Mania and lamictal

So I have gone in and out of VERY severe depressive episodes since I was 18 (now 33) but had the worst of my life a year ago, working from scratch with meds (nothing had ever worked before except valium, so nothing long term) the bleak obsessive focus on the nothingness of everything, SI, terrified all the time. It was following an up episode that feels about as bad as hypomania gets, and still feel like it really bordered on full blown mania. It destroyed my life and I have since experienced and/or came to understand complex past trauma. I had found relief with 150mg of lamictal, 20mg lexapro, Dex and clonidine.
Over the last three months I left a violent and abusive marriage, had to sever contact with all family and my closest friendship groups on psych+Psychiatrists advice, moved cities (drove 2000kms) to find stable housing only to lose it again (2 months of living in my car with my 3 month old puppy), huge health scares with my puppy, severe financial distress and more. I managed not to fall into a pit of despair to the amazement of my GP and psychiatrist but it’s snuck up on me over the last fortnight. I emailed my psychiatrist tonight for a med adjustment after I noticed very vivid nightmares, low motivation and energy, quick to get sad and very stressed. I can’t believe I got through it all and now it’s got me. I think the straw that broke the camels back was a retraumatising coffee date with the second person I’d met up with in the new city, meeting on Hinge with the intention to be friends. I’m so scared I’m slipping down and I have worked so so so hard not to get to this point. I needed to share with someone who would understand how I feel, I don’t have anyone to cry to and lean on the shoulder of. My brain is a mess.

Hi friends! I haven’t even officially been diagnosed but my psych is doing that thing where she’s like “TRY THIS MEDICATION” and I’m like.. ok…… so context: I’m 21(F) I’ve had anxiety and circumstantial depression/ episodes. ADHD, and maybe a pinch of autism. over the years my amount of diagnosis’ have continued to grow which is not the easiest thing to accept. but my mental health journey started around 14. my parents divorce started my first depression/ episode. That felt like the most “true” depression I’ve experienced, felt worthless and like a burden etc. I’ve dealt with all of these struggles through therapy. now this brings us to last fall. I had the weirdest depressive episode I’ve ever experienced. was completely brought on by exams, a major switch in college, applying to university, and just winter I always feel like shit (trauma and Midwest winter). that lasted a couple months but the worst of it was spent in my moms room with the blackout curtains drawn watching a movie whilst anxiety crept in about “what important things do I need to do today?”
so that sucked ass.. I got out of it with therapy AND GETTING BACK ON LEXAPRO!! it saved me. now.. the beginning of March. MANIA!! full blown mf mania. I’ve experienced low grade euphoria before but nothing like this. I was fully feeling like god, staying up talking to a crush till 9am!!!! (now bf, I didn’t scare him!!) WANTING TO TALK TO EVERYONE to like idk spread my joy!? felt like everything would be fine like I could talk my way out of anything even with a cop!?! music felt so good, I felt SO hot and like the sexiest btc on the planet, like I was truly unstoppable lmfao. etc..
THIS BRINGS US TO NOW. I explained this to my psych an hour ago and she recommended to lower my lexapro bc that can trigger mania? AND recommended lamictal. SO I WAS FUCKING VULNERABLE WITH HER RIGHT. and said, it feels like I’ve been collecting mental illnesses and it’s hard to accept and understand. and she was like.. WELP 😇😇😇😇😇 manic episodes are really dangerous, so give lamictal a try. GIRL, she absolutely has a point I was behaving dangerously, and the low points of the fall were terrible. but I’m resistant to getting on this medication specifically BECAUSE IM NEWLY 21 and wanna drink!? and this medication.. like any medication, isn’t great to drink and be on. ALSO I feel like I’ve genuinely learned useful tools in therapy that I could apply if this were to happen again.
TLDR: I have lots of mental illness, it’s hard to accept bipolar and lamictal as a new part of my life (just prescribed but not even diagnosed with bipolar??) , I feel that with the tools I’ve gotten in therapy I could better control my emotions without meds but psych thinks I should give it a try. I’m resistant bc scared :/ but also confident that maybe I can slay life without medication for bipolar… (currently feeling very stable and happy) Thank you to anyone that took the time to read or leave a comment.. feeling really isolated in this :/🫶

After trials of Zoloft and Prozac made me manic last fall, I was put on bipolar meds. Depakote took me out of mania but my doctor was unwilling to keep me on it because I’m a woman. Abilify, Lamictal, and Vraylar were all fails.
Latuda has helped a lot, but I still feel a lot of anxiety/depression and emotional instability. My pdoc said it might be time to look at lithium, which is the “gold standard” but he’s previously said was a last resort. I’m really scared and at this point feel like it’s just not worth it. I was doing so well for a while and now it’s just like I’ve fallen off of a cliff.
My only other choice would be upping the Latuda from 20mg to 40mg, but I’m also scared to do that. I’m at a loss here and no one prepares you for stuff like this.

Got diagnosed with bpd and adhd. Been taking 10mg adderall for a month, and started taking venlafaxine 3 days ago. This is probably the 7th or 8th medication ive tried and im worried about the side effects. If anyone has any experiences please share. For reference, ive tried citalorpram, Lamictal, abilify, and fluoxetine, i cant remember the others. They usually did nothing, or gave me mania so intense i couldnt sleep, or made me so fatigued and sluggish that i couldnt do anything but stare at a wall all day.

I will try to describe my condition as quick as possible ....
Age : 25M
Occupation : university student, education stopped because of current mental issues, hoping to return to school.
Diagnoses before the onset of current issues : ADHD, suspected OCD. Symptoms were never serious enough to seek help or use medication.
Current issues : 13 months ago I heavily abused synthetic weed (HHCp) for 2 months straight.. when I quit cold turkey I experienced massive acute withdrawal full of anxiety and severe insomnia.
Later I entered what can only be described as post acute withdrawal syndrome.
I experience cycles of feeling totally normal, anxious, severely depressed or mixed anxious and depressed. These cycles last a couple of days but I often had cycles of feeling normal last for as long as 2 weeks and cycles of severe depression lasting only a day or two. Its completely random.
These cycles don't seem to have any triggers and happen at random.
Reading from other peoples experiences online with PAWS from synthetic cannabinoids lasting 2-3 years I decided to try medication.
Benzos - completely remove my symptoms but cause rebound anxiety the next day. And as an ex addict I don't want to use them...
Zoloft - no help
Lexapro - no help
Mirtazapine - better sleep and appetite, mood swings remain the same.
Wellbutrin - had to quit because of unbearable anxiety.
After trying these meds I was hospitalized and had 6 session of ECT that did not help.
Duloxetine/Seroquel combination - FINALLY a partial response, improvement in anxiety but still experiencing frequent depressive lows that last a few days at a time.. Duloxetine was maxed out at 120 mg while Seroquel was at 200mg XR.
Currently cross tapering to Effexor XR.... too soon to judge..
So me and my doctor decided that if Effexor won't help we will try lamictal.
Is this in your opinion a good decision ? Could lamictal help ?
I experience no mania or hypomania, I feel normal during my good days and experience intense emotional suffering during my bad days..
UPDATE : in the middle of writing this I got the message that my doctor is no longer sick and I can go for a check up now, she has decided to start the lamotrigine now while increasing Effexor further.
Could lamotrigine be the "missing puzzle piece" to get my mood swings under control ?

So, I am diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder and OCD. In terms of Bipolar Disorder, I have experienced both manic and depressive episodes but I am more prone to manic episodes. Most of my OCD issues have been in the nature of obsessions and compulsions related to contamination but recently, disturbing intrusive images have repeatedly entered my mind that I can’t seem to get out. They are causing me a great amount of severe anxiety.
Therapeutic methods (like CBT and ERP) haven’t been helpful with this new obsession so I thought about going on the route of medication and met with my psychiatrist and she prescribed me Paxil. I know SSRIs can cause mania in patients with Bipolar Disorder. But I feel like my OCD obsessions are getting so severe that medication is my last option. I am on a blend of Bipolar mood stabilizers and antipsychotics (Lithium, Lamictal, Asenapine.) As stated earlier, I have experienced manic episodes in the past but have been stable for 10 months. So I ask: has anyone here with Bipolar Disorder ever tried Paxil and how did it go? Did it help with your symptoms or did it cause mania? Did you take it in conjunction with more specific Bipolar medication like mood stabilizers and antipsychotics and do you think that helped?

Hi all. I was dx with bp2 in 2019 but in the past had been successfully on two different SSRIs and once more in 2022 when I had postpartum depression. Those didn’t cause mania. I’ve also taken oral steroids without mania. I have a new diagnosis and it’s NOT bp2. Whatever, a rose by any other name blah blah.
I really want to go off my Lamictal. I’ve been on it since 2022 and it’s never stabilized my moods nor been supportive of mental health.
I’m obviously going to talk to my psych at my next appointment and I don’t care to switch to anything else, it will be nice to have one less med. I am also wary of changing things that mess with sleep and appetite. If I’m hungrier or have trouble sleeping, I’ll stay on it.
I’m curious what you all have experienced with going off Lamictal. Google only talks about seizures coming back if you’re taking it for epilepsy.

Hi, I’m new here and scared shitless to post. Please be kind. Is everyone kind here? I feel like I have agoraphobia on the internet or to share at all in these groups. Is it a safe place? I’m a 48 year old woman. I’ve had bipolar disorder since I was 11ish. It was first diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder when I was hospitalized for depression at age 12. Then over the years I was diagnosed with PMDD, GAD, major depression, OCD tendencies, finally getting a bipolar 2 diagnosis (“soft bipolar disorder”) during my second hospitalization (partial outpatient) when I was in my 30s. At that time I was also told I have complex PTSD. I was hospitalized for a 3rd time (partial outpatient) in 2021 when my panic attacks lasted everyday most of the day. Around that time I got the diagnosis of treatment resistant panic disorder. In order to get the panic attacks to stop I had to take 6 Xanax per day for quite awhile. I still take it but have gone down in dose. I had my first full manic episode in February of this year (I’d had hypomanic episodes before this—which were such a glorious reprieve from the LOOONG depressions and crippling anxiety, but got fewer and far between). I also went into psychosis. Simultaneous to the manic episode I had a profound spiritual experience and felt like I was actually myself for the first time since I was in my early 20s. I desperately am trying to hold onto myself before I lose it to my next depression and anxiety assault. I’m currently having the daily panic attacks with now mixed episodes that are rapid cycling. I’m exhausted. The only way I’ve been able to make it without the full hospitalizations is because my husband, God bless him, takes care of me. He’s always been able to do it. I don’t know how. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for him. My brother had the same thing I do and he didn’t have someone like I do and he died when he was 27. The biggest grief of my life was losing my brother. I have a psychiatrist. We’ve been throwing medicine at the disorder for a long time. I had a 2 year reprieve from episodes (the longest reprieve in my life) from January 2022-beginning of 2024. Which makes it all the more painful to be here AGAIN and worse. I’m so exhausted. And with the spiritual experience God felt close. He’s not feeling so close right now! I love God but can’t help but plead for all of us, why must we go through this. It’s such a painful hard road that takes everything to keep going. I don’t really know anyone else with bipolar disorder (except maybe one person) and perhaps an undiagnosed family member. I’m reaching out here at the end of my rope. So thank you for listening to my LONG post! It so pains me that all of you must also face this. How are we to survive, let alone thrive? So to clarify, my current diagnosis is treatment resistant Panic Disorder, Bipolar 1, (complex ptsd), and perimenopausal that has just reared its ugly head to a new extent. My current daily meds are 50mg seroquel, 3mg Xanax (which I try not to take all of them and sub in herbal remedies at times because side effects of Xanax suck), 400mg Lamictal, 40mg latuda. I was recently on rexulti which worked for mixed episodes but I was eating everything in sight and have binge eating disorder so I stopped the rexulti a week ago. Just started the latuda at same time I stopped rexulti. I had been on Wellbutrin along with my other baseline meds which worked well for those 2 years but they can’t give that to me anymore because of the mania. I also work with a naturopath and use hormone cream. I started this at the time of my 3rd hospitalization. Recently I switched from my regular counseling to trauma therapy. My psychiatrist is now going out of network so I have to find a new one. I recently started ketamine treatments which feel promising but there is an interaction between ketamine and Xanax which creates a problem and makes it so the ketamine doesn’t do its full job. So basically the only way to be able to do the ketamine treatments is to try to ride out the panic for the day so I can try to hit a point late enough in the day so the Xanax I had to take at bedtime doesn’t interfere. I feel promise in the trauma therapy and ketamine therapy but the meds feel like a freaking mess right now. I’m still taking them. Where is the new frontier of psychiatry? Can you guys relate? I feel so alone and misunderstood. Except for my husband and a couple of friends. Even my psychiatrist looks exhausted if you ask me! (I think he’s ready to retire.) sorry so long. Please be nice. You all seem like nice people. I’m a wreck. I appreciate you reading this post at all. Any kind thoughts or ideas are welcome.

hi all!!
for some background, got diagnosed with BP1 at 16/17, and have been medicated on lamictal, now 100mg, ever since (now 20). I don't have any people close in my life with BP1, or BP2, so have always found it a bit hard to be able to recognise whats a symptom of an episode (mainly mania) vs my own personality traits.
now, my most recent problem is that some things i considered to be 'normal' for me, may not be. I go through periods where i can stare at myself for HOURS, like 4-6 hours a day, and am convinced that I could be a model and that I would be super famous. I have also had these ideas that I could become a super successful musician or dancer, or just something in the arts realm. i have not done anything related to any of that since mid high school. when watching movies or youtube videos, i also imagine that i am being filmed on a reaction channel, or the people i am watching are watching me. so i have these more exaggerated reactions and silently talk to myself as if this were true. ( however, i dont get paranoid at all of people watching me, so i never thought that this could be a delusional thing)
i chalked this up to me being a bit self obsessed (this has been engrained from my mother calling my narcissistic for very small things, like wanting to hangout with friends), and being a bit eccentric.
buttt i am now thinking this may be related to bipolar. thoughts? because of my lack of people with BP, I know I am pretty uneducated and don't feel like it's that strange. but, the staring in the mirror is taking up big chunks of my day now.
(for reference, i do also spend A LOT of money on mainly clothes during times like this)

Currently on a very small dose of an antipsychotic, lamictal (25mg) and lithium carbonate (50mg). I'm extremely sensitive to meds. Went from 400mg of lithium to 50mg because of the unbearably side effects (intrusive thoughts) but they are still there so I want to quit the lithium. Instead of the lithium, I want try an SSRI like lexapro (1mg liquid drop a day), because the low dose of lithium keeps me very very stable (despite the side effects) and I heard that a low dose of lithium has more of an antidepressant effect than a stabilizing effect.
I'm afraid of having (hypo)mania though. I have some experience with hypomania: having more energy than normal, irrational thinking, little bit more impulsive, trouble finding a break when I'm doing tasks. I only had it when there was too much going and I couldn't handle it. I don't have any experience with SSRI's or other antidepressants. I'm not yet diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but before the lithium I suffered from borderline PD traits, emotional dysregulation, moodswings, anxiety and I have been touching the edge of psychosis sometimes. My official diagnosis is personality disorder with traits of borderline. My p-doc is okay with trying lexapro.
Thanks!

Currently on a very small dose of an antipsychotic, lamictal (25mg) and lithium carbonate (50mg). I'm extremely sensitive to meds. Went from 400mg of lithium to 50mg because of the unbearably side effects (intrusive thoughts) but they are still there so I want to quit the lithium. Instead of the lithium, I want try an SSRI like lexapro (1mg liquid drop a day), because the low dose of lithium keeps me very very stable (despite the side effects) and I heard that a low dose of lithium has more of an antidepressant effect than a stabilizing effect.
I'm afraid of having (hypo)mania though. I have some experience with hypomania: having more energy than normal, irrational thinking, little bit more impulsive, trouble finding a break when I'm doing tasks. I only had it when there was too much going and I couldn't handle it. I don't have any experience with SSRI's or other antidepressants. I'm not yet diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but before the lithium I suffered from borderline PD traits, emotional dysregulation, moodswings, anxiety and I have been touching the edge of psychosis sometimes. My official diagnosis is personality disorder with traits of borderline. My p-doc is okay with trying lexapro.
Thanks!

Currently on a very small dose of an antipsychotic, lamictal (25mg) and lithium carbonate (50mg). I'm extremely sensitive to meds. Went from 400mg of lithium to 50mg because of the unbearably side effects (intrusive thoughts) but they are still there so I want to quit the lithium. Instead of the lithium, I want try an SSRI like lexapro (1mg liquid drop a day), because the low dose of lithium keeps me very very stable (despite the side effects) and I heard that a low dose of lithium has more of an antidepressant effect than a stabilizing effect.
I'm afraid of having (hypo)mania though. I have some experience with hypomania: having more energy than normal, irrational thinking, little bit more impulsive, trouble finding a break when I'm doing tasks. I only had it when there was too much going and I couldn't handle it. I don't have any experience with SSRI's or other antidepressants. I'm not yet diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but before the lithium I suffered from borderline PD traits, emotional dysregulation, moodswings, anxiety and I have been touching the edge of psychosis sometimes. My diagnosis is personality disorder with traits of borderline. My p-doc is okay with i trying lexapro.
Thanks!

I’m now up to 100mg of Lamictal and feeling pretty damn ok.
I was just diagnosed bipolar after being on lexapro for anxiety/depression for 15 years.
I feel stabilized, literally mood stabilized, but it is bittersweet. The lexapro did control my depression and anxiety so much and did provide tremendous relief. I was so messed up for my whole life before that. But in retrospect it did not control my anger, how easily I got frustrated, or my hypomania. But because it helped in so many other ways i just accepted all the untreated symptoms as normal.
Now i look back and realize that things would have gone so differently for me all throughout my late 20s and 30s, when pivotal things were happening in my career specifically, if i had been treating my bipolar disorder. I also would have avoided a crippling gambling addiction driven by my manias.
Funny, when i was 27 sitting in a psychiatry office getting my first diagnosis, she told me that i fit the diagnosis for depression, anxiety, and bipolar and that it was essentially a choice of ssri vs mood stabilizer and what i wanted to try. I chose ssri because i had a stigma against bipolar and mood stabilizers.
But what a pivotal decision made in about 15 seconds. Impacted the next 15 years of my life. Not all bad, but definitely bittersweet realizing how much better i feel now going on lamictal and what could have been.

(23F) bipolar 1 w psychotic features
I currently take 20mg Abilify, 250mg Lamictal, 300mg Lithium, and just added guanfacine 3 days ago. I fell off the wagon on taking meds for like the last 2ish months but back on that grind again. Before this last stint, I was med-compliant for 8 months!! :)
Ever since adding the lithium and increasing the lamictal in December, I feel hypomanic (?) like 75% of the time. Not full blown mania, but like a weighted blanket has been put on it. Hypomanic feels weird to say, because the severity is still there inside, but physically speaking my impulse control isn’t as bad so it looks less severe overall from the outside perspective.
Obviously when I kept forgetting to take my meds, it’s gotten worse. The symptoms getting worse leads to me not taking meds more frequently, until I realize I’m spiraling. Fun times… Anyways, now that I’m back on the them, I’ve come to this revelation.
I already have akathesia from Abilify (which is at an all time high right now) but it’s the best thing that’s worked so far. I have gained 40lbs since August.
How likely is it that I’ll need something more sedating? :/
Symptoms:
overspending, irritability/aggression, restlessness, mild paranoid thoughts, extremely social, feelings of grandiosity (psychoanalyzing people and trying to solve all their problems), zero motivation, racing thoughts, executive dysfunction/paralysis(?), rumination, brain fog, substance use (tried Adderall from a friend to try to self treat my adhd, it def helped, but it didn’t go farther than 5 days of taking it. This is the most recent “symptom” and is the biggest red flag for impending full blown mania. Yes, I’m aware it can trigger a manic episode but like I’ve said these symptoms have gone on for months now so this isn’t the root cause that I’m looking for. I have since stopped taking them, for a good few weeks now), decreased patience, short term memory loss and poor recall, overall general feeling of “frazzled”.
Meds tried:
Seroquel, Vraylar, Caplyta, Pristiq, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Lexapro, Trazodone, Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Strattera, Abilify, Lithium, Lamictal, Guanfacine, probably more

Newly diagnosed. I’ve been on Lamictal for over a year, last month my prescriber decided to discontinue due to a mania episode. He switched me to Depakote and I’ve become increasingly irritable since starting. He also gave me two other options.. one was Lithium, the other I can’t remember. I did not want to try them due to the risks involved. I’m hoping he’ll let me just go back on the Lamictal. Curious how many mood stabilizers you had to try to get it right?
I’m also taking Caplyta if that matters.

Hey friends ♥️ anyone have experience with Wellbutrin used for smoking cessation? My Dr. mentioned he may consider this for smoking cessation but my partner and I are googling it and are seeing mixed results that Wellbutrin may induce mania in bipolar patients? Appreciate any input or any other recommendations for smoking cessation? 😬 I’m currently on lamictal 300mg.

My psychiatrist was supposed to review me because I've just started lamictal. He left and I have to accept my new psychiatrist but then I won't see him until the 20th of September. I'm afraid the lamictal will send me manic. I'm supposed to be trying to come off the quetiapine and going onto something else so I can wake up early enough to get to morning lectures as I'm going into my final year of university and my grades matter most then. I don't know what to do because if the lamotrigine triggers mania I won't be very aware of it and I don't want to go to hospital just because the lamotrigine has sent me manic. I'm tired of feeling like a zombie but at the same time I domt want to relapse. I really don't know what to do. I'm running out of my lamictal and I have to wait 72hrs for a new prescription... guessing that will be Friday and I'll be like ughh because I have volunteering that day now I might be late. I'm literally panicking. How am I supposed to start a new medication when I can't even see a doctor to talk about if it suits me and whether to add something else in. I haven't even got my anxiety under control and this is just making it worse. I honestly can't wait to go out tomorrow and buy myself a new build a bear and base it of a character from a british TV show... any advice? I felt like yelling at the receptionist but I didn't. She's nice but I wish My psychs wouldn't just leave me like this. No one even tells me when they leave. I'm just so tired of it. I dont know what to do. I'm gonna be out of lamictal for like 2 days then I'm hoping to get it increased a little bit to see if it will let me feel anything. I'm still on promethazine for anxiety which I'm trying to take as little as possible. I'm so stuck at this point. I'm not even sure what to do with myself. I kinda wanna get a service dog because at least then if I have another episode my dog should be able to tell me. Just as I was finally getting somewhere.... I don't even wake up to an alarm. Honestly what am I supposed to do?
UPDATE!! I got my meds sorted 💃🥳 briefly met my new psychiatrist. He's kinda good looking actually... pretty cute. Alot younger than my last one but age doesn't matter to me so long as they're qualified!

I have bipolar 1. I used to be completely stable on meds. I had a good job that I didn’t struggle to keep, I had financial freedom, my social life was thriving, I was happy, and I was mania and depression free for the most part.
But then I got this new fancy psychiatrist who claimed to specialize in bipolar and schizophrenia. I thought, well if I’m successful now and I have this disorder then I better get the best treatment money can buy before this illness fucking sabotages everything I’ve built.
New psych disregarded our entire intake and after talking to me for 15 mins about my life, he said there’s no need for an intake because there’s nothing wrong with me— I’m too successful to be bipolar or have any mental illness. He told me his “real” bipolar patients can’t hold down a job or maintain relationships, like I can. And there’s no way I’m bipolar. He even called his “real” BP patients “crazy”.
I was on 400mg lamictal and 400mg seroquel. He told me to completely discontinue the meds, cold turkey. This seemed like bad advice, but he insisted I’d be fine cold turkey quitting since I’m not really bipolar.
I listened to him. I wanted him to be right because I don’t want to have this disorder…So, when I went off my meds, I destroyed what I built (which was what I was avoiding in the first place). Wound up in the hospital for 45 days! Lost my job. Ended up in extreme debt. Had to move in with my parents. Basically my whole life fell apart.
It’s been a bit over a year since this happened, and I honestly still haven’t picked up the pieces. I haven’t been able to hold down a job and get out of debt. My personal life is a mess too.
I’ve tried SO hard, but I’m stuck in a cycle of mania and depression. I just want to feel stable like I did before all this happened. Then I could turn my life back around and build back up to where I was before… maybe even surpass where I was before… But I keep having episodes. Which makes it near impossible to live well.
If I had never taken his advice, wow… I’d be a different person. I wish I never listened to him. But it’s too late. I do want justice at this point, though.
If you were me, would you consider sue’ing for malpractice?

So I was prescribed for Lamictal on March because of bipolar symptoms. I was pretty sure back then that I actually might have bipolar but now I am starting to think that I just made it up/wanted to feel special or something. When I first started taking SSRI's like two years again for severe depression I did clearly have this manic week when increasing my dose, but I think it was just SSRI induced mania. I have stopped taking SSRI's two times, on January 2023 and January 2024. Took them for half of a year both times. Both times I didn't have any bad withdrawal symptoms from them, I just started to feel really good and super exited and motivated from everything. This year the good feeling lasted for like 3 weeks to a month, and then I got super depressed on February and the depression didn't go away. But now I feel like all this can be explained with other reasons than having bipolar. I don't recall having any manic episodes that doesn't involve stopping or starting SSRI'S. I do feel more stable now and the worst depression is definitely gone, but I am in a better place in my life than I was on Feb-March so I don't know if it has anything to do with the medicine. I fear that Lamictal is the reason why I feel so bland and unmotivated nowadays. I feel like I have lost my spark. I take 100mg Lamictal daily. Any opinions? I know this is definitely not the place for any diagnoses but I just would like to get some advice/opinions. I don't have any people I want to talk about this. My partner thinks I should continue taking them and doesn't really discuss the option that I might be taking the medicine for no reason.

So, I’ve had two psychiatrists over the past like 7 ish years due to moving to a different location. My first one (who diagnosed me with MDD) I felt understood me best and I had the best relationship with her. After I moved, I was referred to a local psychiatrist. She was okay. Well, for one reason or another, she no longer works at the practice I have been going to so they gave me someone new. She seems like a nice lady. A little bit odd, but nice. Anyways, she thinks because of my family history (lots of bipolar, alcoholism, but also depression too) is in my family. She thinks I have bipolar. I am aware there are two types, but I just don’t think I have it. Generally speaking, I’m pretty consistently controlled or in low energy/tired moods. I sleep ALL of the time. I’m pretty sad most of the time. I don’t really have periods of “mania” I don’t think. I definitely do overspend, but I’m not sure that I would call that a manic episode. My brother definitely has bipolar, and would not sleep for days and that’s when I knew the onset was coming. He would get in trouble with the law all of the time. It was like it is hard for him not to. I also lived with someone who had bipolar and I just don’t think that I have it. I will say, at one point my first psychiatrist put me on generic abilify when I expressed that my Prozac wasn’t fully helping me anymore and I was worried that I could have bipolar at that time. Eventually that didn’t work for me and my newest psychiatrist has put me on lamictal I think it’s called? I honestly feel like it’s made me worse — but I’m not sure what to do from here. I’m meeting with my psychiatrist tomorrow.

First time poster. I have bipolar 1 with psychotic features. I have been medicated for over a decade on a low dose of Tegretol, lithium and clonazepam. I can’t tolerate higher doses but this regime does prevent full blown mania and psychosis.
I have suffered severely for all these years this fluctuating between up and down swings despite trying every med Dr.’s can think of. I desperately need something I can use to stop the mania and the insomnia that goes with it. Every episode is a battle to keep in control, a battle I usually lose with torturous consequences.
I have been asking to try lamictal now for 6 months and the Dr., well nurse practitioner, keeps putting it off. He told me yesterday that it’s “only for depression; it doesn’t treat mania.” I responded that it’s a mood stabilizer, like Tegretol, and I was under the impression it treated both.
He also said because I am alternating my Tegretol dose every other day he won’t let me try lamictal. I am alternating every other day because they don’t offer the dose I can tolerate which is 250 mg. He hates that I do that and is getting frustrated with me. Any lower and my psychosis starts creeping in. Any higher and I get debilitating GI issues. I was devastated to hear him say I could not try it and postponed it for the 4th time.
He also says despite me being on a super low Tegretol does I would be doubling my risk of Steven Johnson’s syndrome (the deadly rash).
He won’t let me take Tegretol and lamictal together because he says he won’t know which one caused the rash, (if I were to get it) but I’ve been on Tegretol for over a decade with no rash.
The question: is lamictal just for bipolar depression? Does it not curb mania? Is he overreacting regarding the risks? Is his frustration founded regarding me taking the every other day alternating dose? I do that to cope with the fact that they don’t make the dose I need to stay sane enough; it’s not for fun.
I was ready to brave another med trial, which is usually debilitating for me. When my brain is active, which is now, i am able to try new meds. When I am down I am not. I desperately need more medication and he’s basically stringing me along while I am barely keeping it together between mania and the insomnia that comes with it.
When I’m down again, he says he may let me try it, if I promise to only take Tegretol 200 every single day, never going to 300mg even if I feel I need extra to sleep or whatever. Is that too strict or is it reasonable?
I do appreciate a lot of things about him and there is a provider shortage where I live so finding a good alternative doesn’t seem likely. He does seem to get easily stressed and frustrated, seems he’s overworked right now.
I am venting a bit but any thoughts or advice is welcome. 🙏

Has anyone tried ECT or TMS? Allegedly they can be really effective for bipolar and I'm getting desperate. I can stop mania/hypomania but am left with relentless adhonia/apathy and cannot stop the SI. I've tried so many meds and react badly to most of them. Currently on Lamictal alone and I just can't keep this up. I've been in therapy forever, I have a pretty healthy lifestyle and don't drink. Honestly if I didn't have a kid I'd just get off the ride st this point. I don't really even have the desire to get better. It seems so impossible, but I want him to have a good mom so I'm still going. A few years ago a therapist suggest ECT but I wasn't a big fan of her so I'd kind of forgotten till now.