Putting up with side effects
[Home] [Bipolar News] [Bipolar Disorder] [Medications] [Treatments] [Bipolar Disorder/Job/School] [Disabilities] [Ask the Doctor] [Ask David] [Self-Injury] [Personal Stories] [Graham's Column] [Steven's Column] [Storm's Column] [Columnist Archives] [Suicide] [Community Support] [Family Members] [Expressions] [Greeting Cards] [Books] [Awards] [Links & Rings] [About Us] [Contact Us]

 


Putting up with side effects?

Q: I am 46 years old and have been diagnosed as ADHD and Bi-Polar for 5 years. I take 150 mg of Effexor twice daily and 1200 mg of LIthium after dinner. These seem to do the trick for me. However my sex life has been completely destroyed, I break out all over my body in acne, especially on my face and I have un controllable scalp sebehorric dermatitis which my dermatologist says is caused by the lithium. My Psychiatrist just says, "well, these things just go with the territory." Are there other meds I can take? I my clothes look like it's been snowing and my wife is really lonely if you know what I mean? I am thinking about changing doctors. HELP!

Dear Doug --
What would you doc' do if you announced you were going to another doc' unless she/he changes the meds?  You might try that first, but if the answer's not satisfactory, shop on (here's a guide).  Before you go, have a read over the treatment section of my bipolar II site, where I just re-organized the review of alternative medications (see the "treatment details" section).  There are lots of alternatives, though none without some trickiness to be handled, so you need a doc' who'll work with you to get "100% symptom control, 0% side effects" -- if you're willing to do a lot of tinkering, and take a lot of different medications, many people can achieve this goal. 

Dr. Phelps


Published December, 2000

Bipolar World   © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Owners:  Allie Bloom, David Schafer, M.Ed. (Blackdog)
 Partners:  John Haeckel, Judith (Duff) 
Founder:  Colleen Sullivan
 

Email Us at Bipolar World

 

About Us  Add a Link  Advance Directives  Alternative Treatments  Ask the Doctor   Ask Dr. Plyler about Bipolar Disorder   Ask The Doctor/ Topic Archives  Awards  Benny the Bipolar Puppy  Bipolar Chat  Bipolar Children  Bipolar Disorder News  Bipolar Help Contract  Bipolar World Forums  Book Reviews  Bookstore  BP & Other mental Illness   Clinical Research Trials & FDA Drug Approval   Community Support   Contact Us  The Continuum of Mania and Depression   Coping   Criteria    Criteria and Diagnosis  Criteria-World Health Disabilities,  DSMV-IV   Dual Diagnosis  eGroups  Expressions (Poetry, Inspiration, Humor, Art Gallery, Memorials  Family Members   Getting Help for a Loved One who Refuses Treatment  Greeting Cards  History of Mental Illness  Indigo  Job and School  Links  Manage Your Medications  Medications   Medication and Weight Gain    News of the Day  Parent Chat  Pay for Meds  Personal Stories  Self Help  Self Injury  Significant Others  Stigma and Mental Health Law  Storm's Column  Suicide!!!  The Suicide Wall  Table of Contents   Treatments  Treatment Compliance  US Disability  Veteran's Chat  What's New?