About bipolar disorder (source: bipolar.about.com/b/index.xml)

Source: bipolar.about.com/b/index.xml

I said that to my son about half an hour ago. I knew it was time to go downstairs, get a glass of milk, then come back up, set my pills for the night out, and take them. Every night a computer alarm pops up at 11 pm saying "Take meds," and I'd already snoozed that alarm 3 times, which is fairly common for me. Sometimes I snooze it for an hour or more. But I always take them, sooner or later.

I went and got the milk. I pulled out the container holding my night medications and set them out. Twelve pills to take. Four very small, three small, three medium, two very large. It takes the entire glass of milk to get them down.

In the 3-part article 5 Bad Reasons Not to Take Medications, I discussed five very common reason why people with bipolar or other disorders refuse to take or stop taking their meds. "I'm just sick of taking pills" isn't there, though. Take a look that the reasons I listed. Can you think of others? Do you have anything to add?

As for me, I know that whether I'm sick of the pills or not, I need them. I'll keep taking them.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I'm so sick of taking pills... originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 01:07:47.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Antifungal Drugs and Psych Meds - Watch for Interactions

My doctor prescribed an oral antifungal drug, Clotrimazole Troche, for me after diagnosing me with thrush. I'm a little concerned about this, because there can be some moderate interactions between antifungal drugs and some of the psychiatric medications I take.

Fungal infections include athlete's foot, vaginal yeast infections, and jock itch. These are generally treated with over-the-counter topical applications like creams, sprays and powders. While there is less likelihood of drug interactions with antifungals used externally, it's still important to know what signs to look for while you're using one of them, and especially so if you're taking an oral drug.

I know what I should be looking for so will be monitoring myself carefully during the ten days I'm taking the clotrimazole lozenges.

Read Antifungal Drugs and Psychiatric Medications

Antifungal Drugs and Psych Meds - Watch for Interactions originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 23:45:30.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

All About Psychotic Symptoms

Whether it's something as mild as seeing a koala on your dresser (a hallucination) or as serious as being sure your spouse is trying to kill you (a paranoid delusion), psychosis is always a serious problem. Here is a roundup of information on all aspects of psychosis - definitions, in-depth descriptions, the mental disorders where psychotic symptoms may appear, and a listing of related details, all in one place.

Psychosis - A Comprehensive Resource

All About Psychotic Symptoms originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 20:39:16.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

A Boy and a Bear: Teaching Children to Calm Down

A Boy and a Bear, written by Lori Lite and illustrated by M. Hartigan, is a book that will entertain children while effortlessly teaching them how to calm down using a breathing technique. If your bipolar child needs to learn how to calm himself or herself, this book is for you. Highly recommended!

A Boy and a Bear: The Children's Relaxation Book.

A Boy and a Bear: Teaching Children to Calm Down originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 14:36:09.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Queenie's Quest - A bipolar life from chaos to control

Guest author Debra got the nickname Queenie from her six younger siblings because they said she was bossy. Maybe having to keep six kids toeing the line is why Queenie went into the Army, but no matter what the reason, this woman with a whole raft of mental disorders ranging from bipolar I to PTSD managed to stay on active duty for 18 years. Her home life, though, was chaotic and dangerous, and having to fight her doctors to get correct diagnoses all along the way made it that much harder.

"Queenie's Quest" is an inspirational story of struggle, determination and triumph in the face of tough obstacles. Can you apply her tenacity to your own obstacle course?

Read Queenie's Quest

Queenie's Quest - A bipolar life from chaos to control originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 18:47:24.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Author Michael Janflone on Pharmacists, Drug Addiction, A...

Michael Janflone's book Long Sleeved Summers is a gripping look at the stresses and temptations he faced as a young pharmacist that led him into drug addiction. Here, interviewed by Andy Behrman, author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania, Janflone gives insights into his struggles, and along the way he discusses his opinions about the number of prescriptions written in the U.S. as well as his belief that a culture of overmedicating that has grown up here - and why.

The interview may make you look more sympathetically at your local pharmacists - and also make you more careful about checking your prescriptions when they are handed to you.

Read Michael Janflone Interview

Author Michael Janflone on Pharmacists, Drug Addiction, And the Culture of Automatic Medicating originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Saturday, May 12th, 2012 at 18:01:52.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Hateful Feedback: "It's not the meds, it's YOUR fault you...

Back in 2010 I posted a blog called Bipolar Disorder, Meds and Blood Sugar. In it I talked about my situation, having gained a total of 80 pounds from various psych meds and developing diabetes as a result. A HIGH percentage of people taking psychiatric drugs gain weight from them, and losing weight gain be more difficult than for the average person because we still need to take those drugs. Many aren't even told about the risk of weight gain - and good luck getting insurance to pay for professional weight-loss counseling unless you are morbidly obese.

The difficulties are substantial, so when that blog got this comment from someone named Richard, it made me want to throw rocks at the writer:

Okay, you got your anti-psychotic meds, and then you began to "feel" better. You went back to your eatin' everything in the fridge, local burger shack, and every snack imaginable in Safeway is now on your coffee table. You have the exercise enthusiasm of a tortoise, and you wonder why you gained weight? Sure, blame the pills instead of taking responsibility for your gluttony and your fear of exercise. Yeah, I'm heartless, because I just don't believe all this bullshit about blaming every pill for every ill.

You may well need the medicines, but you need to get off your fat asses and eat healthy, and do some hard work. Take responsibility for your fatness, you bunch of lard-asses.

GRRRR! ...

Hateful Feedback: "It's not the meds, it's YOUR fault you're fat" originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Friday, May 11th, 2012 at 21:00:32.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Nightmares and Night Terrors in Bipolar Disorder

I've had vivid dreams all my life - long, clear, and so detailed I could write them out as bizarre stories. These are rarely nightmares, but I have those, too, on occasion. My nightmares most commonly revolve around the fear of falling. For example, more than once I've dreamed I was in an elevator with a central pillar, and suddenly the floor turned to rubber and detached from the edges. The only real safety is to hang onto the pillar, but I'm never alone, so several of us are going for that pillar, while others clutch the edges of the heavy rubber sheet as it bends down into the shaft.

...

Nightmares and Night Terrors in Bipolar Disorder originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 15:02:48.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

What Is Adjunctive Therapy?

Adjunctive therapy is, put simply, the addition of one treatment to another for the same condition. The goal may be to increase the effectiveness of the first treatment, to reduce the side effects of the first treatment, or to supplement the first treatment. Adjunctive therapy is very common with medications, but there are other forms as well - for example, chemotherapy after cancer surgery.

For more examples and additional information, see Adjunctive Therapy.

What Is Adjunctive Therapy? originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 13:44:40.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Blurry Memory and Depression

Suppose you ask me, "What one memory comes to mind when I say 'shopping mall'?" I'm probably going to say, "I hate shopping at malls, because my feet get so tired." That's a wrong answer - it's general rather than being a single memory as was asked for. A specific answer would have been, "I remember when the Younkers store burned at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines."

A simpler example: for the cue word "joyful," someone who answers, "I was joyful when my son was born," is recalling a single memory, while the person answering, "I'm always joyful at our family reunions," has retrieved the general memories of many occasions.

Research has found that people who have depression tend to call up memories in general more often than specifically. This phenomenon, called "overgeneral memory" or OGM, appears to be interrelated with clinical and bipolar depression, and may even lead to new treatments for depression.

Read about Blurred Memory Function and Depression

Image: Chad Baker / Getty Images

Blurry Memory and Depression originally appeared on About.com Bipolar Disorder on Friday, April 20th, 2012 at 17:55:18.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Newsfeed display by CaRP

Recreation:
See Recreation in Open Directory

Return to News Feeds Home Page
My Sites