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...

• BLOG

When I was first put on antipsychotics I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but now I know that there was a lot I didn’t realize about taking them.   On the same day I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder I was put onto an antipsychotic. That was over three years ago. Now I take...

• ARTICLE

An award-winning novelist with bipolar disorder wants young artists to know that untreated mania has had a worse effect on his creativity than any meds. By Francisco X. Stork   It almost never fails to happen. When I talk about my experiences with bipolar disorder at one of my book events, someone, usually the mother of...

• VIDEO

Because my weight fluctuates, there are three sizes of clothes in that Batcave I call a closet. This makes me face-up to an out of control situation my life—my weight.   Hi! I’m Allison Strong from bp magazine’s bphope Vlog and I’d like to discuss how difficult it was recently for me to pack to...

• BLOG

If you have bipolar disorder, changing medications can result in many challenges. Here are some tips to take on those trials.       I’ve been on the same medication cocktail for over seven years. I think. It’s been so long, I can’t remember. You see, when that particular set of meds was put together,...

• BLOG

My Pharmacist is the Central Intelligence Agent of My Treatment Plan.   One of the aspects of having bipolar is the need to visit the drugstore more than the average person. Have you ever felt judged or distanced because of that? How about when a tech doesn’t meet your eyes and says, “Give us a...

• BLOG

A problem in bipolar disorder treatment is the slow trial and error procedure to find our individual medication “cocktails.”   As a freshly diagnosed bipolar II patient, I thought being prescribed one magic, mood-adjusting medicine would instantly change my life. Not so fast, this perverse disease schooled me. The first prescription I tried shoved me...

• BLOG

Change is hard, scary, uncomfortable, and sometimes inevitable— especially when it comes to medications.     One of the toughest, if not the toughest, part of being bipolar is having to deal with taking our medications. Insomnia, weight gain, hair loss, thyroid problems, liver issues, numbness, etc. are among a litany of mild to severe side effects that...

• ARTICLE

One man’s story about his passion for writing, his fear of medicating his mood, and keeping his creativity I tiptoed into the packed, dimly lit performance studio for my first ever spoken word poetry event. My eyes adjusted quickly and my ears opened to a deep, booming voice: “When you and I tango, winter smiles.” Around the room, the audience swayed....

• BLOG

As I left my psychiatrist appointment, I truly recognized how integral Dr. Song has become to my wellness in managing bipolar disorder. We first met when I was admitted to the Eric Martin Pavilion subsequent to my first and only suicide attempt that landed me in the intensive care unit at the hospital for 3...

• BLOG

It’s not my sustained weight loss that counts, but the gains I’ve made learning metabolic science while striving for unconditional self acceptance.   This isn’t another “I’m OK with having gained *blank* pounds article”, although self-regard should never be discounted. Nor is it “Donald Trump on Women and Weight” though that would go viral. Nope....