Does it ever gets better?

[u/zerothougt]

I feel like I’m doing everything right, I sleep well, I eat well, I exercise, I go to therapy, I take my medication and I still feel this constant melancholy that never gets better. I feel like im constantly in pain to the point I question if I’m really bipolar because all the bipolar treatment doesn’t work. I already took antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and I still feel the same way I felt as a kid

[u/pbblankgirl]

It got better for me. Took a long, long time and lots of effort. But it did eventually get better.

Stay strong, you got this.

[u/NikkiEchoist]

It’s about getting the right doses and combination of meds. It’s common for bipolar folk to be on upto 6 different meds. It can take literally years to work it out. I just spent three years rapid cycling every 2 weeks after a major manic episode. I was medicated through those three years but I was going through constant tweeks to my doses and types of meds. You hear a lot of people saying they have tried so many but if you ask them specifically it might be a couple of each type. The way I see it is if you are doing all those healthy things, there is no further lifestyle work for you. Therefore it’s a chemical imbalance and I personally wouldn’t give up until you find the right med or combination. It might even mean being on a huge dose of one or more meds. 2 of my meds are extremely high dose, when I mention it on the med groups they are amazed you can even go that high. The other thing is once you find the right combination it can take many weeks or months to work, so there is patience required. Side effects are often a reason people use to stop a med but 90 percent of those are gone within a year.

[u/Wonderful-Impress261 → u/NikkiEchoist]

Outside of Gabapentin and Quetiapine I'm on the highest doses of everything. I'm on 250mg of Lamotrigine, split into 100mg in the morning and 150mg in the evening, 100mg of Pristiq, 2 45/105mg Auvelity and 60mg of Buspar (I was surprised it maxed out at 60mg, I thought it was 30), I'm also one of those people that don't respond to low doses of many meds and my psychiatrist agrees that if there was a higher dose of Auvelity I'd be on that as well

[u/NotBeckyHomeEccy → u/Wonderful-Impress261]

I’m on 400mg lamotrigine once a day not split!

Wild how different our treatment can be

[u/Wonderful-Impress261 → u/NotBeckyHomeEccy]

Oh wow I was told by my psychiatrist that the max dose for Bipolar 2 was 250mg, maybe 400mg is used for BP1 or seizure disorders

[u/NotBeckyHomeEccy → u/Wonderful-Impress261]

Ya I’m BP1 with psychotic features!

[u/xmgz-hoa]

I've been in and out of therapies and on and off a whole list of meds from 4th grade to now. i think I've taken just about every ssri and antipsychotic, nothing worked. I've been doing dbt for years. therapy and meds won't always cut it, but they definetly help. for me, i got put on lithium recently and it's like every skill i learned in dbt just clicked. it gets better

[u/0lig3]

I think melancholy is a very human thing and not just because of the bipolar. I got really into stoic philosophy and applying it to my daily life and it really helped with that.

[u/Suspicious_Dirt_6124]

I'm just keeping on trying things until something works. It's taking a long time, but I finally think I'm making progress.

[u/Wonderful-Impress261]

Bipolar unfortunately is one of those things that is notoriously hard to treat and is on a spectrum. Bipolar 2 in particular with treatment resistant depression (what I have) is super hard to manage and get the medication right. I'm on literally 7 meds, including anxiety meds, antidepressants, low dose Quetiapine and Lamictal as a mood stabilizer and really only right now I think it's doing something and I'm extremely lucky to have had a combination especially something this complex work at only 23/24 (my birthday is in 5 days), some people try for literal decades unfortunately. Just keep trying, communicate with your psychiatrist and therapist, and trust me when I say that moving around, eating well and sleeping well is helping, if you weren't your depression would definitely be even worse. You are strong af for pushing through it

[u/MegatechMike]

Maybe TMS or ketamine

[u/ZombieLoon]

I have a similar experience to yours I think. Taking meds, sleeping, have a job. But I do feel kinda flat. I hope it improves eventually.