Posted by SLS on February 19, 2016, at 8:00:17
In reply to Suicidal ideation, adding lithium, posted by Tabitha on February 19, 2016, at 0:40:20
It is not unusual for people to react to Wellbutrin by experiencing agitation, anger, and anxiety. I doubt you would react differently if you were given a mood stabilizer. You never know, though. (Just covering my butt).
I have bipolar depression. Bipolar depression is generally more difficult to treat than unipolar depression (major depressive disorder).
Regarding using Abilify as monotherapy, I have not seen anyone here describe it as being effective for depression. For me, Abilify does very little unless it is combined with other drugs. I know one person who did pretty well by combining Abilify and Lamictal. She did not take any antidepressants, and never displayed bipolarity. I suppose one strategy is to push the dosage of Lamictal to 200-300 mg/day if you tolerate it and then add Abilify. 200 mg/day of Lamictal just doesn't cut it for me. At 300 mg/day, I respond significantly better. I did experience some cognitive and memory side effects at first, but these things disappeared completely. Once you establish a Lamictal dosage, you could then add Abilify.
Make sure a "school of thought" doesn't interfere with your treatment. One school of thought is to use only one drug at a time. It is likely that this school of thought will prevent you from getting well. Another school of thought is to leave MAOIs as a desperate last resort. I certainly wouldn't choose it as a first-line treatment. The question becomes how many different treatments can one think of that avoids using a MAOI. You could probably put off using a MAOI for 10 years.
By the way, in the event that your feelings of suicide do not remit quickly enough with lithium, using Zyprexa temporarily is an option. It often works within a week. 5 mg/day given at night might be a good place to start.
Although I didn't react well to it, NAC (N-acetylcysteine) is sometime recommended for bipolar depression - especially in combination with Lamictal. It can take 3-6 months to work. It is more of a food-supplement than it is a drug.
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1086267
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160131/msgs/1086277.html