There is no cure for bipolar disorder, but there are several types of bipolar medication that can help manage the disease. The emphasis of the treatment of bipolar disorder is on effective management over the long term of the illness.
You also have a number of psychological methods other than the medicines to treat the condition. The two important techniques are behavior modification and counseling.
Most people with bipolar disorder require a combination of bipolar medications, with little evidence supporting the idea that alternative or complementary treatments used alone work well for the long term treatement of the disease.
The main job of the bipolar medications is to decrease depression and agitation bouts in the patient. These medicines are also known as mood stabilizers. Some of the medicines which are suggested for bipolar disorder by the doctors are lamotrigine, lithium, anticonvulsants like valproic acid and carbamazepine.
Bipolar medication can also include antipsychotics for treatement of mania. Quetiapine, olanzapine, and risperidone are these types of bipolar mediations. Generally, mood stabalizing drugs are more effective at treating or preventing manic episodes, but some medications have a good track record of treating bipolar depression, including lamotrigine, fluoxetine, and quetiapine.
In most cases bipolar medications have some side effects. Problems like memory loss, nausea, diarrhea, increase in weight etc can be faced by patients taking Lithium. It may not manifest itself when mild dose is taken but can be an issue for people taking a strong dose of these medicines.
Sedation, increase in weight, disturbances in electrolyte, and there are some more side effects of anticonvulsant medications. Problems like hyperglycemia, weight increase and restlessness can result from bipolar medication which is antipsychotic in nature.
Bipolar medication will work differently for each patient, and since bipolar disorder is episodic, it may be hard to tell which medications are having the desired effect. For this reason, patients and doctors shouldn't expect immediate relief, and shouldn't expect full stabilization of moods for at least four weeks after starting bipolar medication.
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