Bipolar Disorder Medications Side Effects Tip

I take a lot of Lamictal for my bipolar disorder.   (My dose is really high: 700 mg)

This can be hard on the system if I only take it during the day. I now have it on a 24 hour cycle. I take half throughout the day and then take the rest throughout the night.

It’s hard to keep track of bipolar meds- I find it very frustrating, upsetting, worrisome, etc when I look at my daily bottle and all the meds are sitting there. I forgot to take them!  That happens rarely, but it’s still a problem.

Here’s what I do to remember my meds. I have an empty bottle that I fill every day with my Lamictal dose.  I put that in my bag and take the half of the meds. Then I come home and empty the bottle on my counter next to a glass of water. I take a pill, then [ Read More ]





I need help with a book chapter!

My coauthor Dr. John Preston and I are writing a new chapter to be added to our book Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder. It’s on the topic of medications as I didn’t cover it in depth in the first edition of the book. I spent more time on medications in Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder.

I really could use your help with this new chapter in two ways. I need to hear some medication success stories from partners of people with bipolar.

How do medications help your partner and your relationship?

Then, I need people to finish this sentence:

I’m thankful for my medications because…….

I have plenty of stories in the chapter about the difficulties of taking bipolar illness medications, but I want some positive as well!

I will start….

I am thankful for my Lamictal because it takes the edge off all of my [ Read More ]





Do You Have Tips to Remember Your Meds?

Hello Readers- I’d love to hear your tips on how you remember to take your meds. I have been on my Lamictal for years, and I STILL have problems taking it at the right times. Please send your ideas and I will post them for all 30k plus blog readers to see! Julie [ Read More ]





Trileptal and Lithium Reader Question

Hi Julie,

I am taking Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)(800 mg a day)   ..my doctor wants to switch me to Lithium Carb 300mg. I don’t know anything about this medication..does anyone?

Karen

Hi Karen,

 It’s not super common for people with bipolar to take Triliptal (Oxcarbazepine) which may be why your doctor wants you to switch. Most people take Depakote, Tegretol or Lamictal – these are all epilepsy medications. Lithium is the only true mood stabilizer and if often the first choice for bipolar treatment. Your doctor is making a very normal treatment change from a anticonvulsant drug to the mood stabilizer Lithium.  This change is very much based on your personal symptoms and how you respond to medications- so there is no right or wrong here. A lot of it also has to do with the dosage, so that will probably change around a bit as you work with your doctor.  It’s all very normal to experiment [ Read More ]





Posted on May 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Medications

Bipolar Disorder Mania- Hypomania

Beware of mania if…

You had a tough winter depression. Things are starting to look good and you think to yourself- “I’m finally feeling better! It’s so great to feel good again!”  A stable mood doesn’t usually talk that way. Your skin looks better- your hair looks better- your eyes are clear and you have a lot more energy. You feel like doing things you did in the past when you were manic- such as getting up at 4AM because you think you’ve had plenty of sleep even though it has only been about five hours. You want to go out more.

I could go on and on here. If you have the Health Cards, now is the time to get out your mania card- and definitely read my mania Health Card as it shows the really subtle signs that mania is starting. People certainly do get manic in the winter- and there are many [ Read More ]





Bipolar Disorder: My meds are working!

Hello to Everyone,

Wow, thanks so much for the nice comments. It has definitely been a tough week. I made it to all of my appointments- saw all of the people I said I would see and basically kept functioning, but work definitely suffered. I started with the correct meds two days ago and I’m already feeling better.

I receive a lot of blog comments with questions. Please feel free to offer tips to the person asking the question  as I think that we all have ideas on what can help manage this illness- and advice for those we care about people with the illness! I will answer all I can in the next week.

I will be back in action soon. I know the new meds will really help. I have a book proposal due, lots of email to answer and an article to write for BP Magazine. I have to get myself in [ Read More ]





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