’t have side effects on it, it’s a great med for me.
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Are u taking it…
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They keep pushing Lithium on me. No. Thanks.
Yes @far_cry0 i’ve been on it since 2012 or so and i think it’s a good med
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I’ve tried tegretol when I had schizoaffective diagnosis. it was a good period.
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Not technically a mood stabilizer right? But off use for it?
used as mood stabilizer in bipolar and for seizures.
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I use sodium valproate and find it helpful
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I’ve been on all of the major mood stabilizers.
Depakote is by far the most effective for me.
Destroys mania and mixed episodes like no ones business.
Pretty effective against depression as well.
Tri monthly blood tests are recommended.
It’s pretty hard on your liver.
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It sounds like just what I need. The manic/psychotic episodes are killing me. They are the reason for the crash which turns into depression.
Too bad my pdoc can’t see me till November 28th or the 29th…
His secretary said she will ask if he can give me a Depakote prescription without seeing me but usually he likes to see patients before he prescribes a new med…
Frustrating…I hope he agrees. I asked about Depakote in June and he said “Not yet, I want to see how the Zoloft does ALONE first”.
Now I’ve been in denial about the symptoms of mania/grandiosity and whatever for a while because I believed it, but for today I have a moment of clarity and I don’t wanna believe it anymore. I know raising the abilify wont help…I need something new. And Depakote sounds about right.
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Zoloft made me manic/ hypomanic many times. Why in the world would you be on Zoloft ?
I needed a kick because I was really down at the time, I’m only on 25 mg and it interacts with the naltrexone in a way that makes it so its not so much. ive been suffering from this manic/psychotic delusions for 6-7 years now. it hasn’t changed since Zoloft.
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Have you tried different doses of lithium? How many mg do you take?
I’ve not experienced mania, lately or yet…?
Saphris was pretty good for depressive side of BP but it became too sedating the better I got and interfered with life.
I’m currently taking Abilify 20mg, Lithium 600mg, and Lamictal 100mg. While taking the Abilify by itself I couldn’t sleep and may have been a bit manic. But the addition of the Lithium was eye-opening, like Wow. 300mg of Lithium was better than 600 but the pdoc didn’t like me having so many “Good days”. I think the Lamictal is weak and kind of a worthless add-on for me now.
Now I have some situational depression going on and distractions from the situation are the best medicine for my mood. Playing piano, cleaning, taking care of pets, crafting.
Zoloft put me in a mild zombie-like state. It was effective for a while then like most SSRI’s it stopped being effective.
Also I’ve been tracking my moods and activities with the app Daylio. So when I go to the pdoc I can look at the app and see the trends of my moods.
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I took lithium in 2010-2011 I think I took 900 mg? if that sounds right
I would recomend lithium as a mood stabilizer and put you at 1200 mg. Though that’s just an estimate based on me, you’d have to check the tests to see what’s really safe. But I do adjust my lithium dose between 800-1200 based on how my mood is
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I’ve been on lithium about 7 months now, I’ve never had blood work done. I ask the pdoc every visit if I need it and he says no. Seems weird.
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That’s absurd. When you start lithium you have to get frequent blood work because the dosing is based on your lithium blood consentration levels. Something seems terribly wrong. How much do you take?