And what type of bipolar and or symptoms do you have?

We all have different opinions on this but since I have had destructive mania with mixed episodes the final mood stabilizer that works excellently for me is Equetro. The first few weeks are hard because it sedates and makes you feel like your walking like a drunk, but that will subside within a month. They want your level to be in between 4-12. I have been all the way up and find 11& 12 levels to over sedate me. Finally they agreed ( due to me proving to them I was using DBT skills to help manage) to lower me to between 8-10 level. It works wonderfully! It's almost like you have to bargain with them to let you try out different strengths to see what works.

Good luck..I am sure you will find your match :)

May is very right. We all have a different opinion on this matter. It took a good long time to get to the place where I am now but my pharmacy of medications doesn't always work. I am supposed to be heavily sedated at night but my meds don't always put me to sleep. There are still nights when I'm flying so high that the meds only calm me down not put me to sleep. I hope you find the right cocktail for your needs =)

I hope you find the right cocktail for you. What does your Pdoc say?

I'm still trying to find the right one. I need to change again but in going through stressful events at work and don't want to risk med changes right now.

There are endless med combo's.

Finding the right med, the right dosage, the right combo can seem daunting !

The average time to find the right combo is 7 years.

Most of us have gone through this up and down, round and round trip, to find stability.

It's worth it to keep trying !

I hope you can find the right medication for you. I've been using a good one for a while now. I know i might have to 'tweak' it in the future.

I have BP II. What is working for me at night is 2Mg Prazosin, 100 Mg Trazodone. 200 Mg Lamotrigine, 0.3 Mg Clonidine, 1 Mg Lorazapam and in the morning 40 Mg Flourxetine.

The clonidine is a blood pressure med but it gets me to sleep along with the Trazodone in 20 minutes.

The Prazosin is also a blood pressure med, but it stops the night terrors most of the time.

Is this for you or your daughter - your profile say it is your daughter that is bipolar.

I think the answer is that it is trial and error with the proviso that the person sticks with the medication for at least a few months andf doesn't undermine their workings through drink or street drugs.

This is wonderful advice from all of you. Thank you very much. Yes, acuriousfish, it is for my daughter. But for whatever reason, she is reluctant to come onto self-help groups, etc., and she has been having tremendous problems finding the right combination of meds. If it is ok with you all, I will cut and paste some of your comments without identifying your online names, and give them to her. I'm sure it will give her some good ideas and it will help her to not feel so bad about jumping around from one med to another.

Blessings to all of you,
--EJ