I am a manic depressive, and looking for a new medication...?

Question

I have been taking Lexapro for over 6 months now, with constant stomach problems thanks to it...just trying to research another medication....already tried Prozac, Wellbutrin, and countless others.....any suggestions??

Answer 1

if you never tried lithium, get it. many doctors won't prescribe this because its $15/bottle while many of the meds mentioned are $100-$200, and come with incentives to doctors for prescribing them.  all the side effects of lithium can be avoided by drinking lots of water, a gallon or more a day and a mineral supplement like coral calcium and magnesium, and make sure you get "Lithobid" or its generic "MGROX", don't take anything else, as they are all lesser forms of controlled release and will have more side effects.

Answer 2

There are so many drugs out there & like someone mentioned in one of the answers, sometimes it likes takes a while to find the right combination that works for you.  Have you tried lithium or valproic acid?  If you have not, ask your doctor about them.  Lithium can cause some serious side effects & your blood level for lithium toxicity must be monitored periodically & valproic acid can be harsh on the liver.  Like most drugs, side effects are inevitable but hopefully you can find the drug that works the best for you causing you the least amount of side effects.  Hope the info helps & good luck.  =]

Answer 3

i'm on lamictal, wellbutrin and abilify and that seems to be a pretty good combination for me, but everyone is different, just tell your doctor you want to try something else. it took a couple months for them to find something for me that worked

Answer 4

lamictal was a miracle drug for me.  Tolerable side effects and predictable benefits.

It is only used for type 1 bipolar disorder.

Good luck!

[edit]

And I would also like to address the fact that MDs are baiting us with expensive meds for their own benefit-

There are thousands of meds out there for bipolar, and until quite recently, none were actually manufactured for bipolar.  Most are epileptic meds. In fact, we still have no idea how lithium even works.

Each and every person is different.  Lexapro put me in the hospital on suicide watch, while it has helped thousands of others.  All rx plans cover bipolar meds, and if you don't have a rx plan, pharmacutical companies will cover the cost of the meds. Completely.

They say that finding the  right bipolar med is like finding your soul mate-there is supposedly one out there for everyone, but it takes a lot of tries to finally find it.

If you suspect in the least that your doc is luring you into a drug you are not comftorable with, you need to change docs (and report him or her to the medical ethics board).  But realize that you are the one that is in control.  You have to try the drug and decide for yourself.  They can only write you an rx, they can't tell you what is best for you.

and be VERY cautious if you decide to try lithium.  Yes, it is cheap, but even the person for it described some of the pretty bad side effects of it.