Bipolar Disorder Health Center

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Anticonvulsant Medication for Bipolar Disorder

Increasingly, anticonvulsant medications are used as mood stabilizers to treat mania in bipolar disorder. Lamictal and Depakote are used to treat bipolar depression as well. Doctors discovered this use for the drugs when they noted improvements in mood stability among people with epilepsy. At first, anticonvulsants were prescribed only for people who did not respond to lithium. Today, they are often prescribed alone, with lithium, or with an antipsychotic drug to control mania.

Anticonvulsants work by calming hyperactivity in the brain in various ways. For this reason, some of these drugs are used to treat epilepsy, prevent migraines, and treat other brain disorders. They are often prescribed for people who have rapid cycling -- four or more episodes of mania and depression in a year.

Anticonvulsants used to treat bipolar disorder include:

Depakote, Depakene ( divalproex sodium, valproic acid, or valproate sodium)
Tegretol ( carbamazepine)
Lamictal ( lamotrigine)
Trileptal ( oxcarbazepine)

Each anticonvulsant acts on the brain in slightly different ways, so your experience may differ depending on the drug you take. In general, however, these drugs are at maximal effectiveness after taking the drug for a couple of weeks.

Anticonvulsant Side Effects

Your doctor may want to take regular blood tests to monitor your health while taking an anticonvulsant. Some anticonvulsants can cause liver or kidney damage or decrease the amount of platelets in your blood. Your blood needs platelets to clot.

Each anticonvulsant may have slightly different side effects. Common side effects include:

Dizziness
Drowsiness
Fatigue
Nausea
Tremor
Rash
Weight gain

Most of these side effects lessen with time. Long-term effects vary from drug to drug. In general:

Pregnant women should not take anticonvulsants because they increase the risk of birth defects.
Anticonvulsants can cause problems with the liver over the long term, so your doctor should monitor your liver closely.

Also, anticonvulsants can interact with other drugs -- even aspirin -- to cause serious problems. Be sure to tell your doctor about any drugs, herbs, or supplements you take. Don't take any other substance during treatment without talking with your doctor.

Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology.

WebMD Medical Reference provided in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic