mood_stabilizers | CARLAT PUBLISHING

Brexpiprazole Ineffective in Mania

September 28, 2021

Richard Moldawsky, MD. Dr. Moldawsky has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Choosing an antipsychotic in bipolar disorder just got more complicated. This series of industry-sponsored trials reveals that their anti-manic activity may not be a class effect.

Maintenance Pharmacotherapy of Bipolar Disorder: How Long Is Long Enough?

May 4, 2021

Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD.

Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD. Dr. Rosenlicht has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Textbooks tell us that patients with bipolar I disorder need to take mood stabilizers for life. But what are the real risks of stopping these medications? A new meta-analysis provides some clarity.

CLINICAL UPDATE

How to Use Lamotrigine

January 1, 2021

Chris Aiken, MD.

Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Lamotrigine is approved for the prevention of bipolar episodes, but Dr. Aiken explains why it may also treat active bipolar depression. This mood stabilizer is among the most tolerable in its class, and has additional benefits in OCD, borderline personality disorder, and depersonalization disorder.

Which Medications Have the Lowest Risk of Side Effects?

October 30, 2020

Pavan Madan, MD.

Pavan Madan, MD. Dr. Madan has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

When we choose medications, we typically think that we are paying attention to risks and benefits. But what happens when we just look through the lens of side effects? An entirely different picture emerges of what medications might be the better picks. You will be surprised and intrigued by this review of a very helpful study that will probably change your prescribing patterns.

Mood Stabilizers: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Them

October 6, 2020

Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD.

Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD. Dr. Rosenlicht has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

There are many mood stabilizers to choose from, but which ones are the best tolerated? This meta-analysis looks at how they stack up in terms of weight gain, sedation, and overall discontinuation.

Who Should Get Lithium?

September 3, 2020

Janusz Rybakowski, MD, PhD

Janusz Rybakowski, MD, PhD

Janusz Rybakowski is a pioneer in lithium research who has authored over 500 articles on clinical psychiatry. He is a professor of psychiatry at Poznan University in Poland, former chairman of psychiatry at the Medical Academy Bydgoszcz, and author of an upcoming textbook on lithium. Dr. Rybakowski has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Some patients respond so well to lithium that they rarely need other interventions. Janusz Rybakowski sums up what we know about the optimal lithium responder, how to use this underutilized medication, and what lithium’s antiviral properties mean in the era of COVID-19.

RESEARCH UPDATE

Two Augmentation Strategies Compared in Bipolar I

September 3, 2020

Richard Moldawsky, MD

Richard J. Moldawsky, MD. Dr. Moldawsky has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Carbamazepine or valproic acid? Both have been used to augment lithium for decades, but which one works best? A new trial tests them head-to-head.

The Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project

March 30, 2020

David Osser, MD

David Osser, MD

General Editor of the Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project at the Harvard South Shore Psychiatry Residency Training Program and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University. Dr. Osser has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Osser set out to develop a psychopharmacology algorithm that actually changes practice. He speaks to us on antidepressants in bipolar, psychoses that don’t need antipsychotics, and his top picks for bipolar mania, bipolar depression, and unipolar depression.

Oxcarbazepine: Close, but no Cigar

March 9, 2020

Oxcarbazepine is thought of as a kinder, gentler cousin of carbamazepine, but it brings new safety issues of its own and does not fully escape the drug interactions that hinder carbamazepine. We pull on the published and unpublished trials to figure out where this anticonvulsant stands in bipolar disorder.

Psychopharmacology in Bipolar II

March 9, 2020

Tammas Kelly, MD

Tammas Kelly, MD

Psychiatrist in private practice in Fort Collins, CO. Author of The Art and Science of Thyroid Supplementation for the Treatment of Bipolar Depression (2018) Dr. Kelly has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Bipolar II is a different illness from Bipolar I, but it’s in Bipolar I that most of the psychopharmacology research was undertaken. Dr. Kelly walks us through some of the nuances in applying that knowledge to Bipolar II, and shows us how to recognize the subtle traces of hypomania and mixed features that go along with Bipolar II depression.