I’m going to talk about side effects and withdrawal possibilities of bipolar medication. [ Read More ]
|
|
|
|
I’m going to talk about side effects and withdrawal possibilities of bipolar medication. [ Read More ] A Reader Question for Julie Fast I just received a comment from Reanna about her rapid cycling that won’t stop. I have been there so I understand! She asked a question about bipolar disorder treatment. Here is the question and my answer:Julie,Reading your posts has been very helpful–thank you! I have been having a horrible time with “mixed episodes” in where I will be up for a few hours, then out of no where, boom, I am down, then up, then down! My dr. ordered blood tests, but any suggestions on coping methods until the tests kick in?Reanna Hi Reanna, Oh yes, I certainly understand. I have done that rapid cycling. It’s hard to get all of the terms straight with this illness! When you go up and then down- that is rapid cycling. A lot of rapid cycling. We are similar. I can have five or more [ Read More ] If you read my blog below, you can tell I’ve really had trouble lately in terms of getting my work done. I always have struggles, but I use the ideas in my books and just keep going. When it’s hard for me to even sit down, then I know something is not right physically. My friend Sherri called last night and said, “Are you ok! I just read your blog and I’m worried about you!” Hmm.. I didn’t mean to sound that bad! But it has been pretty bad. I have many ways to figure out what is wrong when I’m having mood swings- the first is to check the triggers. I know that troublesome relationships cause me a lot of trouble- which leads to mood swings- book deadlines that are too intense can also make me quite ill, but I always keep working. This time, nothing is going on. There are no triggers. Yes, [ Read More ] Well, I have been traveling for a week- first to Texas and now in Florida. It has been great, but I have had a lot of sleep and medication problems. I am really uncomfortable as I write this- I have what I call the Lamictal twitches and I feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin. I hate it. I’m pretty sure I took my dose this morning, so this is odd. It’s amazing how uncomfortable these side effects can be. It’s hard to live with sometimes- but the Lamictal is worth it for me. Actually, I should say Lamotrigine as I am now on the generic. Who knows if the side effects worsened because of the medication change. I have not seen a change in my moods, so that is all that matters. There is a big discussion on the generic Lamictal on the blog- if you go to the [ Read More ] Here is a comment from Gina about running out of (Lamotrigine): Hi Julie, I’m gonna run out of Lamictal before the year ends and insurance won’t cover any till after 1/1. I take 400mg per day, what can I do to stretch this out? I can’t afford to buy them! The doctor didn’t have any samples. I called GSK and because I can’t scrape up $600 worth of receipts for this year they won’t help me. Other drs office has no samples. It was like $18 per day to get just enough to get me into next year. It’s nerve wracking coming off 400 mg per day down to so little though. I definitely had some bad timing this year. I’m on medicare part D and am in the gap [ Read More ] Here are some mental health statements. Are they true or false? The answers are below. #1. OCD is an anxiety disorder. #2. People with bipolar disorder have psychosis. #3. Bipolar disorder in children is the same as bipolar disorder in adults. #4. Lithium is the only true mood stabilizer. Answers: #1 True! There are seven types of anxiety disorders, general anxiety disorder, social phobias, specific phobias, agoraphobia, PTSD and OCD #2. Absolutely true. When my partner Ivan was in the hospital for three months- he was manic and very psychotic. This is normal with a full blown bipolar I manic episode. The psychosis is treated with antipsychotics such as Abilify, Seroquel, Risperdal and Zyprexa. I write about Ivan in my book Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder. #3. False! The childhood bipolar disorder diagnosis is very controversial. In fact, in the last ten years the childhood bipolar disorder diagnosis [ Read More ] |
|
|
The health information contained herein is provided for general education purposes only. |
|