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Last edited by teaze; 03-22-2012 at 07:32 AM.
Well I cant offer a whole lot of suggestions, but I feel your pain. Im bipolar type 2 and since Ive been back on my meds Ive only had to make a few changes. Basically its a crap shoot as to what will work for you. Im currently on Lamictal and have had no problems with it, but drugs work differently for everyone. Im also taking Abilify, Klonopin, Adderal, and Serequel with it. So it could be the whole combo that works. Dont give up. You will find something that works for you. It will just take somee patience. IF you want to tak more you can pm me.
I don't feel myself today
Just a figure in a big monopoly game
Struggle is the price you pay
You get just enough just to give it away
I'm sinking but I'm floating away
Throw me a line so I can anchor my pain
The fabric is about to fray




Aw don't feel bad hun..we've all been through it. It takes years sometimes to find the right match (mine did) and everyone reacts differently to every medication, so don't think because you reacted to lamictal that you would react to every med the same- for me, klonopin made me crazy and loopy, but for others it works wonders. Right now I've reduced to just lamictal - but i'm mostly on it because its also a seizure med..and it does matter what other meds you're mixing it with, so just have to find the right combo! Doctors get frustrated because THEY dont know how you, or anyone will react to any certain med..don't take it personally..theyre more frustrated with themselvesYou'll find what works for you, just needs patience but we've all been through it ! I hope you feel better soon
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I almost died from Lamictal, got that rare rash, had to go to Urgent Care and get a shot. I say, bipolar meds are fucking awful. Stick with Aderral and Seroquel, don't do drugs and don't drink heavily. Those thing seem to work for me, but everyone is different. I hope you find the right mix.



OH MY GOD! You got Steven Johnson Rash too?!? OMG!!I had that with Topamax. it's made by the same people who make Lamictal. I'm on Lamictal and never had an issue. But Topamax caused that full body rare rash thing. I take Geodon and Lamictal and Depakote (Lamictal and Depakote for seizures, but all three are mood stabilizers.). Geodon is an anti-psychotic made for severe Bipolar and Schizo-Effective patients.
The thing I have to rant the most about Lamictal is that it cause SEVERE dizziness, blurred/double vision, loss of equilibrium, and extreme vertigo to the point where you can't stand or walk and you want to barf. It MUST be taken with food. The trick is to eat and wait like ten to fifteen minutes to let the food hit your system before you take the medication. If you take Lamictal, especially in high dosages, then you're going to HAVE TO take it with food.
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See, Lamictal seemed to be working out well for me, then I got the rash. Words cannot describe how much I hate Geodon though, that stuff was pure poison, it made me slur, trip, and suicidal.
Wellbutrin caused me to have the effects that Lamictal caused you. See, its all a crapshoot isn't it?
I am extremely wary of the mental pharma industry even though I take meds every day.
I really like seroquel, and the dosage can be adjusted based on how "psycho" you really are. Currently I take a very small amount, 25mg, which does great by me. It does cause some weight gain though. When I was crazier, larger amounts helped.
Adderral XR is extended release, it can easily cause insomnia. I have generic Adderral 20mg tablets. I break one in half or into a quarter, and take just enough, not too much. It will wear out by evening if you take it in the morning.
The best thing for my mental sanity though, is not self-medicating with illegal substances and minimal alcohol. I'm not going to go on about good diet/positive attitude/exercise like some. I'm also crazy and meds help me be a productive fucking worker bee wage slave like I have to be to live a decent quality of life. Same goes for almost all of us.
I wish you the best in your journey to find the right meds. Don't trust anyone or anything. Crazymeds.org is a good site to learn.




Have you tried Prozac?
Yes, I'm real.








Aw don't give up! There are good therapists and psychiatrists but sometimes takes a bit of digging to find. It is really frustrating..I think meds help to a small degree- the rest you sort of have to 'talk yourself out of' ..I understand thats not possible for some people and some conditions, but after years of trying to figure things out, it works at least half the time, which is better than nothing! Oh, and cuddling with a warm puppy on your lap is definitely the best medicine of all![]()
The thing is, most of your symptoms you described sound more like Adderall side effects than Lamictal side effects, although why you would be experiencing them when on the combination of the two and not Adderall alone is a bit of a mystery. I see from your profile that you're 21, which is about the age that ADHD starts to resolve on it's own in many patients, so you may have more leeway in treating it than you did in the past.
You mentioned that your doc was considering adding Wellbutrin to the Adderall. Have you ever tried Wellbutrin monotherapy for ADHD? It works fairly well for adult ADHD and would also cover any depressive symptoms you might be experiencing. Your manic/hypomanic symptoms might be easier to manage if you ramped down the Adderall as well, although it's hard to tell without knowing your full history.
It really sounds like you need a comprehensive medication review. You may be able to get your present doc to do one if you insist, but if not I'd suggest you keep trying to find one that will. You might have to pay for it out of pocket, though, depending upon insurance.




^i'm glad...with the first appointment makes sure the doctor spends a lot of time asking questions and addressing concerns. when i found a good psychiatrist he spent quite a bit of time asking me about all of my medication history, wanted to know about my history of manic/depressive episodes and asked me lots of questions as to how i was currently feeling. he was by far the most thorough psychiatrist i've ever seen and also the best so i think you'll have a good indication of what you think of this doctor. and good luck!
and a little side-note i totally googled this doctor and read about him prior to seeing him so i felt more confident rather than picking a name off the insurance list.




^^ Aaww 'teaze' - I'm so sorry to hear that you're having such distress.
I was gonna suggest seeing a dedicated Medical Consultant or a Psychiatrist - but that's already been done. So I'll just give you a big *HUG*......![]()
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"Good Girls keep diaries....Bad Girls don't have the time..!!"
This sort of a session is exactly what you need, Teaze. It takes a lot longer than an ordinary visit and is billed differently, so make sure you let the office staff know ahead of time that it's what you want. And make sure you let the doc know that you're willing to be flexible in order to get the best balance of side effects and symptom control (many patients aren't). Good luck! Please let us know how it turns out.
Please don't take the first paragraph wrong, but....
It sounds like you are using adderall inappropriately. Also, no offense, but your avatar is basically a slogan for body insecurity, what with the jutting hip bones and all. It is easy to get adderall, because it is inexpensive to make (generically, as really it's just amphetamine salts), but if you truly suffer from bipolar disorder it can cause major depressive episodes on the "comedown" since it surges dopamine through your brain in much the same way speed would, then when you've made all these extra dopamine receptor sites, but have no neurotransmitters to connect them (that the adderall previous provided), they get "angry" and your body goes through the process of taking down these unnecessary axons, hence the reason people stay on amphetamines, to avoid the inevitable "comedown". Actually Adderall and the class of drugs it is really is speed.
Another note, you can't "brain scan" for ADHD, that is a crock, and really aren't we all a little ADHD at times? Brain scans can really only tell you which part of your brain is more active than the other (this is only in relation to mental illness mind you), so basically you were accused of having an overactive limbic system or excessive grey matter at dopamine receptor sites, which could have been related to adderall use prior to the scan.
Now, as far as the Seroquel, that is an antipsychotic and not usually used to solely treat depression, but can be effective in bipolar disorder. It is an alternative to Risperdal, which I took and made me feel much the same way in the drowsiness department, but you need to remember to give it two weeks to let your body adjust and a good Doctor will titrate it for you, also usually it is taken concurrent with another medication, like Depakote for example, which tends to provide energy, whereas Lamictal makes you drowsy.
There are SSRI's, SNRI's, MAOI's, and Miscellaneous Meds. As far as Wellbutrin and Adderall having a contraindication, I haven't heard of it and have been on the two concurrently before.
Less is more, is the best advice, also patience is a virtue. Sticking with a medication program is key. Don't expect results, when you don't give a medicine adequate time to produce them (at least a 2 weeks).
Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. - C.S. Lewis
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. - C.S. Lewis
I wouldn't necessarily say she is using it inappropriately. I imagine that she needed it at one time to control her ADHD symptoms; assuming it worked for that purpose, that's a perfectly acceptable use of the medication. The problem, which I suspect you were getting at, is that Adderall can aggravate manic symptoms (and psychotic symptoms in general). My suspicion is that she probably didn't start having manic symptoms, or at least not severe ones, until after she was taking the Adderall for awhile (a common scenario).
Because she's at the age where ADHD starts to resolve in many patients who developed it as a child or adolescent, she might be able manage it with something else now. Wellbutrin would be a good choice because it would cover depressive episodes, which it sounds like she's having, and is less likely to provoke hypomania. If she can reduce or eliminate the Adderall, she might find that she doesn't need any mood stabilizers at all, or at least that she can lower the dose to the point where the side effects are tolerable.
But all of this is just speculation, of course. Someone needs to take a thorough history for her and reassess her therapeutic goals from the ground up. When someone's been on a medication for awhile and it's been working for them, there's a tendency to automatically stick with it because it's easier and more conservative. It's understandable, but sometimes it gets in the way dealing with all the patient's symptoms.
No, we're not "all a little ADHD at times". Nor are we all "a little OCD". Statements like that are patronising as hell and deeply inaccurate.
I am sure that she has been taking each medication for the required time (2 weeks is not long enough) to establish if it's working for her - she has been working with a psychiatrist. Some people have a lot of difficulty finding a functional combination. Especially with ADHD and bipolar.
Good luck with the new dr Teaze! It's awful trying to find someone who works for you.![]()




I was diagnosed with Bipolar and went through several years of experimenting with medications, including Lamictal. Its not fun to be on the roller coaster of trial and error. I was so fed up that I started branching into alternative medicine and was so extremely lucky to have found a psychiatrist who was also a Naturopathic Doctor. With their support, major dietary changes, and yoga/meditation.. I am off of the psych meds entirely. That may not be an option for everyone, but I think there are major steps that we can do to limit it by empowering ourselves. The things that have helped me the most are a consistent sleep schedule (same wake and sleep times every day, even on weekends), cutting all the processed foods out of my diet,limiting or eliminating caffeine and alcohol and taking large quantities of fish oil. I also found that I have an allergy to wheat and dairy that I am trying to get under control and is a likely contributor to mood instability. I definitely recommend getting a food allergy test done.
I really wish you luck through this. There is hope. Don't take everything the doctors say at face value. Do lots of research on your own and recognize the fact that there are many things within your control that can help manage symptoms.
*hugs* I am BiPolar and have been on the medication rollercoaster for years. Lamictal is what works for me but I do get occasional rashes, dizziness, short term memory loss, and general grogginess. I have trouble sleeping but smoking marijuana normally works for me, knocks me out after a few bowls at night
I was formerly on prozac, then paxil, then a small dose of paxil with the lamictal, paxil has had HORRIBLE side effects for me, I am tapering off it now and taking a small dose of citalipram to help with anxiety.
There is no way to tell you what works for you. I did gain about 40 lbs when I first got on Lamictal, Now I have worked off about 25, I am still struggling to lose that last bit....It does suck but I would way rather weigh a little more (its not like I gained 100 lbs!) than be back to the mania and the crash afterwards, feeling out of control, anxious, sad, and just confused....
Find a good doctor who will work with you. Also I worry about the ADHD diagnosis with BiPolar, were you diagnosed with ADHD before you were diagnosed as BiPolar? You might have just been manic...
anyways good luck!
(P.S. Is it just me or are a lot of dancers bipolar? Maybe theyre just more comfortable being open about it since its a pretty open minded work environment, but Ive met SO many other dancers that were bipolar and dont have any friends in "real life" that are)




^i have met a lot of bipolar dancers...some i believed, some were so jacked up on drugs that i questioned it (just talking about the girls in clubs, not sw). i think part of the reason is that with complete flexibility with schedule and the fast money makes it an easier job to hold down than a regular 9-5...i know when i have manic/depressive episodes normal jobs are extremely to even get to work on time. you don't have to worry about that though when you're a stripper.
There is a high rate of substance abuse among bipolar patients, and there is ongoing debate about whether the drug use causes the bipolar symptoms (which can certainly happen with some substances) or vice versa. One characteristic of manic and hypomanic episodes is increased impulsivity and risk-taking, and one of those risks is often heavy substance use.
It may also be that the increased impulsivity makes it easier for them to overcome the social stigma still attached to being a stripper.



If you really do have adhd adderall will calm you down and help you function not keep you awake and make you speed around with insomnia. I don't even understand why any of you would want to be on the anti psychotic medications. I can understand if you have seizures and have to use it. I lost 3 years of my life being on those stupid drugs. I gained weight and went loony I finally had enough and just quit. It took my body a few months to get used to not having the pills so I freaked out but now with out the pills I am doing great this has been over 5 years now. You may want to look into other options to deal with your moods etc instead of relying on a pill that causes more harm than good.
That's certainly true, but it can also exacerbate manic symptoms and psychotic symptoms in general (acute amphetamine intoxication is virtually indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia).
Severe mania is extremely debilitating and can have potentially disasterous consequences. I can certainly see why someone would want to keep it under control.




i know that with bipolar disorder there's a higher likelihood of substance abuse (i myself am included in both categories)...what i mean is if someone has been addicted to meth for 5 years and claims bipolar i question it because there's a difference between being completely strung out and being manic...and for the most part they haven't been sober long enough to be diagnosed. i've also heard that various drugs can induce mania...but again, i do think some claim to be bipolar when they really aren't only because they see similar symptoms. and yes there are various reasons as to why stripping may attract those with bipolar disorder...obviously i wasn't being comprehensive in listing reasons.
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