Bipolar Medications 101
Every day, you are taking your medications directed by your doctor, hoping for the best result.
Sammi is going to briefly go over the psychiatric medications that she has taken and just briefly mention how they worked out for her.
Celexa
Celexa is an antidepressant that is not really for people with bipolar disorder to be prescribed. However, I was prescribed Celexa before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and at that time I was only diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Vistaril
Vistaril is an anti-anxiety medication, and I found that it didn't do anything for me.
Trazadone
Trazadone is a sleeping pill. I, personally, was not a fan of Trazadone.
Depakote
I was prescribed Depakote after I was diagnosed with bipolar. In the beginning, it worked very well for me, but I was taken off of Depakote and put on something else. The reason why I was taken off of Depakote is that it's known to cause birth defects in babies.
Subsequently, I was switched to Lamictal which is a medication that works just as well as Depakote.
Risperdal
I no longer take Risperdal because I don't have a need for it. Risperdal is an antipsychotic medication, and because I no longer from psychosis.
With bipolar disorder, you'll only have psychotic features when you are manic, depressed or in a mixed state. Since the current mood stabilizer I'm on is working so well for me, I don't have any need to take Risperdal anymore.
Abilify
Abilify is an anti-psychotic medication, but it's an expensive medication. When I was taking Abilify, it made me feel a little bit nauseated. I just want to point out, my experience with Abilify wasn't the best, and if it works for other people, that's good too.
Buspar, Inderal, and Prozac
Lastly, I've also tried Buspar, Inderal, and Prozac for anxiety or social anxiety rather, but none of those worked for me.
What I'm Currently Taking Today
At the moment, I am taking Lamictal at 150 mg — which is kind of on the low side. I might have to increase in the future, but for right now, I'm doing pretty well, not perfect, but pretty well on only 150 mg of Lamictal.
I am also taking Ativan as needed, and I'm only taking .25 mg of Ativan as needed, sometimes .5 mg, it just depends on the severity of anxiety.
I just want to state that I am only taking Lamictal as a mood stabilizer for bipolar, and then Ativan as needed for any anxiety that I have. So that is just a very brief run down with my experience with psychiatric medication.
