Posted by JonW on May 21, 2002, at 23:46:55
In reply to mood stabilizers first - ron and mom, posted by Krazy Kat on May 21, 2002, at 18:23:54
Hi kk,
I understand the current thinking when treating bipolar disorder to be to start out with a mood stabilizer alone, regardless of the presentation. My psydoc told me that it takes a bipolar patient an average of something like 8 years to be correctly diagnosed -- certainly holds true in my case. That's horrible when you think of how many people die from suicide each year.
Jon
> Ron:
>
> Do you think there is any reason Not to out a mood stabilizer in place first? I ask because I felt that should have been my first treatment - it was not. I was placed on AD's, then atypical AP's, then Neurontin + AD... on and on. Only when I really pushed it was I given Topamax to try. And eventually have ended up on Depakote, with a trial for a stim to offset the ADD-like side effects.
>
> I can't imagine why a pdoc wouldn't try a stabilizer first, whether they're certain of the BP or the ADD diagnosis. Would there be an ill-effect?
>
> Just curious.
>
> - kk
poster:JonW
thread:106220
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020517/msgs/107231.html