Michele sorry to hear about your daughter.This bi-polar is so out of control.I know it takes a while to figure out the right meds,then it seems it is then time to try something new. Please keep sharing.

Smile

Sheilah

Hi Michelle,

Tell me about these Alert chews... I've never heard of them. My 18 yo daughter also has bipolar/ADHD as well as OCD.  She's been on MANY different med's since she was 12. Everything she tried either made the bipolar worse or did nothing at all until they tried Abilify. Zoloft though has worked for the OCD since the beginning but not until they hit the 200 ml. dose. Topomax for the mood swings was added along the way after numerous other med tries that did nothing and the Topamax helped a tiny bit. But she was still having meltdowns and rages until they added the Abilify. Adding the Abilify made her almost like her "old self". She said she felt happy for the first time in about 4 years. However, the side effect of weight gain was tremendous.... which has brought back depression. She was always very thin... under a hundred lbs. The Abilify put 80 lbs. on her in a matter of about 8 months. No matter how hard she has tried to lose the weight, she just can't. She says the Abilify makes her constantly feel hungry, Last month, she decided to stop the Abilify to hopefully lose weight. It's been about 4 weeks, and I'm now beginning to see some signs of bipolar returning. So far, no rages, but I feel as though I'm holding my breath here. I wonder if that chew you mentioned might give her some energy and focus to really work on losing the weight. I'm sure if she lost some of the weight, it would lesson her depressed, sluggish mood. Are these chews just over the counter and has the doctor said they're safe with the med's your daughter in on?

Thanks, Linda