What is the best medication for Bi-Polar Manic Depression?

Question

Is there any meds out there that do not have the weight gain side-affect?

Answer 1

Good question. Bi-Polar Disorder, which used to be referred to as "Manic Depression," is a complicated, and misunderstood, disorder affecting almost 3 percent of the population. Since, like other mental illnesses, diagnosis cannot be made through lab work, the criteria for diagnosing Bi-Polar Disorder is laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, IV- Text Revision (DSM IV-TR) How serious is Bi-Polar Disorder? Studies have shown that 29% of Persons with Bi-Polar Disorder commit suicide (Baldessarini et al., 1999). A very scary statistic.

While we like to think of Bi-Polar Disorder as a cookie-cutter illness always having both manic and depressive components, it is as unique for the individual as any other illness. Some persons have only manic episodes, returning to "normal" when the episodes clear. Some have only depressive episodes. So what is the best medicine for treating Bi-Polar Disorder? The answer may surprise you. It's lithium. Yes, lithium sounds like the drug of the ancients, but is still the only medicine clinically proven to treat the manic and depressive components, and has been shown to reduce the rate of suicide seven-fold, even when it didn't alleviate the symptoms of Bi-Polar Disorder (Goodwin and Jamison, 1990). However, if you are a member of the population who does not respond well to lithium, there are many choices such as Divalproex (Depakote) and olanzapine (Zyprexa), which are designed to treat mania. the jury is still out on its ability to treat the depressive component.

But, if weight gain is your concern, there is a new kid on the block, Risperidal (risperidone) is used to treat schizophrenia, dementia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Bi-Polar Disorder. It also has a low-risk of weight gain according to the prescription insert. Perhaps the best advice, however, is to consult a psychiatrist to go over your options, as they are specialists in the field and can prescribe the medicine that is right for you.

Sources:

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1994.

Baldessarini RJ, Tondo L, Hennen J (1999), Effects of lithium treatment and its discontinuation on suicidal behavior in bipolar manic-depressive disorders. J Clin Pyschiatry 60(suppl 2):77-84.

Goodwin FK, Ghaemi SN (1998), Understanding manic-depressive illness. Arch Gen Psychiatry 55(1):23-25.

Hopkins, Heather S. and Gelenberg, Alan J. , M.D (2001) Treating Bipolar Disorder: Toward the Third Millennium. Psychiatric Times. 18(2)

National Institute of Mental Health. Bipolar Disorder. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/Publicat/bipolar.cfm

Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.

Answer 2

Hello there, I have suffered from the Bi Polar mania and Depression, I know for a fact the Bi Polar mania is liked to the Kundalini Yoga mania. The mania is severe extacy or Nirvana. Most Bi Polars love the mania because it makes them feel really good. Some of the time the mania is so strong it will make people experiance profound effects on the Brain and Body. It is a maturation of the human mind and symptoms Include increased intellegence, increase in writing reading, and cognitive skills. Bi Polars are usually drug users, but do not have to use them to become Bi Polar. I have read that Hallucinogenic or psycodelic Drugs stimulate the Kundalini yoga. Including LSD, Mushrooms, Marijuana, Salvia and including the precious Metal Gold also known as the Hidden Manna in the Bible! Near death experiences and fasting also stimulate. The funny thing is the Human mind is capable of producing a natural hallucinogen in its self after other hallucinogens are used called Dimethyltryptamine(DMT). Wikipedia states: DMT creates legal dilemmas in many countries because possession is illegal but at the same time the drug is naturally present in the human body. Erowid Law states: N,N-DMT is Schedule I in the United States. This means it is illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, or distribute (sell, trade or give) without a DEA license. Even though the Human mind manufactures DMT naturally! Kundalini yoga is the true goal of spiritual baptisim, path to immortality, path of enlightenment, Stairway to Heaven, also known as the "Holy Spirit", and finding the Kingdom of Heaven in the bible, the most jealously guarded secrets in human history and the path to Interior Illumination. In other words this is the path that Jesus Christ found, including other famous people including Joan of Ark, Dali Lahma, Budda, Gopi Krisna, ect. I have read that the Kundalini awakening is the same thing as Shaman's sickness or Shaman's illness, they call it an illness because the person experiencing this transformation becomes mental, because the symptoms are undescribable! If one studys Bi-Polar disorder to the fullest extent they will discover that Bi-Polar disorder is Premature Kundalini! I was told by a doctor that if a Bi-polar experiances these kundalini symptoms and explains the symptoms to a Brahman Preist they will be declared a Kundalini Activist or a Shaman which is rarer then Genius! Another interesting peice of information is that I noticed Bi-Polar dates back to 49 A.D. to 150 A.D. The Kundalini dates back 500,000 B.C.! Bi-Polar is used because most in the Western hemisphere do not accept the Kundalini Yoga to be real. So Bi-Polar was used and most of the symptoms were dropped because the Kundalini symptoms started the psychosis all over again! I was studying Yoga and in the past in some tribes around the world the poor would consume the urine from the rich that consume these psycodelic drugs because the rich were the only people able to afford the drugs that stimulate the Kundalini!

Answer 3

I was diagnosed as being Bipolar last year. Since then I have taken Seroquel, Zoloft, Risperdal, Xanax, and a few others. Right now I am taking 150 mg of Effexor XR and 100 mg of Lamictal a day. I also take Trazodone at night. This is the "cocktail" that works for me, probably different for you. Meds effect everyone differently. I hated Risperdal...it made me gain weight and lactate. Lactation can even happen with men. I hope you find the right combo of meds! Good Luck!!

Answer 4

Sometimes it is not the meds that make you gain weight it is the problem.. Being depressed or having anxiety will drive you to eating too much.. There are so many meds out there for this, it is usually just trial and error, to see what is the best for you, not everyone is the same..Some work better for others.

Answer 5

I am an RN & have an adult son who lives with us who is bipolar with schizoaffective disorder. Everyone reacts to meds differently but he has been on Abilify & Depakote for about 1 1/2 yrs & they seem to be working better than anything he's been on in the past. He has gained some weight (maybe 20-25#) but it seems to be self-limiting. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

It depends on your body chemistry which one will work for you. But I know from experience with me and my daughter (my daughter is bi-polar manic depressive) that nothing over the counter worked (St. John's Wort etc.) and counseling didn't work either. Both of us tryed Paxil and another one (can't remember the name) and they didn't really work for us, but had weird side effects. The Paxil made the side of my mouth turn down in a frown I couldn't control. But EFFEXOR! EFFEXOR worked for us. It gives me a little nausea if I forget to take it one day then take it the next day, but if I'm really consistent it doesn't have any side effects. My daughter has absolutely no side effects from it and she's been on it for about 3 years and the happiest she's ever been in her life.

Answer 7

I prefer not to advise people on using man-made chemically manufactured tablets or pills. There's a study in the UK stipulating that the NHS are no longer going to prescribe medication but instead get these people treated through exercise. Yup, a good workout keeps the blues away..

Answer 8

There is no "best medication" since everyone is different. Wellburtrin is common and lamictal is a newer drug they say hasnt the side effect of gaining wait like depakote does. hope this helps.

Answer 9

Exercise

Answer 10

self freakin realisation. find out who you are and stay with that. Meditate. A good friend who went off lithium for being bi-polar found that just changing clothes helped.