I’ve been reading a lot posts recently about difficulty with medication. One fellow blogger wrote about a depressive episode following starting a new medication. Manic Monday just wrote today about her experience and difficulty with Geodon. I know that I recently had to have all of my meds increased and switched out. So, I was inspired to share something with you.
When I was first diagnosed, the doctor I was seeing at the time was thoughtful enough to let me go home and research my treatment options. I left his office with an appointment for the following week and a fist full of pamphlets.
To be honest, the fist full of pamphlets really didn’t help. I did what I do best. I sat down at the computer and Googled.
I found this amazing website written by an actual psychiatrist. His information about bipolar disorder and treatment options came from real experience. Psycheducation.org
The best thing about his site was the mood stabilizers chart. I was able to make an informed decision as to what medication might be best suited for me based on my dominant symptoms. (Rapid cycling, depression, weight problems = Lamictal).
Take a look! It is very informative and may be useful when looking for treatment options.
Also, don’t discount supplements. Remember that bipolar disorder is also a chemical imbalance in your brain. The chemicals in your brain can be affected by what’s going on in your body. You may have seen my supplement list in a post I wrote called, Pillbox. Please remember, check with your Pdoc first before you consider adding any supplements. Serious interactions could occur if you don’t.
I hope this was helpful and informative!
© Tallulah “Lulu” Stark and A Canvas Of The Minds 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Tallulah “Lulu” Stark and A Canvas Of The Minds with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
A Canvas Of The Minds 
That is a pretty cool chart. Being bipolar definately has its challenges, it’s nice to have places to go to to get information. I particulary appreciated the notes on the meds with weight gain, as this is one of my concerns when discussing meds. 🙂
This is such a great site – thanks for posting the link!
That’s a great website, and it’s relatively up to date (I saw that it had aripiprazole on there). I’ll definitely recommend it to others who are in between medications. I’ve always used RXList and read through all the data from the studies conducted. From there I learn what sorts of side effects can happen which includes things like weight gain. RXList also provides really nice tables for the side effects and results of the studies, so I can get a measure of just how effective the drug really is.