Medications | Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

I left my meds at home.. not good

Have you ever left your bipolar meds at home? It’s not a good feeling. I had a coaching call this morning that went well. I then got things ready to go to my writing office- at Starbucks.

My meds were on the counter- I should have put them in my bag last night- and I didn’t. I managed to leave them on the counter.

So now it’s 5PM and I have missed two med doses. Luckily I have my Lamictal in the car- so I was able to take that- but not my Lithium. (Yes, I started lithium and will write a lot more on that in the coming weeks.)

I don’t do well when I miss doses. When I get home later tonight, I will take one pill- then wake up at 2 am or so and take another pill and then the final [ Read More ]

How do I talk to my boyfriend about his Lamictal dose?

I often get questions on how to talk a person with bipolar disorder about their medications. Here is a question from Cheryl. I use a tecnhnique I use called ‘scripts’ with all of my coaching clients. I explain a bit about scripts in my answer.

Hi Julie,

My boyfriend just started taking Lamcital about a year ago and his doctor only has him on 40 mg and it’s just not enough. After almost 20 years of refusing to take meds this is progress for sure, but both he and his doctor are being so very conservative I’m still waiting for the miracle to kick in. Don’t get me wrong, even at 40 mg it’s helped, but there is still irritably, cycling, sleeplessness, etc. His mom is at 400 mg so at least in theory he should be able to tolerate a higher dosage. How does one call attention to this issue without seeming to do [ Read More ]

Reader Question: Help with bipolar medication costs

Here is a question from Jasmin:

Julie,

I have no insurance and BP meds are very expensive, is the medication assistance for a single woman with BP disorder. I know I don’t qualify for medicaid benefits and so often I go without meds because of the price. Does anyone know where I can recieve assistance?

Jasmin

I know readers out there have many suggestions, please send them in for Jasmine and I will post them ASAP.

Here are two tips:

1. All of the drug companies have some form of assistance- from coupons to discounts. Go to the maker of your meds and look for the assistance program.

2. Generic meds are VERY cheap. If you can tolerate them- in other words, if they work for you- check out the Walmart pharmacy program. Some generics, such as Lamotrigine (the generic for Lamictal) can be as little as $7 a month.

I [ Read More ]

Bipolar Disorder Medication Woes

I’ve been on my medication (Lamictal- generic Lamtrigine) since 2005. Unfortunately, the Lamictal has stopped working three times in the past six years. Well, it hasn’t stopped working exactly- if it did I would be suicidal pretty quickly. I should say that it is not working as well as it usually does.

All medications have an average/recommended dose as a guideline for prescribers. But this is only a start. People have such different brain chemistry that the dosage can be all over the place.

My problem is that I’m on the highest dose as possible for the Lamictal. 700mg. When the lower dose stopped working last year, my prescriber and I upped it to get me out of a really serious rapid cycling depression. (A few mood swings a day- waking up crying in the middle of the night, etc. )

And now it’s happening again. I can’t raise the dose. I use the management plan I write [ Read More ]

What is so great about lamictal for bipolar disorder depression?

Here is the link to one of my most popular posts. You may notice that I write a lot about Lamictal on this blog. I’m not someone who believes in drugs only- but I do know that of all of the drugs on the market for bipolar disorder – this is the best depression drug used today. It’s always a risk for people with bipolar disorder to take anti depressants such as Prozac or Zoloft as they have a high risk of mania if not used with a strong dose of a mood stabilizer. I believe that my constant rapid cycling is due to the 10+ antidepressants I was put on the first three years after my diagnosis.

Lamictal is a much, much safer drug for those with bipolar disorder and has relatively few side effects- the [ Read More ]

Bipolar Disorder meds: Yikes! I almost made a pretty bad mistake…..

I had a pretty scary experience today.

I am good about taking my medications. I basically have no life if I don’t use my Lamictal along with my management plan. They can’t work alone- so meds are my lifeline.

I have small amounts of my meds in many locations as I move around town a lot and may forget to put my daily meds container in my purse.

Here’s where I put them:

1. My glove compartment

2. My mom’s house

3. My house

4. My daily dose in my purse- I fill this bottle every night.

Today, I was putting a bottle of meds at my mom’s house and had my daily bottle in my backpack.

I took out both bottles at once.

My daily meds are 700mg Lamictal (my Lamictal is much higher than most doses), Ativan for sleeping if it’s a [ Read More ]

Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

I left my meds at home.. not good

How do I talk to my boyfriend about his Lamictal dose?

Reader Question: Help with bipolar medication costs

Bipolar Disorder Medication Woes

What is so great about lamictal for bipolar disorder depression?

Bipolar Disorder meds: Yikes! I almost made a pretty bad mistake…..

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