[crystalrose]

My pdoc has suggested a mood stabilises tablet. She suggested tegretol or sodium something. Can't remember.. Can some one give me more information about it. pdoc said that it is a mild mood stabiliser. is it addictive?

[mschu528]

Tegretol (Carbamazepine) is considered relatively safe. The only common side effects are drowsiness, headache, and upset stomach. It has been indicated (i.e. approved) for epilepsy and acute manic or mixed episodes, and studies show it is also effective for bipolar maintenance (though not officially FDA approved for this). It's also used off-label for schizophrenia. Not considered addictive.

"Sodium something" could be many different mood stabilizers and/or atypical antipsychotics with mood stabilizing properties. Most of the mood stabilizers carry few side effects, usually on stomach or liver function or drowsiness, though often not severe enough to warrant discontinuation. The atypical antipsychs carry a few more side effects, primarily weight gain and somnolence, and the fairly obscure chance of developing diabetes or other blood/heart conditions, and the extremely rare chance of tardive dyskinesia or neuroleptic malignant syndrome. None of these drugs are considered to be addictive though, and all are generally safe.

I take tegretol with no problem. No side effects that I can tell. Hope it works for you.

[phoenix47baby]

The one stabilizer that comes to mind that is a salt is Lithium. It has been around for fifty years and is often used as a first, second or third alternative when other stabilizers have not worked. I think it depends upon your psychiatrist and their familiarty with the specific med. Ask lots of questions before agreeing on a new med and good luck. Sending kind thoughts to you today. :-)

[spiritual_emergency]

crystalrose: She suggested tegretol or sodium something.

Probably sodium valproate. It's an anti-convulsant, more commonly used to treat seizure disorders but it's also been discovered to have mood-stabilizing properties.

Here's a starting point for you: Wikipedia: Sodium Valproate

[VickiesPath]

Mood Stabilizers are listed as the following: These medications are prescribed to help stabilize manic symptoms, prevent future episodes and reduce suicide risk. The most well-known of these is lithium, which is effective in 60 to 80 percent of manic and hypomanic episodes. Anticonvulsant (or anti-seizure) medications also have mood stabilizing effects. These include valproate (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), lamotrigine (Lamictal), gabapentin (Neurotin) and topiramate (Topamax).

Medications that help control mood swings: The newest medications, atypical antipsychotics were originally developed to treat psychosis (a symptom of schizophrenia). Like the mood stabilizers above, atypical antipsychotics help to control mood swings. These seven medications are commonly prescribed for bipolar: aripiprazole (Abilify), risperidone (Risperdal), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), ziprasidone (Geodon), clozapine (Clozaril) and olanzapine/fluoxetine (Symbyax).

The mood stabilizers are a class of drugs that include some drugs that were originally developed as anti-epileptics. Medications for mood swings are atypical antipsychotics. There is a big difference.

Antipsychotics are not a first-line drug in bipolar treatment unless the patient experiences psychotic features with their bipolar mania or depression. They might also be prescribed as an adjunct therapy in treating bipolar depression alone or along with an antidepressant.