Anxiety and biopolar medcations
No questions on antidepressants
Anxiety
● Benzos
○ Ends in -pam/am,most with pam
○ habits forming, People can develop a tolerance to them
○ If a person suddenly stops taking withdrawal can happen and seizures can occur
○ Alcohol + bezno= respiratory depression = X
○ Caution in the elderly
● Buspirone (buspar)
○ Long acting
○ Works similar to antidepressants
● Propanolol
○ Beta blocker
○ Monitor; for blood pressure, vital signs
Bipolar medications
● Lithium
○ Works best for mania
○ Toxicity; N/V/D, tremors, blurred vision, tinnitus, coordination is going to be
affected
○ Teaching; frequent lab tests; every 3 weeks-month because of a narrow
therapeutic window
○ Drink lots of water (2-3L; 4 water bottles), people need to have high intake of
sodium
○ Lithium can cause weight gain
● Depakote
○ Labs
○ Causes weight gain
○ Valproic acid
● Lamotrigine (lamictal)
○ Can cause steven johnson syndrome
■ Relaly bad skin rash that can become fatal and develops fast. Therefore
we slowly put them on this