Treatment of bipolar

[john1987_2012]

I have been taking medicine for 5 year for bipolar disorder. I want to know shall i have to take medicine for life long. Is there any permanent solution for this. Can i stop medication?

[thatquietgirl]

If you are stable on meds, I would definitely not recommend stopping them as 1) you don't want to risk a relapse and 2) meds don't usually work as well or sometimes even at all the second time around if you relapse and decide to restart them, so you would potentially have to spend all that time finding a new med regiment that works for you.

If you aren't stable on meds, then you may need a reassessment to change either doses or medications.

While a few people can go with just therapy and no meds, many people do need medication in addition to their therapy.  If things are working well for you with medication and your psychiatrist listens to your needs as med adjustments are needed, I would recommend staying on medication.  It's not worth the risk of messing things up if you are fairly stable.  It requires a lot of introspective work to even remain remotely stable without meds.  You have to know your triggers, you have to be real with yourself when you're starting an episode and seek help immediately rather than wait on it til things get bad.  You have to know ways to avoid certain things that act as triggers.  It is A LOT of work, and you need a very strong support system you know will be there for you no matter what.

This is why I recommend if meds are working for you, stay on them.

[lindahand]

Chances are strong that if you quit taking your medications you will have a bipolar relapse. Especially don't just quit them without taking to a psychiatrist first. If you want to give it a go without meds it is important to taper down slowly as going too quickly will cause symptoms (discontinuation syndrome).

I know it is harsh to think we will have to take medications for our entire lives, but if you are doing well, have a stable life, please don't stop your meds. It isn't worth the experiment. And if you stop them and restart them they may not work as well for some reason. They don't know why that happens but it does.

There is some exciting research happening with magnetic fields (MRI) that may some day make taking pills obsolete, or they may come up with longer acting, better performing meds. I know there are a few meds in research and development. So there is hope, but for now we need to be pragmatic and keep doing what works.

[ILADVOCATE]

  Bipolar is treatable but generally requires a person to take medication for their entire life. It should be noted that there are an increasing number of options as regards medications and also more in research and development so that over time medications that are more effective and have a safer side effect profile will be available. Its worthwhile to keep yourself up to date, including on currently available options as well.