I'm rapid cycling bipolar II. I was finally diagnosed in September, though this has affected me throughout my life. It really got more severe after the birth of my 2nd child.
One divorce and lost primary custody of my children later, after another couple of years of struggling, and about 6 months of rapid cycles of severe depression and suicidal tendencies, I finally got myself together enough to make the call to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist. Since then I have been on Trileptal for mood stabilization and Effexor for the depression, and my life has improved so drastically that it's hard for me to even describe.

I know I am very fortunate that this combination of meds worked so well for me and it was the first I tried. We talked about keeping me on the Effexor until this summer, then talking about whether or not I want to try to get off of it. The side effects of coming off that are horrible, though, and it's a really scary thought that getting off of that med will make things horrible and out of control again. I know the mood stabilizer is really the one I need, and eventually coming off the anti-d should be ok, but I don't know if I'll be ready yet. It's kinda like Dumbo and the feather. Maybe I don't need it, but I'm too scared to find out.

I'm thinking of trying out Lamictal at some point to make sure it works ok for me, since dh and I are considering having a child at some point, and Lamictal, per my pshychiatrist, is ok for pregnancy and nursing and Trileptal isn't as safe.

I've seen several of you say your diag is of bipolar, and I haven't really connected much with others with bipolar disorder, other than 2 good real life friends who are also bipolar.

Hi!
I am also BPII w/ rapid-cycling. I believe I've suffered my entire life with this but never knowing why exactly I did the things I did. My mother is BPI and didn't get diagnosed until about 6 years ago. Sure explained alot of my childhood! lol I was diagnosed alittle over a year ago. I also have OCD, anxiety, binge-eating disorder & ADD. How's that for diagnosis?!

I am in the process of tapering off Effexor XR. I was at 300mgs and now I am at 150mgs. The first few days were very hard with headache and nausea but now I feel fine. The reason I am weaning off this isn't because it didn't work per se, it's just that I cannot lose any weight at all. None! No inches are coming off either and it's been very frustrating despite my hard work with exercise and eating right. Now that my dosage is lower tho' I do not wake up as tired and achy feeling and that is good. I will be onto a new med within a few weeks more than likely Cymbalta. Unfortunately I need something that will "cover" several of this issues at once and this seems like a good candidate for me. I also take Lamictal 200mgs and I love it. I don't know whether this is causing me to not lose but my p-doc doesn't seem to think it's the case. We'll find out when we get down far enough for the new Rx and see. I also take Ritalin 3x a day and still no weight loss! Most everyone I know has miraculous results with ritalin causing weight loss wanted or not. Not me though! lol I have not had any experience with Trileptal at all.
I did use Zoloft up to 200mgs and Wellbutrin up to 450mgs. Zoloft made me numb and zombi-like and I didnt take Wellbutrin by itself but with the Z, and it just made me crabby and aggressive. I may consider taking the Wellbutrin with another med if it comes down to that.

I'm so glad that you have found some relief. It feels like a different world doesnt it? Like someone finally turned on the lights and stopped spinning the room so fast? At least that's how it is for me and the relief I found with drug-therapy. There is only so much you can do theraputically IMO, and some people just need the assistance of medication. I fought it for a year and realized that I was one of those people that needed it in order to cope no matter how many things I thought I'd learned in therapy. lol

Anyways, I'm glad you posted to share your story and are feeling good again. I had no idea that Lamictal would be safe during pregnancy. That's awesome.
Learn something new everyday! That's great that you wouldn't have to worry about stopping treatment during that time, hormones already make ya feel bad enough.

You are definitely not alone and I think you will find that alot of these women here have loads of information and support with understanding this life we now lead. Hope to see you around here and if you want, PM to talk,k?

Take care.

I am Bi-Polar II and General Anxiety Disorder. I have been taking Lamictal for about 4 years now. Previously I was on Lithium and had to many ER vists for toxicity. I really like being on Lamictal and have had good results. However, I do take Celexa also for the depression. I take Seroquel for my anxiety. I finally am starting to feel stable.

the lamictal sounds interesting i think it is one fot he few things i have not been prescribed. i will look into it and see if maybe i could/should try that next

I am also BiPolar. I was diagnosed about 5 years ago and felt better knowing what was wrong with me. Being only 22 it is a huge challenge because a lot of people my age just don't understand what I am going through. I have no desire to go out to bars or clubs because of anxiety. I never know what to expect, whether I will be up or down. My worst manic episode was two months long. All I did was clean and cook and I lost 25 pounds. Then, I crashed and landed in the hospital for a week. I am doing better now. I am also on Lamactil and Abilify. I tried many which put weight on me, especially Depakote. If you ever need anything, I am here and there is a good chance I will understand. You can do it. We all can, just keep going no matter what you have to do.

Hi!

Just here to give you a

I'm BP1. I take Lamictal, which is sooo much better than the cocktail of lithium + antidepressants + thyroid hormones I used to take.

You are very lucky to have found drugs that work for you right away. I took Effexor at one point... it was awful for me. (Two hours of sleep at night, hardly ate anything.) But if it works for you, great.

I'm a BP I rapid cycler. It can be exhausting going to those extremes in a short time and bad on my weight. It's like a built-in yoyo diet for me. I take Neurontin and Klonopin these days, but I've tried everything under the sun before I found this combination. The Klonopin is important because a.) i'm an insomniac in general b.) I have mixed states and dysphoric mania before I have this "fun" eurphoric stuff I keep hearing about. Mine is ****, pure and simple. I get agitated and not only am I a to be around, I've cleared table tops and yelled at the hubby for looking at me the wrong way.

I've taken a more active role in my medication than I use to. I use to let my doctor play Pharmacist with me and dope me up with whatever because I didn't give a flip as long as I was zonked out and not going through depression or mixed states or flying into rages. Bad bad bad way for me to handle it. Now I know what I want it works for me very well. It has made a tremendous difference in my life to be on the right meds. I can function, for one. That's always a plus

Depakote kinda screwed up my liver and made me gain 50lbs, and ever since Lithium I've had ADD symptoms that were never there before, ever. It makes me crazy to have that because I've been a very sharp, focused person and had no cognitive shortcomings. Now I have to say, when trying to point out an object, "umm umm, uh, that THING over there. You know. The... the... dining.. no.. umm.. kitchen thing... with the dark color and magazines in there. That room over there. COFFEE TABLE! That's it." I can mumble for 5 straight minutes before I can spit out a simple word like that. It's maddening and I do blame Lithium.

I'd be here all night naming off the cocktails I've been on, but unless I'm one margarita short of a fiesta and need some serious intervention, I refuse to take anything stronger than Neurontin. Benzodiazepines like Klonopin and Valium have always been good friends of mine though, no questions asked.

Ah well, I suppose this was way off from advice on Lamictal. But hey, it can't hurt to have another person to relate to.