Bipolar meds??? Help!?

Question

I was dx with Bipolar, PTSD, and a general mood disorder about 16 months ago. Since then I have taken Seroquel, Risperdal, Effexor, Xanax, Trazadone....The list goes on. I am currently taking 300 mg of Effexor XR, 100 mg Lamictal, 150 mg Trazadone, and 200 mg Celebrex for joint and muscle pain.. The past 3 or 4 days I have been so messed up. Maybe its a mixed episode...Up, down, up, down. I have the manic feelings...energy, feeling promiscuous, my mind is a whirl of activity and I cant finish a damn thing I start....Then my energy drops to zero and I just want to be left alone to sleep. I am driving myself crazy!!! I just want the roller coaster to come to a halt. I havent worked in 2 months due to my condition. I dont enjoy doing anything, and feel disconnected from my husband and friends. All this time I'm battling feelings of promuscuity....I tried to talk to my husband about it last night, and all he said was "its ok, everyone has fantasies".I dont think that he understands. Help!

Answer 1

No he doesn't understand. People who haven't been through this, don't understand, nor will they. The good news is that there are people who are.

Let me say this clearly: GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY! You are not okay and you having trouble with your meds. Since your dx is pretty recent, I'll remind you - this is not your fault! This is part of the reality this is bipolar. I just came out of my second hospital stay this month. But it gets better :)

One thing that stands out - you are on a lot of meds. You may want to look into honing in on which ones help and which ones don't.

Good luck! Be your own advocate and believe in youself!

Answer 2

First of all BiPolar just alone is hard enough to deal with, but you also have PTSD and a mood disorder. Goodness girl. I feel for you. With BiPolar the medication thing is not an exact science so they just have to find what works for you and what doesn't. This can be very difficult when you are on so many meds. It may take years before you get onto the right dosages and prescriptions. My husband has Bipolar and finally after 3 years he is getting some meds that seem to work for him right now. Just don't stop taking your medications whatever you do. You will wind up in the hospital feeling like you are out of your mind. Stress is a biggy in feeling like your leds aren't working. Also there may be times when you feel like nothing is working. This is normal too. I would speak to your psychiatrist when you see him next and let him know exactly what is going on. You may even want to make an appointment earlier if you feel like you are out of control and ready to crawl out of your skin. I hope they can find the right meds for you soon. Hang in there. If you do need to go to the hospital don't be scared. They can help you to get to a more stable condition. I wish you the best. No one can understand unless they have been thru the hell of feelings you have. I wouldn't wish BiPolar on my worse enemy

Answer 3

When my brother was diagnosed with Bipolar, no one in the family seem to understand what is like to Bipolar. He couldn't function at all in school. I always thought he was just lazy or something. Even after he was hospitalized for having sucidial thoughts two times, I still couldn't understand what he was going through. Until I was diagnosed with Depression and Social Anxiety Disorder. It hit me that for people without a mental health issue just dont seem to understand what its like to be going through the things we're going through(at least the majority).

After that, I went to search on more information on Bipolar and found alot of information on the disorder and that helped me to be more understandable and appreciative of him more. I know living with a person with Bipolar is not easy. They go through many phrases in a couple of months or even weeks. My psychiatrist said that family memebers of someone with Bipolar often seek counseloring(because its so stressful). Don't feel bad though, medications really do help - shortening the cycles of both manic & depressive and lessen the intensity. You just have to try out different meds till You find the right ones.

Knowing the fact that You're not alone in this world with Bipolar. Keep it up

Answer 4

There is help, there is hope and I am going to direct you to it. First, go to www.discover.com, click on "Archives", then navigate to MAY 2005. Click on "Table of Contents" and then click on "Vitamin Cure". Currently the article is available to read, for free. I suggest you print it out. This is the Discover Magazine website. They featured an article on a company called True Hope. The article tells their story. They currently have helped thousands of people who suffer from Bipolar, depression, anxiety, tourettes, OCD, and other mental disorders.

Next, go to their website: www.truehope.com
Register so you can chat on their message boards. Talk to people there, ask questions. You will find hundreds of people with bipolar and other mental illnesses, who either have already been helped, or who are in the process of being helped. They will be happy to talk to you, help you, tell you their experiences with True Hope.

It might sound too good to be true, but I highly suggest you check it out. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. It has helped me, my daughter, and other family members.

True Hope is a non-profit organization. This is not some multi-level, pyramid scheme. It is not a get rich scam for them. I get nothing from telling you this. Only that I was helped, I understand the suffering, and I want to share the cure.

Third, once you are convinced, try it. You have nothing to lose. Your psychiatric meds aren't working. If you try True Hope and it doesn't work, you can always go back to meds. But if it does work (and I believe it will), then what a blessing that would be. The message boards there are filled with people who tried psych drugs, weren't helped, and to their good fortune, ended up finding True Hope.

True Hope has trained people who provide free unlimited telehpone support, if you choose to use their treatment. They will help you have success - as will the people on the message board.

I don't care if you pick my answer. Please just check them out. We were suffering, my whole family was suffering. Now there are no more rages, no more holes being knocked into walls, no more deep unbearable pit of depression. Things aren't perfect, but oh so very much better.

Please email me if you have questions.

Answer 5

Lamictal is an excellent mood stabiliser for me, and for a while I took it with an antidepressant. Eventually, I started speeding up and becoming hypomanic, so the doc took me off the AD and put me on Zyprexa. That knocked the mania out of me inside a day. I have been more 'normal' on the combination of Lamictal and yprexa than I can remember. Go see your doc as soon as you can.

Answer 6

You sound quite low to me, st john,s wort is good for depression you can get it from the health shop. A self help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques is extremely good,
You sound like you need a bit of loveing to me and understanding, go and see a counsellor, some are free, some church,s have counsellors, you need an understanding ear and a bit of love and care.

Answer 7

Hun its alright.I'm Bi-Polar also and have been on just as many meds and still am.If your feeling this way call your Psychiatrist and tell them it a emergency.Something may need to be adjusted.Along with a little talk therpy can help.Hang in there its hard I know.If you need someone to talk to you can e-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 8

yes, its SO DIFFICULT trying to explain to someone (who's never been clinically depressed) what one goes through when depressed. people always say things to you that they assume will help you out, but all you need is someone to listen to you and accompany you through it. :( anyway, visit save.org now. my friend's brother just committed suicide because no one was trying to understand him. help other depressed people out, because no else might be able to. cheer up :)