dangergirl Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Hi there, Some of you may remember me from way back - I mean like years ago. I have no idea what my sig says - but BP2, ADHD, OCD - currently on 150 mg Wellbutrin and 100 Lamictal. Lexapro finally pooped out on me, so we switched to Wellbutrin, which is working pretty well for me. Played with the dosage on the Lamictal - as much as 250mg - and this definitely seems to be the sweet spot for me. The problem is that I need a little extra help in the stabilizing department and I tried Zyprexa and it was AWESOME! However, I gained 5 lbs in 2 weeks and that is absolutely unacceptable. I'm already about 40 lbs overweight and I told my pdoc that, what's the good in feeling chemically better when I feel emotionally distraught (differentiating here between bipolar and situational depression). I don't care how good it made me feel, I will not take something that makes me fat (yes, I'm friggin vain and I don't give a shit). I've tried a slew of stuff and nothing seems to work very well - I cannot take anything that might make me sleepy - abilify had me sleeping upwards of 16 hours a day and I certainly can't take a case of the stupids either. Yes, I do realize that this is absolutely making my options null but I thought the smart and helpful people here might have some suggestions. Anything that works like Zyprexa without a case of the monstrous weight gain? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Geodon is weight neutral. I don't find it really sedating. Moving to antipsychotics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Latuda has been weight neutral and non-sedating for me. What have you tried so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangergirl Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 Thanks for both of your responses - I was really excited to try it, but Latuda did nada for me. I have an appointment with pdoc today and will get the list of all that we've tried (can't remember them all). I absolutely cannot take Depakote - made me both suicidal and homicidal (because I was so suicidal). Seroquel turned me into a dribbling idiot and Topomax didn't really seem to be all that effective at controlling the moods (and I didn't lose any weight either). I know that I'm forgetting one or two in there (at least). I will say that I had tried Wellbutrin years ago and it was too activating, so I stopped it, but this time around it's working really well. I'm not sure if I just didn't give it enough time to settle down last time or if the rest of my cocktail is different enough that it's just working better. My gp offered up tegretol, but I was really annoyed that he was giving me psychiatric advice as I told him that I had someone that I've been working with on this issue - that and it was a gp that originally diagnosed me, put me on meds without explaining how they'd make me feel and then refused to return my calls about losing my shit because he was on vacation and then charged me for a consult with an answer of "go to the emergency room". So I don't trust gp's psychiatric advice, to say the least. I've been avoiding anything that requires regular blood tests - too scary for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konings Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Asenapine, risperidone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangergirl Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Thanks konings - my pdoc and I have ruled out risperidone as I'm super sensitive to meds and we both think that would be overkill for me. I've never heard of asenapine - do you have any experience with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifluous Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 navane and haldol have historically worked the best for me and all atypical crap just sucks in comparison and i have to take shit to deal with the additional shit it brings. i don't know if you've tried traditional antipsychotics but i wish i'd never switched off and i'm not taking anymore of them. period. oops. i just saw you say you're bipolar and whatnot. prolly should disregard what i said above as that's not my flavour. best wishes to you nonetheless. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtac Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Saphris (asenapine) had me so tired I was sleepy until after 12pm most days, after taking it at 10pm the night before. I fell asleep at my desk at 1-2pm more than once. I also had a meltdown on it and wanted to go IP, but I held out. There might have been some AP effect, but I was too tired to notice. I think I lasted 3 weeks and the side effects never got better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konings Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 (edited) I have not tried asenapine, but Im fairly sure its softer than risperidone. Edited May 3, 2013 by konings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysergia Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 i've nothing to offer in the way of suggestions, i just wanted to say hi dangergirl . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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