Posted by olysi79 on October 4, 2004, at 19:55:06
In reply to Soft Bipolar, posted by anxiety_free on October 2, 2004, at 22:05:54
I agree, I LOVE trileptal!!! a great medication
> > I saw my doctor yesterday and he suggested the possibility that I may be "soft bipolar". He made this suggestion because I have different sleep problems (cycles?). Sometimes I can sleep forever and then other times I find it hard to sleep at all. The latter may just be stress and/or RLS related but he's not sure and neither am I.
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> > Anyway, he gave me Cymbalta samples to start on because I had told him I wanted to try it and it's a good match for me in other ways. Then he said that if I have a partial or no response that I should consider adding either lithium, Lamictal or Abilify.
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> > Those of you out there who are taking Lamictal or Abilify, do you have the "soft bipolar" diagnosis? I know from this board that a lot of people are on, or at least have tried, one of these medications. I'm wondering if you've had much success with either of them.
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> > Those of you who do not fit into any of the standard bipolar categories who have tried lithium, has this helped you? Did you gain weight?
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> Kara- one of my diagnoses has been Bipolar II, the softer, gentler bipolar. Mood stabilizers helped (I did trileptal...HIGHLY recommend it), but my shrink just kept changing my meds and adding new ones, blah blah blah...I ended up on 7 different meds. My advice: take the cymbalta. Ask for sleeping pills. AVOID lithium and depakote if possible, and avoid the anti-psychotics (even the newer, nicer ones) unless you find yourself...psychotic. trileptal rocks b/c there aren't any labs and, so far, the data makes it seem pretty safe. When my shrink suggested lithium, I said NO. Politely, but firmly...he backed off. I find my new regimine of anti-depressants (Cymbalta and Tofranil), stimulants, and sleeping pills helps me stay regulated and happy. Good luck!
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poster:olysi79
thread:397863
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041002/msgs/398960.html