4.4.1 Ten Little Things I Have Learned About Drug Therapy
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This article is from the Bipolar Disorder FAQ, by barry@webveranda.com (Barry Campbell) with numerous contributions by others.
4.4.1 Ten Little Things I Have Learned About Drug Therapy
(1) We believe what we want to believe (about this topic or any topic).
(2) We bipolars know how it feels to be on these drugs--despite what the docs
might say about how we "should" feel. Side effects are often more complex and
difficult than the drug companies/PDR say they are.
(3) We bipolars know that the cycles sometimes break through despite the best
of drug therapies--even though docs say we "should" be completely stable on
this stuff. A lot of the time we just keep quiet when these breakthrough
episodes happen or else the doc might raise our dose or hospitalize us. (See
Item 2.)
(4) We all hope to be the lucky ones in this crap shoot of drug therapy.
Initially, we are optimistic. Maybe if we get just the right combination of
drugs, just the right dosage, just the right psychopharmacologist, just the
right attitude....something, something might just work....
(5) There are some combinations which work better than others. These should be
tried first.
(6) However, there is no magic formula which works perfectly for everyone.
It's mostly hit and miss. So, if something works, stick with it.
(7) And, after we find the right combo it may work wonderfully well for 30+
years, or sometimes after a few years it doesn't work any more and the search
resumes for another combo that will work. We hope that by then something new
and very effective will be available.
(8) Manic depression does not have a "cure." The mood stabilizing drugs are a
way to cope with the illness. Take the accustomed drugs away and for most
folks, the cycles come back full force, sometimes worse.
(9) We all have different ideas of what we will settle for, as a result of
drug therapy. Some will settle for nothing less than the elimination of all
cycling. Some will settle for a little cycling and learn to cope with it in
different ways. Some will settle for quite a bit of cycling, as long as the
manias aren't too high or the depressions too low.
(10) Drug therapy is a choice. The most important thing is stay alive and
possibly make some contribution to the few people you interact with in your
lifetime. Whatever it takes to stay alive (drugs or not), do it.
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