> Medications

Anti-Anxiety and Sedatives (40) Drugs for Side Effects (3) Antidepressants (159) Financial Assistance (10) Antipsychotics (72) Mood Stabilizers (77) Compliance Issues (5) Side Effects (4)

What Is a Drug?
There are many terms used for the various agents we take to treat and aid the aspects of our health. It is, unfortunately, common for people to confuse various terms –- drug, medication/medicine, prescription, over-the-counter, herbal remedy, dietary supplement –- thinking that some words inherently mean a substance is safe. However, there are rather blurry lines between the various categories of agents so just what do these terms mean?

My Doctor Ignores Side Effects - What Should I Do?
You have started a new medication and are experiencing unpleasant side effects. The side effects have not gone away in time and may have gotten worse. Your doctor or psychiatrist who prescribed the medication dismisses your concerns and will not discuss changing medications. What should you do?

Bipolar Disorder Medications A to Z
Links to information on some of the most commonly prescribed medications used in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

Generic Drugs - Friend or Foe?
This article discusses why generic medications can be sold at a far lower cost than their brand name counterparts, what the standards are for production of generic drugs, and why generics may cause problems not experienced with the brand name medication.

10 Medication Safety Tips
Ten tips for medication safety - how to avoid problems with prescriptions, pharmacy errors, difficulties with generic medications, drug interactions and more.

7-Day Pill Organizer
If you take lots of pills throughout the day, this 7-day medication organizer is for you! Set them up Saturday night or Sunday morning for the week and don't worry about missing a dose or getting it wrong. Inexpensive, easy to use, wonderful.

Tamoxifen - Serendipity for Bipolar Disorder?
Breast cancer research with the drug tamoxifen has provided an unexpected bonus in the research of drugs to treat mania in bipolar disorder.

What Is a Placebo?
A placebo used to be a sugar pill given by doctors to patients whose symptoms didn't appear to have any medical cause. Physicians discovered that people taking these inert pills often reported feeling better. Today, drug companies are making active placebos for use in clinical trials.

Driving Under the Influence: The Laws Do Apply to Prescriptions!
I am writing to share with you a harsh lesson I learned through a personal experience. I hope my incident will help others avoid a similar debacle. DUI means driving under the influence of not only alcohol and illegal drugs, but also medications prescribed by our doctors. If you don't know your meds, find out about them. Then get a second opinion before you get behind the wheel of a car!

Are My Medications Working?
When you begin taking medications for bipolar disorder, here are some things to for which to watch in order to tell if the medications are working well for you.

How to Manage Your Medications
Simple steps for keeping your medications organized and yourself educated about them, which is extremely important for people with bipolar disorder.

Bipolar Journal - Hot, Hot, Hot
Part 9 in an ongoing series tracking one person's life after being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. In this installment, the author's meds appear to be causing profuse sweating and hot flashes.

Medicating Upward
From bipolar depression upward toward positive stability via medications - five medication changes in eight weeks - here is the story week by week of the changes and their results. Part of the "I'm Bipolar" series.

Medication Roller Coaster
Ride the med-induced roller coaster! From the “I’m Bipolar” series, the author is still optimistic about the future as she and her doctor continue to work toward finding a combination of medications that will control her moods and allow her to lose weight - though there are new restrictions on exercising.

Oh, Those Meds!
From the “I’m Bipolar” series, two weeks after being diagnosed as Bipolar Type I, the writer is struggling with medications and their side effects, and fearful about the future.

On the Medication Carousel
More from the “I’m Bipolar” series, the process of finding the right combination medications is still going on, with little success, but some things have been learned.

Remembering and Managing Medications
People who have bipolar disorder share their ideas for how to manage and remember to take daily medications. From the About Bipolar Disorder 'Speaking from Experience' series.

June Russell's Health Facts: The Placebo Effect
"Placebos are not always inert; they can have actual ingredients. When a study is reported as being 'placebo controlled' (in addition to being large, randomized, and double blind) - the 'gold standard' - the public is led to believe that the outcome is reliable."

Medications
This booklet is designed to help mental health patients and their families understand how and why medications can be used as part of the treatment of mental health problems. It is important for you to be well informed about medications you may need. You should know what medications you take and the dosage, and learn everything you can about them.