Monday, November 17, 2008

Bipolar Medication

By Gary Pearson

It is true that there is no known total solution for bipolar disorder; nevertheless you can manage the ailment with the help of various bipolar medications. How well you manage the illness in the long period of time is the main importance of the treatment of bipolar disorder.

In addition to bipolar medication, there are many psychological techniques to treat the disease, most importantly counseling and behavior modification.

Just one medicine does not help and in maximum cases of bipolar disorder, combination of bipolar medications is required. It is very difficult to say if only the use of alternative or balancing treatments help the patient in treating the problem.

You can decrease and also avert hyper or feeling of depression with the help of bipolar medications which are also known as mood stabilizers. Lithium and anticonvulsants like carbamazepine, lamotrigine and valproic acid are some common prescription medicines for this condition.

Antipsychotics are also used in bipolar medication for treating the problem of mania. These bipolar medicines are olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone. Normally drugs used for stabilizing the mood are useful for managing the episodes of mania. You can also use some other medicines like quetiapine, lamotrigine and fluoxetine for treating bipolar depression.

In most cases bipolar medications have some side effects. Problems like memory loss, nausea, diarrhea, increase in weight etc can be faced by patients taking Lithium. It may not manifest itself when mild dose is taken but can be an issue for people taking a strong dose of these medicines.

Some of the side effects of anticonvulsant medications include gain in weight, sedation, weight gain, electrolyte disturbances etc. A typical antipsychotic bipolar medicine affects the person with gain in weight, hyperglycemia and even restiveness.

As a matter of fact each patient has a different effect of the same medicine. This disorder is periodic so it may be difficult to pin point as to which medicine is helping the patient. This is the reason why the sufferer as well as the physician should not expect drastic changes but should wait for around four weeks for the mood to become steady after starting the bipolar medication. - 15437

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