bad dreams ... need med change!

[Phillies]

Hi everyone! New here at crazyboards! I need some advice.

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. My current medication (for bipolar...I am mostly manic/mixed) is causing me too many crazy dreams at night. Its uncomfortable and some nights I don't feel as well rested as I should. I am taking trileptal 900mg currently and it seems to work well to control my manic symptoms. My doctor wanted to treat it as a "night terror" and tried Ativan 1mg pm. Works well though I just cannot stand the hangovers. Also withdrawl from just that 1mg is awful. Never again. I felt similar about Ambien. I need an anti-manic but I'm afraid to take Depakote. I've heard about all the side effects (hair, weight gain, etc). I also am not open to take an atypical anti-psycotic.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas for me. Much appreciated.

[melissaw72]

Welcome to CB! The hangovers from the ativan might go away in time when your body gets used to it. Maybe you are on too much? Usually if you are taking a benzo regularly though you dont go into withdrawal. When are you taking it/how often?

[Guest]

You know, if you don't want to change your mood stabilizer or take a sleeping pill or take a benzo or take an AP, there isn't much else to try. If you're unwilling to take or change all these things then there really isn't much to discuss.

[Phillies]

Welcome to CB! The hangovers from the ativan might go away in time when your body gets used to it. Maybe you are on too much? Usually if you are taking a benzo regularly though you dont go into withdrawal. When are you taking it/how often?

I was taking 1mg for about 2 weeks. I could feel it hard in the morning I hate it. Went into a withdrawl for about 2-3 days when I stopped.

[Phillies]

You know, if you don't want to change your mood stabilizer or take a sleeping pill or take a benzo or take an AP, there isn't much else to try. If you're unwilling to take or change all these things then there really isn't much to discuss.

No I want to change mood stabilizers but I just don't want an AP. From what I can see there are only 2 mood stabilizers for predominantly manic symptoms: trileptal and depakote. Depakote kind of scares me from what I read around here.

Also to the above poster Ambien was making me depressed as hell the next day.

[netsavy006]

There are other mood stabilizers out there. There are lithium, lamictal, tegretol.

In terms of sleep, there are other sleep aids out there such as rozerem and lunesta.

[melissaw72]

Welcome to CB! The hangovers from the ativan might go away in time when your body gets used to it. Maybe you are on too much? Usually if you are taking a benzo regularly though you dont go into withdrawal. When are you taking it/how often?

I was taking 1mg for about 2 weeks. I could feel it hard in the morning I hate it. Went into a withdrawl for about 2-3 days when I stopped.

Maybe you were on too high of a dose. If/When I have too much xanax at night I feel like a truck hit me in the AM.

[Guest]

If you're up for changing mood stabilizers then I'd try lithium if it were me. If that didn't work then I'd try Depakote. If that didn't work then I'd try Tegretol.

Your best bet is a cocktail of a mood stabilizer and an atypical antipsychotic. You don't explain why you don't want to go this route. For most of us, a combination is what it takes to keep symptoms under control.

[crtclms]

You can't assume that because a med has a reputation for a certain side effect that you will have that side effect. I took depakote for years, yet haven't lost any hair. The first time I took it, I lost a ton of weigh. The second time, I lost some weight, then gained it and a few more pounds back.

A few people (only a few) also respond to Neurontin or Topamax. I responded to Neurontin the first time I took it, but the second time I started to gain weight rapidly.

So even as one person, I have had different reactions at different times.

So don't let the *potential* side effects scare you away from entire classes of medication that have been shown to be really beneficial for many people.

If you can't tolerate a med, you can always stop it (under your pdoc's supervision).

[Phillies]

Welcome to CB! The hangovers from the ativan might go away in time when your body gets used to it. Maybe you are on too much? Usually if you are taking a benzo regularly though you dont go into withdrawal. When are you taking it/how often?

I was taking 1mg for about 2 weeks. I could feel it hard in the morning I hate it. Went into a withdrawl for about 2-3 days when I stopped.

Maybe you were on too high of a dose. If/When I have too much xanax at night I feel like a truck hit me in the AM.

I was on 10mg ambien, then down to just 5mg and I was still feeling depressed/slow in the morning. That went until lunch time and not just subtle either. I do not like that feeling. 50mg seroquel just made my bad dreams even worse.

[melissaw72]

So it is the Ambien that is making you feel like you do in the morning, or is it the Ativan?

[Phillies]

Hey I'm a n00b guys take it easy! Sylvan and crtclms try and clarify this for me. Assume I am bipolar NOS with mostly manic symptoms. What else could work for me (no AAPs or APs please).

So only trileptal and depakote are indicated for predominantly manic symptoms correct? It says Topamax is given for seizure/epilepsy though? Given "off label" for bipolar does it work for mania/hypomania?

[Phillies]

So it is the Ambien that is making you feel like you do in the morning, or is it the Ativan?

Both of them. Ambien= depression, Ativan= spacey/tired.

Then I start drinking coffee to wake up from that and me and coffee don't mix.

[melissaw72]

So it is the Ambien that is making you feel like you do in the morning, or is it the Ativan?

Both of them. Ambien= depression, Ativan= spacey/tired.

Then I start drinking coffee to wake up from that and me and coffee don't mix.

Maybe you are just on too high a dose of each, and/or the combo isn't working with your system. I'd tell your pdoc how you feel, and s/he might decrease the dose. And if the coffee doesn't "mix", then I'd try something other than coffee in the AM. Black teas have caffeine in them also unless it specifies caffeine-free.

[Guest]

Hey I'm a n00b guys take it easy! Sylvan and crtclms try and clarify this for me. Assume I am bipolar NOS with mostly manic symptoms. What else could work for me (no AAPs or APs please).

So only trileptal and depakote are indicated for predominantly manic symptoms correct? It says Topamax is given for seizure/epilepsy though? Given "off label" for bipolar does it work for mania/hypomania?

Lithium. That would be my first choice.

Topamax would be very far down on my list of what to try next. The cognitive side effects are pretty bad.

[Phillies]

Hey I'm a n00b guys take it easy! Sylvan and crtclms try and clarify this for me. Assume I am bipolar NOS with mostly manic symptoms. What else could work for me (no AAPs or APs please).

So only trileptal and depakote are indicated for predominantly manic symptoms correct? It says Topamax is given for seizure/epilepsy though? Given "off label" for bipolar does it work for mania/hypomania?

Lithium. That would be my first choice.

Topamax would be very far down on my list of what to try next. The cognitive side effects are pretty bad.

Ok say for example I tried the depakote. It says the blood levels go from 50-130. How many miligrams equates to about a blood level of 50 in a normal 170 pound adult male? Could I get an effect from less then 50? Honestly what are the chances I could gain weight or have hair loss? I'm medication sensitive to everything I put into my body. I flipped out one time from just being on Lexapro. When you say the cognitive side effects for Topamax are pretty bad does that mean only at high to medium doses or at low doses too? I still don't understand what bipolar meds= what symptoms (manic vs depression).

[Guest]

Why do you keep going back to Depakote when I keep saying lithium?

If you are looking for something to bring you down from mania and you will not take an AP or AAP then you should look into LITHIUM. Lithium works well for mania. Your premise that Depakote and Trileptal are the only meds for mania is a false assumption. Lithium. I'll say it one more time. Lithium.

If you want to know about Depakote all I can tell you is my experience. I took it. It didn't do squat. I quit taking it a few months later after giving it a good try. As far as blood levels go, it depends upon how YOU metabolize it. I had no hair loss. I did have weight gain.

You need to quit worrying about potential side effects. They are potential because not everyone gets them. Are you seriously interested in getting well? If you are, you won't give a damn about hair loss and weight gain. You'll take whatever you need to, to save your life.