Or am I just comparing the normal mood to mania?
I can’t really tell if I can enjoy anything anymore. I listen to music and I’m like “meh” I eat my favorite food and I feel the same.
I’ve been on on oxcarpazepine and abilify for about 2 months now.
Am I just adjusting or is that permanent?
Should I ask my psych to add an antidepressant?
SSRI’s so far are generally making me hypo for a month or so and then suicidal. Currently coming off of 40mg Prozac and now we’re trying an SNRI (Wellbutrin 150mg). I asked why we wouldn’t try a mood stabilizer as well and she said “we aren’t there yet”. Well god damn when will we be because I can’t take much more of this trial and error. Should I try and get a second opinion?
Jesus christ. It’s annoying as hell to watch her. She goes from screaming herself hoarse over any tiny thing, to full on sobbing when faced with her staff vocalizing that she yells a lot. The lack of awareness is outstanding. But of course, as painful as it is to watch, i must see how it ends lol.
First off I’m on mobile sorry.
I’m 19 female and my boyfriend is 24. I recently went to a psych ward and they didn’t give me a clear diagnosis just few things they thought I might have (BPD, ptsd, and bipolar) but the did give me medicine. They gave me Prozac and zyprexa to take daily along with Vistaril as needed for anxiety. My boyfriend thinks I’m schizophrenic (his brotheris and he tells me I’m like him) and is not a fan of the medicine and says that I can deal with this with out them. He originally didn’t want me to go to therapy cause he felt it was a waste and I can do everything I would in there by myself with out paying but after I was given the medicine from the psych ward he was fine with therapy just not the medicine and his reason was that it will kill my liver. The thing that confuses me is he drinks a good bit and doesn’t care that I smoke cigarettes. We got into a fight about it and he won by telling me ‘if you love me you’ll stop taking them’ (talking about my medicine) so I stopped but I really want to take them again they weren’t perfect but it stopped my face from melting when I saw it and made me feel in control of myself and my emotions and I’ve cause a lot of serious problems since by letting my mental health run rampant. Am I an asshole if I take the medicine behind his back?
Edit: please stop messaging to tell me he is abusive it’s already been said in multiple comments I have heard it. I appreciate the concern but there is no reason to tell me the same thing mentioned in almost all the comments
Hello,
I'l looking for meds to ask my psychiatrist about. I'm bipolar type 1, but other than the manic episode, my baseline is a debilitating depression. My goal is ADHD stimulants, because 4 nonstimulants didn't work and I can't function. My psychiatrist would consider it if I switched my meds antidepressant-focused to antimanic-focused. (Keeping the ineffective 450mg wellbutrin in place; I'm also taking ineffective 40mg buspar.)
My goal is to stay off antipsychotics (I would like to hear from psychiatrists who have taken antipsychotics for some time though?) I'm titrating on trileptal and off 400mg lamictal (the former mood stabilizer) and 900mg lithium (the painfully failed replacement attempt). I can't keep my eyes open or maintain a sense of where I am. Depakote left me vegetative, 2 grams in.
I'm in my 20s (and assigned female, he/him though) and have been in therapy most of my life since I was 15, intensely focusing on life functioning skills and ways to cope without ADHD meds for maybe 18 months now. It feels like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall, because I still need ADHD meds. In the sense that pre-bipolar, taking them allowed me to control my thinking in ways I cannot now.
TL;DR: are there non-drowsy anti-manic mood stabilizers? Especially meds that are not antipsychotics. I've at least tried lithium, depakote, lamictal, and now trileptal. (Again, requesting perspectives from psychiatrists who have been on antipsychotics long term?)
Me being pessimistic: I feel like unless I'm in an active psychosis, the medical community thinks my current mental state is always "stable".
Edit: corrected my wellbutrin mg from 459mg to 450mg.
I’m not sure if I was manic before but since I got on oxcarbazepine (mood stabilizer) and abilify (Antipsychotic) I don’t feel as happy when I listen to music and I don’t get euphoric anymore.
I feel like I lost my spark.
Any experience with this?
Hello, friends. I'm(25F on my third month withdrawing from Zoloft (100mg for 5 years; started meds serving a mission for my church when I got anxious/depressed/suicidal). Let's just say it's been rough. Physical symptoms are minimal but I'm incredibly socially anxious, depressed, and all over the place. I have a good general support system and would really like to see this through.
If I were to go to a psychiatrist, would they tell me anything other than to go back on the meds? I'd like to ask about a mood stabilizer to take during this transition time that wouldn't just be a Zoloft repeat, but I expect that this doesn't exist.
Anyone have any experience with this? I'm even considering St John's Wort, for example.
Pretty much the title. I've daydreamed of not existing since middle school, with brief periods of apathy.
After a long and continuing battle with addiction I was diagnosed bipolar type 2 and put on mood stabilizers. The thoughts kind of went away for a little bit and I hated life a little bit less for ...I don't know, a year maybe... while my brain chemistry rebalanced itself.
But I still want out. And this time it isn't in response to any great awful event. I'm not panicking, I'm not feeling trapped by any situation other than existence. It just makes sense.
As the title states
Hi everyone,
Was recently (yesterday) put on Lamictal for possible bipolar II. The plan rn is to taper from 25mg daily x 2 weeks, to 50mg x 2 weeks, to 100mg on. Has anyone done this and consumed the occasional alcoholic beverage in the process?
Normally I wouldn’t be asking this and wouldn’t drink at all. However I have plans at the end of the month to go to this multi day birthday party trip thing for a close friend. I obviously don’t want to fuck around too much medication considered, but I am curious whether or not a shot of tequila, followed by like a beer over the course of the night, would kill me/ seriously fuck me up mentally. Doctor said it is OK to drink on this medication but he isn’t a psychiatrist/ didn’t address what to do while tapering.
Again this post is NOT to ask whether it is ok to get white girl wasted on a new med. Just want to know if anyone out there has experience with moderate consumption, while getting adjusted to Lamictal. Thanks internet moms and dads.
I've been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder, but my therapist now thinks I may have Bipolar II (I am waiting to get in to see my psychiatrist to ask her about this). I've had periods of euphoria in the past year that don't seem to have any cause, but they've never lasted longer than a day in the past.
I've been taking Wellbutrin XL (150mg) for several months, and the psychiatrist I just started seeing also prescribed me Lamictal a couple weeks ago. I've been taking 25mg of Lamictal. 5 days ago, I switched from severe depression to an elevated mood that has lasted longer than ever before. I don't feel like I need (or want) to sleep, yet I feel incredible. I wish I could stay in this state forever. The only downside is that I've been having problems concentrating (I can only read about a paragraph at a time). I've also had some crazy ideas (like I thought it would be fun to walk outside naked the other night, but I stopped myself when I was a few steps away from going out the door).
My uncle had Bipolar I. Do you think that this is just an iatrogenic effect or do you think it's likelier that I'm somewhere on the bipolar spectrum? I've heard of antidepressants causing hypomania but I've never heard of a mood stabilizer causing hypomania before.
I normally go to my wife's appointments with her, to help her bring up her laundry list of concerns. she has been diagnosed bipolar for a few months, and when she is on mood stabilizers she is unhinged. it is difficult for her to tell right from wrong, and her sense of judgement is very limited. it is like she is manic 24/7. she doesn't remember any of this. there are times where she will drive down back roads as fast as she because she doesn't think it will hurt her. she will spend her mom's money and not remember it the next day. she will tell me that I should leave if I have concerns. normally, when the threatening gets extreme, I ask if she can stop her mood stabilizers. (normally happens a few weeks into her starting a stabilizer) I brought it up to her psychiatrist recently and, due to conflicting info from us, I was asked to leave the room. I don't want to be abusive or manipulative, but when she is risking her safety, threatening to walk into the river and drown herself, or telling me I can leave if I want to because I'm not listening to her (over something trivial) I think I should be able to bring it up. I am worried about her safety. I don't mean to be rude or hateful, I just want to help her. am I in the wrong? my wife doesn't remember these manic episodes. I feel like I have to film them to get proof now. I'm not seen as a trustworthy source of info from her psychiatrist now.
I have trd and i don't respong to almost all medicines After trying more than 35 drugs including ssri,snri,antipsychotics,tca and mood stabilizers no effects at all like sugar pills The only drugs worked was cymbalta but was very bad experience panic attack,mania,confusion,mood swings and a lot more I actually used benzo,mood stabilizers and almost most antipsychotics even chlorpromazine and levomepromazine and no effect to calm cymbalta panic and mania I want now to use parnate for my resistant depression but afraid because nothing i know stabilize me if i have bad reaction i did even ect only once and had no effect My question do any of you was the same like me and he found him self responding to most medication after trying maoi I just want to know if it will change my brain chemistry so i will respond to benzo or antipsychotics if i want to reduce hypomania or just want to sleep
Update : could any one tell me how is parnate which is strong dopamine reputake and releaser has lower percentage to cause switch to mania or hypomania than lamotrigine which is mood stabilizer !
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26479223/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17430413/
Even lower than imipramine
I don't understand that
I know they can mess with psychedelics, and since a high dose of edibles can be somewhat a psychedelic experience, I’ve been curious to know if it’s the same. I’ve been eating 50-100mg of chocolate these past few days but I feel nothing but slight buzz every time. Same thing with my gf, and she’s on a ssri and I’m on an anti psych along with a stabilizer. We also have a pretty high tolerance to weed but I imagine we’d feel anything over 50mg. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Hello everyone... after years of suffering silence because of a traumatizing experience with a hospital that mistreated me horribly when I had my first manic episode, I finally picked up the phone to talk to someone... I was looking for talk therapy but it was almost impossible to get an appointment within a reasonable time (three months from now?!!), I'm sure you all have dealt with this, so I opted to see a nurse practitioner for medication management for now.
She was pretty decent, I can't complain as she did actually LISTEN to me and take the time to notate my history and bad experiences with meds... but I was hoping more for an antidepressant treatment (I've read some antidepressants are relatively safe for bd) but she again suggested an anti psychotic.... I'm pretty afraid of them because I was given insanely large doses of Seroquel, Abilify, Risperdal and Zyprexa in the past (like the highest you can give even though it wasn't necessary, I have a very small build and my mania was definitely THERE but still relatively 'moderate' I guess) - the tardive dyskinesthia was so severe and painful I vowed to never take antipsychotics again if I could help it.
Well, she offered Latuda in the smallest dose as a "mood stabilizer" (not lithium, she said, because we live in a hot region and the kidney related side effects caused problems for her patients). I'm... going to give it a try but I'm a little frightened. Like... is it right to paint a med like this as a mood stabilizer?! Should I be worried?
I wanted help with my depression more than my mania which... I experience it for sure but it's still definitely in the hypomanic/manageable range (she theorized my "big" manic episode years ago was created by cannabis use and therefore typed me as bd2, especially since it never became that severe again even being unmedicated for years now)
Also I have to travel a lot internationally for work... uh... have you guys had experiences with taking a med like this through customs? It's not something that gets abused like Adderall/Valium so I'm hoping that won't be an issue...
Thank you for any advice <3
Is topamax a mood stabilizer? If yes, is valproate or topamax more effective for mood stabilization?
I take abilify and it just makes me tired, depressed, and run down. Though it has helped with anxiety. I would rather not take it because of those negative effects.
I can feel my brain moving slower and my focus improving ands it's just day 1. I'm scared how it's going to be next. How do you deal with taking pills that you can feel the effects?
So my psychologist was touching on the idea of testing be for bipolar 2 because of my mood swings and things we’ve talked about, but I don’t think we’re gonna go through with testing and as of now my only diagnosis is ADHD. My medical journal mentions affective disorder, but we haven’t really talked about it yet and I’m not sure if he suspects something else or if it’s all caused by ADHD, which I have a hard time believing.
I’m currently on 40mg Ritalin modified release, but they’re not working too well and so we’re gonna switch them out. He was talking about mood stabilizers, which I didn’t really know were used to treat ADHD. However this is my biggest issue so I’m positive to trying it out.
Does anyone have any experience with mood stabilizers for ADHD? And does anyone else struggle with pretty extreme mood swings both from day to day and over time? I’ll take any tips and advice I can get.. I had a breakdown today over my diagnosis because I have a hard time accepting it, and I’m not 100% sure ADHD is the right answer just yet..
Is this true of your patient population? I always thought it was usually 1 mood stabilizer and maybe an antidepressant if needed, for maintenance. And then maybe an antipsychotic during an acute episode.
Hi, all! Hopefully this is an appropriate post, if not please feel free to delete. My therapist has suggested I go on mood stabilizers for BPD-esque symptoms (I don't have an "official" diagnosis yet, but it's pretty certain) and I was just wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experiences with that type of medication? I'm not asking for medical insight/advice; I've already decided to try them, I just wanted to read about real people's experiences of being on them. Thanks!
I'm not asking for medical help, just thought this was interesting and wondering if anyone else has noticed this as well.
It's like I'm doing a lot better emotionally, but because of that, I actually FEEL the boredom 10x more. Therefore, it's a lot harder to force myself to do things that are not interesting to me.
This will actually be perfect once I have external pressures in place (full-time job), but right now a lot of my responsibilities (self-employed) are entirely up to me to enforce and it's absolute chaos.
edit: I'm on Lamotrigine
Yesterday a new psychiatrist diagnosed me bipolar with depression. Im 26 years old. He took me off my Wellbutrin. I’m still on my lexapro (for anxiety but he said I may come off that too) and my adderall (for adhd but he said I may come off that as well) I’ve never been diagnosed bipolar before. I kind of feel relieved that there’s an explanation for what I’ve been feeling. I’ve been rapid cycling for about 2 months now( the times when im up is great. I feel so good and not a care in the world. But when im down, im down and it’s horrible) and it’s been pretty draining. Anyway im on a mood stabilizer now. Depakote. So thanks for listening. Just wanted to share
Took my first depakote last night. 500 mg. Woke up this morning feeling almost emotionless? Very tired like I couldn’t wake up. Took morning adderall and lexapro. Felt great on the way to work from 0610-0645. Made some phone calls. 0645 this morning I felt instantly low after getting off the phone with a friend. Crying. Felt like I needed a pep talk for work. It’s 0703 now and I’m finally feeling better. I am tachycardic but that could be due to me being so emotional and walking all the way across the hospital to the elevator. I’m just rambling. I like to post my feelings on Reddit because it’s a good way for me to look back. Thanks for listening.
Hi, I hope this is the right sub to post on, if not please just disregard my post.
I’m 28, ftm, and I suffer from chronic and severe depression coupled with occasional light hypomania, as well as some traits of C-PTSD and BPD. I know it’s a mess of a diagnosis none of my doctors can get their shit straight. I’ve done just about all the talk therapy I can stand, CBT, DBT, meditation, I’ve tried rTMS in an experimental study and I’ve been through about a dozen psych meds. I’ve been clean and sober for 7 years now, I eat moderately healthy and I get some exercise.
Anyways, that’s the background here is the issue: about 6 years ago I was on venlafaxine 375 mg a day and I started to feel depression coming on again, so my doctor and I decided to add lamotrigine as a mood stabilizer. Got Stevens Johnson syndrome and spent 2 months in hospital. After that I switched to sertraline, 200 mg a day, and I was fine for 4 years. Then the sertraline started to give out or my depression got too strong, idk, so my doctor and I decided to add lithium, worked pretty well but now my thyroid levels are fucked (my last TSH was 39) possibly my kidneys as well and I don’t know which medication I can switch to that will not make my skin fall off.
so recently me and my psychiatrist think i have been experiencing signs of mania, which is really unusual for me. Ive been depressed for years and years but never experienced mania until a couple months on 150mg of effexor. im worried i might be developing bipolar or have other people experienced signs of mania while on effexor? im starting lamictal 25mg today to hopefully stabilize my mood. looking for advice 💗
When would you give a mood stabilizer versus an atypical antipsychotic for someone with bipolar disorder? Aren't' they both trying to bring the patient back to balance? Aren't they both used to stabilize the patient's mood?
Has anyone had relief from benzodiazepine withdrawal from using Topiramate? It's a novel anticonvulsant
Submitted
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2021/06/08/the-aducanumab-approval
how do you know if you needed a mood stabilizer? i’m not full on in a manic episode nor have I ever been diagnosed as bipolar 2, however It’s kind of an incling I’ve had , Not sure if anyone has had one ? looking back I can tell I’ve had hypomanic like symptoms. I’m currently on a low dose Effexor , I’m afraid to go up to a higher dose because of the side effects and thinking back to when i was on pristiq I was probably hypomanic ( sexual behaviors out of character for me ) blasting music while speeding etc , but usually i’m either numbish or depressed . my previous diagnosis was adhd, anxiety , depression , but one therapist years ago prescribed me a mood stabilizer which I never took. i blamed medication for giving me all my symptoms. it just sucks when i’m not sure if i’m being treated right in the first place, my mood is still unstable if that makes sense ? I appear normal (I think) but inside just feel panicky sometimes and for no reason can just drop into a sadness. I’m in a not so great relationships i i know there’s environmental stuff but Organically speaking I wonder if I should ask my doctor about low dose lamactil to see if I feel more normal ? i’ve been suffering with depression for so long and hate the spongy numbness antidepressants give me. anyone who read this long thanks, just venting and wondering how anyone made out on a low dose mood stabilizer and if bipolar 2 is insidious enough to not have got diagnosed .
Or am I just comparing the normal mood to mania?
I can’t really tell if I can enjoy anything anymore. I listen to music and I’m like “meh” I eat my favorite food and I feel the same.
I’ve been on on oxcarpazepine and abilify for about 2 months now.
Am I just adjusting or is that permanent?
Should I ask my psych to add an antidepressant?
I’m not sure if I was manic before but since I got on oxcarbazepine (mood stabilizer) and abilify (Antipsychotic)
I don’t feel as happy when I listen to music and I don’t get euphoric anymore.
I feel like I lost my spark.
Any experience with this?
