Drugs not helping anymore

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Up until now my life has been improving tremendously with the use of meds. I have a great psychiatrist who has been there for me and has really helped me out of a dark place. I'm going to school again full time and I'm also working and supporting myself. However, things are starting to change. I'm still functional...for now...but I'm starting to get depressed again and extremely stressed out. I'm concerned this is the beginning of a downward spiral. I'm notorious for not seeing things through.

I'm at loss for what to do. I'm already taking 900 mg of Lithium and 70 mg Vyvanse, the maximum dosages for those drugs, and its not cutting it anymore. The Vyvanse used to make me happy and gave me that extra drive and motivation I need to take on the work load I have with school. Now, I take it and get nothing. I think the Lithium is keeping the suicidal thoughts away temporarily, but its certainly not working as well as it first did. On top of that, I feel that everyone is abandoning me. My psychiatrist told me that I need to stop calling and relying on him so much as he is getting very busy these days. My roommate is also pushing me away. He wants me to start being more self reliant, too. I'm 23 and I know its high time I was able to rely only on myself, but I'm terrified. I'll try to spare you all the depressing self-pity talk, but I just don't think I'm smart enough to finish this Biology degree and go onto Pharmacy school. Science is what I love so there's no other options and to be honest, I'd rather be dead than have to give up school.

And I haven't even mentioned all the financial worries I have on top of that. I'm barely making it. I'm not sure how long I can keep up with all the stress. I feel like I'm about to completely shut down. Am I supposed to deal with this level of stress the rest of my life? Is it really worth it?

I'm glad that you are aware of what is going on. I had the same thing happen to me and I did not realize that poor mental health was my issue. I've wasted about 5 years of my life because of that.

Mine started failing at about your age. During one's early to mid twenties the human brain goes through the last of a series of huge neuronal overhauls. New connections are made, pathways are reorganized, and the poor person is stuck handling the upheaval. Logically, then, it follows that a medication that affects brain function may have a different level of effectiveness during and after the reorganization.

Mine stopped working for me entirely. I'm now on four different medications to balance my (fairly recently diagnosed) bipolar II. It takes so long to find the right combination, though. I haven't been suicidal for a few weeks now; who knows what will happen next week?

Do keep your psych team abreast of how you are feeling and what you are thinking. This happens sometimes and a good team will know that.

At what age did you first start taking your medication? I have been taking psychiatric meds since I was 14. My meds are still working just fine at the moment, but now I'm beginning to wonder if maybe one day they will stop working like yours did.

My Prozac/Trilafon/Clonapin combination stopped working entirely. Suicidal thoughts are a weekly occurrence and if I weren't too much of a wimp to end it myself I likely would have already.

Talk to your shrink about changing meds.