Antidepressants with my AAP, if it's working

[koali777]

I stay true to my meds...I try not to have tons of caffeine or smoke anymore, I have been getting sleep, eating healthy, working out... But I feel I keep having mood cycles regardless. It can be a happy day and I'm sad and hopeless, a bad day and I'm manic as hell...the Latuda has been a lifesaver for my psychosis...it's basically gone. Do AAPs work better with antidepressants because it lessens the sedating, flat effects? Is it hurting me because it causes mania? My pdoc seems to think I'm doing well, even though this is going on. It sucks when I see him on a manic day because my life is just roses. I wish he saw me on depressed days too. I worry about how flat I may be without the Wellbutrin, even though Latuda is supposed to be better for that. Also...how can I know if it's the Latuda anyway, and not my cessation of stimulants or healthy behavior? I wish I could see my brain, like a scan, and that it'd actually tell me something, lol.

[llama44]

If your pdoc saw you while you were "manic" don't you think he would have noticed a lot of the warning signs just by observing you even? And by trying to follow your speech and plans? My pdoc saw me when manic and didn't even recognize me as a patient, even though I had been seeing him for almost a year. That's how different you look when manic! You're a whole different person.

I just want to be sure that you are aware what mania is and if you are experiencing it or just having a great day.

[Guest]

Wouldn't it be nice if there were some test that could tell you the answer to all those questions? I'd love one. Unfortunately one doesn't exist.

Healthy behavior will not rid you of mental illness. It will most certainly make you feel better but it isn't a cure.

You have to try to look at it logically. You started taking Latuda and now your psychosis is better. Chances are really good that Latuda is the reason.

I'm not aware of anything that says that an APP works better with an AD. Usually your pdoc will give you meds based upon your symptoms. You must have told him/her at some point that you were depressed. You certainly are on a lot of Wellbutrin so I'm guessing that you and your pdoc think that you have significant symptoms that would be helped by Wellbutrin.

If you are experiencing mood swings then maybe you should chart them and take the chart with you to your next appointment. That might go a long way in letting your pdoc know how your moods fluctuate.

[koali777]

I'm not uneducated, in fact maybe I've read too much on everything, because I sometimes wonder if I imagine my own symptoms at times. Anyway, yes I can recite verbatim to you what mania is, and what the symptoms are. This same pdoc didn't seem to mind when I talked about being suicidal, I think you and I were writing back and forth about what I've been going through... Anyway that aside, I wish healthy behavior could fix me. It doesn't. I have noticed that the happy feeling I get from exercise isn't the same happy feeling I have when I want to drink and do drugs all the time, blow a lot of money, or sleep around. So perhaps more natural? And yes I think he thinks Wellbutrin is perfect for me, and in a lot of ways I love it...I just don't like how I feel sometimes. If the way I feel is a "great day" I don't want it because I feel out of control and annoy people, or get super irritable and think everyone else is holding me back. I hate myself like that. PS I was thinking of using the mood tracker thing, so since you mentioned it, I'll check it out.