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What are the mood stabilizing drugs?
Lithium and Carbamazepine
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What are the uses of lithium, and its effects?
Used for treatment of Bipolar Disorder. Reduces or eliminates mania, suppresses mood swings.
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What is Lithium's mode of action?
Thought to relate to reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. No one knows for sure.
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What are Lithium's side effects?
Nausea, fine hand tremor, polyuria (excessive passage of urine), polydipsia(chronic excessive thirst).
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What is the major danger of Lithium?
Toxicity-- specifically if dose is too high.
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What are symptoms of Lithium toxicity?
Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sedation, slurred speech, confusion, coarse tremor, loss of coordination. Can lead to seizures, coma, death.
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When is Lithium contraindicated?
When blood sodium levels are unpredictable (do not use caffeine, alcohol, diuretics); persons with cardiovascular, kidney, liver, thyroid, or gastrointestinal problems.
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What is the primary use of Carbamazepine?
As an anti-convulsant. Use as a mood stabilizer is secondary.
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What is Carbamazebine's trade / brand name?
Tegretol.
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What are other drugs with secondary uses as mood stabilizers?
Valproic acid (Depakote) and Clonazepam (Klonopin).
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What are the uses of Carbamazepine?
Useful for treating Bipolar Disorder, particularly among those who have not responded to Lithium. May be most beneficial for persons with frequent / rapid mood swings and persons with dysphoric mania.
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What is Carbemazepine's mode of action?
Believed to affect serotonin levels; no one knows for sure.
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What are the side effects of Carbemazepine?
Dizziness, ataxia (loss of ability to coordinate muscle movement), visual disturbances, anorexia, nausea, rash.
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What is the major danger of Carbamazepine?
Effects on cardiovascular functioning. Contraindicated for persons with abnormalities in cardiac conduction; slight risk of agranulocytosis (high fever and sharp drop in circulating white blood cells) and aplastic anemia (failure of bone marrow to create red and white blood cells).
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