Other than medicines, modification in behavior and counseling are two very important psychological techniques which are helpful in treating people who suffer from this disorder.

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.

Bipolar medications called mood stabilizers are used primarily to prevent or lessen manic or depressive episodes. Medications that are commonly prescribed for this purpose include lithium, anticonvulsants like valproic acid, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine.

Antipsychotics are also used in bipolar medication for treating the problem of mania. These bipolar medicines are olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone. Normally drugs used for stabilizing the mood are useful for managing the episodes of mania. You can also use some other medicines like quetiapine, lamotrigine and fluoxetine for treating bipolar depression.

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.

As a matter of fact each patient has a different effect of the same medicine. This disorder is periodic so it may be difficult to pin point as to which medicine is helping the patient. This is the reason why the sufferer as well as the physician should not expect drastic changes but should wait for around four weeks for the mood to become steady after starting the bipolar medication.