A study published last week entitled “Comparative efficacy and acceptability of antimanic drugs in acute mania: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis” (Cipriani et al The Lancet 17 Aug 2011) reviewed many previous trials of medications for mania. It looked at results for any of the following medications: Aripiprazole (Abilify) , asenapine (Saphris), carbamazepine (Tegretol) , valproate (Depakote) , gabapentin (Neurontin), haloperidol (Haldol), Lamotrigine (Lamictal), lithium, Olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), risperidone (Risperdal) , topiramate (Topamax), and Ziprasidone (Geodon).

Janine Asks…

I was recently prescribed Lamictal and just started today. I’ve been online doing some research and noticed that a lot of people start off on 25 mg and slowly increase that dose. I currently started today on 100 mg. I’m supposed to take 100 mg a day for a week and then start on 200 mg next week. Is that too much too soon?

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. This week, we focus the spotlight on Neurontin (gabapentin) – an anti-seizure/anticonvulsant medication that has mixed results in preventing mania and controlling anxiety. Following are some key facts about Neurontin:

Many people who carry the bipolar diagnosis also carry something else – extra pounds – primarily due to the medications used to treat mania or depression. Atypical antipsychotics, including Zyprexa and Seroquel; anti-manics, including lithium and Depakote; and even some antidepressants have been known to pack on the pounds, despite a person’s best efforts to stay fit and trim.

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. This week, we focus the spotlight on Topamax (topiramate) – an anti-seizure medication primarily used to help prevent the onset of migraines and epileptic seizures. It has also been found useful in curbing the weight gain commonly associated with other medications used to treat bipolar symptoms.

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. This week, we focus the spotlight on Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) – an anti-seizure medication that has been increasingly used to treat bipolar disorder. Following are some facts about Trileptal:

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. This week, we focus the spotlight on Tegretol (carbamazepine) – an anti-seizure medication that has been found useful in treating bipolar disorder. Following are some of the primary benefits Tegretol offers:

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. This week, we focus the spotlight on Lamictal (lamotrigine) – an anti-seizure medication that has been found useful in treating bipolar disorder. Following are some of the primary benefits Lamictal offers:

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to bipolar disorder and related symptoms. We launched the series with a post on lithium – the standard bearer for the so-called mood stabilizers .