Hi,
How’s it going?
I hope you’re doing well.
I was talking to someone at the gym about bipolar disorder. This person had a friend who had it.
He asked me this one question.
I get it ALL the time.
More than ANY other question.
Do you know what it is?
What is the BEST bipolar medication?
The best bipolar medication out there…
Or the best medication for me…
Well, you know I’m not a doctor.
You know I’m not a mental health professional.
And by now you know I certainly do NOT work for any drug company.
So how am I supposed to answer this question? (And why do people keep asking ME about it instead of their own doctor?)
Well, I do have an answer, but you’re going to have to scroll down to find out what it is.
Scroll down…
Keep scrolling…
You’re close…
I know you want to know the answer…
Ok, next scroll and I’ll tell you the answer…
There ISN’T a BEST bipolar medication!
And yet there IS!
Confused yet?
Well, in my courses/systems I talk about
this, too:
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
Ok, let me explain.
Everybody’s different…
So, there is NO one medication, no BEST medication, that will work on everyone who has bipolar disorder.
That’s just a fact.
On the other hand, there IS a BEST bipolar medication…
And that is…
The BEST medication that works for YOU!
I wasn’t trying to trick you, honest.
I just really, really wanted to make my point.
Too many people think that if they could just find the “best” bipolar medication, then everything would be all right, instead of working hard to be stable.
They just want the easy way out, instead of the best way.
The best way is to find the BEST doctor for YOU, so that he can prescribe the BEST bipolar medication for YOU.
Post responses below
Hi David,
I am currently on a combination of drugs, but still having manic and depressive moods. I am taking Depakote, Effexor, Seroquel and Trazodone. I usually see most people are on one to two drugs. Would be curious what you think of these drugs.
Thanks!
Lisa
It’s not so easy to reach you, but…regarding your request for input from readers, you’re missing out on a lot of valuable input by using a form that requires full identifying information. There is a heavy stigma to any form of mental illness. In addition to that, people are automatically reluctant to provide personal/identifying information to businesses (in this case, Leverage Team, LLC).
I have been on Lithium since 1992 and have had my bloodwork done to make sure it didn’t affect my kidneys or liver. They just found a tumor on my adrenal gland and found that I am overproducing the stress hormone due to the lithium. I don’t know yet what is going to happen to me. I just wanted to share this with you.
Rose
Dear Dave,
I totally agree,Ive been on the same meds since I was diagnosed in 1989;and that happens to be lithium. Ive concidered changing,because my mood changes or I get depressed. but what ive learned to do is concider good nutrition,I take my fish oils and my multi vitamin,but i also take 5htp which isnt as strong as an anti depressant but brings me up enough that I wont end up in a manic phase,and its natural. I take it with my meds.Im afraid to change meds. Besides;these meds are working.just a few little adjustments from time to time Everyones chemical makeup is different,so the same meds wont work for everyone.
My daughter has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorde with bipolar. A form of bipolar. A form of schizophrenia. She spent over a year in a mental hospital as they straightened her out. They finally found medication that would workfor her (lithium + cogentin for the movement).
She was in an outpatient residential placement for another 6 months. She has been out of that since August, though still participating in activities and support from the mental health system.
Well, through the outpatient clinic, she met a man. They have married. The biological urge is strong and she wants children. She is 29. he is 54. She is now pregnant.
Since her marriage in February, I have been seeing signs of some unusualities… I don’t know what else to call them. I worried that she was off her meds. Last week she confirmed to me that indeed she was off her meds. The meds do cause birth defects (in addition to whatever genetic information she and her husband are passing along).
As a grandma, I should be thrilled and excited about an impending birth. As a realist, I am more than a little worried about the baby and about my daughter.
How will she be able to take care of a baby?
How will she handle being off the meds for at least 9 months?
Will she resume the meds?
Will she regain any of what she is losing day by day mentally?
WHAT DO I DO?
I am so scared!
Please respond.
I don’t know where else to turn. Unless you have been through this, you have no idea what it is like. HELP!
david I cant get a e-mail to you I really could use your help Iam running out of ways to try to help my son with bipolarplease I am responding to all these blogs I can do you get them?
please help me…margie fagin
Dear David,
You are right that u can’t suggest Bipolar Medicines as you are not Doctor etc.. But, whereever you found such cases, you must mention the same Individual’s medication & duration or case history which suited him/her for knowledge sake.
My husband’s former pyschriast told us years ago that
Bipolar wasn’t hereitary but since he has a new doctor the same question was posed to her and the answer is “YES”. The fact of the matter is I’ve always suspected that it was. My oldest daughter shows good proof of this fact. I don’t know why or how it happened but she now takes a medication for Bipolar; however, the doctor did not give her a stablizer. Also, I don’t believe she takes them regulary as my husband does. I can’t stress enough how important taking prescribed meds is for people. It makes life so much harder for the Supporter. Blood levels are so important also no matter which medication you are taking. I hope this helps someone as I have been a Supporter for 44 years.
Lisa,
I don’t understand why you are taking Depakote and Effexor! Please ask your doctor this question on your next visit. I’m no doctor but his answer would sure be interesting to hear.
Hi there Dave,
Ive been my daughters support now for 2 years she self medicated for a good portion of the time thinking she was the best person to do so – she and I learn’t the hard way that it has to be a partnersip between her and her psychiatrist and therapist making chemical adjustments to her meds .Rachels meds are calibrated to her needs needs and nobody elses, these days its not one shoe fits all..
Dear Melinda,
you will have to have courage and conviction and hope- this almost exact scenario happened to my daughter and her then partner:
The best case scenario is that your daughter and her partner have taken the precaution to engage with her mental health team to monitor and help your daughter through this pregnancy because your daughter is entering into a very very dangerous zone for herself and her baby because your daughter will not handle being off her meds for that length of time and she will become mentally unwell: having a baby will totally screw with her hormone levels added to that having had the baby her sleep regime will go out the window and your daughter will get quite sick if she is not monitored. And if the couple have ( gotten help from mental health professionals) your daughter is in good hands and she will be monitored and her wellness levels checked regularily through out and her pregnancy and afterwards.
And this is where it gets difficult If your daughter and her partner haven’t yet gotten in touch with their mental health team yet you will have to get through to them NOW or you will have to go and get that help for her inspite of what your daughter and her partner may think you will have do what ever it takes to make your daughters mental health team aware of the circumstances because her life and the life of her baby could be at stake.
Doing nothing is not an option.
Be brave
regards
Shona
To MELINDA: I sympathize with your fears about your pregnant daughter NOT taking her meds. Does her doctor know she’s pregnant? Usually, the expectant mother HAS to go off ALL antipsychotics while carrying the baby; certainly she can work with her pDoc to stsbilize her through her pregnancy. As to whether the child will turn out to be bipolar is anybody’s guess. My maternal grandfather was paranoid schizophrenic, and my mother has just been diagnosed with bipolar at 83. I have bipolar – I was first-born, illigimately – and I have 3 younger siblings, NONE of which has ANY mental illness. So – it’s a “crapshoot” as to how your grandchild will turn out. I pray for the best for you, your daughter, and your expected grandchild.
I was on Lithium for 20+ years, and it ultimately caused neuropathy in both legs (numbing, tingling, feeling “asleep”). I was switched to Depakote, which seems to be working OK. I am also on Zyprexa, PaxilCR, Klonopin, and occasionally, Valium. I also take opiates for my chronic back pain – the Fentanyl patch and Percocet. I believe I am stable on these meds, and my friends agree. I am, however, experiencing “mixed episodes” because of my external stressors, hence the Klonopin at night. My Christian friend wishes I could be “normal” and not take ANY meds – but that is a “pipe dream.” I will be on meds the rest of my life; just have to accept it.
I’m excited now because Charlie is coming up for a couple days, so I may not be posting. We’ll just have to wait and see!!
BIG HUGS to all bipolar survivors and those who love us. May God bless you real good. I pray for my country.
Hi David…i am responding to your email about meds..I had to go thru trial and error of course and I finally found what works for me..it seems that not many people use this drug..Lamictal..I take 200mg at nite…I also use Prozac 40mg and Wellbutrin 150mg. Has worked for me for nearly 6 years now..I have very few bad episodes anymore…I feel pretty good actually! I really enjoy your articles keep up the good work!
mmmmm medication whats that.
i felt confused & upset by your question, ‘which is the best medication for bipolar’ i have been left in limbo like a lot of sufferers, they gave me diazepam for 2 weeks & venlafaxine which i get 1 day for 7 days, in between well im lost. i cant control the panics or the lows or the highs! im just a number, i really dont know where to turn, but i dont get answers here or with my dr, i cant eat, cant sleep im a mess & quite frankly no-one gives a damn. this is just existing, not living! i am a bright intelligent woman but as a bi-polar sufferer i am just a number on a list that never ends, i have been told there are drugs that can stabalise my awful mood swings but i cant even get seen to be given the chance to try that. i hope some of my fellow sufferers are getting better treatment than i am, thats the only thing left…….Hope.
David, I would like to know if any of these medications come in liquid form as my sister insists that she can not swallow pills so she chews all of her medication. Being that some of them are time released would pretty much explain why she is up down and all over the place. A simple yes from anyone out there that takes some type of medication for bipolar in a liquid form would help me to at least get her to ask her doctor (maybe) Thanks Brenda
Nice David, I liked the way you said that the best medicine is to get the best doctor.
I have been diagnosed bipolar for over 15 years and have been through a multitude of medications, praying for the right combination. I think my doctor and I have found it. I currently take Abilify, Lamictal, and Seroquel along with Requip for restless leg syndrome so I can sleep. The levels have been changed a few times, but now I have no mood swings and my concentration is much better. Also, I don’t have far as many racing thoughts and anxiety. WHEW!!! It’s been a long road, but finally I can enjoy LIFE!!
Linda, I think you really need to sit down with your
psychriast and explain how you feel. BTW, Venlafaxine is the generic for Effexor which is a Bipolar med. I really think that you need a stablizer med to help with your mood swings and not one that you take for two weeks and then stop. Have you considered getting a second opinion asto what you need to stablize you? Also, have your discussed this situation with your Pdoc?
Please explain to me why there are people who are bipolar – usually at their worst moments – who proclaimed they are “cured”. Where do they get this idea. Who is feeding this to them, this line of being cured. This is what makes them stop taking their meds. And the best meds I think are the ones where the family can say – “you know he is doing ok, much better, we like being around him”. And with the bipolar person getting that kind of feedback from the family members that are closest to them, they will naturally feel even better. But there are still those subsets of bipolar patients who just refuse to take medication. Like the guy in the Soloist refused I guess.
Countree I avent got a psychriast,But al have a talk with me doc, But wat makes you think I have mood swings, and if I have there is a bottom line that is causeing me to swing from mood to mood, all the shit thats been computerrised in to my brain over the years.
Take Care Linda.
The best medicine is the one that is taken and swallowed and absorbed and allowed to work without sabatoging the drugs ability to help!
Really I think the only way to keep someone compliant with meds is long acting injections.