Bipolar Depression

My son, who is 18yrs.was diagnosed about 1 mon. ago with BP. We have felt for quite some time something was wrong. He has had signs of ADHD, but he also has been using pot for a couple yrs.We have been very confused, as what to do for him. He finally came to us and asked for help with quitting, and he was in a substance abuse program for about 45 days. He was placed on Straterra, but after a couple weeks he became very depressed. After that did not work, he started using drugs again and stopped the program. Another month passed and we were able to get him to another Dr. who works with ADHD and other disorders. He placed him on Vyvanse and lexapro. After 6 days he had avery bad episode of anger, anxiousness and deep scary depression. As I've learned a Mixed episode. We went back and he changed his Meds and diagnosed BP. He put him on 300mg Lithium 2x's a day, 25mg of lamictal,titrating up by 12.5mg a week to 100mg, and 25-50mg of seroquel, but he is now taking 75mg seroquel, 25mg am and 50mg pm. He has improved, but still having some anxiety, irrritablity. Does anyone know why so many meds at one time? The Dr. tried to explain , but it dose'nt make much sense to me. Why not start with one and go from there? How do you really know which one is working for him? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
kland

I'm sure there are more people on here who actually have the disease themselves and can chime in to give you info, but I thought I'd just put my two cents in. This is from what I have read only: Different meds are given to control and counteract different aspects of the disease and also some are given to counteract the side effects of the other meds. It is kind of a "trial & error" process until the shrink finds the "right" balance for the patient, as everyone is different with regard to their body chemistry.

I know someone who is only on lithium (has been for years) and is quite stable and runs a business where she manages several employees. Another person I know has been on and off various combinations of meds for over 10 years and nothing seems to work for her - she barely leaves the house.

I hope they find something which works for your son - it is a difficult disease to control. Proper nutrition (especially wild-caught salmon), vitamins, supplements and mind/body exercises (yoga, tai chi, etc.) can help, from what I have read and heard.

Good luck to you.

Thank you for the info. The Dr. did talk about treating different levels of the brain? I guess I wish he could have started on just 1 med to see if it could work with less medication. Thank you again!

Well, It's YOUR body! Why don't you ask you doc if you can just go on one med and see how it goes? Some docs just have a "cookie cutter" mentality when giving out meds and one size does not fit all. Why take a combo, when perhaps just one may work for you? The doc could monitor your symptoms and adjust accordingly. It's not an exact science, where they can give you a test and then say, OK, you need XYZ meds. It's all trial and error. Sometimes none of the meds work because the patient really doesn't have a chemical imbalance. Sometimes the issues are just psychological (as I suspect for the person I know who takes all kinds of meds and nothing works), but there's no clinical way to find out.

Well it's my son's body, he's 18 but he allows us to attend his appts. I did'nt want to ask too many questions in front of him, because I don't want him to get too frustrated and not comply with taking them at all. I also have just started this journey of learning about BP, it is all so confusing and scary. Thanks for the chat!