Recently Diagnosed

I too am bipolar. I am currently on Abilify and Lamicktal for my bipolar but they are only helping a little. Eventually they will up my dosage and also put me on more medications. Bipolar requires a lot of medication that they administer to you gradually over time. Once you have adapted to this medication that you are on, they will either up the dosage or give you another perscription until eventually under control. It takes time to feel halfway normal, you just have to be patient. It will take your doctors time to find the right combination of meds that are right for you. You must also realize that once you are on medication, you will always have to take them to keep your bipolar under control. It is a lifelong illness that is only kept under control by medications. Good Luck and stay strong.

Wow. Best of luck to you. My father is bipolar, diagnosed about 35 years ago. Although it's not the best thing for your liver and most doctors try to stay away from it, Lithium has given him the best results over the course of his illness. In fact, whenever a doctor tries to replace his Lithium with something else he gets sick and has to go into the hospital. I'm not advocating it for you, though, because it is very bad for your body. There seem to be a lot of new bipolar meds out there lately and I know from watching and taking care of him how difficult it can be to find the right balance. Best of luck to you in dealing with it, and congrats on finding a diagnosis which seems to be at least pointing you in the right direction.

I have been suffering with bipolar for years and just recently found the medications that work for me. I take depakote (mood stabalizer) and zoloft for depression. They seem to work great except the depakote does increase your appetite but I have found they work very well together with little side effects.

I'm bipolar myself. It took me a few years before I found medications that actually worked for me. I think I went through about 6 or 7 different medications, some antipsychotics, most anti-depressants. I have mild Bipolar but it still interrupts life some times. I finally found a med that works great for me Lamictal. I also take WellbutrinXL and Paxil. Paxil I mostly take to help with my insomnia. It seems all the meds I tried I had some type of bad reaction. One medication I had a breakdown, one I was wired and didn't sleep for days, some I gained a lot of weight in a two weeks. Finally the ones I'm on now are working really well for me. As of now I havent been able to keep a stable job but I'm starting to do part time things, and hopefully I'll be able to get back to work in full gear soon. The only thing that really annoys me with the pills I take is Lamictal tastes bad and its a pain having to remember to take all my pills throughout the day. I feel like a geezer I finally had to buy a daily pill case so I dont forget to take my stuff hehe. -Stephanie