Medications For Bipolar Disorder :
Medications for bipolar disorder includes three main groups of medicines: 1)MAOI’s (Monoammine oxidase inhibitors), tricyclics and Lithium. Earlier, lithium was widely used for treatment against cyclic bipolar disorders, today being replaced by anticonvulsants.
Apart from Lithium and anticonvulsants; Antipsychotics, Calcium channel blockers, benzodiazepines, Antidepressants and Praxil and prozac are also being used for the treatment of bipolar mania and disorder.
If you are suffering from a bipolar disorder, then your physician must keep a check on your medical history and your response towards medications for bipolar disorder, as sometimes the same medicines do not usually for work for different individuals, and sometimes they are needed to be taken in a higher quantity.
Some people stop their medications for Bipolar disorder very soon. They should not stop the medicines unless told by their psychiatrists or doctors even if they feel better before they actually have been cured as some medicines, if stopped suddenly may cause a lot of problems, as the body has grown used to it, and reacts when it does not gets the medicine. Also, just because everything is going fine does not mean you are cured, you need medicines for life, just like you need water to survive.
Medications for Bipolar disorder are even more necessary for those people suffering from it, and that too on a regular basis, if they want to control their manic and hypomanic episodes and phases. Some medicines, which are anti manic, must be carefully observed and monitored in order to find out their right dosage. Some have adverse side effects, which can really harm the patient.
You should also consult your doctor if you are taking another drug besides the medications for bipolar disorder as some of the most harmless drugs if taken with other drugs can cause the most serious of damage. It can cause mood destabilization, which can lead to violent outbursts and undo all the good work that has been done in the past.
Alcohol intake should also be avoided when medicines are being taken, as it also may lead to serious repercussions. Alcohol leads to loss of inhibitions, apart from damaging the liver and reduces the effectiveness of medicines.
Some of the psychotherapeutic medicines help by just suppressing the symptoms of the disease, and not working on the disease itself, just like crocin reduces fever by not removing the cause but by hiding the symptoms. Such medicines are not highly recommended.
Also, the same medicines may have different impacts on different people, hence different medicines are required for bipolar disorders for different people. Every person suffering from Bipolar disorder has varying degrees of the disorder. What works for one does not work for everyone.
Sex, Body Size, age, diet and destructive habits (Smoking, alcohol), etc are some of the factors governing the effect of a medicine on an Individual. All these have to be taken into account while deciding the medication, and should never be ignored, or the potency of medication is significantly altered.