need a antidepressant that doesn't make you manic...

[dragonfly]

hey guys rather than sending me to a psychiatrist which i refuse to do after the last one,my psychologist and doctor told me to do some research ,get some info from real bp people about what works for them cool hey..so zoloft is off the list definately thats the sertraline stuff,even though most of u are in another country some insight would be good.see what we can get over here thats similar.

[Dreamline]

I have book that reccomends certain ones over the others.  There's atypical antidepressants like wellbutrin that may be less likely to trigger a manic episode.  Personally I have never taken one because my pdoc said he thinks it would just make me manic.  I can't even take that nutritional supplement SAMe.  SAMe might work for you though...start with a low dose.

[Paz]

 I think that they all have a risk of making you manic...before they got my diagnosis right, the Docs gave me Celexa, and I went absolutely insane, but I think that happens to any BP1 who takes an antidepressant, not so sure about BP2.

[dragonfly]

accordingly it's the same,talked to the doc and she said she couldn't find one either,whats weird is because of my mixed episodes i keep telling myself that nothing is permanent,i'll feel better tomorrow BUT,the last one i got so depressed and it seemed like it was never going to end,so i got out the zoloft that my 1st doc prescribed when they told me i was just depressed... :shit:and i took half the normal dose for 4 days and then the mania hit on the 2nd day,so my doc and i don't know if it was just the episode cycling or if the zoloft did it,but in the end i leveled out...i got depressed took zoloft got manic took benzos then slept and woke up stable.so this may work.i hate taking mood stabilisers cos they erase everything and you feel the same all the time,thats not normal at least i don't think so...

[Phyllis]

I don't really have any suggestions as I am BP 2 and actually on 2 antidepressants at the moment (One ironically enough is used for sleep as it also has antihistamine in it). I have been on Prozac, Lexapro, something else, I forget but it was a common one, and now on Wellbutrin.

[Ashes]

Lamictal is supposed to be good for depression.  It is an older anti-epileptic medication like depakote.

[dragonfly]

thanks guys but i have jumped back into the no med bucket i think except in extreme emergencies,i know i am just getting scared that this beast is starting to take over,i even fear it when it's asleep and that at any moment i could lose it,get manic get hyper or depressed or all of it at once.having anxiety doesn't help,the anti depressant with the antihistamine was good for a month but i put on 10 kgs and that wasn't good,it took me another 2 months to lose the weight after stopping that shit and then we had the lithium crap which gave me migraines constantly and so i had pain killers to take for that,everything i take seems to need another drug to fix the side effects and i hate all of it...if van gogh could sort of live with it maybe i can i'll just avoid sharp objects and lunatic assylums...just paint lots...

[Ashes]

Dragonfly, 
I think van gogh spent most of his adult life being taken care of by his brother Theo.  He also only made it until 37 before shooting himself.  You know your symptoms better than us but please take care of yourself. 

[dragonfly]

well i do have my husband that helps me but i live because i have my 5 boys and they are the ones that keep me away from vincents ending but i tthink that art really was what kept him going for the time he did not his brother ,i do something artistic everyday no matter what i have to,i have a stash of anti depressants that did work once upon a time and i will only use them if need be,but as for now i am starting to feel a bit better,i think i am leveling out somewhat.so how long the beast will sleep this time who knows????i am thinking maybe i should see the psychiatrist ,i have been dreading it for so long the last experience was horrid,they just seem to find more things wrong than you thought you had and it doesn't help when they leave you hanging and say come back next week,but they might be able to suggest a med that isn't going to screw up my life or turn me into a vegetable.i don't know ..i'll just leave it for now.and enjoy some peace....while it lasts.

[bee_bop]

Hi Dragonfly
I have responded well to 20mg of fluoxetine per day (prozac) - it has lifted my depression and enabled me to function normally without feeling manic or hypomanic. This is the only drug and dosage that has ever worked for me - I have bipolar II.
NB - the use of prozac has been shown to assist bipolar II patients but many psychiatrists warn against the use of SSRIs, as they are thought to trigger manic/hypomanic states. In research this has not always been shown to be the case, and prozac is supposed to be unlikely to trigger these states in most bipolar II people.
xo

[bee_bop]

This is just my experience Dragonfly. What kind of BP do you have?

[dragonfly]

this is the problem,they first thought it was just anxiety and depression,so they put me on zoloft and that sprang a huge manic phase and so i thought i was just getting better ,i felt awesome,then i came down again,then i had to see another doc and then he picked up through my family history and symptoms that i most likely had bp 2,with anxiety disorder thrown in ,so sometimes my manic phases are ones of extreme panic ...manic panic...it sucks..then i was on an epilepsy drug like depatoke or whatever it's called,,then i was strating to cycle again about 6 months after that but this time i was hypermanic and seeing things and hearing things and having feeling of being electrocuted,another hallucination.so then they thought it may be bp 1...but i cycle too much and there's no pattern and moodswings change so quickly,so my current doc just says bp and doesn't specify which cos they are so unstable,what i would like is something(meds) to help get me out of the depression cycle,when i am manic i can handle it with my husbands help,but the depression is lonely and no one can bring you out from it, so i suppose even if theres mania,i suppose it's better than sadness,unless i panic,,,it's so much like dying...i hate the panic..well right now i feel pretty much ok...you just don't know for how long...

[Dreamline]

Hey Paz also has BP1 and really rapid cycling like you do if I am not mistaken.  I'm not doc but I don't think an anti-depressant would be a very good idea either because of the risk of mania.  I have BP1 and my pdoc said he wouldn't give me an anti-depressant.  Have you tried any other mood stabilizers?

[bee_bop]

This is an article about the use of medications in Bipolar II which may be of interest: http://psychiatry.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2010/426/1
I think it is interesting how embryonic these treatment strategies really are...
I am sorry you are having a hard time, dragonfly but I believe things will get better.

[Dreamline]

DF, what mood stabilizers have you tried so far?