I'm new....hello.

I am new to the message board. I am a 26 year old male from North Carolina. I was diagnosed this past April with Bipolar Disorder 1 (mixed). My regular doctor put me on Lexapro which seemed to work great until I went to my first psychiatrist appointment a month ago. He said that antidepressants were bad for people with BP. He took me off Lexapro and placed me on Lithium. Wow talk about a bad month...I have been extremely depressed and manic since getting off of Lexapro. The lithium has also gave me diahrea all month. Well I went to the psych yesterday and he said "well I didn't think the Lithium would help you since you have mixed BP 1". LOL well why did he put me on it!! I guess just to see if there was a slim chance it would help I guess. He gave me Dekatope this time which I just starting taking last night. It's too soon to tell if it is helping any, but I do feel kind of jumpy and I find it hard to concentrate on one thing. I hope that this stuff works, but I am also afraid of the possible side effects of weight gain and hair loss. Well I just wanted to give you guys a brief introduction. Thanks for listening.


wlj

hello, welcome to the board, i am in the same boat, i was on lithium for about 2 weeks and i was a total wreck, everything you mentioned plus blurry vision, doc stopped the lithium 2 days ago and started me on depakote 1000mg a day so lets see what happens, i will keep you updated on the side effects if there are any. good luck to you and let me know how the depakote works for you. ciao.

hammerlane wrote:hello, welcome to the board, i am in the same boat, i was on lithium for about 2 weeks and i was a total wreck, everything you mentioned plus blurry vision, doc stopped the lithium 2 days ago and started me on depakote 1000mg a day so lets see what happens, i will keep you updated on the side effects if there are any. good luck to you and let me know how the depakote works for you. ciao.

thanks for the reply....I am on 1000 MG of Depakote too. Let's definitely keep in touch...I am interested in how it is affecting you. Since I just started last night I can't really tell anything yet except I am jumpy and can't concentrate very well. I am having a tough time getting my work done at my job. I hope it works for me and you. We'll see I guess.

wlj

hi all,

im on 1000mg depakote also , for 5 weeks now. it seems to be working well, bringing me out of a very severe depression, slowly.

side effects are pretty minimal at the moment, just a little nausea.

i wish you both well

keep posting

love freedomxx

sorry forgot to log in

on depakote for 2 days now, so far the only side effect seems to be a severe headache each morning.

Side Effects after 5 days:


1. BAD upset stomach all the friggin time.
2. Nausea
3. Jumpy
4. Can't concentrate well
5. More headaches than normal


It hasn't seemed to help me mentally yet. I am still having mania and depression like before.


wlj

on depakote for 4 days and;

1. upset stomach if i dont eat something with
the meds.

2. up and down episodes.

3. blurry vision.

4. noise sensative.

5. sleeping better, so hopefully the rest of
these symptoms will settle down.

I am having terrible mania today at work. I am so mad at the world I have almost knocked my monitor off my desk more than once. I keep making mistakes and I can't concentrate. This is one terrible day. Tomorrow I will probably be depressed as all hell.



wlj

On Depakote for 4 weeks now,
hang in there guys--i feel so much better,
depressive symptoms subsiding more and more each day.
nausea minimal
i found the best time to take them for me is 7 am and 9pm [ 500mg each dose ] this is helping me to sleep , i actually slept all night last night for the first time in about 6 months.
stick with it !!!

love freedomx