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[britmom]

Having originally been diagnosed with postnatal depression, I'm now on the verge of that being changed to bipolar II. I'm currently taking an antidepressant (citalopram/celexa) and a low-ish dose of quetiapine/seroquel. However, that's not working for me and I'm due to discuss a complete change of medication with my psychiatrist next week. One aspect that really concerns me is the tendency of bipolar med's to dull/slow down thinking and stifle creativity. I *really* need to push on with my research, and I'm worried that med's may seriously hamper that. Does anyone have any advice on this? Are some med's better or worse than others? Or perhaps I just need to accept that's how it's going to be?

[prytania3]

I don't really know much about BP II, but I will say this: aside from the for a, I no longer write at all, and the more medication I took, the less I wrote; however, I may have quit writing without meds. I'm at a cc so it's not the end of the world anyway.

My meds don't make me sluggish, though. There are lots of meds that will,  however. For example, I can't stand any of those SSRI antidepressants.

I know other people who take BP meds and nothing seems to change, especially with BP II--which seems to have more in common with depression than BP I, which is a good thing as it's easier to treat.

[britmom]

I don't know about cognitive problems, but I clearly have memory problems. I completely forgot I started this thread until I noticed it half way down the page. Thanks, Prytania, for your thoughts.

[prytania3]

Oh yeah, there can be some memory problems.