Polypharmacy and Mental Health: Dangers of a Bipolar Cocktail

At the peak of my medication, I was prescribed five medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder; Depakote, Buspar, Levoxyl, Topamax and Zoloft. It can take years to prescribe the correct combination of psychological drugs to regulate the manic and depressive episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Within six months of my initial visit to the doctor's office for feelings of panic and depression, my life changed dramatically. Days were spent focusing on medicine alarms, prescriptions and appointments with my psychiatrist. I though the world was finally starting to settle down until the effects of my five medications or bipolar cocktail pushed my mood into a manic overload, which resulted in lies, shame and divorce.

Treating a bipolar require careful monitoring and a strong family support system. When a doctor plays with drugs that alter mental perception, there is a thin line between reality and fantasy, especially for a patient with bipolar disorder. One of the most important details of the bipolar cocktail is timing. According to Organized Wisdom, "all medications need to be taken at the same time each day." This is a misleading statement. I took Depakote twice a day and Levoxyl five times a day. The Levoxyl needed to be taken at precise times so I scheduled each dose with a watch alarm. The Depakote, however, was simply taken in the morning and evening. It is important to take each pill at the same time each day but all pills should not be taken together.

Family needs to understand the effects of each medication and the potential side effects associated with a bipolar cocktail. I am a loner that does not interact with family on a regular basis. My husband was working more than 40 hours a week at the time and I worked on a shift opposite him. No one was there to notice the small changes in mood that led up to the manic episode that ruined several years of my life. A bipolar patient will lie to family and doctors during a manic episode to keep that feeling of godliness associated with mania, as described on Healthy Place.

There's nothing that feels better than a good dose of mania. Mania feels like a constant high. I can only image it is this same feeling that causes drug addiction and alcohol abuse. But, the feelings of mania for a patient on a dangerous bipolar cocktail last only a short time. Soon, that feeling of invisibility is replaced with the inability to keep up with thoughts, emotions and life. According to WebMD, there are two stages of mania; hypomania and mania. From personal experience, there is a third, hypermania.

Hypomania feels like the world has suddenly come into focus. I was meeting new people and making friends for the first time in years. Money problems seemed less important and being a mother of two young children didn't seem so overpowering. Then, something happened and everything changed. My hypomania moved into mania. Money troubles soon resurfaced biggest than ever. Small irritations grew to the size of the world and my friends were the only ones who understood me. My relationship with my husband started down a path that eventually ended in divorce, but not before my mind took me for one last trip.

If mania goes undetected, the line between reality and fantasy soon blurs. I have memories of the year I spent whacked out on my bipolar cocktail, but the memories look more like a Lifetime movie. I can see my actions and know they were a result of choices I made, but I do not remember making those choices. My hypermania episode ended abruptly one morning when I awoke after a 48-hour binge on alcohol and drugs to find myself sitting in a pool of blood. I had been raped. Without medication for 48 hours, reality came crashing back and I was forced to rebuild my life from the bottom up.

I was lucky, but not all bipolar patients taking a bipolar cocktail end up lucky. Before taking a bipolar cocktail, ask a friend or family member to watch over your life and symptoms. Obtain legal permission for the nominee to make medical decisions and maintain contact with the prescribing physician. What seems like the ideal combination of bipolar medications today could be the bipolar cocktail that leaves you emotionally detached, dangerous or dead.

References

"Drug Cocktails for Bipolar Disorder - OrganizedWisdom Health." OrganizedWisdom | Connecting You to Health Experts and Their Wisdom. Ed. Nicole Kinsey. Web. 06 June 2011.

Juliet. "What Hypomania, Mania and Mixed State Feels Like - HealthyPlace." HealthyPlace.com - Trusted Mental Health Information and Support - HealthyPlace. Web. 06 June 2011.

"Hypomania and Mania Symptoms in Bipolar Disorder." WebMD - Better Information. Better Health. Web. 06 June 2011.

More on Mental Health from Summer Cavalier-Banks

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