Lamotrigine: A Case Study

Not taking medicine at all or taking the wrong medication will increase mood swings, lower the performance in school, work, and other activities, effect one’s social life. Medicines usually include mood stabilizer such as risperidone, anticonvulsant like lamictal. Some patients who is diagnosed with bipolar II may need antidepressant. The patient has to give the medicine time to work it may take four to six weeks. Along with medication, the patient needs psychotherapy. Therapy is constant help and support for the patients, which may help influence and help cope as well.

There is more to the treatment of bipolar disorder than medication, but the medication Lithium has been the primary treatment since the 1960’s. In four studies

Bipolar disorder, also known as, "manic-depressive illness," is a brain disorder that results in unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. More than two million American adults (or, about one per cent of the population aged eighteen and older in any given year) are afflicted by this affective disorder (1). Yet, because it cannot be revealed by a blood test or other physiological means, patients may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Fortunately, once one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the acute symptoms of the disease can be effectively mitigated by lithium and certain anticonvulsant drugs, the most popular being Depakote (also known as

Lithium Carbonate is the most commonly drug that is prescribed for treating bipolar disorder (May, Hickey, Triantis, Palazidou, & Kyriacou, 2015). It works as a mood stabilizer that significantly reduces excessive behaviors and suicidal tendencies. However, the way that lithium exerts its impact on mood is still unknown. One study suggests that key of lithium therapeutic actions are the neuroprotective effects (Malhi, Tanious, Das, Coulston, & Berk 2013). For instance, lithium has been demonstrated to decrease the oxidative stress that involves in multiple episodes of mania and depression. Other study recommends that lithium stabilize electrical

Though the symptoms of bipolar disorder are serious and it lacks a cure, there are many treatment options that can drastically include the quality of life of patients. There are numerous medications that can be prescribed to limit the severity of manic and depressive episodes. These medications help regulate the moods of patients, and they can even prevent severe mood episodes altogether. However, the side effects that come with these medications can be difficult to manage. Sometimes, these side effects are as minor as excessive drooling, but they can also cause weight gain, sexual dysfunction, sleepiness, and insomnia. In the most severe cases, however, some medications can cause organ failure and death. That is why it is important for patients

Challenges faced by people that suffer with bipolar disorder are: uncontrollable mood swings between depression and mania that seem to appear suddenly, anxiety disorders that can be debilitating and alter sleep patterns, maintaining and managing stable relationships with others, addressing and controlling any addictions and substance abuse issues, and finding the right medication (Tartakovsky, M 2016). Lithium is usually the first line of medication treatment, but it is important to know about the medications being prescribed and the affects they have on the individual, not all medications work and react the same in everyone. (Tartakovsky, M 2016)

Lithium is the medication most extensively used to treat the mania and depression of Bipolar I. However, due to the high incidence of inadequate preventive response, as well as a host of undesirable side effects and a "narrow therapeutic index," health care providers have sought other mood stabilizing medications for either monotherapy or use with Lithium. One such medication is Carbamazepine, used either in monotherapy or in combination with other medications. While pharmacotherapy is classically used to treat Bipolar I Disorder, health care providers are finding that psychosocial treatments can assist in more effective treatment of some facets of the disease, encouraging patient collaboration, participation and education, which ultimately may enhance long-term mood stabilization, occupational and social functioning, and quality of life.

There are medications that can be prescribed, that can help control the disease, and let people affected lead normal lives. Lithium has been the primary treatment of bipolar disorder since its introduction in the 1960's. Its main function is to stabilize the cycling characteristic of bipolar disorder. In four controlled studies by F. K. Goodwin and K. R. Jamison, the overall response rate for bipolar subjects treated with Lithium was 78% (1990). Lithium is also the primary drug used for long- term maintenance of bipolar disorder. In a majority of bipolar patients, it lessens the duration, frequency, and severity of the episodes of both mania and depression. Unfortunately,

Lamotrigine is an anticonvulsant drug that has been approved by the FDA; it is used for the treatment of epilepsies and for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. Unlike other conventional antidepressants, lamotrigine can be used for treatment of major depression without inducing mania (17, 59). Lamotrigine is less effective in the treatment of acute mania or acute depression, however it is found to be effective in delaying the onset of mania (60). Several studies has shown that lamotrigine in combination with conventional

Lithium is known to be one of the most popular bipolar disorder medicines. This medication could even out a patients mood swings. Lithium is so effected that it is used for manic attacks and can also work as a bipolar drug treatment. In order to reduce bipolar symptoms it will take lithium one to two weeks tops to come in effect, but the medication will definitely begin to work. If the drug doesn’t work it’s a must that the patient go to see his or her doctor. Besides lithium some patience could use a few more different medication such as Quetiapine, which is considered another effective bipolar disorder drug. This drug can help treat schizophrenia and depressive episodes that are connected with bipolar disorder. Lamotrigine also known as Lamictal can help stabilize moods and keep simple episodes of mania and depression away from the patient. This bipolar drug treatment helps keep indications of bipolar disorder on lock,

The approved FDA indications for Levetiracetam are adjunctive therapy for adults and children four years of age or older with partial onset seizures, adjunctive therapy for myoclonic seizures in patients twelve years of age or older with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, and adjunctive therapy for primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults and children six year of age and older with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. In a clinical trial of levetiracetam for treatment of partial onset seizures, there was a median reduction in weekly partial seizures of 43.4% compared with 16.3% for the placebo.(1,2) A clinical trial for levetiracetam as a treatment for tonic-clonic seizures in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsies showed a mean

There are not nearly as many treatments for bipolar disorder. In fact, there is only one treatment that seems to have lasting effects. This treatment uses therapy with a professional coupled with medications. “Antibipolar drugs, also called mood stabilizers, help steady the mood of those with a bipolar disorder” (Chapter 2, 2009). The advances in treatment are due to the discovery of lithium as a medication. This drug works extremely well to eliminate manic episodes and even help with the depression. The drugs

In the Neurontin situation of skewing the research done for the medication, affects the people that use the drug along with others that take any medication. It makes the doctors look as if they do not know what they are doing when they prescribe the medication and leaves individuals in an untrusting state to try something new to treat their ailments. It also makes the scientists that develop the drug look bad. Another thing this does is undermines individuals’ trust in published studies and the entire decision-making process.

There are several advantages to using psychotropic drugs to treat psychological problems. One such advantages is that drug treatment often bring relief to patients when other forms of treatment have failed. For instance antianxiety drugs help reduce tension and anxiety, antidepressant can help improve people’s mood, antibipolar can help can steady mood of bipolar patients, and antipsychotic helps reduce