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 ]





Posted on September 18th,2011 | Tags:,,,,, | Category:Medications

FDA Approved Bipolar Disorder Drugs

Here is an interesting list- the FDA (federal drug administration) has to ok a drug for use with bipolar disorder before a drug company can advertise that the drug can be used for bipolar disorder. Here is a list of the approved drugs with their initiation dates. I will write more on this topic in the next few days:

FDA:Acute Mania        *   1970:  Lithium       *   1973:  Thorazine        *   1995:  Depakote       *   2000:  Zyprexa           *   2003:  Risperdal         *   2004:  Seroquel       *   2004:  Abilify       *   2005:  Geodon       *   2005:  Equetro (Tegretol)     FDA:Acute Bipolar Depression             *  2004:Symbyax                  (Prozac-Zyprexa combo)          *  2007:Seroquel

FDA:Maintenance (for use in managing bipolar disorder in general)                *  1974:  Lithium:both          *  2003:  Lamictal:                         depression          *  2004:  Zyprexa:both          *  2005:  Abilify:both

This list can be a bit confusing- especially [ Read More ]





Bipolar Disorder Medications:What is Zyprexa? (Olanzapine)

 Zyprexa,also known as Olanzapine is an anti psychotic drug (also known as a neuroleptic) used to treat psychosis and psychotic mania.

It’s called an atypical antipsychotic as it is a new class of drugs with less side effects that the old anti-psychotics such as Thorazine and Haldol. Zyprexa is known for weight gain- an average of 20 pounds per person,but I definitely know people who don’t gain weight at all.

Zyprexa is used to treat bipolar disorder mania and psychosis – (and schizophrenia.)

I have seen it work miracles on people who are very ill.  It’s hard to find a balance between the benefits of the drug and the side effects- but for many,the benefits are what matters. I have a friend who was on the drug for two years to keep her mania and psychosis in check. It definitely kept her out of the hospital- but she felt over drugged and [ Read More ]





Bipolar Disorder and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine):a new antidepressant

I recently opened a magazine and saw an antidepressant (Pristiq) I had never heard of- so I asked my coauthor Dr. John Preston to explain the mistique of Pristiq!

Hi…Pristiq (desvenlafaxine)is a clone of Effexor…I like it because the starting dose is often the therapeutic dose (50 mg)…with Effexor you had to start low (37.5 mg) and gradually increase the dose (often up to 150-300 mg)…also Pristiq has somewhat less nausea than Effexor….but like all antidepressants is absolutely can cause mania…John 

**And as we all know…people with bipolar disorder can’t take antidepressants alone- and if they do take them- it needs to be in combination with a mood stabilizer such as lithium,depakote or tegretol!  Pristiq sounds like a resort! Who names these things!  Julie  

PS:If you view this blog from amazon.com,you can see the whole blog at www.bipolarhappens.com/bhblog

[ Read More ]





Julie Fast Radio Questions

I had too many listener email to answer on the air last Sunday. I said that I would answer them on the blog. I will get to them soon! Promise!

Julie

 If you’re not familiar with my radio show- please click on the radio tab to the left to get more information.





A Radio Update

I’ve received so many kind and supportive letters about my new radio show. I wish I could answer more of them! I just received a nice letter from a radio listener.  She asked why there was not a show posted the past few weeks. Well…I had NO idea how much work the show would be. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my working life- but easily the most stressful endeavor of my working life. It’s definitely more stressful than writing books. I’m learning what real stress feels like. It’s hard to deal with,but not impossible. It’s nothing like the stress that comes from being sick with bipolar disorder. I was a bit scared when I took on the show that I would have a lot of mood swings. I’m so used to getting sick when I work too much. In the past,too much was part time.  I know what [ Read More ]





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