medication

Below is a link to a blog I’ve written explaining the drug Lorazepam. It is a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety disorders and sleep disorders. If you have any questions then please leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you 👌

Medication Explained: Lorazepam 💊

#MightyTogether #MentalHealth #Benzos

I’m currently going into a Bipolar Depression phase where I’m sleeping an excessive amount of hours (12 hours at least per night). This is rendering me in a state of what can only be described as a sleep hangover’. I have no appetite through the day and I’m going two or three days without food then I’m gorging on an excessive pizza order. I’m looking pale and tired according to my friends who I have seen and I feel my clothes are a little bit baggier.

So on Tuesday I’m seeing my General Practitioner (GP), because my psychiatrist discharged me in to their care, to see if they will increase my Fluoxetine (antidepressant). It is the only one of the three medications I take for my bipolar they have control over controlling the dosage. My Lithium and Olanzapine have to be controlled still by the psychiatrist.

This appointment has rendered me extremely nervous and anxious. This is because I struggle to get my point across when I see a health professional. I have tried to write it down before for my appointment with my psychiatrist but I’ve always been too embarrassed to take it with me to show him or ask him. I’ve attached some photos of the sort of stuff I wrote, which took me a while with researching it and all, but I never had the confidence to actually show it to my psychiatrist.

So, I was just trying to get a stable perspective of what to say to the GP to give him the best possible opportunity to help me the best way possible. I’ve said this in my blogs before about how Bipolar attacks you from different directions every time you experience a mania phase or a depressive phase and this depressive phase I’m currently experiencing is a new one for me. It is a cruel beast that rears its ugly head from a variety of directions to constantly keep you on your toes.

Secondary to this, I recently had a blood test which showed that I had a raised level of Thyroid. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is a hormone that the pituitary gland produces to regulate the thyroid gland's production of thyroid hormones. This majority of the time indicates an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). This can be an effect of taking Lithium. My GP rang me to tell me it was raised but only slightly. I said to him that I take Lithium and this was most probably the cause for it. He then asked me how I know that. When I told him I researched it myself he just went “mmm” in an unsure, unimpressed sort of way. He emphasised the fact that the health professionals really don’t like being told somethings that they really should know in the first place so that these sort of situations can be avoided.
#MentalHealth #Medication #Doctor #MightyTogether

If you’re currently taking Mirtazapine or you want to know more about it, I have attached a link below that I wrote about it and how it works. Check it out if you have time 🤗 if you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments section below and I’ll try my best to help
Medication Explained: Mirtazapine (Remeron) 💊
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It's been years of fire fighting..
I requested my dr to reduce my meds but she said that's unlikely now.
I'm highly functioning but im just beginning to get tired of therapy sessions and meds. My mind is like a turbulence..
I got rid of most of the self help books.
Would reducing my meds cause me harm? #Medication #Depression

Below is a link to a blog that I wrote about what antipsychotics are and how they differ from first generation to second generation and then there’s a bit more information about Quetiapine. I hope it’s helpful for anyone who needs it and as always if you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments section below.

Medication Explained 💊

#MentalHealth #MightyTogether

I’m not a Pharmacist or a Doctor. However, I have a degree in Medicinal Chemistry and I have found that my peers have found it beneficial when they ask me about what they have been prescribed. I’m able to put it in to Layman’s terms and not blind you with science. Having said that, there’s still a few parts that are complexed and tricky to understand. I have tried my best to simplify things best I can and if you have any questions feel free to ask me 👍

If you want to post in the comments below any medications that you want to know more about please feel free to and I’ll send you an explanation as best as I can 👌
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Dr. Vohra (my psychiatrist), I think now we have hit the bullseye with regards to the meds. However, I’d like to give you some feedback and input about it from someone who has lived it. Firstly, it’s going to be an opinion with a heavily biased psychopharmacological perspective. I was prescribed Mirtazapine at the start of my treatment. It worked wonders. I’m not sure how it’s classified now as a NaSSa or a an atypical antidepressant. I know though that it works on Serotonin and Dopamine. I was prescribed Sertaline after a while, maybe because my doctor thought it had become ineffective. The sertraline is an SSRI and with my history of substance abuse, I can only compare it to ecstasy or MDMA. I experienced tingling and sensations in my jaw which caused it to shake. After a couple of weeks this subsided, but it’s from then it made me feel awful. I was prescribed Tramadol at the time for sciatica and I subsequently had three epileptic like seizures. I professed to the health professionals that cared for me that I was on the two drugs and I was maybe experiencing serotonin Syndrome. This fell on deaf ears. I have since come off both medications and had no repeat incidents of fits.

As a result of this, I was awaiting my appointment with the psychiatrist and my GP prescribed me Depakote. It’s an anticonvulsant as you know and it’s strength of dose targets the ailment. It’s around 500mg for migraines, 1000mg for epilepsy and 1,500-2,000mg for bipolar disorder. It’s also used for schizophrenia too. So you can surmise it is a potent drug. I attended my second appointment with my psychiatrist after commencing Depakote therapy and I wasn’t able to speak to the psychiatrist. I wasn’t able to even grunt or shrug my shoulders. Medicated to the point of anonymity.
With a mood stabiliser like Depakote and an antidepressant like Mirtazapine, it causes a monumental shift in mood for Bipolar sufferers that are exaggerated to the extreme boundaries ever experienced. You are calm one minute then you’re orbiting the moon the next. You are more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever was. I don’t fully understand how it works, but you have a drug to stop you going too high, another drug to stop you going too low, then a further medication to hold everything in place. Some drugs work in tandem with others to achieve this.

For example, I was on Depakote as a mood stabiliser. I was also on Quetiapine as an antipsychotic. These two however have the potential to be detrimental to each other and effect how proficient each one is in treating your problems. I know it’s not up to me to pick and choose what I take but if I’m taking something then I want it to be the best possible medication I can have.
I now take Lithium (600mg), Olazapine (20mg) and Fluoxetine (20mg). Olazapine and Fluoxetine work well together. Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic, just like Quetiapine I was on previously. The dosage for Quetiapine ranges from 200-800mg, at the end of my relationship with Quetiapine I was on 750mg a day. The pharmacist at my local chemists pulled me to one side as I went to pick this up to double check it was right. They’d never administered a dosage like it before.

So I’m taking an SSRI, so it stops my serotonin being recycled and keeps it in the part of my brain to be effective. I’m not sure of why this is but I’m taking atypical antipsychotic which effects my serotonin and with Olazapine it blocks my dopamine too. I don’t think Quetiapine does this. Dopamine is the pleasure monoamine that causes reward pathways. Cocaine for example hits every major monoamine in the brain and stops their re uptake to cause an overload of brain chemistry. Crazy isn’t it?!?!
I feel disinterested in some activities that arise and my participation in my hobbies is wavering to say the least.
The one thing I can categorically say is that medication for mental illnesses might control the severity of the extremes a person goes through but it also stifles any expression a person has and you are bereft of any enthusiasm to be the person you are.
#MightyTogether #BipolarDepression #Depression #lithium

Anyone relate?
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Firstly I am not a doctor or a pharmacist. I have though a degree in Medicinal Chemistry and I have been afforded the opportunity to understand and research the medication used in Psychiatry. I have written extensive explanations for other patients for my CMHT (Community Mental Health Team) to help them understand how the medication works. I use recommended books and resources to structure a comprehensive explanation in an understandable way.

If anyone of you would like me to write a review of any medication that you take please feel free to ask me and I’d be more than happy to do so and hopefully help you as much as I possibly can 👌
#MightyTogether #MentalHealth

Olanzapine belongs to a class of drugs known as atypical antipsychotics. An atypical antipsychotic blocks dopamine D2 receptors in the brain. Blocking D2 receptors can help reduce excessive dopamine signaling in the brain, which can help alleviate symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that increases serotonin availability in the serotonin 5-HT synapse. This thusly prevents the reuptake of serotonin in the presynaptic area, and stops it being recycled and which in turn increases the serotonin 5-HT levels in the brain. Therefore it increases its level to interact in the brain. Olanzapine and fluoxetine work by helping to restore the balance of serotonin in the brain.

Olanzapine and fluoxetine work well together to treat bipolar depression and depression in general that has been resistant to other antidepressants. They work by increasing the activity of certain chemicals, called monoamines, serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine which are found in the brain. These chemicals can help relieve the symptoms of depression.
#Medication #MentalHealth #MightyTogether