Medicating Bipolar Disorder can be touchy and tricky
and dangerous and everything else for number of reasons.
For starters, medicating Bipolar Disorder properly
consists of the perfect blend of medications.
It is unlikely that someone with Bipolar Disorder will need only one
medication for treatment. A combination
of mood stabilizers, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics are used to treat
Bipolar Disorder.
Examples of mood stabilizers include: Lithium,
Depatkote, Tegretol, Trileptal, etc.
Examples of anti-psychotics include: Risperdal, Geodon,
Seroquel, Abilify, etc.
Examples of anti-depressants include: Prozac, Paxil,
Zoloft, etc.
The perfect blend of medications is different for
each person with Bipolar Disorder. This
makes successfully medicating a patient with Bipolar Disorder a very tricky
task for a doctor. There is no real
rhyme or reason (at least not that is known as of yet) for why one combination
of meds works for one person and not for another. If you talk to 50 different people with
Bipolar Disorder it is very unlikely that any of them are taking the same mix
of meds as another and even if they are taking the same medications, it is
highly unlikely that they are taking the same dosages. There is no simple blood test or any other
testing out there to help determine what medications are necessary. It truly is trial and error and can sometimes
take trying quite a few combinations to find what works for that person.
Not everyone requires all 3 types of medications to
gain and maintain stability, I myself do.
The medications used to treat Bipolar Disorder have
the potential to cause dangerous side effects.
They each have a multitude of side effects that you need to watch out
for if you’re prescribed them. One
should always be aware of the possible side effects of any medication they are
taking. When you’re taking multiple
different medications it can be tricky to discern which medication is causing
the unwanted side effects. Medications
such as lithium have the potential cause detrimental side effects long term. It is important with Lithium and some of the
others to keep up with your routine blood work to ensure that the medication is
at a healthy level and not causing any damage.
Unfortunately with Bipolar Disorder, many people
start to feel better from their medications and will go off them thinking that
they don’t need them anymore. Another
reason people with Bipolar Disorder will go off their medication is because
they have lost the creativity and the energy that they had with their
mania. This is extremely detrimental for
many reasons. Going off of your
medication should never be considered an option. The side effects may not be enjoyable, you
may not have as much creativity or energy, etc., but going off of your
medication is very dangerous. It has
been discovered that someone who completely stops taking the medication that
they have been stable on is not likely to regain the same stability on those
medications again when they begin taking them again. Often times, they are never the same and
cannot find that level of stability they once found comfort it.
Moral of the story…. If you have Bipolar Disorder
(or any other mental illness)-you are feeling better because of the
medications- you cannot stop taking them because you feel better.
DO NOT EVER STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICATIONS!!!
Even if you feel they are not working- don’t stop
taking them- talk to the doctor so they can adjust them. I can’t stress how detrimental going off of
your medications can be!
There are medical reasons that may
lead someone to need to get off their medications (i.e. abnormal liver functions),
but this would of course be done in conjunction with a health care
provider.
Alright… Off my soap box about medication and how
important it is. Just remember how
important it is to keep up on the blood work associated with the medication as
well to make sure you’re healthy. That
is equally as important as taking the medication every day.
“Medication
can be like a pair of glasses. Bipolar disorder distorts your view of things;
medication may allow you to see clearly again”. –WebMD-
Thanks
for reading! Until next time…
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