Question:
My parents took my sister to a psychiatric hospital where she was diagnosed
as having bipolar (prevalent in our family, btw) and she was put on
four medications: Depakote, Paxil, Zyprexa (sp?), and a sleeping pill
I don't know the name of. After about two weeks in the hospital, she
had made a very good recovery and spent about another two weeks
recuperating at home.
Answer:
Sounds exactly what I
experienced when I was first treated for bipolar disorder. Stressors are the number one precipitating cause of major mood changes in
individuals with a bipolar disorder.
Depakote,
Paxil, and Zyprexa are all very sedating drugs. For me, Depakote was
the real villian--even though my psychiatrist eventually put me on
Ritalin to combat the mental fog and inability to concentrate that I
experienced with Depakote, I struggled with it until I convinced my
doctor that this was not the best mood stabilizer for me. My
therapist later told me that while I was on Depakote, I was like an
empty shell of a person. I also experienced an increase in my
appetite when I started taking Depakote and Zyprexa, and gained some
weight. All of those meds cause somnolence in many patients. In addition some can
cause severe cognitive deficits. My doctor switched me to Neurontin in place of the Depakote, and the
cognitive difficulties I had disappeared.
