I am by no means anti-medication, but most psych meds suck ass. I was diagnosed bipolar 1 30 years ago, and I responded to lithium really well. Looking back, I guess a case could be made that the wonder drug Prozac escalated me into that episode, but I've had enough manias since to think it was probably just me. For a good year lithium was all I took, until I got depressed, really bad. I ended up in a study for bipolar depression, which eventually discovered that lithium causes hypothyroidism, and I was put on Synthroid. That worked for awhile, until I got depressed again, and then I got put on Wellbutrin. Then that worked until, you guessed it, I got depressed again. Then I tried every SSRI in the book, and I even stayed on one of them for a couple of years, I just can't remember which one.
I wasn't depressed per se, but I had absolutely no sexual feelings whatsoever. None, nada. Not like when you're depressed but you can eventually get into it. I mean touching my most intimate areas was about as exciting as having my arm touched. It was the most bizarre, unnatural state of being I can possibly imagine. Even menopausal fluctuations are easier to manage. Sorry if this is TMI, but I think women especially need to know that if they have a good sex life before going on an SSRI. I was in a relationship long term and it was devastating. I was also on a pretty high dose of Stelazine from a particularly difficult mania I went through. It was actually a spiritual awakening occurring simultaneously, but that's a different topic for another time.
Once I got off the Stelazine slowly, I was able to get off the SSRI. Eventually I did get depressed, again, and I found that the Tricyclic Nortryptiline works. However, that has awful side effects, like you can't get any spit in your mouth to the point where you can't form words, and horrible constipation. But you can definitely enjoy sex, just not kissing.
So, through all of this I almost died of kidney failure twice, from Lithium being too high. My current psychiatrist took me off like 5 years ago, and honestly, I ain't been right since. I'm on Lamictal, which is supposed to be a little better than Lithium because it has antidepressant qualities. (Really?) I still get fucking depressed all the time, and I hate my current psychiatrist. He wanted to Take me off my Wellbutrin because I just had a mania and my life circumstances are depressing. The fuck kind of logic is that? Let's make you even more depressed then. I had to really fight him on that.
Then he tells me Seroquel is recommended for bipolar depression. Again, really? Because I usually get even more suicidal thinking AFTER taking it, as in I wake up in the morning thinking I want to die or kill myself. However, I will take it in a heartbeat if I feel a manic episode coming on. Anyway, that's all I can say right now except I'll leave you with a thought. I had a neurologist for migraines, and he took every drug he prescribed for his patients to see what the effect was. There aren't as many migraine drugs as there are psych meds. I think these psychiatrists need to take a dose of fucking Seroquel at even 50 mg and see what it does to their headspace. Or go on Paxil for a year and then try to come off. Or take Klonipin for a year and go through psychosis coming off of it.