Posted by Raisinb on September 18, 2012, at 20:11:08
In reply to 1st Mood Stabilizer-What Would You Start With?, posted by Gia36 on September 17, 2012, at 22:45:50
My symptoms are similar to yours. I've tried Lamictal, Lithium, Abilify, Trileptal, and Symbyax (a combo of Prozac and zyprexa).
Since lithium has probably the most research to back it up, I'd start with that. Many people do well on it. It gave me horrible side effects (brain fog, cystic acne, and constipation) but there are many people who tolerate it really well.
Trileptal and Abilify didn't do anything for me. My pdoc says Trileptal doesn't seem to help anybody much, but that's just his experience. Abilify is very expensive but the drug reps give out savings cards to pdocs, which can get you a month free then a copay of thirty bucks a month for eighteen months thereafter. Without insurance it's 700-800 dollars for a month's supply. My pdoc says Abilify is "the s***t" and helps tons of his patients dramatically.
Lamictal helped when combined with an SSRI, but not without one. I've also tried seroquel, which didn't do anything but make me groggy.
I finally settled on Symbyax, which is helping. You may have to try three or four before you find one is right for you, but the good news is there are many options.
poster:Raisinb
thread:1025977
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120912/msgs/1026079.html