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They don't talk about SNRIs like venlafaxine in the article, but I can say from first had experience that the withdrawal symptoms from those are pretty extreme. This is a difficult decision, but I've decided to not take SNRIs or SSRIs to manage bipolar depression, although they are commonly prescribed because I found the side effects to out weigh the benefits

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I've been on venlafaxine 75mg (prescribed 150mg, but didn't like the increased side effects) for about a year now, I felt elevated mood a bit, but it did little to address bipolar cycling in my case. Recently I was prescribed Lamictal (lamotrigine) off label by my psychitrist as a mood stabilizer. I have just this week come up to therapeutic doses. It has been a huge change. I don't feel like I have experienced any additional side effects, and my mood is much more even. If you've never tried it, you may want to do some research online. Many bipolar patients have reported similar results.

Lamictal carries the potential for severe side effects, much more so than SSRIs/SNRIs. Lamotrigine prescribing information has a black box warning about life-threatening skin reactions, including Stevens–Johnson syndrome, DRESS syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

I currently take 5mg of Abilify

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