Do not be discouraged if you have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. There are bipolar medications available that will help you, both get well and stay well. No matter whichever phase you are in either manic or depressive, there are antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that can help you stay where you are so that you do not go back to either manic or depressive phases.

Alternative treatments for bipolar disorder

Undergoing therapy is a good additional measure to alleviate your symptoms. It helps you develop a self understanding of bipolar disorder to empower you to cope with lifes stresses and therefore be less likely to have symptoms recur. By having a self understanding you are able to tell the doctor if the bipolar medication you are on has stopped working or has decreased in effectiveness.

Some of the most common bipolar medications

Mood stabilizers

Mood stabilizers help you cope with both mania and depression. In general, you'll take these both when you're first diagnosed to help you get your manic and/or depressive phases under control, and you'll stay on them to help control your illness long term. They can prevent mood cycling and make your cycles less severe if they do happen.

Commonly prescribed mood stabilizers are valproic acid and lithium. Lithium is recommended for individuals who have episodes of euphoric mania, while valproic is often the drug of choice for rapid cycling or mixed episodes.

Antidepressants

Individuals who spend far more time in their depressive phases would find antidepressant drugs a lot more useful than if they were in their manic phases. Having said this there is some recent concern that they may not be effective and may activate episodes of mania, making bipolar disorder worse over the long term. For this reason if you are already on a mood stabilizer there is not likely a need for antidepressants; however it is important to check with your health practitioner to make sure. It may be possible that your health care practitioner would prescribe an antidepressant for you only for the very short term to help you cope with a severe depressive phase. As soon as the phase subsides they would advise you to discontinue with antidepressants and continue with mood stabilizers.

Anti psychotic drugs

Previous prescriptions for bipolar were antipsychotic drugs such as Hadol or Tharozine. They have been effective in most treatments of bipolar disorder; however they have negative long term effects such as permanent movement disorder with involuntary tics called tardive dyskinesia.

This is the reason why, so called atypical antipsychotics are preferred; these are Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel, among many others. These may also be used for bipolar depression.

Bipolar disorder " other medications

Benzodiazepines

The average mood stabilizer and antidepressant medication often takes several weeks to work. However during the short term Benzopdiazepiness can be used to help with anxiety, agitation or sleeplessness while the mood stabilizers take effect. Some examples of these are Klonopin and Xanax. Since they are so hi highly addictive they should only be used in the short term.

Calcium channel blockers

These are typically used for disorders like high blood pressure, but they can also be used in the event you can't tolerate lithium or other mood stabilizers. They have fewer side effects than do traditional mood stabilizers, but they are also less effective.

Thyroid medication

The thyroid is often affected when a person is suffering from bipolar. However medication for the thyroid can be added to the drug regimen to correct the problem. Low levels of thyroid can also be caused by the influence of lithium, which is an indication that thyroid medication is needed.

In conclusion

Always bear in mind that no medication and therapy will be effective for you unless you adhere to the doctors orders. Further to this it may take some time and adjustments to find the right protocol for you. It is always wise to stay on your medication and go to your therapy sessions as directed by your doctor to stay well. Should you have trouble with medications never go off them without consulting with your doctor. They should be able to make adjustments so that you feel well.