Lexapro

[MoparGuy1991]

I'm currently on 400mg Lamictal and 250mg Topamax for Bipolar-NOS. They are working fine as mood stabilizers. I'm pretty stable, and I have no more Mixed States. However, I've still been having problems with depression and some obsessive/compulsiveness.

At baseline mood, I'm sad/tearful a lot, I feel like a failure, I often have negative outlook, and I don't have much confidence in myself. When I hear a song that's supposed to be uplifting, I feel sad from it instead. Also, I feel numb sometimes to positive/happy emotions but usually not to mournful ones.

So, at my appt. today, my doctor added 5mg of Lexapro. He told me not to escalate right to 10mg because my system needed to adjust to it.

I'm taking it for the 3rd time.

I took Lexapro two other times.

1st Time- 20mg

I was put on it due to severe Mixed State depressions. Depakote (my mood stabilizer at the time) already hadn't been working at all before Lexapro was prescribed.

So, Lexapro was the only drug really having an effect over few months I took it. It worked very beautifully. It kicked in after 3 weeks. No manic switching or destabilzation despite not having a working mood stabilizer. I went off Lexapro cold turkey myself, and the severe Mixed States came back with a vengeance then....!!!!

2nd Time- 20mg

First few weeks I was on it, I started to get same benefits I got first time. However, I had a moderate depression episode before the drug took full effect, and we saw the doctor. I wasn't on a mood stabilizer yet. He added Geodon and started me on Topamax for mood stabilizer (which had slow titration).

Well, 5 days after having Geodon added to Lexapro, I started to become Manic as Hell and stayed in that phase for 6 weeks 'til Geodon was stopped [temporarily] due to a manic attack. Topamax was upped to 200mg then. Later, Lexapro was dropped on this 2nd trial due to the Manic Attacks from the Geodon and Lexapro interaction. Lexapro ALONE, though, never caused mood switching really.

Last time I took Lexapro was over 1 1/2 years ago.

Does anyone have experiences with taking only 5mg of Lexapro? How does it work for you?

And since I take Lamictal, does this mean that I would require a lower dose of Lexapro than I would have before otherwise?

I've seen studies where they combined Lamictal with SSRI's for TRD and found that they synergized well.

[gretl]

Since adding Topamax to my daughter's Trileptal, she's doing great with 5mg.  We tried it once before and got up to 20mg with no effect on her obsessions and anxiety (it just dropped her seizure threshold through the floor). 

I've been taking 10mg with Trileptal for a couple of years and doing well; now switching to Lamictal and interested to see if they play well together or if I can drop the Lex.

[tallulah]

i find it interesting still that youre taking lexapro - ESPECIALLY after what happened after the second time you tried it?????

youre signature: "Bipolar-NOS Ultra-Rapid/Ultradian Cycling"

my doc wouldnt dare...

i, unfortunately, dont have any comforting words of experience for you.

good luck, i REALLY hope it works for you again...*fingers crossed*

[MoparGuy1991]

I got the manic reaction ONLY after Geodon was added to it. I began to start getting high after about the fifth day on Geodon. I basically went to the Moon and went berserk!! Geodon must do something in the brain that causes that interaction with Lexapro!

Lexapro itself was very beneficial, and I'm one of those who has positive responses to SSRI's. As I mentioned, I didn't have a manic switch at all with it when on it the 1st time even though I really wasn't on a working mood stabilizer.

The Depakote I was taking at the time already wasn't working at all to begin with. And I was ultra rapid cycling to begin with. I think mainly to mixed states.

I think what the Lexapro really helped me with was OCD, Social Phobia, my outlook in life, and my baseline mood. I think it helped me with my possible Aspergers Syndrome because I acted more socially appropriate on it. I think I have this as well because I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in childhood. Also, on Lexapro 1st time, I was able to share feelings with people better and have better emotional reciprocity.

I think bipolars who have social phobia, aspergers traits, and OCD as comorbid conditions can tolerate SSRI's better than bipolars who don't have those conditions.

Overall, since I already have ultra-rapid cycles to begin with, he is all for starting out on low doses when he uses them.