Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 4/10/2009

Question
Hello, thanks for taking the time to help out.  First, I should give a short background.  My mother has been on and off drug use all her adolescent/adult life -- it wasn't til in the past few years that she was diagnosed with Bipolar -- which can explain a lot of her actions...previous and present.

I am concerned that she is not taking her medicine.  I have asked her and she says yes, but the pills in the bottle versus the date does not add up (by a big margin) and she is up at all hours of the night, very hostile and irritable  -- and then changes within the next breathe to happy as ever, laughing hysterically  ..it is not normal and I want to know as her son is there anyway I can find out what the rest of her medicine is ...all I know is what she told me depakote(during the day) and she *should be* taking perphenazine/trilafon 2mg at night (this is the one I know she hasn't been taking).

I am going to go to the next educational meeting at our local DBSA meeting -- and I guess the only other thing I can do is try to contact her doctor and tell him what she is/isn't doing.

Do you have any other advice on this matter?


Answer
Hi Gary . . .

People with bipolar disorder frequently do not take their medications, especially when "up" as they often feel well and "know" better than their doctors what is good for them.

Without your mother's permission her doctor will probably not speak with you. One way around this is to ask your mother if you may accompany her to her next visit with her doctor. If you are there with her, the doctor will probably answer tour questions in her presence. In situations like that I remind the patient that the basic rule is "Nothing about you, without you" and I will only talk to a friend or relative, who accompanies a patient to a visit, in the presence of the patient.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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