Need advice on bipolar II

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
Need advice on bipolar II
3
Mon, 04-03-2006 - 8:19am

After many, many years of suffering from depression and spending the last six years on and off in therapy and taking meds that didn't work (Paxil, Zoloft) I started with a new therapist who suggested I may be bipolar type II.

She started me on Wellbutrin XL a week ago (hopefully it will help me lose some of the 60 lbs. I gained from the Paxil/Zoloft!) What concerns me is what meds she may put me on for the bipolar disorder and their side effects. I have a job that requires me to be extremely quick thinking and alert and able to work long hours, and I'm concerned about sleepiness, forgetfulness, etc. Can anyone tell me about some of the drugs that she may prescribe and what your experiences with them are?

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2005
Mon, 04-03-2006 - 9:00am

Hi and Welcome to the board, glad you found us !!


The thing with meds you have to keep in mind is that everyone reacts differently.


I've taken Lamictal before....while I gained 30-40lbs on it, some people lose weight on it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Mon, 04-03-2006 - 1:18pm

Twiggy,

I've been on a few of the different meds. Other than antidepressants and sleeping medicine I've tried Depakote, Abilify and Lamictal. Depakote made me kind of dopey at first but it went away after a few weeks. I need a lot of sleep but I'm not really sleepy during the day (especially since I started going to the gym). I am terribly forgetful but I've found ways to adapt to that (specifically writing everything down). For me the meds are well worth the side effects.

Morgaine

Avatar for chilaili
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 04-03-2006 - 2:05pm

Hi there,
I'm BP 2 also and I've found that the mood stabiliser Trileptal (or Tegretol) works very well for me but it tended to make me sleepy, so I take it at night to avoid nodding off over my PC. When I first started taking it I noticed an big increase in my forgetfulness (sometimes even total blackouts), but now that has worn off. While it was a problem, I just wrote everything down. I've tried Paxil but immediately gained about 20lbs so now I'm on Lexapro which works pretty well.

All the best