Friday, March 4, 2016

Medication --- the Right Type and the Right Dosage


A lot of mentally ill person refuses to take medication or stay on a medication, they think that they are either ineffective or they are doing even more damages. This is actually true. It is very difficult to find the right type of medication that suits a particular person. The first medication I took makes me gain 60 lbs by the time I was discharged from the hospital. It was an anti-depressant medication. Two years later, I was hospitalized again for a Manic episode. It was then that I was correctly diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. The anti-Depressant medication was actually the trigger of my Mania.

I was prescribed with Lithium Carbonate, which is a primary treatment for Bipolar Disorder. However this medication gave me severe acne to a point that my face was disfigured. It did not do any good to my mental health.

In 2007, my psychiatrist decided to put me on Epival, it is primarily an anti-seizure medication. Amazingly, after a month, I woke up one day and felt like I was different. I couldn’t explain in what way, but I was just happier for no reason. I never felt that way in the first 22 years of my life. As I took that medication more and more, I realized I finally knew what it feels like to be a “normal” human. 

Now, my personality changed, I used to be an introvert, but I am now a very outgoing and positive person. I don’t have phobias anymore and I sleep like a baby every night. My musical and artistic ability have also enhanced. I have truly reached my potential as a person and a human being because of this medication.

Though finding the right type of medication is the key in treatment, it is still not enough. The right dosage is equally important. For instance, not every middle-age female, weighs around 160lbs should be prescribed with the same dosage of medication --- everyone has a different metabolic rate. It took me about 2 years of experiment to figure out the right amount of medication for me. There was one time, my pharmacy ran out of pills in 125mg, instead, they gave me pills in 250mg. Without knowing the difference, I mistakenly took twice the usual amount for over a month. During that month, I felt so odd. I became lazy and moody, I didn’t want to do exercise and I was hungry all the time. I gained 15lbs by the end of the month. Then, my mom discovered the mistake. Within a week being back on the right amount of meds, I was myself again. Therefore, it’s important to be on the exact amount of medication that’s custom to that particular person.

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