Utilizing your preventive medication

When you´re mired in the midst of a major mood episode, your doctor´s primary goal is to end the episode as quickly as possible, usually by prescribing psychiatric medication. This process treats the phase accute of the illness. If you´re having manic symptoms, your doctor likely prescribes lithium or another antimanic medication or increases the dose of the antimanic medication you´re taking. Íf you´re having a bout of depression, your doctor may prescribe one or more antidepressants or increase the dose of the antidepressant you´re currently taking.In either case, your doctor may prescribe a sedative to help you sleep.

For times when you´re symptom free, your doctor likely prescribes a maintenance dose of medication to function  as a prophylaxis- a fancy word for “preventive” You may be tempted to forgo the prophylaxis when you feel fine or when you feel hypomanic  (better than fine). However, continuing to take your medication is critical for the following reasons:
· Medication decreases your susceptibility to future mood episodes.
· Preventing mood fluctuations minimizes the risk of new episodes.
· Many medications require several days or weeks to build uo to a therapeutic level in your level in your system- the level at which they can effectively maintain your mood. By taking your medications as prescribed, you keep them at their therapeutic levels.
· Keeping medication levels stable prevents withdrawal symptoms, which can trigger mood episodes.
· Retaining mood stability increases the effectiveness of therapy and helps reduce interpersonal conflicts that may lead to stress.
Source: Bipolar Disorder, candida Fink, MD, Joe Kraynak