that is something that only a doctor could answer

They are looking to put me on the same meds. Though I do believe I actually am bipolar do you mind telling me about your experience and side effects on these two meds?

how are your moods today? Why did you begin the medications,what was the doctors reasons,what were your symptoms for this diagnosis to be made in the first place? Like was said above, ONLY a doctor can say if you need them or not,if you are bi-polar(there are differing levels of bi-polar too)they have prescribed this for you for a reason. Very common for bipolar sufferers to stop taking their meds,the symptoms become less and less,seeming to the person that they are 'cured' or' all better' meanwhile it is the medications doing all the work they were designed to do.The suffering returns soon after they stop taking the medications,something triggers the original moods( for which they were diagnosed in the first place) to return and the roller coaster ride begins all over again. How do I know this??I have been on and off meds for over 15 years,,I had the thoughts that I wasn't bipolar,that it was just a phase,that the doctors didn't diagnose me right,that the doctors were wrong to label me,the list of reasons to stop taking my meds were endless.In the end I have come to terms with the diagnosis,I am totally compliant to my meds,to the advice of my doctors and therapists,I believe that my life has become rather placid. This winter has been the BEST winter I have had in over 30 years,no grave depression(seasonal depression)and my moods have stabilized to the point the GF is not running for the bathroom for protection( so to speak...lol) If you can live with yourself and don't feel you need the meds,I applaud you,not sarcasm.I can't do it,I have tried and tried and I accept what I have and the treatments. Good luck, I hope you are right about ending the meds. Ken

yes. just because you feel better now, when the weather changes, something happens in your life, etc.. you will have another episode, and if you stayed on your meds, it would have never happened

I finally am in a great mindset after being the Van Wilder at my college. I was a pothead/casual weed smoker which quickly progressed into 3 grams a day habit/social cigarette smoker which quickly progressed to 1 1/2 packs a day/drank a decent amount/dabbled in lsd and shrooms/and tons of legal yet to be tested buy on the internet drugs ie: salvia and so forth. I was what they call "self medicating" yet I didn't realize I was or why I was. Let me first start with a good old background story/cheesy montage. I was never a great student in school... ever. Yet the last I was...was stupid, even though after awhile I was having serious doubts. I took on the role of class clown. I rarely did my homework instead looking outside at the kids playing on recess. why couldn't I be out there playing instead of doing these boring assignments. I would constantly pass by the skin of my teeth due to my ability to charm pretty much anyone. Overall throughout my entire school career K-12, I was acting in order to fit in, but on the inside I was feeling so disconnected/lonely from everyone. The absolute worst part was not having any answers for why I was behaving as I was, and believe me its not as if me/my parents didn't try. In elementary school they thought it was ADD, got tested and wasn't. They said I just had a problem with authority so on and so forth. Fast Forward to my Senior Year in College. I got to the point where I didn't want to/couldn't fake it anymore. I was seriously contemplating suicide because I personally couldn't deal with the world and how it was treating me. I felt so low about myself self, had no self esteem, wasn't eating at all, just smoking what I came to realize, tons and tons of money I would charm from parents/earn from jobs. I willingly told my parents how I was feeling one weekend when I was home. This was after I accidentally pick up and read a book at home "An Unquiet Mind" that my mother had laying around. I got only a few chapters in and began to cry because it was honestly the first time I was able to ever fully relate to someone/something...ever!. The words felt as if they were my words, and I felt so much for the writer, it was life changing. I had heard the word Bipolar/ manic depression mentioned before, but I never really gave them any thought. Turns out it runs in my family on my mother's side, which makes the possibility of her children developing it higher. With the support of my parents I took a medical withdrawl from my final semester, in which I went to probably 5 of the 50 classes total. Yet when you have a medical reason, man do people let you get your way. Not saying you should abuse it because that won't get you anywhere. I really didn't care about school anymore and would rather have said fuck it, but it saved my ass in a situation that I thought was hopeless and essentially allowed me to stand up for myself and my illness. I willingly entered myself into a inpatient treatment facility which was followed by a few months of out patient behavioral therapy. I pretty much had to learn how to live, but this time...really. The stigma of mental hospitals may still be there, but let me tell you, this was more of a resort than a hospital. what I found was 90% of the people I met there were exactly like me, it was amazing. I was there for 10 days in which they tested me and put me on medications that would help my situation (Seroquel XR 200mg as a mood stabilizer (It is a miracle drug that has numerous uses for tons of different conditions) and Lexapro for an antidepressant. Flash forward 1 1/2 years and here I am. Medications have changed slightly, still on seroquel and have no idea how I slept for the 20 years before it. Wellbutrin is my new antidepressant and it completely kills the craving to ever have a cigarette ever again, amazing! anddd here's the catch, Adderall XR for none other than ADHD. I am college graduate and yes their may be a recession occurring within our time, but frankly ever since the day I was put on medication, I honestly was given a new lease on life, a true second chance! I know that if I can put up with Bipolar disorder/adhd/depression unmedicated for 20 years, I can absolutely accomplish anything in this world, sky is the limit. If you find yourself self medicating with pot/cigarettes/alcohol/and other drugs, truly ask yourself, what is the reason I am doing this to myself, for there is always a reason. It took me reaching absolute rock bottom to realize my reason, but it doesn't have to for you. Even in the last few years knowledge of medication has improved ten fold. They know more now about mental health conditions then say 10 years ago when they new nothing. Everyone is different and it will take time to find your perfect balance of medication. Figure that you are willing to be patient with the process because afterall unlike the SAT's, these meds can prepare you for the rest of your life. There are a lottttt of people that give up way to easily thinking that a certain medication didn't work therefore none will work. Medication can do 50% of the work. The other half comes down to personal willpower, you can't expect to get better overnight, it is a process of day by day taking one step at a time. From my empathetic heart, best of luck turning your lives around, it is never to late, NEVER, to improve the quality of your life forever. Learn from my experience. For all you pot smokers out there, I feel ya. I thought weed was helping my anxiety, but in reality it was making it worse/ and creating even more problems. Like alcohol, Smoking pot on a regular basis can seriously damage your chemical balance of your lovely brain. The weed of today ain't no dirt from the 60's, hell its not even dro anymore, it is extremely powerful. Let the medication do its job. If you want to smoke, I can't say I encourage it because even though I may think it gets a bad reputation due to ignorance. You can get in serious situations with the law, which will impede your road to your new life tremendously. Be smart, everything in moderation/nothing and I can't emphasize this more,NOTHING while driving any type of automobile. Especially don't sell marijuana. Selling weed, as easy as the money is, is the number one easiest way to get seriously busted being that it is so prevalent and available. Also there are always people out there who themselves have been busted and are now on the laws side in order to help their situation. Be smart