Which Bipolar drug is best for someone with racing thoughts at night??
I have been presclibed Tegrotol(100mg) and it only worked good the 1st night… starting the 2nd night I could not sleep again. My doctor has told me to increase the dose to 200mg which i will be trying tonight… but I am also on Zoloft for depression, which was great up to when I started bipolar medication(except the racing thought and sleep problems) , but now I am not getting the good effects of Zoloft…. I have heard of Lithum but then I hear it has a lot of side effects for long term use…. so are there any newer drugs that have less side effects???
Tagged with: Best • Bipolar • drug • night • racing • someone • thoughts
Filed under: Bipolar Drugs
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Seroquil will put you to sleep. It’s an anti-psy.
Marijuana. I’m not kidding. Your mind will be totally free.
You’ll sleep like a baby.
Side effects: Yellow fingers from eating a whole bag of Doritos.
I was on Abilify for about 2 weeks but unfortunately i had some signifects and had to get off it. But different medicines work for all different people, so ask your doctor. Also maybe ask about Lamictal, thats what i take now and it works pretty good for me.
I would ask to be taken off of the zoloft. SSRI’s can do bad wild things to us bipolars. Lithum should work but it takes time (2 weeks?). Short term anti-psy drugs would be a good idea. I try not to worry about sleep when I am hypo manic because my brain will just push me thru the day with little sleep just fine. 2-4 hours of sleep for a week won’t mess you up, just don’t lay in bed and fret. Get up and use your time. All the psy meds take time so hang in there.
I take risperdal which is an anti psychotic. This works well for the racing thoughts and other things. I was also on lithium it gave me terrible side effects I was always thirsty and it threw my kidney and thyroid function all out of whack.
I’d say ditch the Zoloft and take an anti-psychotic. I take Geodon and it helps me sleep. When I still can’t sleep, I take a little Zyprexa too. Geodon and Abilify are the best anti-psychotics because they don’t cause weight gain like the others.
I am not a fan of tregrotol, especially for bipolar treatment. My sister takes it for epilepsy (because it is an anti-convulsant) and she complains of memory loss and severe mood swings sometimes depression from it…. but she has also taken other anti-epileptic medication)
Lithium carbonate I think is an even worse idea. Immediate side effects include: weight gain, dry mouth, and tremors. Also lithium is very toxic at high doses but ineffective at low doses so your dosage must be very carefully monitored by frequent blood tests. The long term effect is kidney damage.
Are you diagnosed bipolar? The drugs besides tregretol often prescribed depakote and topamax (also anti-convulsants). How many times a day do you take it. According to one site on tregretol it is said: “Adjust dosage to the minimum effective level, usually 800-1200 mg daily.”
A possible side effect of anti-depressant serotonin uptake inhibitors like Zoloft is insomnia. I don’t know i that applied to your sleep problem.
The thing that sucks is that everything has side effects, especially these meds. And they are never good. Plus long term effects aren’t really well known since they are sometimes hard to distinguish from what might be symptoms of the condition.
I hope you work through talk therapy as well to help quiet your mind. Try learning to relax more during the day.
If you are not bipolar though, I would keep away from those drugs and try something less damaging and more relaxing and not addicting. I believe it’s already been suggested in an earlier comment….
There isn’t one drug that is “best” for everyone. It’s which one works right for you. I take zoloft for depression, but there are going to be 500 people on here that tell you they hate zoloft and it doesn’t help them at all. That’s fine but it works great for me. I’ve heard that Lithium is very effective but I’ve never taken it. If your meds aren’t working, you need to have a dose adjustment or a change in medications. It may take a period of time but you will find the right dosages and medications that will help. There are many medications out there, it’s just frustrating to go through the trial and error process.
Hands down the best drug for racing thoughts is Geodon.
I take Geodon 40 mg and I have never had a problem with racing thoughts, mania, or psychosis for 3 years now.
Also I have been on the Deans List in college for good grades– and last semester I got a perfect score on my Finance final so you definitely can think clearly while on a low dose of Geodon.
No weight gain either.
I also take Lamictal 200 mg (mood stabilizer) and Abilfiy 10 mg (for depression).
It’s really weird that you are on Zoloft. That’s not a good medication for bi-polar because it can set off mood swings.
I would get a second opinion from another psychiatrist!
If you are going on a mood stabilizer– definitely try Lamictal before Depakote because Depakote causes weight gain. (I’ve taken it.)