Success with meds? What worked/ what didn't...

[allibaba]

Hi all,

My husband is heading to our GP today to ask for some sort of a mood stabilizer.  He is undiagnosed BPD but through my own therapy sessions with a specialist I am certain that at a minimum he has:

BPD

NPD

PTSD

Generalized Anxiety

I have spoken to the doctor already and have given her some background, but the background focused mostly on anxiety (no mention of violent or aggressive behavior).

My question is: 

what meds have your others tried?

what helped?  what made them worse?

I'm having my own little mini anxiety attack that they will prescribe some anti-depressant (he's not depressed) or that they will prescribe something with horrible side effects that he won't stick to.

I have given the GP the name of a psychiatrist that works with the psychologist that I have been going to... . and my husband has his first appt with the psychologist tonight.  He made the appt and says that he's hit rock bottom and that he has become an angry and abusive man and that he just can't take being this way anymore.  I'm so hopeful... . but I have been let down SO many times   Although for a week straight he's been saying this is his bottom and he needs help.

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[allibaba]

He doesn't drink at all!  I can count the number of drinks that he's had in a year on 2 hands.

[arabella]

My H, before he was diagnosed with BPD, kept being diagnosed with depression. It's not depression. Yes, he gets depressed, but it's BPD rather than a major depressive disorder. So as treatment for depression he was given various SSRIs and other anti-depressants over the years. They weren't effective, had side effects that he didn't tolerate well, and in some instances actually made things worse (probably because giving anti-depressants to someone who isn't depressed isn't a good idea).

H has successfully taken or is taking (daily):

- Cymbalta

- Abilify (very low dose as supplement to the Cymbalta)

- Seroquel (again, very low dose in conjunction with Cymbalta, this also had a noticeable sedative effect so was nighttime use only but did help with sleep)

Poor results/side effects (the ones I can recall):

- Effexor

- Wellbutrin

- Remeron

- Prozac

- Zoloft

Edited to add: obviously individual reactions to medications will vary - this is just my experience with my H. A BPD specialist would be much better able to recommend and adjust medications as needed (it definitely does require some tinkering)!