Bi-polar meds

[mgmt&mdma]

Does anyone know what meds your prescribed for bi-polar disorder?

im getting tested soon and wanna have at least some knowledge as to which ones i should avoid.

or do the docs just prescribe what they want regaurdless of what you want?

 

[Mr-Tambourine-Man]

Start with the basics, Lithium, Depakote, then maybe Neurontin. Steer clear of antipsycotics at first as the side-effects can be even more nightmarish. Bipolar disorder is very overdiagnosed, so be careful.

 

[mgmt&mdma]

Start with the basics, Lithium, Depakote, then maybe Neurontin. Steer clear of antipsycotics at first as the side-effects can be even more nightmarish. Bipolar disorder is very overdiagnosed, so be careful.

Well im gonna tell the doc about how ive got like crazy mood swings, badd social anxiety, lack of focus and my sleeping disorder.

(this is gonna sound bad but) Would those be in the criteria for prescriptions?

I tend to put on a fake smile whenver im around anyone so im afraid they wont believe me

 

[Issac Sinclair]

I don't think that sounds like bipolar, it sounds more like having an unsatisfactory life. But I'm not you. It sounds like you need help though.

 

[mgmt&mdma]

I don't think that sounds like bipolar, it sounds more like having an unsatisfactory life. But I'm not you. It sounds like you need help though.

yeah i think its a mixture of the two. i already go to therapy, do you think i should be tested for something else?

 

[wolverhamptonian]

The best thing you can do is answer any questions asked by a Dr honestly . I know it sounds obvious but sometimes we get a certin diagnosis in our minds and we feel we have to meet that criteria. What i would say is answer any questions honestly even if some are embaressing because at the end of the day the proffessionals belive it or not have heard it all before and if you fabricate a symptom or go along with whats said and your not being true 2 yourself you could be lost in the system 4 years take note of my warning my friend i am 1 such statistic. If its true its true if it aint it aint say it the way it is because so many diagnosis are similar it could be one of several.Be honest with the proffessional and more important with yourself be good.

 

[wolverhamptonian]

Hope that helped?

 

[embers_fading]

Does anyone know what meds your prescribed for bi-polar disorder?

im getting tested soon and wanna have at least some knowledge as to which ones i should avoid.

or do the docs just prescribe what they want regaurdless of what you want?

You can't possibly know which medications to avoid because every person is going to respond a little bit differently to the same medications. You'll just have to try different medications, doses, and combinations under the guidance of a psychiatrist until you finally find something that works to effectively mitigate your symptoms if you have bipolar disorder.

The medications can be a savior, let me tell you. Once I found meds that work my life improved so much. I never want to go back to the way things were before I found these meds.

Also, if you have any nasty side effects from your meds keep in mind that they usually go away after a while. If you don't like any of the side effects, keep taking your meds but schedule an appointment with your psychiatrist to talk about what you don't like about the meds. Your psychiatrist can probably prescribe you something to ease the side effects or he can change the dose or taper you off properly and safely so you don't have to live with those side effects.

Good luck!

 

[Issac Sinclair]

yeah i think its a mixture of the two. i already go to therapy, do you think i should be tested for something else?

You probably have situational depression. I would try to stay away from drugs as much as possible. If you want to even out your life, you should look into diet and exercise.

Now concerning drugs, you would want to feel what you want out of life. You don't want a permanent drug, unless you really do have a psychological problem that doesn't go away with the situation.

Look for a temporary drug to get you where you need to go. Maybe some sort of speed to get you moving, maybe some sort of downer so you won't be anxious. My situation didn't improve, so neither did my drug use. I would love to be off them once I get to where I wanna be, but I'm not quite there yet.

Someone with Bipolar did say that they had Remeron helped them (best drug they had in their life), and Prozac made them feel very speedy, but got off it since it didn't help.

 

[Kindatired]

Well coming from someone that is diagnosed as a rapid cycling bipolar II I can tell you that they will start you with an almost standard set of meds if you turn out to be bipolar I or II.

First off you will be offered Lamotrigine or Lithium for stabilizing your mood swings. If you are on the more depressed side they will probably want to try Lamotrigine first. It has less side effects than Lithium, the downside to it is that 5-10% of people will develop a rash from it which can be fatal (1 in 50000 people that get the rash get the fatal kind - think skin falling off) but if the rash is caught in time they have medication that can fix it. Every day you will have to check your whole body for a rash, EVERY DAY, after about 8 weeks on it the chances of getting a rash from it are pretty much nil, you should still check every day though. Lithium can be even more annoying because you will probably have to go get a blood test done every 2 weeks or so that way they can check the levels in your blood to make sure you are in the therapeutic range. Too little it doesn't work, and took much isn't good for your body.

If you have a tendency to slide into the mania side of things they will probably get you on Epival which will help curb the mania before it gets out of control. If you do end up manic they will most likely put you on seroquel or olanzapine, both are anti-psychotics and will help bring you back to reality if you have gone manic.

A lot of people that are bipolar almost always have some other form of mental illness as well, the most common is some sort of anxiety disorder. This is why a lot of people that are bipolar get misdiagnosed as major depressive, prescribed antidepressants, and then the SSRI/SNRI pushes them into full blown mania (that's what happened to me) and they finally get the proper treatment. Also, if you are having a hard time sleeping they will probably put you on a Z-drug like Zopiclone.

To be honest it doesn't sound like you are bipolar though. Mood swings, lack of concentration, sleeping problems can be symptoms of a lot of disorders; ADHD is the first one that comes to mind or it could simply be that there is something wrong in your life that needs to be adjusted rather than the chemicals in your brain. If you find yourself so depressed that you don't even want to get out of bed, and then for no reason all of a sudden one day you feel like you own the world and nothing can stop for a couple of weeks and then you are depressed again then it's probably bipolar. If you just have random mood swings for no reason that last for a few hours, can concentrate and have problems sleeping it's a very good chance that you have something like ADHD or just plain old clinical depression.

So don't let them rail road you into thinking you are bipolar if you are not. There is a big trend in some places like the USA where every shrink thinks everyone is bipolar and are more than happy to start pumping you full of drugs that won't help you at all. My personal opinion when it comes to shrinks is if they prescribe me anything on the first visit they aren't worth my time. After your doctor gets a greater sense of your problems then he should start prescribing things.

To me it would be like going to your family doctor with a stomach ache and having him tell you that you need major surgery before even examining you.

Have a long talk with your doctor, explain everything you feel. What I would suggest is keeping a mood/sleep journal. Every time you have a mood swing right down the time and how bad it was and when it comes to sleep record the time you go to bed, and in the morning write down how long you slept (or a rough idea) and how well. When it comes to the anxiety write down every time you feel it build up and where and what is going on around you.

If you go to see your doctor with that info it will be a lot easier for them to figure out what is going on with you.

Hope that helps, and I hope you are not bipolar, it's something you have to deal with the rest of your life and even on meds its sometimes hard to keep on top of it.

 

[regfairfield]

straight serotonin injected in your brain

 

[mgmt&mdma]

Well coming from someone that is diagnosed as a rapid cycling bipolar II I can tell you that they will start you with an almost standard set of meds if you turn out to be bipolar I or II.

First off you will be offered Lamotrigine or Lithium for stabilizing your mood swings. If you are on the more depressed side they will probably want to try Lamotrigine first. It has less side effects than Lithium, the downside to it is that 5-10% of people will develop a rash from it which can be fatal (1 in 50000 people that get the rash get the fatal kind - think skin falling off) but if the rash is caught in time they have medication that can fix it. Every day you will have to check your whole body for a rash, EVERY DAY, after about 8 weeks on it the chances of getting a rash from it are pretty much nil, you should still check every day though. Lithium can be even more annoying because you will probably have to go get a blood test done every 2 weeks or so that way they can check the levels in your blood to make sure you are in the therapeutic range. Too little it doesn't work, and took much isn't good for your body.

If you have a tendency to slide into the mania side of things they will probably get you on Epival which will help curb the mania before it gets out of control. If you do end up manic they will most likely put you on seroquel or olanzapine, both are anti-psychotics and will help bring you back to reality if you have gone manic.

A lot of people that are bipolar almost always have some other form of mental illness as well, the most common is some sort of anxiety disorder. This is why a lot of people that are bipolar get misdiagnosed as major depressive, prescribed antidepressants, and then the SSRI/SNRI pushes them into full blown mania (that's what happened to me) and they finally get the proper treatment. Also, if you are having a hard time sleeping they will probably put you on a Z-drug like Zopiclone.

To be honest it doesn't sound like you are bipolar though. Mood swings, lack of concentration, sleeping problems can be symptoms of a lot of disorders; ADHD is the first one that comes to mind or it could simply be that there is something wrong in your life that needs to be adjusted rather than the chemicals in your brain. If you find yourself so depressed that you don't even want to get out of bed, and then for no reason all of a sudden one day you feel like you own the world and nothing can stop for a couple of weeks and then you are depressed again then it's probably bipolar. If you just have random mood swings for no reason that last for a few hours, can concentrate and have problems sleeping it's a very good chance that you have something like ADHD or just plain old clinical depression.

So don't let them rail road you into thinking you are bipolar if you are not. There is a big trend in some places like the USA where every shrink thinks everyone is bipolar and are more than happy to start pumping you full of drugs that won't help you at all. My personal opinion when it comes to shrinks is if they prescribe me anything on the first visit they aren't worth my time. After your doctor gets a greater sense of your problems then he should start prescribing things.

To me it would be like going to your family doctor with a stomach ache and having him tell you that you need major surgery before even examining you.

Have a long talk with your doctor, explain everything you feel. What I would suggest is keeping a mood/sleep journal. Every time you have a mood swing right down the time and how bad it was and when it comes to sleep record the time you go to bed, and in the morning write down how long you slept (or a rough idea) and how well. When it comes to the anxiety write down every time you feel it build up and where and what is going on around you.

If you go to see your doctor with that info it will be a lot easier for them to figure out what is going on with you.

Hope that helps, and I hope you are not bipolar, it's something you have to deal with the rest of your life and even on meds its sometimes hard to keep on top of it.

thanks so much probably the best reply ive ever gotten on any thread ive made.

but its kinda like you said, for a good 6 hours ill be captain "LETS DANCE OMG HUG ME" then ill crash and for the rest of the day im in a pissy mood and have random crying sessions. But thanks for the reply8)