84 replies to this topic

[rebuild101]

Consider - the other side of the dopamine coin:

Excessive dopamine may play a role in depression

Oh, great.

[drmz]

why don't you go to a docter with the same questions instead of asking them here ?

[7777]

Thank you for you post ziggy, I think I have the same problem...

[ziggy]

drmz,

I am asking here because its weeks until my appointment with the
psychiatrist and I also think the communities advice here is valuable as an
addition to the doctors advice.

7777,

good my posts might help you.

[chelated]

first off the lithium you are currently taking can cause hypothyroidism
http://www.stoptheth...-mental-health/
second off your initial experimentation with steroids back when you were 17 could have caused mental disturbances even cause one to become psychotic...Hormones effects the neurotransmitters and are drugs themselves...If one does not cycle steroids properly their feedbacks loops crash and are left in a state of mental havic as well...Third off dopamine is a hormone and a nuerotransmitter primarily responsible for any pleasure and is our lifeforce (libido)...It is also responsible for inhibiting prolactin which may explain your current gyno....Zyrprexa is an anti-psychotic medication that lowers levels of dopamine and can cause shortages of dopamine even after discontinuance due to over-sensitivity of dopamine neurons which can lead to cell destruction as well...I think it was a good idea of you to come to a place like this before you ask a psychiatrist your problem b/c psychiatrists are not really reliable a lot of the time...Many (not all) will only look at the symptoms without a thorough medical backround check and the denial to belief that some drugs can cause long lasting sexual side effects....They are pill pushers...Or i would go as far as to even call them drug dealers..I believe your story as it sounds very convincing to what happened to me and after taking a specific drug (risperdal) for 3 months i have no libido or desire whatsoever either...It is due to excess prolactin and not enough dopamine...That is why i am trying to regenerate dopamine with a current protocol i am on...I cannot give you particular advice on the protocol b/c what works for me may not work for you or it could exacerbate some of the mental disturbances you are currently having due to possible hormonal problems as well...One thing is true however is that loss of libido is down to a shortage of dopamine...
The best advice i can give you is to go on a neurogenisis protocol with an holistic healer with supporting supplements...i believe your dopamine has probably been compromised from drugs...It is possible that one of the dopamine agonists will work for you initially and waver away of may work for good...I would still try to get my hands on a dopamine agonist first from a pyschiatrist despite some contracdiction in my post just to see if it can fix your gene expression and libido for good.. There are so many variables to consider when working with the brain but one basic thing is dopamine is solely related to libido and libido is related to motivation and desire which i have very little of right now..


P.S. as far as your thyroid range..."Normal" is not Normal on a blood test...Your baseline before drugs is normal...http://www.lef.org/protocols/appendix/blood_testing_01.htm
same goes with prolactin the ranges on blood tests are based on a bell curve of unhealthy individuals to healthy individuals age 20-80...
Prolactin for someone your age should be below 3...The typical ranges are something like .4-18 for prolactin on a standard blood test...
Also you should have moons on your fingers to indicate healthy thyroid range and functioning...If you don't have your values i would double check everything...Good luck

[theta]

Could the anhedonia, which started in 1998 (8 years before my psychosis)
already have been the schizophrenia...?

Not sure and I have not read much of this thread but the words
anhedonia and depression reminded me of the experimental treatment
option Pramipexole. I think it might make you sleepy though.

[ziggy]

Pramipexole, is that Mirapex?

chelated thanks a lot for your detailed post,
I enjoyed you confirmed the relation between dopamine and libido.

What is strange though, that in my psychosis (dopamine explosion) I never had at least some
of my libido return, hmm... well, now I got no choice, so still hoping the Dopamine might be the point with me in order to get
the libido back.

Its terrible to lose the "mojo", especially for a young man like me, but even worse is this state of
constant zeroes, no pleasures, no more joy for birthday, christmas, naked girls, no more insane
soccer or basketball sessions, no more things that make you feel alive and fulfil your heart (falling in love
has converted into mission impossible). No more motivation and drive. TV-zapping instead of guitar lessons.

Assuming my anhedonia are the negative symptoms of a mental disease like schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder
or whatever, I sincerely hope it can still be fixed. By appropriate medication. Fingers crossed.

chelated: My psychosis happened 1-2 years past my last hormonal experiments (which hadnt helped me in the sexual
department). I have the feeling the hormones were not responsible. But well, who knows...

greets and sorry for repeating me, Ziggy

[theta]

Pramipexole, is that Mirapex?

Yeah. There have been a few studies confirming it's utility in some
atypical depressions with anhedonia present.

[superdopa]

Hey, just my 2 cents here. I was reading through your posts and i noticed that you and I share a very interesting conversational characteristic. We both have a tendency to overuse parenthesis. I think this is because every point you (and I) make we have small tangents that we go off on.

This, in my opinion anyway, is a tell-tale sign of ADD. Additionally, you and I both have an extreme lack of motivation. Not really on short-term goals really since im in school and am doing relatively well, but rather long-term goals. I (like you) prefer to stay inside rather than go out and socialize generally because its just too much damn energy and effort to socialize.

In terms of lack of sexual interest im not quite as bad as you, but i do notice a decrease in sexual interest. You were talking about psychosis and schizophrenia - now i have no idea about that, youre on your own with that one - but in terms of lack of motivation i hear you. I did juice too for a while, but that was more because i was really into weight-lifting and wanted to be huge - which is where my problems seemed to begin as well.

I found the best solution (for me anyway) was a dopamergic up-regulator. i took liquid deprenyl at about 2.5 mg daily and holy shit, it pretty much transformed me. I had huge plans of taking over my dad's company, id always want to go out and get laid (yeah i said it, get laid). I added in some L-tyrosine which further amplified the effects. Originally i just took the combo to help me study and get through classes, but it changed me a lot more than i expected.

dopamine-agonists are a horrible idea btw. I took cabergoline (i guess there are different ones, but still the same general principle) and it basically made me pass out. Great for a sleeping aid, not so great for a motivation enhancer.

The problem with deprenyl (and with any medication really) is that your body is going to compensate (down-regulate dopamine receptors, etc) and you have to go off it for a while or you'll build tolerance. Shitty, i know. You could try to stay on it for a very long period of time, but im skeptical of the results you'll get since high doses make me feel very weird. I end up being very social, friendly, witty and incredibly well-liked for a few months and turn into a hermit for about 4 weeks while i'm off. Better than nothing though.

Give it a shot, and let me know how you like it - you can get it pretty cheap - like 30 bucks for a decent supply. Anyway, this was kind of long winded but i really think dopamine is your problem (maybe not your only problem - but certainly a problem). The docs said you had a manic episode? psychosis? what exactly happened?

[rabagley]

Deprenyl is a selective non-reversible MAO-B inhibitor at lower doses (<20mg/day oral). The effects from taking it are potentially very long lasting. The monoamine oxidase is gone and is only slowly replaced. There's no tolerance to the MAO-B inhibition, though you're right that your body will adapt to the higher dopamine levels, it will probably adapt to a different equilibrium level than before (there could be a long-lasting dopaminergic effect)

Deprenyl's relationship to dopamine is fairly complex. It may be a great idea for this guy to try it out, but he should be really careful before taking something with additional long-lasting effects on his brain. On the other hand, it sounds like he's pretty worried that he's headed towards a bad outcome, which changes the risk tolerance...

[ziggy]

I appreciate your feedback guys.
superdopa, I will use less parenthesis, though

yeah, its the long-term goals.
At the moment a miracle will have to happen for me
to seriuosly plan a wife-house-garden-children-dog-barbecue in the sun
Though I can work short-term (and intellectually) but tidy up my room
is already too much for me.

superdopa you asked what happened? I had a psychosis that was so strong
my girlfriend broke up with me after seeing me go insane for 3 hours. I fucked up
the most important thing in my life because I thought I was healed - complete bullocks!
Then I was hospitalized and had many strange ideas more..

Okay, at the moment the substances I am gonna suggest to my shrink are: Mirapex (Sifrol),
Requip, Deprenyl, Selegiline.


We'll see what happens. If my libido comes back you will find me at youporn hahahaa

greets!

[7777]

Okay, at the moment the substances I am gonna suggest to my shrink are: Mirapex (Sifrol),
Requip, Deprenyl, Selegiline.

Will do the same thing as soon as I've found an interesting shrink.

Have you ever tried over-the-counter dopamine related drugs/nootropics/supplements ? I tried B-Complex + St John Worts + L-phenylalanine this weekend and the results were, in my opinion, very very interesting [thumb] I'm going to add some tyrosine tomorrow among other things... [sfty]


Anyway I hope that we both can get our life back quite soon

[ziggy]

hey sevenman,

tell me more about your experience.
I damn badly need to hear about it!!!

Did you experience mental/sexual/drive-related pushs??

[rabagley]

deprenyl is selegiline, FYI

[7777]

hey sevenman,

tell me more about your experience.
I damn badly need to hear about it!!!

Did you experience mental/sexual/drive-related pushs??

Hey ziggy man !

Yeah I did experience a HUGE increase in mental/sexual/drive-related pushs [lol] Too huge in fact and right now I think I'll have to slow down on the dopamine... Anyway I never thought I could be an ADDer and it's a great discovery. The symptoms fit perfectly and I might go see a doctor in order to have more "serious" medicine and an official diagnosis.
Anyway right now let's go back to the sexual part : yes there's been a huge change but it's SEXUAL & RELATIONAL ! I can make contact very easily now : it's like I'm in their mind and I know everything they feel or know before they do [lol] That turns me on and that turns them on too ! Even if some of them tell me they don't like this loss of privacy (intimacy?) I know they are glad to have someone who understand them and can "manipulate" them in order to make their life better.
hehehe... did you notice i wrote "them" ? That's the best part Even if it's getting quite complicated for me, they haven't show any kind of jealousy because I give them lots of attention and everything. They are just glad with what they have and don't even want more ! In theory I'm a very monogamous guy but the first one told me that I could see other women and that she wouldn't be jealous so I just tried... and the other ones told me that too... I do found this very weird but hey, I think it's because they know they can't control me nor match my energy levels.

That's not the only thing that changed but hey, I kind of remember that you were more focused on the sexual part

Oh, one last thing : I don't really feel different at all, but everyone I know tells me that i'm completely different now... More energy, more needs, more present, more giving, etc etc.
Oh in fact there IS a difference : it's way easier to be turned on... I mean, it can happen many times a day while it used to happen 1 time per 3 years lol.

I've stopped St John Worts and only take 500 mg L-Phenylalanine + 500 mg L-Tyrosine + B-Complex. That's for the Dopamine part.
Oh, I added Tyrosine and Vinpocetine yesterday. I didn't feel any difference but I did way more things yesterday than the days before...

I just ordered some L-Dopa that should arrive Friday.




Anyway, I'm just glad I found your post and this board and that I found out I am an Adder... It's just great to have something to relate to and to know what's going on and why does everything look so bad.

[ziggy]

so basically you say
3 days after you tried out the dopamine-agonist

you converted into a love-machine with high energy, will and pleasure?

Very interesting. Id love to get similar achievements done.
Dont overdo it, you might end up in a manic episode.

Which substance you thing did most of the "trick"?

[7777]

It started the very day I tried st john worts.

High energy - yes
Will - yes
pleasure - yes
But the best part is the clear mind and THE FACT THAT I CAN DO THINGS !!! I don't start something to pass to something else to pass to think about something else to speak to someone about something else etc etc.

Manic episode would be great. The last one I had lasted a few days and gave me 12 grands :D Can't say I didn't appreciate it.

I think it's everything that's got something to do with dopamine. But hey, I don't know if I take too much or not enough. I'm going to try. Doctors here (in France) are somehow completely ignorant about this and it usually takes more than 3 months to have an appointment. Anyway, they don't even really know about this dopamine thing and there is no official medicine associated with ADHD. That means even if I took an appointment, it wouldn't give me anything useful. These "drugs" aren't even allowed here, I think.
I should move to some civilized country.

Anyway I'm really I've finally found what is wrong with me, and i'm glad I'll be able to live from now-on.


I hope you'll be able to find some interesting results too It's really worth it !

[Anonymoose]

Ziggy,

In your original post, I thought somehow you had gotten hold of *my* life story, until you got to the Germany part (I'm from the US). Your story is so similar to mine, I LOLed while reading it. And it looks like we have a French doppelganger too -- Hello, 7777!

Here's my story, highlighting the few minor differences:

- It started 10 years ago, when I was 17.
- My brain, for no apparent reason, just started burning 'oil' until it just completely ran out - the 'oil' being dopamine, thought it took me 10 years to make the realization.
- The debilitating anhedonia, loss of libido. The strange loss of ability to orgasm. (Yes, some girls love it, but then they start to worry about you...)
- I've gone from swimming, to floating, to struggling to keep my head above water, to sinking beneath the surface.
- Managed to struggle and fake my way to a degree in 2002, ironically at an Ivy-League-caliber school.
- Never any mania or bipolar symptoms for me, thankfully. Just the constant, maddeningly frustrating 'gray' of the anhedonia/dysthymia.
- The only anxiety problems I had were the ones *caused* by the loathesome (for me, at least) SSRIs and SNRIs that docs have tried putting me on.
- Can empathize with the 'reverse-schizophrenic' symptoms, and especially the dementia-like cognitive decline.

Over the past 10 years, my well-meaning but ultimately useless p-docs, subscribing to the overly simplistic serotonin-model of depression, have prescribed one serotonergic med after another, all of which did nothing but to worsen my condition. Is there anyone in the psychiatric community, outside of academia, that realizes that' depression' comes in different shades, which are not that difficult to differentiate if you actually pay some attention to a patient's particular symptomology? Maybe most pdocs just aren't any good at recognizing the difference between 1)dark, anxious, fearful, serotonergic depressive symptoms, and 2)gray, anhedonic, apathetic, dopaminergic deficit symptoms.

I sincerely believe that there was never any endogenous serotonergic dysfunction with me; hence the terrible, opposite response from all those serotonergic meds I've tried and desperately hoped would work to fix what was wrong. In the 6 days since I started my own self-prescribed dopaminergic cocktail, I'm finally starting to get what feels like true symptomatic remission.

But enough ranting, for now. Here's my current cocktail; it's still going to require some tweaking. I'll probably have to be patient to achieve the full remission (that 10-years-ago feeling) I'm aiming for. It'll probably take some time to achieve the long term effects necessary to repair all the damage (reverse the possible neuronal damage, restore normal levels of dopamine synthesis, achieve D2-autoreceptor downregulation, DAT upregulation with MAO-B inhibition to replenish vesicular stores, etc.) I may be totally wrong about all of this and just talking out my butt, but it's not like any of my well-educated pdocs' shots-in-the-dark have panned out either. And at least I'm feeling better in the meantime.

1. Mirapex (pramipexole) 0.75mg tid
2. Selegiline (l-deprenyl) 5mg/day
3. Standard multivitamin, fish oils, B-Complex, 800mg DLPA


I hope to compare notes with you and 7777 going forward. Here's to getting back to normal.

-A

10 years ago, I was just 17, my life began to run out of fuel.

I continuosly became bored by basketball, uninterested in others and girls,
lost my ambition for future goals and my enthusiasm for life (of which I had tons in
childhood and early youth).
This anhedonia started to affect nearly every aspect of my life,
from sexual to social skills - anything. The loss of libido has been my main concern btw.

I float around in this world, whereas everyone else is swimming.

[Anonymoose]

7777,

Did the therapeutic response you got come from the St. John's Wort? I tried it a long time ago, but didn't really notice anything from it. Maybe I should give it another try...

Was it just the l-phenylalanine, l-tyrosine, and B-complex that gave you the "HUGE increase in mental/sexual/drive-related pushs?" If so, that's crazy. I definitely feel the benefits from the DLPA and B-complex (clears up the brain-fog), but it's nowhere near as dramatic as you describe.

Regarding the l-dopa: one time I was so deep in my cognitive dysfunction from one of those "dementia-like" states that I drove all over town looking for looking for mucuna pruriens extract (natural source of l-dopa) to see if it would help. I couldn't find any, so I picked up a bag of dried fava beans instead (another source of l-dopa) and ate a whole bowl of boiled fava beans for dinner. It definitely helped initially, a calming feeling like jumping into a warm pool on a summer day. But the effect was short lived, as it soon turned into a speedy, adrenalin-like anxiety complete with heart palpitations. Not pleasant at all. I did the fava bean thing 4 more times to make sure; same result every time. I suspect the effect was due to the l-dopa being converted peripherally in the bloodstream (outside the BBB) to its metabolites: dopamine, then rapidly to noradrenalin and then adrenalin. Which is why l-dopa for PD is usually administered in conjunction with carbidopa to enable the l-dopa actually get across the BBB before it's metabolized.

Have you tried any dopamine agonists or MAO-B inhibition yet? Or are you continuing to have more than enough success with the natural supplementation? Glad to hear you were having such good results.

-A

It started the very day I tried st john worts.

High energy - yes
Will - yes
pleasure - yes
But the best part is the clear mind and THE FACT THAT I CAN DO THINGS !!! I don't start something to pass to something else to pass to think about something else to speak to someone about something else etc etc.

Manic episode would be great. The last one I had lasted a few days and gave me 12 grands :D Can't say I didn't appreciate it.

I think it's everything that's got something to do with dopamine. But hey, I don't know if I take too much or not enough. I'm going to try. Doctors here (in France) are somehow completely ignorant about this and it usually takes more than 3 months to have an appointment. Anyway, they don't even really know about this dopamine thing and there is no official medicine associated with ADHD. That means even if I took an appointment, it wouldn't give me anything useful. These "drugs" aren't even allowed here, I think.
I should move to some civilized country.

Anyway I'm really I've finally found what is wrong with me, and i'm glad I'll be able to live from now-on.


I hope you'll be able to find some interesting results too It's really worth it !

[graatch]

dopamine-agonists are a horrible idea btw. I took cabergoline (i guess there are different ones, but still the same general principle) and it basically made me pass out. Great for a sleeping aid, not so great for a motivation enhancer.

Except YMMV, and the agonists vary QUITE a bit in the subjective effects that they'll have. FTR, deprenyl is not that useful for me.

I think the original poster should look at trivastal (piribedil) in particular among all of the other dopamine agonists. On dr-bob, where anonymoose hails from, the poster "Mishal" has been getting pretty excellent results from 50mg daily.

My own piribedil will arrive pretty shortly and I could go as high as 300mg daily, a dose used to monotherapy Parkinson's.

[graatch]

Doctors here (in France) are somehow completely ignorant about this and it usually takes more than 3 months to have an appointment. Anyway, they don't even really know about this dopamine thing

French psychiatry seems kind of forward-thinking in this connection, actually, being as it was the home of amineptine, and now piribedil (a Parkinson's drug, but IMO potentially huge benefit for anhedonic depression.) It's a D1/D2/D3 agonist with 21-hour half-life (might want to add clonidine) and alpha-2 antagonism.


(*the positive benefits methylphenidate offers for focus over, say, pramipexole and especially bromocriptine, are possibly in part related to D1 activity, which methylphenidate has. bromocriptine actually antagonizes it)

[coq10]

10 years ago, I was just 17, my life began to run out of fuel.

I continuosly became bored by basketball, uninterested in others and girls,
lost my ambition for future goals and my enthusiasm for life (of which I had tons in
childhood and early youth).
This anhedonia started to affect nearly every aspect of my life,
from sexual to social skills - anything. The loss of libido has been my main concern btw.

I float around in this world, whereas everyone else is swimming.

I started to experiment with Testosterone, Estrogen and Stuff (I had also developped
a gynecomastia so I thought the hormones were at the core of my probs), but didnt succeed
to reboost my sexual life, which I thought was the key to get motivated again.
(you know, Freud, libido=central drive, *grin*).
Luckily I managed to get myself a university degree in 2005, ironically at a very well known school.
(today I would burn my friggin degree for getting back my health)

In 2006 then I had a severe manic episode (as if I would have desired anymore trouble...)
from then I have been forced to take anti-psychotica (Zyprexa, Lithium), which, as you imagine,
do not quite help me in the sexual department (meanwhile I am as love-less that I have a hard time
to cum at sex (girls almost love me for that haha), but all my desires for hugging and mating are
affected as well so they almost call me Mr Lonely.

One could now say I am simply bipolar, but I dont buy it. Its not quite depression that I am
suffering from, but rather a colourless perception of the world without pleasure,
and my drives are so low that I am rather tempted to suspect I am in the negative
symptoms of schizophrenia (although in my psychosis I never heard voices/saw things and stuff..very odd).

To cut a long story short, no matter if I am schizophrenic of bipolar - I dont care -
what I do care about is to get back the cest for life. At the moment I do only the necessary to keep my job,
am losing many friends for not caring about meeting up and spend my time swapping between browser-windows
with a running tele in the back of a totally messed up room in my parents house. Its terrible. I MUST change
that and I am forced to think brain chemistry is the culprit and the key (although I am prepared for comments
to consult psychotherapeutic help).

Now, I found out, that I might maybe benefit from dopamin-agonists?? The only thing that bothers me about this is that I DO
already have experience how it is to have Dopamine skyrocketing, since in my psychosis it happened! (and there it
did not really gave me back my sex-drive, thats why I am a bit skeptical, maybe you guys have an idea..)

But maybe my dopaminergic system is just out-of-whack, having created a decade of Anhedonia as well as short
episodes of Psychosis and I only have to fix it to the middle of extremes..?

Now I am resolved to try out different stuff and I came across substances like Deprenyl, Bupropion,
Apomorphin, Wellbutrin, SJWort
as well as Tongkat Ali and Maca for just the sexual (main) concern.


I am almost sure the dopamin-dependent brain functions might be the problem. What do you think?
If so, what regimen do you recommend?
I am eagerly awaiting any sorts of reply!

Best wishes from Germany,
Ziggy

Dude you should be talking with your doctor not some online forum.

[Lufega]

A deficiency of Dopamine causes Parkinsons. On the other hand, excess dopamine is responsible for the symptoms of Schizophrenia. So, in your case, if you are positive for any form of schizo, taking a dopamine agonist will only exacerbate your problem. I advice against it.

Look up The "dopamine hypothesis" of schizophrenia

[cytg]

ziggy, you have played around with testosterone! For how long and at what dosages? Do you have recent bloodwork you can post? while most peoples endocrine system will rebalance itself after exogen supplementation, there's always a few who's not so lucky. Make sure you're not one of the few, otherwise it's possible you're an early candidate for HRT.

[lv 426]

Bump

I've experienced the same symptoms. Lost my wife because of it.

Has anyone come with any answers??

lv 426

[graatch]

Yeah. What has helped me a great deal with low mood/drive and anhedonia has been my memantine/dextroamphetamine combination. FWIW. I'm don't know if it will work for everyone.

[bgwithadd]

Did you check your prolactin levels? You should check all your hormone levels, and see a neurologist.

[Pulptor]

Here's my anecdotal, placebo-included program for mood and libidio and general passion. My wife recently said, "What ever you're taking, keep taking it."

. Ashwagandha
. Rhodiola
. Maca
. Chrysin (with piperine)
. Tribulus
. Tongkat Ali
. Intense exercise

For a quick fix when I'm feeling especially disinterested (borderline depressed): 1.5 to 2 grams of DL-phenylalanine and 5 mg of Deprenyl and coffee.

Edited by Pulptor, 20 October 2008 - 08:25 PM.

[Yearningforyears]

The medicine you are taking, zyprexa, lowers dopaminergic stimulation in the brain. Using another medicine / supplement to increase dopamine might not be a good idea, if there is a good reason why you are on long term zyprexa treatment.



In 2006 you had a manic episode when not on any medication at all?
Depressive onset is usually in 17-19 when we´re talking bipolar. It often begins as depression, but nothing is 100 % certain in the brain realm.
Zyprexa is indicated for both bipolar symptoms as well as schizophrenia.
In fact there are similarities between acute bipolar symptoms and schizophrenia. There are delusions (kind of thinking hallucinations) and real scary hallucinations during severe mania too).

It´s a hard hand you have been dealt. I probably have bipolar 2 myself. At least that is what the doctor said when I got into the ER with severe delusional mania after a self prescribed zoloft course.

The thing with this strange condition is that it comes in as many forms as there are people. Feelings of not being able to control thoughts / emotions or feel appropriate emotions etc etc. Reccurent thoughts of anything be it death, anhedonia or delusions of grandeur in a never ending cycle. Then suddenly back to normal! OR... am I normal now? How can I really be sure that this is a normal mood?
Can´t say HOW many times I´ve asked myself the same questions about being schizophrenic!

What I think you need to discuss with your doctor are the things you are letting us know.
Mood is stable but life is without pleasure. This is extremely important that you let them know. One of your medications might dull you more emotionally than they benefit you medically. They might let you try a different anti-psychotic or even quit it under supervision. (the lithium will probably have to stay though)

So make an appointment and hear em out =)

[Yearningforyears]

Oh and don´t forget about this. Go to the gym and do some workout. Good for the body and good for the soul. Makes you feel better and lots of well toned chicks everywhere stepping on those machines in incredibly tight outfits

Graatch has a big point regarding zyprexa for daily use. I was on that for five days after my acute phase and my brain felt like it was sunk into cream.
Mood stabilizers could be a solution (for example lamotrigin, which is said to work best on bipolar depression without inducing manias). There are a lot of options for people without the built in happiness / sadness brake.