Disease Treatment Tips :: Bipolar Medications
Bipolar Medications: Common Bipolar Prescribed Medications
Lithium
Lithium is the most common and most prescribed of the bipolar medications used to treat bipolar disorder. It continues to be the gold standard and is seen as the most effective drug in bipolar treatment.
Lithium treats mania along with depression, therefore reducing the cycling between both. It has also been proven to reduce the risk of suicide amongst people suffering from bipolar disorder.
Lithium is a natural salt. However, just because it is natural does not mean that it is free from side effects. Common side effects include stomach problems, weight gain, frequent urination, kidney damage, thyroid damage, foggy thinking, fatigue and tremors.
Because it's important to keep your lithium blood levels within a certain range, you must follow your doctor's prescribed dose. Your doctor will test your blood levels regularly to ensure that your lithium levels aren't too high or too low. Levels that are too high can become toxic and lead to death.
Depakote
Depakote is an antiseizure medicine that's designed to regulate neuron firing in the brain and prevent seizures. Depakote is the brand name, but the drug is available in generic form.
It's known as divalproex sodium. It's helpful in treating mania, however it can cause pancreas and liver problems, weight gain, nausea, fatigue, infertility in females and hair loss. It's also not an effective antidepressant.
Lamictal
Lamictal is a drug designed to reduce the frequency of manic and depression cycles. It also has strong antidepressant properties and it's main attraction is that it's not associated with weight gain. Possible side effects include skin reactions, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, and headaches.
Tegretol
Tegretol is typically used as an anti-manic drug. It's not very effective at treating depression. Common side effects include liver problems, blurred vision, dizziness, nausea and it's also known to reduce the efficacy of birth control pills.
Trileptal
Trileptal is very similar to Tegretol, but believed to be safer, though not as effective. It will also interfere with birth control pills. Common side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, clumsiness and poor coordination.
Topomax
Topomax is usually prescribed in conjunction with other bipolar medications. It's used to control weight gain and generally induces weight loss. However, common side effects include a foggy feeling, slowed thinking and dullness. It also interferes with oral contraceptives.
Zyprexa
Zyprexa is an anti-psychotic that is typically prescribed to treat psychosis and is generally not used as part of an ongoing bipolar medications program. Its generic name is olanzapine and it's considered an antimanic drug. The most common side effect of Zyprexa is weight gain.
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DiseaseTreatmentTips.com :: Bipolar Medications