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Are mood stabilizers "habit-forming"?
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Q: I have a friend who is bipolar and I was wondering about the medication she is on. I wanted to know if it is habit forming? The medications are Depakote,Lamictal,Seroquel. Dear Brenda -- By contrast, consider the medications your friend is taking. If she stops these, she could have her symptoms come back fast, but they would be her old symptoms, not her old symptoms plus withdrawal symptoms (e.g shakes, anxiety, blood pressure increases). And once a person is getting good symptom control with medications like hers, we don't usually have to increase the dose just to keep that benefit -- most people, once stable, can keep the same dose for months. Those that have to later increase their medications we think are those whose illness is getting worse over time. So, the short answer is -- no! Dr. Phelps |