Need help!

I need treatment for my bipolar/psychosis symtoms, but I fear fully developing severe side-effects such as Tardive Dyskinesia(TD), which I already have minor permanent complications from, while taking anti-psychotics, as well as increasing the severity of my psychosis permanently!

I have severe mood swings, crippling paranoia, and I've got occasional visual hallucinations. I've been off my meds for awhile and was for a short-time I was on a cocktail of Risperdal, along with a mood-stabilizer, and antidepressant which I don't remember the names of. I didn't have additional symptoms of TD with that cocktail (I was on it for only a month), and it totally abolished my psychosis symptoms for awhile(The only cocktail that, for the short-period of time that I was taking it, had actually worked!), I just fear that taking Rispidal for a longer period of time will eventually add on to the severeness of my TD, as it's said that it can potentially do.

What do I do? I don't want to have additional TD symptoms, or any other severe symptoms commonly associated with anti-psychotics, but I need relief from my Bipolar/psychosis symptoms!

Advice PLEASE?!

HideAndSeek, please talk to your doctor about this. Tell him/her about all your concerns, all of them, and if this doc doesn't help, ask for a second opinion or even a third one. I know someone who has bipolar with psychosis too, and they're finally on meds that seem to work for them, even though it was a struggle. So please don't give up!

Thanks, I have an appointment coming up with a different Dr. so I hope it all works out. Unfortunately, I have very few options with who I can see, since my insurance is not a very popular one. Second and third opinions are practically to no avail.

Good luck with your appointment, I hope they help you! Tell them about all your concerns and about what you wrote here.