Category: medication types

Low Dose Antipsychotics – Do They Help?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 13, 2010

I am very medication-reactive. Not so much with the positive effects, but I can almost guarantee you I’ll get all the side effects.I get every side effect for antidepressants, every side effect for antipsychotics and every side effect for pretty much anything else.

And sometimes, just for good measure, I’ll get side effects that doctors say “aren’t possible”. They are my favorite. And those overractions are often on the lowest known effective dose of the medication.

But if you add a low dose, lower than thought effective, of an antipsychotic, can this be helpful?

I Hate Psych Meds but Medication Non-Compliance Kills

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 4, 2010

I have written thousands and thousands of words in this blog and elsewhere about how much I hate medication.

I hate it in the car, I hate it on a train, I hate on a boat, I hate it in the rain.
I hate it in the snow, I hate it in the sun, I hate it standing still, I hate it on the run.
I hate it before breakfast, I hate it after lunch, I hate it in the morning, I hate it during brunch.

And while I could fill an entire blog with all the ways I hate psych meds, I still, take them, everyday.

Weird you say?

(Well, yes. But no more so than the disease it treats.)

Because no matter how much I might hate psych meds, medication non-compliance kills.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Seroquel But Were Afraid to Ask

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 19, 2010

There is so much to know about Seroquel, and really, you’re so right to be afraid.

Over the last week-and-a-half I’ve been writing at HealthyPlace about the full prescribing information for Seroquel. I’ve done this to make a point – the full prescribing information for Seroquel or any drug is a treasure trove of knowledge. The full prescribing information really let’s you know what you’re getting into bed with and in the case of Seroquel, you’re getting into bed with a very dangerous substance. (That’s OK. I mean really, the only people worth getting into bed with are dangerous.) And whenever you take a (psychotropic, psychiatric) medication it’s worth knowing the risks. Seriously. Like, really worth it. And the risks of taking a medication are laid out in black and white in the prescribing information.

Antipsychotic Seroquel Information

I discuss Seroquel prescribing information section by section:

Part I: Drug stats and Seroquel warnings, dosage and indications

Part II: Seroquel warnings and precautions

Part III: Seroquel side-effects (adverse reactions)

And just to be clear, I’m not attacking Seroquel here. Seroquel just happens to be the highest grossing psychotropic medication and that’s why I picked it. Prescribing information and all its nastiness is available for any drug. I do think though, particularly everyone on an antipsychotic should look at its full prescribing information. I’m not suggesting these are bad medications, but what I am suggesting is that they are very dangerous and you need to be made aware of it before you stay on them for years.

Antidepressant Comparison: Are Pristiq and Effexor the Same?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 18, 2010

Does Pristiq Just Serve to Extend the Effexor Patent?

If you live in the US, you’ve probably seen all the commercials for the new and pastel-pink-coloured antidepressant Pristiq. (Yes, prescribed for depression.) Pristiq is new and has a huge marketing push behind it and is a selective serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant. In other words, it’s an antidepressant that works on both serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters. It is not the only antidepressant to do this, but SNRIs are a smaller class of drugs than those that just effect serotonin alone (like Prozac). (Although admittedly, there seems to be a suspicious number of SNRI antidepressants in development.)

Pristiq and Effexor Are Almost the Same Drug

What you might not know, is the same company that makes the drug Pristiq (Wyeth) also makes Effexor, which is an almost identical antidepressant, and Effexor has recently become available in generic form (Venlafaxine). Pristiq, O-desmethylvenlafaxine, is actually the main metabolite of Effexor, venlafaxine hydrochloride.

This means that if you take Effexor, your body breaks it down into Pristiq and other chemicals. Yes, Pristiq and Effexor are almost the same drug.

Psychiatric Disorders in Children – Diagnosed and Medicated

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Apr 20, 2010

I have bipolar-disorder-type-II-ultradian-cycling. I diagnosed myself when I was 20 years old, and once I finally agreed to see a doctor, he agreed sometime thereafter. My diagnosis was fairly easy for me. I’m very self-aware and I could pick out discrete moods and swings. But as a 20-year-old, in university, using research, and having a fairly high IQ, this is not terribly surprising. If I were five-years-old, the picture would have been a little different.

Epidemic of Children Diagnosed with Mental Illness

There is an epidemic of children, as young as two, being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders in North American right now. It’s made the cover of Time magazine and countless articles have been written on the phenomenon.

So, Antipsychotics are Now Approved for Children

It was once thought that disorders like bipolar did not occur before adulthood, but thoughts on this seem to be changing as diagnoses go up and more drugs are approved for treatment of children.

Antipsychotics FDA-approved for use in children (under 18) is:

Quetiapine (Seroquel) – schizophrenia, ages 13-17; bipolar I, ages 10-17
Olanzapine (Zyprexa) – schizophrenia and bipolar I, ages 14-17
Risperidone (Risperdal) – schizophrenia, ages 13-17; bipolar mania, ages 10-17; autism, ages 5-16

And so on. And of course, doctors are free to prescribe any medication off label to children just like adults.

Who Do You Trust for Mental Illness Medication Information?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Apr 11, 2010

As you might have noticed, I’ve been writing about bipolar and mental illness for a really long time. Seven years in internet time is a lifetime or so.

I Write About and Research Mental Illness

And in all that time, in addition to the writing, I’ve been reading, or more commonly, researching mental illness. I’ve been looking up information on mental disorders, psychiatric medications, mental illness treatments, supplements and everything else of which you can think. This is because I like to be educated about my bipolar disorder and my healthcare and treatments. I often share that researched information because I think others should be educated about mental illness too. I strive to make anything I write accurate and provide links to reputable sources.

Who Do You Trust for Mental Illness Information?

But what information should you trust? Who should you trust for mental health information? Should you trust me, a random blogger? People on discussion groups? Information sites? Drug company sites? Doctor sites?

Pretty much, almost always, no.

Anticonvulsants as Calcium Antagonists in Mood Stabilization

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Mar 20, 2010

This is a paper I wrote for a psychology course I am taking so the level of discourse is quite high, sorry about that. I promise though, it is comprehensible. What I’m basically talking about is calcium-channel blockers and other calcium antagonists (they turn calcium down). This refers to calcium in your brain and not calcium in your blood.

Mood Stabilizers and Bipolar Disorder

Because inadequate response, poor compliance, chronic recurring symptoms, and functional disability are constant challenges is the treatment of bipolar disorder, (Gitlin, 2006) efforts have been made to search out new mood stabilizing medication and determine new methods of action. There has been an effort to treat bipolar disorder with a class of medication termed “mood stabilizers”, most notably consisting of some anticonvulsants (also known as antiepileptics) in addition to the traditional lithium.[1] While anticonvulsants are widely used in the treatment of mood disorders, their method of action in mood stabilization is mostly unknown.[2] Recent research has indicated that disrupted calcium homeostasis is present in bipolar disorder, and that anticonvulsants and lithium effect calcium channels and concentration in the brain (Amann, 2005). The mood-stabilizing effects of calcium channel blockers like Nimodipine (Levy, 2000) further add to the evidence that calcium antagonism is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder. I will show that these “mood stabilizers”, anticonvulsants, stabilize mood in bipolar disorder, at least partially, through their ability to act as calcium antagonists.

Calcium Channel Blockers (Verapamil) and Bipolar

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 28, 2009

For anyone who is wondering, I am currently trying a calcium channel blocker to control my mood. This is a last-line treatment really as there are conflicting reports as to whether it works at all, but when you’re me,...

Causes of Mood Disorders – Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jul 26, 2009

Today, I was watching a Comcast On Demand program about the causes of bipolar. I thought I’d watching and see how ridiculous it was because obviously, no one knows the cause of bipolar disorder.

However, the spot had some interesting information on the brain, neurotransmitters and bipolar disorder, which I then transcribed so I could share it with you. (Yes, I really did transcribe the whole thing.)

It’s in fairly layperson terms, so give it a look. At the bottom is a bit more information about dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. This, unfortunately, is not in layperson terms, but is interesting nonetheless.