Hi Julie,

Recently, my daughter switched from Risperdal to Abilify. I am hoping Abilify will be good for her, contrary to what I have heard. Do you have any information regarding the success of bipolar people on Abilify?
T.

Hi T.

Risperdal and Abilify are anti psychotic drugs. They are often used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. If a person is really manic or psychotic and has to go to the hospital, anti psychotic are often use to get the person to come down from the mania and psychosis. The dose is often very high. When my partner Ivan was so sick in 1994, he was immediately put on anti psychotics and mood stabilizers just to get him out of the mania, so this is common.

What a person takes depends on their symptoms. Many people with bipolar disorder do well on a mood stabilizer such as Lithium. I do well on a depression, rapid cycling prevention drug like Lamictal. I can’t take anti psychotics due to side effects. Anti psychotics are often used in combination with other bipolar disorder treatment drugs.

Abilify is a relatively new anti psychotic and is known to have less side effects than some other well known drugs such as Zyprexa, especially in terms of weight gain. This doesn’t mean it’s a better drug than Zyprexa- just that it’s a good choice for many who gain too much weight.

Abilify can be agitating, so that has to be watched. It just makes me sleep!

What matters is that the drug works. Finding a right dose can take a lot of time. It’s a balance between effectiveness and side effects.

So, this is a long answer to a short question- yes, people with bipolar disorder use Abilify. It works for many. It is not a treatment for depression, nor is it a traditional anti manic drug. It is mainly for psychosis.

I suggest your daughter uses her Health Cards for psychosis and sees if the drug helps.

Your daughter has to make sure she is on all of the right meds.

She is so lucky to have a mother who looks out for her!

Julie

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One Bipolar Drama After Another!

I used to have a lot of drama in my life. Much of it was due to my own choices, some of it was due to bipolar disorder causing me to make stupid choices, such as when I get manic.

I have changed completely in the past few years. I’m no longer willing to make decisions and then just hope they turn out ok.

I get too sick when I do this. I have goals in life that I want to reach-  speaking to large groups on mental health, reducing the suicide rate in this country, financial stability, physical health- big stuff for sure!
The only way I can accomplish my goals is to examine every potential decision for disaster (drama!) from sending an email to saying yes to a request. I’ve learned to ask myself the following questions:

Will it make me sick?

Has it made me sick in the past?

Am I manic?

Is depression clouding my judgment?

How will my decision make me feel tomorrow, next week and into the future?
I also have a lot of people in my life who will ask the questions for me and really make me mad! But I need their judgment in case I’m making a decision when I’m sick.

This is a constant exercise- I’ve learned to slow down a bit. I’m at over 50% success right now in my decision making. Considering that I used to do everything blindly, this is pretty good!

I have almost no drama in my life these days.

Julie

Everyone I know with bipolar disorder has some sort of sleep problem- it’s normal. It’s a bother.

Sleep Tips

- Sleep in a cool room- this can make a huge difference. If you get too hot, you will wake up more.

- Turn off lights one hour before bed and listen to a book on tape by a really low watt light- not a daylight bulb!  I actually turned off the light last night and listened to a show on my IPOD.
- Have a noise machine such as a humidifier to block out sounds from outside.

- Keep your TV in the living room and definitely don’t watch TV right before going to bed. Not only is it overstimulating, it also emits a bright (blue spectrum) light that is stimulating.

Sometimes when I write these lists I think, this is just all so ridiculous. Why can’t I just be like my friends!
They can go out until 1AM and just sleep a few more hours the next day to make up for it.

Well, I can’t. So I make these lists and do things the best I can.

My friend Dr. Jay Carter- an expert on bipolar disorder treatment says- regulated sleep is the best and least expensive way to naturally reduce mood swings.

Julie

Hello All,
I’m doing a very special interview with my mother this week on the Julie Fast Radio Show. If you would like to ask her a question, please send me an email and I will try to answer it on the air. I can’t guarantee it will be on, but I will get to all that I can. 

I have to say that my mother is an expert on helping a child who has bipolar disorder. We have worked together to manage this illness for eight years. We have some good tips that can work for all families.

My mother and I will talk at length about the Health Cards and how they literally saved our relationship. (If you’re new to this blog, the Health Cards are the treatment system I talk about on my site bipolarhappens.com)

You can go to www.juliefast.com/radio to send an email. You can also listen to the archived shows from the past two  months. I especially recommend the show with Don Moore- a friend of mine whose daughter has schizophrenia. 

 
I never thought I would be well enough to work again- but it’s happening. I just want to remind you to never give up- just over a year ago I was too ill to work full time, but today I can. I’ve made a lot of scarifies to get here, but it’s worth it. Working is wonderful and I don’t take it for granted!

Julie

Hi,

I’m very excited about my radio show today as my guest is my coauthor Dr. John Preston!

We’re going to talk about medications.

I promise that you will learn more than you ever thought possible in just one hour about antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Effexor- antipsychotics such as Abilify, Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel and mood stabilizers/anti convulsants such as Tegretol, Depakote and my drug Lamictal. We will talk about antianxiety meds such as Ativan, Klonopin and Valium and then touch on how these medications are used to treat specific illnesses.

All in one hour!

You can listen live - go to www.juliefast.com/radio and click on the link for the KTRO radio station web site. There will be a listen live button on the KTRO home page:

The show is on today (Sunday, April 20th) at 3 PM PST here in the US.
If you can’t listen live, the show will be posted on the juliefast.com site two days after the broadcast.

I remember when I was first diagnosed- the meds were so overwhelming- I wish I had been able to access a show like this one!
Julie