ALERT - Meds Change

I'm making my first medication adjustment for my bipolar in over a year.  I'm reducing the Abilify I take by 50 percent from 30 mg/day to 15 mg/day in the evening.  We'll see soon how this works out, stay tuned.

Abilify was prescribed for my depression - specifically, it is being used as an add-on treatment for treatment resistant depression when an antidepressant alone is inadequate.  The exact way Abilify (or any other psychiatric medication for that matter) works is unknown. It is thought that it may work by affecting the activity of some key brain neurotransmitters — adjusting dopamine, instead of completely blocking it, and adjusting serotonin.  Okay, whatever.

I reported to my psychiatrist last Friday that some depression symptoms were not acceptable.  I was having too much difficulty getting out of bed and starting my day.  She said Abilify can sometimes make people groggy and get the "stuckness" feeling.

So, we decided reducing the Abilify was worth trying.  I was skeptical at first since Abilify was the last drug I added to my medication regime back in October 2010.  It was added at that time to curb an oncoming depression episode.  I do remember it helping some at the time.

With the current adjustment my new medication cocktail is: Morning - 450 mg Wellbutrin, 60 mg Cymbalta; Evening - 15 mg Abilify, 300 mg Lamictal, and 60 mg Cymbalta.  I also take a multivitamin and 300 mg of omega 3 from a fish oil capsule.  I'm glad the fish oil is in a capsule because it tastes pretty nasty.  Is this stuff the extract of fish guts or what?

Here's a mosaic of my current medication cocktail. ==>  ==>  That's all for now.  Join me next time for a look at bipolar disorder and stress!