The post Medicine Side Effects – Are You Informed? appeared first on Life Conquering Bipolar Blog.
]]>Topamax is officially used for seizures in adults as well as migraine headaches. Using Topamax as a medicine for bipolar to aid in mood stability was considered off-label. Although Topamax was not approved for use as a mood stabilizer by the Food and Drug Administration, it was still legal for psychiatrists to prescribe this drug as such.
Over the years taking Topamax, I noticed my memory getting worse. I could not remember tasks that I did the day before. Words would escape me in the middle of conversations. Also I would say other words in place of the word I meant to say. For instance, I might say “I’ll drive the clothes hanger” instead of “I’ll drive the truck”. I thought this would not afect my life. But it did.
Recently, I was put through a battery of tests to check if I am having seizures. The EEG showed an interesting phenomenon. My left frontal lobe showed slowing. My neurologist believed the Topamax was causing the slowing. My neurologist subsequently took me off the drug. I soon discovered the frontal lobe controls memory, language,social behavior, problem solving and judgment. All of these areas I was experiencing deficiencies.
I have been off the Dopamax for over a month. In some areas I have noticed a small improvement while oher areas are still deficient. My doctor and I did not discuss if I will have gains in any of these areas.
The medicines bipolars take are potent and should be taken with caution and knowledge of the medicine. If I had known my left frontal lobe would slow down, I would not have taken it in the first place.
Know what you are taking and monitor yourself for side effects. Usually pharmacy staff staple a pamphlet to the bag carrying the medicine you just bought. Be sure to read and become informed about the side effects. This is true for all medicine. This does not only affect bipolars. It affects heart patients, diabetics, cancer patients and pediatrics too as well as many others.
If you have had any experience with Topamax or any other drug’s side effects, I would love to hear about it. Email me at mailto:[email protected].
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-14494-6019/topamax-oral/topiramate—oral/details
http://www.neuroskills.com/brain-injury/frontal-lobes.php
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]]>The post Missing a Dose of Medication appeared first on Life Conquering Bipolar Blog.
]]>I am speaking purely from my own experiences as someone with bipolar 1 with psychotic features and my experiences alone on missing a dose of medication from time to time. I am not a medical doctor nor am I a nurse practitioner or pharmacist.
When I first began taking psychotropic medications, I was scared to death as to what might happen if I began missing a dose of medication. I knew how I was completely without medicine and I also knew how I was on medicine but not quite stable. One frightened me and the other made me antsy. My doctors were still trying to find just the right cocktail for me and my body chemistry nine years later.
When I finally realized I had missed a dose of one of my medications, I would see if the present time was close to my next dosage. If the present time was too close to the next time I would take the medicine, I would wait until the next time came around. If I caught the missed dose just a few hours after I should have taken it, then I would go on and take it when I remembered.
It all depended upon the medicine I skipped that determined the side effects of the missed dose. I might feel unstable. For instance, I might feel real energized, talking fast, racing thoughts, hypersexual, or want to spend money. I might have tremors. At the same time, I might feel a deep dark depression come over me. The good thing is that some of the medicines I am on build up in my system and take several days to leave.
I used to get pretty upset early on in my treatment once I had realized I had missed a dose of medication. I might have gotten distracted at lunch and forgotten that I had medicine to take. The years of experience and medicines have all taught me that I am not going to grow a third arm nor am I going to go off the deep end if I happen to miss a dose of medicine. If I dwelled on it too much, it became more of a psychological issue than a physical issue. And when that happened, things seemed to get out of control.
Even if you called your psychiatrist or your pharmacist and told them about the missed dose, they would probably tell you to wait until the next time to take the medication. They would reassure you that any side effect would not last long and would probably stop once you take your next dose.
In order to keep from missing a dose of medication, I place precautions in my life to help me remember to take my medicine. I have an alarm going off on my smart phone every two hours from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. telling me that it is time to take another dose of medicine(s). (I do not have an alarm for the medicine I take at breakfast.) This has helped me tremendously to make sure I do not miss dosages throughout the day. I have so much medicine to take in one day, it is too much to rely on the brain to remember it all.
I also place my multi-pill organizers (I have three) in places where I will be reminded to take the medicine. For instance, I place my breakfast multi-pill organizer with my breakfast foods. The 8:00 p.m. alarm is for my bedtime medicines. I usually do not take it at that time in case the one pill makes me sleepy too early. What I do is I place this multi-pill organizer next to my charger and purse when the alarm goes off. Most of the time, the last thing I do before I go upstairs to go to bed is put my cell phone on the charger. This way I can see the organizer and take the medicine before I go to bed.
As I have improved with my treatment, I now firmly believe that my medications are one of the key pieces to my survival as someone with bipolar. However, I do not get the sinking feeling that I used to get when I realized I did not take my last Lithium capsule or Topamax tablet at the end of the day.
I believe the key to avoiding missing a dose of medication is to have a schedule and a plan in place. Once you have this plan set up, you can use smart phones, your Outlook calendar, a friend or family member, or simply just your pill organizer to help you remember to take your meds. Make it your plan so you are more apt to achieve success.
http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2012/08/missing-dose-psych-meds/
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/pill-organizers/ID=361563-tier3
https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/pill-organizers
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]]>The post Bipolar Advice appeared first on Life Conquering Bipolar Blog.
]]>Below are some lessons I have learned along the way.
Medicine, I have learned, is just a part of the solution. I believe that at the beginning I put too much faith in my medicine. To me, it was the be-all and end-all of my treatment. I have learned since then that medicine takes you only so far and my bipolar advice is that therapy, support groups, friends and family, and your faith in God takes you the rest of the way.
I have been on so many drugs, I have lost count. To be honest, I was probably a bit melodramatic back then concerning side effects so I’m sure whatever happened was blown out of proportion some of the time. Try your best to look at new medication with unbiased eyes. It is important to be aware of the possible side effects. Do not focus on the side effects. Focus on what the drug was prescribed for you to take.
Be patient in the process of tweaking your medicine. It has taken me nine years to get this latest cocktail of drugs. It is not perfect, but pretty close. Each person’s body chemistry is different. Be flexible. It might take you only a few months to get your medicines right for you or it can take longer. However, time allows for trust in a medicine. What happened would be I became too trusting too soon of the latest med prescribed to me. My word of advice to you is to be patient with the new medicine your psychiatrist is prescribing you. Who knows? It might do nothing for you, totally mess with your symptoms or be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
So far I have had four psychiatrists in nine years. My bipolar advice? Bipolar is a bitch. It chews you up and spits you out. That professional sitting across the room from you holds the key to information that can unlock the deep mysteries of bipolar. A trusting doctor/patient relationship needs to be established. I have shared very personal information with these doctors in hopes to get closer to bipolar stability. In the meantime, one psychiatrist helped me to discover that I have CPAP. My latest doctor is exploring whether I am having absence seizures. You must feel comfortable with your physician. Keep a mood journal and use the data from it to help you share with the doctor what the bipolar is doing in your life.
I have had just about as many therapists as psychiatrists. My bipolar advice would say this is a relationship that above all else needs to be built on trust. From day one, I have felt a level of trust with my psychologist that has helped me to talk about my life and my many issues. DO NOT SETTLE! If you have a bad therapist, fire them and find a new one! There are plenty out there. Take your time and try them out. If it doesn’t feel right, go somewhere else. I did just that. The therapist was not communicating professionally, so I canceled all appointments. Besides, I did not feel like I could be myself with her. It was the best decision because it brought me to my psychologist that I am seeing now. He is very knowledgeable about bipolar. Due to my history with therapists, I was a bit gun shy.
I use my memo section on my smart phone to jot down topics and issues I want to discuss with my psychologist. It is very helpful because I always have my phone with me and it takes just a few seconds for me to type what I want to discuss. I used to rely on my memory and wait until the appointment to write it down somewhere. Bad idea. I mostly forgot what I wanted to discuss with my psychologist.
These are my bipolar advice from my perspective. You can read another blog or another website and find completely different ideas. Take a look at these websites for some help on your journey with bipolar.
http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home
Disclaimer: I do not agree with 100% of what she says.
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]]>The post My Experiences with Lithium Medication appeared first on Life Conquering Bipolar Blog.
]]>I have been on Lithium medication two separate times now since my treatment began in 2007. It was the first mood stabilizer prescribed to me to treat the manic episodes of bipolar. When I took Lithium the first go-around, my symptoms were acute. Shortly after I began taking the lithium, I experienced tremors which is one of the side effects. The tremors were so bad that I could barely drive. I remember the tremor being in my right leg and due to this, my right foot could not stay on the car’s pedals. The psychiatrist who prescribed the Lithium took me off it.
Fast forward to 2014, I found myself in a continuous state of instability. I was wanting to reach that all illusive place of stability. I did my research on the mood stabilizing drugs available. Many of them I had already tried and could not use because of the side effects I had already experienced.
My attention soon turned back to Lithium medication. I weighed the pros and the cons of taking this mood stabilizer. It was obvious that I was needing another mood stabilizer. Lithium was a good compliment to the drugs I was taking at the time.
Over the years, I have learned I am sensitive to medicines. As a result, my medicine has to titrate, change in dosage, slowly. The psychiatrist I was seeing was successful at titrating me on another medicine. We decided to start out slow and take our time, allowing the Lithium to ease its way into my body.
I started off on a rather low dose of 300 mg a day of Lithium. Soon, I went up to 450 mg. After several weeks, I was still experiencing the mixed episodes and rapid cycling. I told my psychiatrist what was going on at my next appointment. He paused for a moment, then he said, “We are going to treat this thing aggressively.” He put me on 900 mg of Lithium a day.
My dose of Lithium medication doubled. That was going to be a big jump instead of a slow titration. I was already experiencing tremors — I was a bit nervous what 900 mg would do. The doctor explained to me that the Lithium had been in my body for some time now. Thus, so I should not have any difficulties adjusting to the higher dose. He said my tremors should subside and if I have any problem to call the office and I can always go back to a lower dose.
Once the 900 mg a day of Lithium medication had begun to work with my body, I was a brand new person. My mind had quieted down. I was not oscillating back and forth between poles every few minutes. Nor was I experiencing manic and depressive symptoms at the same time. I was stable, finally stable.
Like all things, this too ended after about a week and a half. The rapid cycling and mixed episodes came back. I am with my fourth psychiatrist now and he has been willing to increase my Lithium to 1200 mg per day. I could have increased any of my other mood stabilizers I am on currently, but I chose to increase Lithium. The reason is because I know what it feels like to be well while on that medication. It is still too early to know if this is the correct dose or if I need to go up even higher.
This mood stabilizer has been good to me so far. I have had minor side effects since retaking it in 2014. They have either stopped all together or are tolerable enough to live with. It is ultimately up to you and your psychiatrist, what medicine you need to take for your illness. To make an informed decision about Lithium medication, I have included some links below.
http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-disorder-lithium
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Treatment/Mental-Health-Medications/Lithium
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