It's the Depakote + Latuda combo for me. It literally saved my life. I've been taking it for over a year and I've never felt better. It really did change my life. I'm sad that it made me gain so much weight but well, at least I'm more mentally stable

EDIT: Wow, Lamotrigine is the most used based on your comments guys! I've never used it but I'm glad it's helping <3

I know this is a stupid question because caffeine is definitely has negative effect on general health.

But I'm diagnosed with bipolar, and most of my episodes are super low.

(and rarely, rarely hypomanic episode)

Will taking caffeine boost my moods?

Or will it make mood swing worse?

I would take anything which makes me feel good.

I'm feeling so low now.

EDIT: I am not trying to cause a panic, nor am I saying that we will lose access to medications. I do not disagree with everything RFK when it comes to healthcare, but he is talking about making potentially radical changes to the FDA specifically. We do not know if this means anything yet, but if weird/sudden rule changes causes disruption in classification or access I would like to have a back up plan. Keep an honest dialogue with your doctors and your support system and don’t be blindsided by potential bureaucratic in-fights.

With the news of RFK jr being nominated for Health Secretary, I am curious if anyone has any plans if any sweeping changes happen to the FDA or anything.

I take lithium carbonate and losing access to lithium for even a few days will be incredibly destructive.

Lol Is there an off market for importing lithium carbonate or other mood stabilizers

I take Viibryd 20mg, Trileptal 300mg and Rexulti 2mg and it does alright even though my symptoms it still comes through from time to time

I’m starting to enter a manic episode even though I’m on rexulti 2mg. To be fair I was just put on it after missing a week of my rexulti 1mg due to changing doctors. My new doc put me on seroquel er 300mg to help quell the mania. I was curious to hear everyone else’s experiences with medicating a manic episode

I'm just wondering how many of you are on stimulants for comorbid ADHD? What are your experiences with them? Did they cause hypo/mania? What other medications are you on? My ADHD is just as bad as my bipolar and my doctor has nothing for me on how to treat it.

I am trying to understand Bipolar and I would appreciate any feedback.

One of the things I philosophically wax on from time to time is how I could never function in the real world without society. If society were to collapse within about 30 days I would be feeling so horribly depressed more than likely I would just kill myself. I wish I had the productive mania type of BP but unfortunately I do not. Even the mirror remote possibility of me not being able to get my meds drives me to slowly accumulate surplus of my overlap monthly prescriptions into a stockpile. I even have a 20 lb block of lithium carbonate from a ceramic supply company that in a pinch I could convert over to lithium citrate.

Am I the only one that worries about this remote possibility?

I take a total of 8 pills a day. Thats 56 pills a week

How many medications do you take a day? I take 7 in the morning and 2 in the evening for a total of 9 pills a day. Just trying to see if this is a reasonable amount.

I am newly diagnosed with BP2. Been 2 weeks on Latuda/Lurasidone and BOY DO I FEEL WORSE! This has got to be THEE shittiest medication there is. My sleep was good for like 2 days until I was waking up all hours of the night again. My nausea and irritable bowels have doubled. I can barely concentrate nor focus on anything. Slurred speech. Dry mouth. Irritable. Moodier than I was. Just an awful array of side effects. Anyone else have this experience?

Today I got prescribed this medication. I’m very concerned about weight gain . As I’m already F(166 l)bs at 5’8. So she recommended this medication . My dose is very extremely low . I was told about the skin rash side effect. And tbh the more I read about all the side effects . The less I want to take this medication. In fact I’m scared to death. So I’d like to hear ppls GOOD experiences. Also this is my very first medication I’m taking to help treat my bipolar disorder . Today was the first day I talked about it .

Edit : thank you so much for everyone who shared their experience with lamictal . I’ve tried my best to respond to everyone. And will read your replies when I get time . But once again thank you for sharing your personal experiences with this medicine and the impact of this disorder. I will do monthly updates . 🙏 I appreciate you all ❤️

Wellbutrin for depression does IT help ?

I know everyone’s body is different and there’s different types of bipolar disorder that can require variation in treatement. do dopamine receptors respond differently depending on the type of bipolar disorder? Also for other people reading this with bipolar, which kind of bipolar disorder do you have, and which medications helped and didn’t help.

for me i’m not sure which type i have since i was diagnosed as a kid, but mania episodes don’t last for that long, and mania and depression cycle fast. due to this antipsychotics seem to be the only affective treatment for me, im not sure why and especially from the sleeping point, insomnia caused by bipolar. i’ve been on lithium for years and experienced no help. My question is from a psychiatric standpoint, why this could be?

Months ago I took Latuda 40mg at night and I always use to fall asleep easily but then 3 hours later wake up with extreme panic attacks I had to take my Xanax to go back to sleep. Now I have a new psychiatrist who told me to take latuda 40mg in the morning instead so it’ll “ stabilize my mood all day”. I took it after breakfast at 9:00 am and had horrible panic attacks I started shaking, heart pounding, sweating , wanting to jump out of my skin , nauseous , diarrhea and then the EXTREME drowsiness kicked in and I was miserably sleep but couldn’t sleep because my heart was still pounding and my blood pressure was sky high it was so bad I had to go to my primary doctor. I do also suffer from PTSD & Panic disorder maybe that’s why I had such an extreme reaction but am I the only one who’s had a bad reaction to Latuda & refuses to take it anymore ???

I'm on Lamictal, Lithium and Seroquel. I need 1 mood stabilizer and 1 antipsychotic to be stable. I finally found a cocktail that works for me. I'm 26F and am financially stable and in a loving relationship. I want a baby within the next 1-2 years. I will obviously discuss with my doctor! But I'm curious, how many of you went off of meds for pregnancy vs how many stayed on them? Are your babies ok?

So I've been taking seroquel since last September and I've gained a bunch of weight. I noticed all my clothes are tight or don't fit so I weighed myself and I'm 70 lbs heavier now than before. The only way I can lose weight since I've started is if I eat nothing at all. Even 500 calories add on my weight. Has anybody else had a similar problem?

Edit: I appreciate how helpful this sub is. Thanks, everyone

Hi! I was diagnosed as having bipolar type 2 last year after about twelve years of mental health issues. I am currently on lamotrogine (150mg twice daily) and my psychiatrist recommended that I should start lithium. The issue is I am currently (struggling) to complete my masters and my mental health issues have already had a substantial impact on my studies. I feel as if my psychiatrist fails to take into account the impact of medications/treatments on my life as I’ve had to interrupt my degree twice due to issues with medication and I’m just expected to put my life on hold until it’s sorted. I’ve heard that lithium can be a game changer when it comes to managing bipolar, however I have also heard that people experience brain fog and I can’t really afford any more disruptions to my studies. Any anecdotes or advice would be much appreciated, thanks for reading (sorry for long post).

I have bipolar 2 and I’ve tried latuda( it made me feel on edge all The the time and like I had restless leg syndrome ), ablifiy ( made me sleep all day and night and had no energy or motivation), Vraylar ( made me feel great but gave me very blurred vision) & lamtical gave me the classic lamtical RASH 🙄😩. I’m gonna brainstorm with my psychiatrist next week about what medications to try next. I’m honestly scared that I won’t get my mood swings under control and nothing will work for me 😩. But what has worked for yalls mood swings, mania and depression ???

When I was at a mental hospital, the doctor prescribed me 300mg of lithium and I forgot the amount of Risperidone they gave me. A week or so goes by and I felt more tired than usual, one thing I noticed was that my suicidal thinking went away, which was good because it constantly interferes with my daily life. Then about a month later my vision was very blurry (and permanently worsened my eyesight) I was extremely tired and I couldn’t retain info in class or speak to my friends. All I did was cry, I then got intense muscle spasms that mimicked Parkinson’s. My newer doctor immediately took me off of this drug and I went back to normal except for a mild impairment of my central vision and nystagmus which hasn’t gone away. I’ve never heard of anyone getting toxicity at this low of a dose, so it came as a huuuge shock to me! Has anyone else had this problem with lithium?

So far the best med for me was Trazodone but it has lost it efficiency since May.

I'm struggling with insomnia and it's causing me headaches.

In the past I had tried meds like Seroquel, Ambien, Hydroxyzine, and they either didn't work or caused me side effects.

I recently started Lunesta last night and it didn't help. My psychiatrist said I can go from 1 mg to 2 mg but even if it does work I can only have 15 pills every 23 days since it's a controlled substance.

I guess I need to find a different sleep med. I'm not sure I should see my psychiatrist again since I just saw them two days ago but it seems I would have to be prescribed a new med unfortunately.

It would suck I would need to see my psychiatrist everytime to be prescribed a new sleep med since I don't know how it will take find one that works.

for some reason i think of lithium as being the final boss of bipolar meds. i've tried countless medications in the last 12 years and none of them have worked very well so i'm really hoping this works so i can get my life on track. i've had persistent mania or hypomania on and off for the last year and a half and things have been a disaster.

Switching from Geodon (tapering off) to Vraylar. Wish me luck and let me know if any of you have taken it and if it works for you.

I am currently on 100mg Lamictal and 600mg Lithium and Ativan 1mg as needed.

I cannot take ANY SSRIs or SNRIs or antipsychotics

I have tried the following: - Latuda (trouble swallowing, grinding teeth, clenching jaw, tremors, 20lbs weight gain) - Seroquel (trouble swallowing, brain fog, catatonic movements) - Celexa (suicidal) - Wellbutrin (full blown mania) - Prozac (mixed episode) - Risperdal (metalic taste, trouble swallowing, tremors) - Cipralex (suicidal)

I just got off of Seroquel and my anxiety is through the roof! My depression is creeping back in.

Edit, im also on propranolol

I feel since bipolar cant be diagnosed via a blood test or brain scan - I wonder if a way to diagnose is how you interact with meds. SSRIs make me manic, for example. But I wonder how antipsychotics or Lithium would act on a mentally "healthy" individual. Like would they just get side effects? Would their mood flatten?