Living Bipolar by Landon Sessions

those caused me to go into neurotoxicity, some of them don’t do anything. I have seizures because of the medications. When I was eighteen and nineteen years old I had multiple grand mal seizures, and it was because they put me on Wellbutrin. I’ve had multiple seizures because of medications.
    I have to take an anti-psychotic whenever I have a manic episode. Anti-psychotic kind of stop Bipolar episodes in their tracks. Some are better than others, but three top ones are zyprexa, risperdal, clozaril. Rixperdal messed with my head a lot. Clozaril is very difficult to take because you have to get blood levels taken every week. And zyprexa is wonderful, because it stops the mania right in its tracks, and it makes me feel absolutely wonderful. But you gain a lot of weight on it. Weight gain is common with a lot of the medications
    Antipsychotic Medications
    A person who is psychotic is out of touch with reality. People with psychosis may hear "voices" or have strange and illogical ideas (for example, thinking that others can hear their thoughts, or are trying to harm them, or that they are the President of the United States or some other famous person). They may get excited or angry for no apparent reason, or spend a lot of time by themselves, or in bed, sleeping during the day and staying awake at night. The person may neglect appearance, not bathing or changing clothes, and may be hard to talk to--barely talking or saying things that make no sense. They often are initially unaware that their condition is an illness.
    These kinds of behaviors are symptoms of a psychotic illness such as schizophreni a . Antipsychotic medications act against these symptoms. These medications cannot "cure" the illness, but they can take away many of the symptoms or make them milder. In some cases, they can shorten the course of an episode of the illness as well.
    This information has been provided by The National Institute of Mental Health ( www.nimh.nih.go v ) .
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    The hard part about being on medication is you have to be on medication for the rest of your life. I can’t take cold medicines, because my particular brand of drugs that I’m on, if I take cold medicine I’ll have a seizure and possibly die . I can’t take Sudafed, and Nyquil. Being on medication is like a chain attached to your leg . You constantly have to be aware of it, and know what’s going on with yourself, and be very, very aware. You have to know that you may be on three mood stabilizers and one antipsychotic, but if you’re not feeling good, it doesn’t always necessarily mean more. It means you need to be aware of your own body and maybe you should take something different. Or maybe you should take something else.
    I think the most important part about taking medication, is not the taking of it; it’s recognizing your body and yourself. Recognizing what it all means . My doctor does not know I can’t live without lithium. My parents know I can’t live without lithium because I know. In order to be aware of what’s going on with your body being honest is a big thing.
    Being aware of what’s going on with your body is important, and you must be honest with yourself. You must recognize what is good for you and what is bad for you. To be honest with yourself, you must listen to yourself. For example, if I go out walking right now, and I feel drained and itchy and awful, I’m not going to blow off how I am feeling, and not deal with it. I’m going to do something else. I have to realize something physical is going on with my body, I wonder what it is? Then you realize, every time I go in the sun this is what happens. Thus, I’m constantly aware of what’s going on with myself.
    I can’t take a back seat in my medical care. I can’t let other people prescribe things for me that I am not aware of. I can’t let people do things to me, or come up with treatment plans, unless I’m okay with it. Because if I’m not okay with it, it’s going to bite