Bipolar Treatment with Medication

• ARTICLE

Researchers believe an alternative approach to antidepressant and antipsychotic prescribing may be more cost effective and practical than genetic testing.   November 20, 2018 – Pharmacogenetic tests are marketed as an aid to psychiatrists in selecting the antidepressant or antipsychotic medication that will work best in individual patients, based on their genetic makeup. But for...

• VIDEO

If you feel like you want to “throw in the towel” when dealing with medications, it’s important to remember it can take time to find success.   There’s a few things to consider when it comes to taking medication: I’ve been taking medication—you know, I’ve been taking a mood stabilizer, an anti-psychotic, otherwise known as...

• BLOG

My medication non-compliance led to a devastating psychotic break in 2015. But through family intervention and a return to compliance, I am now healthy, employed, and advocating for others. Here’s what I’ve learned. By Emily Allen   In 2013, fed up with weight gain as a side effect, I decided to stop taking a key...

• ARTICLE

No one loves needing to take daily medications for a chronic condition, but confronting your barriers to adherence assures a better outcome for bipolar disorder. By Robin L. Flanigan   Making the decision to go on medication for bipolar disorder—and sticking with it to find some-thing that works—can be a hard-fought battle. It’s common to...

• ARTICLE

The FDA has approved Abilify MyCite, a pill with a sensor that digitally tracks if patients have ingested their medication   U.S. Food and Drug Administration—November 13, 2017, Silver Spring, MD— The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first drug in the U.S. with a digital ingestion tracking system. Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tablets...

• BLOG

Taking medication for bipolar disorder takes commitment. You may find yourself measuring the pros and cons. For many, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.     Each week I feel like a pharmacist. I pull out my shoe box, sort through peach-colored bottles, and put my medicine into my weekly pill boxes. I have two because...

• BLOG

When you have bipolar disorder, no medication can truly change your attitude or thinking, as I learned from my late father.  It takes hard work.   My dad was the first person I knew who had bipolar disorder.  It was back in 1975 that he had a “nervous breakdown.”  For months he battled severe depression....

• BLOG

Some people may think that the side effects of antidepressants can be pretty innocuous as they are commonly prescribed, but for me, the side effects can be rough.   Earlier this year I wrote about the impacts of taking anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers, so now I’m going to write about the third type of medication...

• ARTICLE

Despite advances, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar still has a long way to go before capable, customized, compassionate care is the norm. By Stephen Propst   Today we have more reliable medications, with fewer side effects, than ever before. People with mental health issues can choose from every imaginable form of therapy, from interpersonal to...

• BLOG

Though I experience few side effects from mood stabilizers, taking these medications still impacts some areas of my life.   In my last blog post, ‘6 Things I didn’t Realize About Taking Antipsychotics’, I wrote about some of the impacts that taking antipsychotics can have on your life. But I don’t just take antipsychotics for...