Bipolar Medications: Caution Advised

The only given in bipolar disorder is the extreme: extreme highs of manic behavior and extreme lows of depressed behavior. Everything else in between will be unpredictable as any bipolar disorder patient or doctor will know. The right kind of medication will go a long way in addressing the unpredictability of the in-between highs and lows.

If you can find bipolar medications that can stabilize your mood, you are on the right track, as bipolar disorder is a disorder of unstable moods. Medication may include several compounds that have been proven effective in addressing mania or depression.

Basic Bipolar Medications

The most common medication used for bipolar disorder is lithium. Lithium is proven to stabilize mood, thus preventing the unpredictable extreme swings from manic attacks and flare-ups to the lows and debilitation of depression. Lithium works within weeks of administration and may have to be continued on as a maintenance drug to be truly effective in addressing bipolar disorder.

Other medications used are anti-convulsants like sodium valproate, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine. Antipsychotic medications are also used for bipolar medication. These antipsychotics include Quetiapine, Chlorpromazine, and Olanzapine. These drugs are used as maintenance medication for bipolar disorder.

Again, what is basic is for the bipolar medication to be a mood stabilizer. The maintenance part is to ensure that no other mood swing episodes occur, or even if they occur, the recurrence is lessened gradually to the point where it disappears completely. Sometimes the medication may be a combination of different medications or drugs or substances.

Professional advice is a must in the use of these medications. Some debate occurs on the use of antidepressants to address bipolar disorder. Your doctor will be in the best position to determine the use or non-use of antidepressants for your disorder.

Caution on Bipolar Medications

While your doctor may prescribe specific bipolar medications for you, it will be incumbent upon you to monitor your body’s reaction to the medication. While mood stabilizers and antipsychotics may be basic regimen to treat bipolar disorder symptoms, know that these drugs have their respective side effects that you should be on the lookout for. You may even be advised to take a combination of mood stabilizer and antipsychotic for extreme mania. Mind you, the combination may produce different side effects for different patients with different body metabolism and health conditions.

While a bipolar medication, say an antidepressant, may help avoid one end of the spectrum like treating depression, the downside is it is possible for the antidepressant to produce or trigger the other extreme or manic episode. Thus, most professionals recommend the limited use of some bipolar medications or the combination among bipolar medications, and under closest professional medical supervision.

Be responsible. Talk to your doctor closely about the possible side effects of the medication. Make sure that you follow your doctor’s prescription as to dosages and schedules of intake of the bipolar medications. You should also ask your doctor of the possible reaction of the medication to other medications that you may be taking, even vitamins and mineral supplements, or herbal products. The reaction among these different substances should be made clear to you by your doctor or pharmacist. The regularity of intake is to be adhered to under doctor’s instructions.

The National Institute of Mental Health issues special warnings on the use of anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. You should be aware of these warnings in the same manner that you must be conscious of probable increase in anxiety or panic attacks, in irrational fear or agitation, in changes in your sleeping habits like insomnia, hostility or manic episodes. Monitoring is the key.

Bipolar medications are not the end-all and be-all in bipolar disorder treatment.

You and your family should accept the fact that the medication may not be enough. Therapy, family support, friends’ support, will also play important roles. A lifestyle change may even be in order. Whatever the bipolar medication may be, it should be assisted by long-term treatment and care from the patient’s support groups like family and friends and peers.