Mood stabilisers
Mood stabilisers for bipolar disorder include lithium, as well as anticonvulsant medications such as valproate, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine. Click on the links or the tabs below to access the information, or browse the drop-down menu on the left.
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Carbamazepine
What is carbamazepine for bipolar disorder? Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of seizure disorders such as epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. Carbamazepine can also be used for the treatment of mania. What is the evidence for carbamazepine as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Moderate quality evidence suggests medium-sized effects of greater improvement in acute mania symptoms with carbamazepine than with placebo or topiramate. There was a large effect of greater improvement in acute mania symptoms with tamoxefin than with carbamazepine. There was more discontinuation…
Gabapentin
What is gabapentin treatment for bipolar disorder? Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of seizure disorders such as epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. What is the evidence for gabapentin as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Moderate to low quality evidence suggests no differences between gabapentin and placebo for the treatment of mania symptoms. Low quality evidence is unable to determine differences between groups for treatment discontinuation; an indication of tolerability. November 2021 Image: ©cassis – stock.adobe.com
Lamotrigine
What is lamotrigine treatment for bipolar disorder? Lamotrigine is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. In bipolar disorder, lamotrigine is used mainly for the treatment of depression. What is the evidence for lamotrigine as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Compared to placebo, high quality evidence finds a small effect of fewer relapses with lamotrigine to any mood state in stable patients. Moderate to high quality evidence suggests a small effect of greater improvement in depression symptoms, but not mania symptoms, with…
Levetiracetam
We have not found any systematic reviews on this topic that meet the inclusion criteria. Pending enough primary studies, we invite reviews on this topic to be conducted. Alternatively, we will endeavour to conduct our own review to fill this gap in the Library. November 2021 Image: ©Darwin Brandis – stock.adobe.com
Licarbazepine
What is licarbazepine treatment for bipolar disorder? Licarbazepine is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. What is the evidence for licarbazepine as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Moderate quality evidence suggests licarbazepine is less effective than tamoxefin or risperidone for acute mania symptoms. There may be more discontinuation of treatment with licarbazepine than with olanzapine. There were no significant differences in acute mania symptoms between treatment with licarbazepine and placebo or other medications. November 2021 Image: ©Peter de Kievith – stock.adobe.com
Lithium
What is lithium for bipolar disorder? Since the 1960s, lithium has become a mainstay of treatment for bipolar disorders. It has been recommended for both the treatment of acute mania and for the augmentation of antidepressants in depression. What is the evidence for lithium as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Symptoms Moderate to high quality evidence finds medium-sized effects of greater improvement in acute mania symptoms with lithium than with placebo or topiramate, although there was a large effect of greater improvement in acute mania symptoms with tamoxefin than with lithium. No benefit was found for depression severity or for…
Oxcarbazepine
What is oxcarbazepine treatment for bipolar disorder? Oxcarbamazepine is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of seizure disorders such as epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. What is the evidence for oxcarbazepine as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Low quality evidence is unable to determine the benefits or harms of oxcarbazepine over placebo, valproate, or carbazepine (as an adjunctive to lithium) for acute bipolar disorder. Also see the topic on relapse prevention. November 2021 Image: ©areeya_ann – stock.adobe.com
Pregabalin
What is pregabalin treatment for bipolar disorder? Pregabalin is a medication primarily used to treat epilepsy and neuropathic pain. It has also been tested for people with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder. What is the evidence for pregabalin for treatment-resistant bipolar disorder? Low quality evidence is unable to determine the effects of pregabalin for treatment-resistant bipolar disorder due to a lack of large, randomised trials. November 2021 Image: ©radiorio – stock.adobe.com
Tiagabine
We have not found any systematic reviews on this topic that meet the inclusion criteria. Pending enough primary studies, we invite reviews on this topic to be conducted. Alternatively, we will endeavour to conduct our own review to fill this gap in the Library. November 2021 Image: ©Floortje – stock.adobe.com
Topriamate
What is topriamate treatment for bipolar disorder? Topriamate is an anticonvulsant medication primarily used to treat epilepsy and migrane headaches. It has also been tested for people with bipolar disorder. What is the evidence for topriamate for bipolar disorder? Moderate quality evidence showed no significant differences in mania or mixed symptoms following treatment with topiramate or placebo for up to 12 weeks. There was greater improvement in mania and mixed symptoms with lithium than with topiramate. There were no differences in side effects between topiramate and placebo or lithium. November 2021 Image: ©Grycaj – stock.adobe.com
Valproate
What is valproate treatment for bipolar disorder? Valproate and its derivitive, divalproex, are anticonvulsants used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and migraine headaches. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. In bipolar disorder, valproate is used mainly for the treatment of mania or mixed symptoms. What is the evidence for valproate as a treatment for bipolar disorder? Compared to placebo, moderate to high quality evidence found a medium-sized improvement in acute mania symptoms with valproate, and moderate to low quality evidence found a medium-sized improvement in acute depression symptoms. There…
Zonisamide
What is zonisamide treatment for bipolar disorder? Zonisamide is an anticonvulsant used primarily in the treatment of seizure disorders such as epilepsy. Anticonvulsant medications influence the actions of neurotransmitters leading to a decrease in brain cell (neuron) excitability. In bipolar disorder, zonisamide is used mainly for the treatment of depression. What is the evidence for zonisamide? Moderate to low quality evidence suggests zonisamide may be effective for general clinical improvement and depression, however, when compared to placebo there were no differences between groups in mania, hypomania, or mixed symptoms. November 2021 Image: ©pamela_d_mcadams – stock.adobe.com
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