Depression

The most publicized and most commonly known bipolar medications are those that use mood stabilizing ingregients. Common bipolar medications include Lithium and Lamotrigine. There is a very strong back up research that evidences their effectiveness in bipolar treatment. Based on the review of many doctors and medical practitioners, these two drugs are the most effective bipolar medications available, even with the side effects. These bipolar medications are used to prevent a manic or depressive episode from becoming worse. While these two are often used interchangeably in the course of bipolar medications, Lamotrigine was shown to be more effective against depressive episodes, while Lithium is more often given for manic incidents.

These two drugs have unrelated ingredients. However, lithium was the first one discovered and quickly became the prime standard for mood stabilizers among bipolar medications. Later on, other variations of lithium came out, equally as effective for bipolar medications as its earlier cousin. Today, the widely used form of lithium is Lithium Carbonate. It prevents the release of hormones and other bodily functions that contribute to a manic episode. It also stabilizes brain activity so patients taking bipolar medications do not become very agitated and although their focus is still not as sharp as a normal individual, their speech starts to become much more understandable and coherent.

Also widely used as a stabilizer is sodium valproate, which is an anticonvulsant. While patients taking bipolar medications do not usually have convulsions, the drug actually prevents them from being hyperactive and excessively mobile.

Other anticonvulsants used in bipolar medications include carbamazepine, which is shown to be one of the more effective bipolar medications for rapid cycling. Lamotrigine also has anticonvulsant qualities.

For bipolar medications given to a certain patient experiencing great or acute manic episodes, the drugs will be heavier and the bipolar medications will include some antipsychotic drugs like Quetiapine, Olanzapine and Chlorpromazine. Recent advancements in bipolar medications call for Olanzapine and Quetiapine for maintenance. On one of the more popular bipolar medications trial in 2005, researches proved that Olanzapine when used in monotherapy is very effective and just as safe as lithium in preventing the onslaught of manic or depressive episodes.

Many doctors and experts in the field argue about antidepressants as one of the helpful drugs used in bipolar medications. One camp says that antidepressants only mask the real problem that needs to be targeted with bipolar medications, which is the mood change experienced by patients. Some studies have proven that antidepressants can result to worse outcomes which can trigger manic episodes.

A patient taking several other bipolar medications may go into a manic episode after taking an antidepressant, since the balance of their moods is already impaired. However, other doctors say that bipolar medications can be made more effective with antidepressants because they are a light-dose alternative for lithium-based bipolar medications. Antidepressants also have fewer side effects. They also say that the mood stabilizers used in bipolar medications have shorter effect, so the patients must increase their dose, in cases of prolonged bipolar episodes that requires bipolar medications.