I've been thinking about cutting back on some of the pills I'm prescribed; I'm still taking a lot. All of this is written by my psychiatrist. The only one I don't take as prescribed is the Xanax which is written prn anyway (take as needed).

Ranking by effectiveness:

#150 Dexedrine Spansules (dexamphetamine) 15mg. [75mg.]
#90 Xanax (alprazolam) 1mg. [3mg.]
#90 Lyrica (pregabalin) 300mg. [900mg.]
#60 Nuvigil (armodafinil) 250mg. [500mg.]
#30 Latuda (lurasidone) 60mg.
#30 Trokendi XR (topiramate) 200mg.
#30 Aplenzin (bupropion hydrobromide) 522mg.
#90 Oxtellar XR (oxcarbazepine) 600mg. [1,800mg.]
#30 Fetzima (levomilnacipran) 80mg.
#45 Brintellix (vortioxetine) 10mg.
#30 Namenda XR (memantine) 21mg.

The Dexedrine is for ADHD. It really helps me focus and get work done a lot better than I used to.

The Xanax is for anxiety and stress, but I really just like it for the end of a day of work.

The Lyrica is concomitantly a mood stabilizer and anxiety reliever. It's more of a euphoriant than anything else-- I might prefer it over any other medication. I think it is underutilized for people that take benzos (less addictive). The maximum recommenced dosage for Lyrica is 600mg. but my PDOC allowed an extra capsule since it has a good safety profile. I take all 900mg. in the mornings.

The Nuvigil is for shift-work disorder, but we (my PDOC and I) think it is good to have another psychostimulant on board to help with ADHD and fatigue problems that may arise. Once again, my PDOC is awesome and writes me double the max dose of 250mg. (500mg.) and advises that armodafinil is really not that toxic and has a good safety profile.

The Latuda is an AMAZING drug. It is an atypical antipsychotic. Best safety profile, tolerability, and pharmacology in its class. It is basically the "sequel" to Abilify. The successor if you will. It's not known yet because it hasn't been approved as an augmentation agent for major depression like Abilify so it's harder to market it. But, I could see it becoming like that. Definitely removes negative thought patterns. It has 5-HT7 action so it actually improves cognition.

The Trokendi was prescribed with the Latuda for three reasons: to make sure I keep my weight in check, to prevent occasional headaches, and acts an additional mood stabilizer.

The Aplenzin (basically a fancy non-generic Wellbutrin XL 450mg. equivalent) is an antidepressant. Obviously you can see what its for. It's also useful because it used sometimes to keep people from smoking so it helps me dip less.

The Oxtellar XR is basically a "new" drug since it's a time-released version of Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) that you take once a day. The suggested dose is from 1,200mg.-2,400mg. and the highest dosage strength is 600mg. for some reason so I take the midrange of 1,800mg. so I have to take three pills all at once for some reason.

Fetzima is one of the newest antidepressants on the market. In fact, it was hard for the pharmacy to get. It is similar to Effexor and Cymbalta because it is a SNRI too. You know how they hype over Effexor and Cymbalta being different because they're SNRIs? Well Fetzima has norepinephrine 17 and 27 times higher selectivity for NE reuptake inhibition compared with Effoxor and Cymbalta, respectively. My psychiatrist said that this NE action is really good for my symptoms.

I just got my latest prescription for Brintellix yesterday which was made nationwide the 21st. No side effects. It is an antidepressant too. I got #45 since we're titrating on it. I'm taking 10mg. for two weeks and then I'm moving up to 20mg., the suggested dosage. We think it's a good choice to compliment the highly successful Latuda because it also exhibits 5-HT7 antagonism and has a unique receptor serotonin modulation, and I missing out on 5-HT modulation in my psychotherapy compared to other neurotransmitters.

The memantine, actually an anti-Alzheimer's drug, is to improve cognition (look at all these mood stabilizers) and as an NMDA antagonist, it can reduce tolerance to certain drugs.

Total cost of meds + psych visit each month with insurance in 2013: ~$400. This year: ~$500. Ugh.

I went to GoodRx and added up the cost of each medication (cheapest price) and got this total cost without insurance: $4,019

You gotta have insurance lol.

I'll be honest. I'm really not thinking about cutting back. This is my hobby. I really enjoy reading up on medications and suggesting things to my PDOC. Also, I like the effects. The price isn't that big of a factor for me since I have insurance.

So, what are you prescribed and why and has your copay gone up any this year?