Does anyone take a combination of meds?

[Spiritual Seeker]

My AS has been taking Seroquil and Cymbalta. This week he was prescribed Welbutrin to take in addition to these two for a total of 3 drugs now.

Does anyone have experience with taking a combination of drugs for depression and bipolar disorder ?

Taking all three at once seems excessive rather than perhaps trying a different drug. Aren't Welbutrin and Cymbalta in the same class of drugs?

Any experience that you can share will be appreciated.

[Toomutch]

I take a combination of wellbutrin, prozac, lamictal, clonazapan and trazodone. I take these together for depression, anxiety and bipolar. I know it seems like alot, but the combination is doing it's job well.

[historyteach]

Cymbalta and Wellbutrin are not in the same class of drugs, no. The following information comes from www.rxlist.com, a reliable source of information I've used often.

Cymbalta® (duloxetine hydrochloride) is a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SSNRI).
WELLBUTRIN (bupropion hydrochloride), an antidepressant of the aminoketone class, is chemically unrelated to tricyclic, tetracyclic, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, or other known antidepressant agents.
Both of these meds are for depression.
Seroquel is used for both depression and mania in bipolar I disorder, and for maintenance when used with lithium or depakote.

It is not unusual for people with bipolar spectrum disorder to be on a cocktail of meds. It's often a matter of fine tuning; using one med to offset complications of another med which may be necessary to control moods, etc. Please talk to the doctor about this, as the doc is the only one who can fully explain the rational for your son's particular combination of meds. I only know that it is not unusual at all.

I hope this helps. Others will come and share their ESH.

Shalom!

[Spiritual Seeker]

HistoryTeach-I was wishing that you were around today to respond because of your experience and knowledge; my wish came true.

You and Toomutch explain the "cocktail of meds"
I'll check out the internet resource

[historyteach]

I also like this resource for bipolar information very much:
Bipolar II, Mood Swings without Mania; Brain Tours; Stress and Depression; Hormones and Mood; and more...
There's many links to follow, but, the med link should be very helpful for your needs.

Shalom!

[ReedyJ77]

I used to take, Tegretol, Lithium, Buspar and Disipramine. Worked wonders for me as a kid. Now I am working to get back on them, but WA state is a big worthless piece of crapage. They want to assume its everything else in my life before admitting that Im not trying to play them, I just need help.

[Isaiah]

Seroquel, Celexa and Trilafon! What I have seems to work out alright. I personally can't tell one from another, but I just took the psych's recommendations and things are going fine.

[Spiritual Seeker]

I see a mix of meds is common.

[grateful2b]

yes, I finally have my meds down to the least amount and what works for me, really well...low dose of both Lithium and Trazadone and also Respiradone when needed...

[unholy_mess]

Just quickly about the differences in Wellbutrin and Cymbalta...
Wellbutrin targets dopamine whereas Cymbalta targets serotonin. I'm a neuroscientist, so forgive me if I start science-babble that makes no sense (I tend to do that).
On the most general level, dopamine is more cognitive/behavioral. Serotonin is more emotional. They both fall under the class of biogenic amines, which means the precursors (what they come from) are amino acids.
Dopamine deficiency is associated with the low-energy, low-motivation depressions (not that any depression is particularly peppy!) but serotonin is more associated with discomfort and sort of hopelessness. This is related to the various systems and nuclei projections in the brain that I won't bore you with. So, basically, Wellbutrin is an "upper" anti-depressant...it restores some of the energy and motivation (behavioral). Cymbalta acts more on the emotions: fear, hopelessness, etc.
That's pretty generic and really glosses over the whys of their mechanisms of action but that's pretty much why each is used, so in conjunction, they cover pretty much all of your bases and take care of lots of aspects of depression due to differing neurotransmitter deficiencies.

I'm on a lovely cocktail of Wellbutrin, Lamictal, and Seroquel (for insomnia, but the mood stabilizer doesn't hurt anything!). It's pretty typical to add and subtract and change drugs around until you hit that magic mix that does the trick. Good luck with all of this!

[Spiritual Seeker]

Unholy Mess - thanks for the very informative distinction between the two drugs. I appreciate you putting it in lay terms.

It seems that when you take a combination you would also be managing the combination of side effects that comes with ea.

My son has free state heath insurance for now, in the state where his rehab and sober living are located. Two of his meds have no generic and the insurance does not pay for any of them or his psych visits. Our own state doesn't even have state insurance.
Right now I've accepted financial responsibility, But I can see once I back away the cost of treatment will be a burden that will be difficult to meet.

There definitely is not equal treatment funding for mental health or addiction.

[rickcas06]

I have Bi Polar and Depression; here is the med cocktail I am on after 8 months of tweaking for the right combination:

Lamictal - Generic Brand
Effexxor - Generic brand
Abilify - name brand
Symbrayx - name brand

It is not perfect but it does work well most of the the time. When I get real depressed and down I self cut and thankfully I have not had any cutting episodes lately and I atribute this to the above meds.

Hope this helps and Good Luck to you!!!!

[stainedglass]

I've tried so many things over the years. My current cocktail seems to be working the best.

Daily:
Lithium - 1200mgs
Risperdal - 1mg
Wellbutrin - 300mgs
Depakote - 1000mgs
Celexa - 80mgs
Xanax - .5-1mg as needed
Trazadone - 100-200mgs if needed for sleep

He wants to try me on Lamictal as he's seen great success with that. However I'm uninsured and pay for everything out of pocket. Apparently Lamictal is not too cheap. I also saw Abilify mentioned - I tried that at one point. The first day I took it, I had the worst nausea ever in my life. I was literally green. It was absolutely horrible! Guess not everything works the same for everyone.

I'm bipolar with mainly depressive symptoms btw. Also have anxiety issues and yes, I'm a drug addict. No, I don't abuse my xanax. Stimulants were my thing.

[scott]

BP II, & ADHD here:

Invega 9mg dialy

Suboxone - currently working on a longer term taper this time as I relapsed last time on a short taper.

Wellbutrin XL 150mg daily

So far they are working out great. The Wellbutrin has done wonders for my motivation lately since starting it a couple weeks ago but my concentration is still nowhere near what it was 8 years ago. As my clean time progresses however, it slowly gets better so I'm still trying to figure out if it is ADHD or the after effects of opioid abuse or a little of both.

[mle-sober]

When I was diagnosed Bipolar I two years ago, I was put on Lithium and Seroquel. I also have Ativan as needed. When I began to have a depressive episode, they added Depakote. It did help. Now, as my symptoms come and go, they are always changing the dosages a little here and there. Like others have said, I think it's frequently necessary to use a mixtures of of meds to manage the symptoms of ongoing mental illness.

[KITTYCAT12]

a combination of different meds is effective in most cases. where as one med alone might not be able to work up to all the targeted problem one has to bear. most bipolar, not all, go through alot of ups and downs, and we need something to work with all areas. so thats where the combination comes into play. im on lamitial, abilify, and celeta. 2 of them are mood stablizers and then the last is a anti-depression med. they are working wonderfully.

[Vintersemestre]

Daily:
7AM - Oxycontin 40mg, Effexor 37.5mg, Valium 10mg, Lyrica 150mg
12pm - Oxycodone 10mg (if needed)
5pm - Oxycodone 10mg (if needed)
7pm - Oxycontin 40mg, Valium 5mg, Lyrica 150mg

This is for chronic pain though, and the Valium is to taper off of Clonazepam. I'm nearly off of Effexor.

[tellus]

I'm relieved to know that taking two or three meds at once isn't all that uncommon. I've been treated for depression since I was 13, but recently my meds stopped working (at that point I'd tried just about every A.D. on its own). I'm now on Zoloft (100mg) on top of my Wellbutrin (450mg), and I feel like myself for the first time in years.

[mamabin]

My diagnosis has been chronic depression, seasonal affective disorder, and now bipolar II. I believe bipolar II is the correct diagnosis for me.

lamictal 300 mg - I had a horrible experience with the generic, it sent me into an immediate "depressive episode". I didn't even know that they gave me the generic.

clonazapam 1mg at night, it helps me with restless leg syndrome

wellbutrin 300 mg

prozac 20 mg - I just stopped taking the prozac and after the side effects of vision problems, I feel fine.

The worst one I ever tried was Cymbalta. I was on it for 2 weeks and it took 6 weeks to get off it. I had to find a pharmacist who could compound the dosage so I could get off it gradually. My first 2 days, I felt paralyzed and didn't get out of bed. It was horrible.

I took zoloft for a long time and every time they raised my dosage, I gained 10 lbs. Maybe it wasn't connected but I think it was.

This is just my experience. I hate having to take a cocktail of meds in the morning and I feel like a guinea pig when trying something new. But it is what it is and I think antidepressants have saved my life more than once.

[bovinePieBear]

I take Lithium and Venlafaxine, and have done for about a year after various experiments for the preceding five years. My diagnosis is bipolar II.

[IO Storm]

Severe BP I

I take Depakote 1500 mg. combined with Topomax 100 mg. to stabilize mood swings.