Vitamin D

[rBoulet]

I've been sent out of town for work and it's going to be a regular thing for a bit. For some reason it's making my mood very depressed but still cycling way faster than I'm comfortable with.
My fiance wants me to try vitamin D before any antidepressant when i see my psychiatrist because i have had horrible luck with them everytime I'm on one. I either get more depressed and in the hospital or manic and in the hospital.
Anyways my question is, does  vitamin D work?

[LIZARD110366]

It's vitally important to have your D checked before you start to take it. You'll need to know how much to take, especially if it's very low, and **make sure** to take D3, not the worthless prescription D2. Your D will go up much faster. You'll want your level to be high enough to stop your symptoms, so probably around 80-100 ng/mL. Also, make sure to take it with magnesium, K2, and some fat.

Good luck!

[rBoulet]

It's not monotherapy, I'm on lithium and gabapentin. I've never been on antidepressant monotherapy since I was diagnosed. I'm asking about vitamin D or antidepressants because my medication now doesn't seem to do much in terms of treating the severity of my deppresive episodes, just the frequency of all my episodes, the duration, and the severity of my manic episodes.

[Mangoes73]

Those of us on the bipolar spectrum r never supposed to be on an antidepressant as monotherapy, there should always be some kind of mood stabilizer as well.
Antidepressants trigger mania, hypermania, rapid cycling. It seems irresponsible of your doc if he's prescribed antidepressants alone.
There's a lot of information out there about this, I would seek a second opinion.

[rBoulet]

I've been on lots of those types of medication and they didn't do anything for me.. I'm on lithium and gabapentin right now but I've read that lithium isn't that great at controlling deppresive episodes so often times people will have to take an antidepressant too. Before I was diagnosed with bipolar they kept putting me on antidepressants thinking I had depression or borderline personality and they kept driving me mad! They even tried giving me one with depakote after being diagnosed and it still wasn't pretty. I'm pretty sure that's why my fiance is wary of me going back on antidepressants.
The lithium is somewhat working on the manic episodes, they're still there but it's like I have more control. Like I don't just go out and buy a brand new car without thinking at all...again. And while my deppresive ones are shorter in duration they're still getting to suicidal lows. Which reminds me that i was going to ask my doctor about rapid cycling.
Anyways i should start getting ready for work...

[camenae]

My doctor has me on an anti-seizure medication rather than an anti-depressant. The way it was described to me is that if you have more manic episodes (like myself), an anti-seizure med helps. If you are more depressed than manic, an anti-depressant helps.