All About Bipolar

Posted By atorturedsoul on December 8, 2009

Studies show that antiepileptic medications do not increase the risk of suicide in patients with bipolar disorder.

In 2008, the government released a statement warning that antiepileptic medications increased the risk of suicide. In fact, they stated that, “…there was a significant positive association between antiepileptic drugs and suicidality…”. The Center for Health Statistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York conducted a study and results show that persons taking antiepileptic medications to treat bipolar disorder had the same number of suicide attempts as those who did not take any medication for their condition.

But the new analysis finds that bipolar people who took one of 11 antiepileptic medications had the same rate of suicide attempts — 13 per 1,000 patients per year — as those who didn’t take any drugs for their condition. That rate was slightly lower than for bipolar people who took lithium (18 suicide attempts per 1,000 patients per year). It was also much lower than the rate of suicide attempts among bipolar people in the year before they began taking antiepileptic medications (72 per 1,000 patients per year).

Source: L.A. Times

The information given by the L.A. Times is actually incorrect in some part. It doesn’t have the same rate of suicide attempts as those not taking any drugs.

Overall, there was no significant difference in suicide attempt rates for patients treated with an AED (13 per 1000 person-years [PY]) vs patients not treated with an AED or lithium (13 per 1000 PY). In AED-treated subjects, the rate of suicide attempts was significantly higher before treatment (72 per 1000 PY) than after (13 per 1000 PY). In patients receiving no concomitant treatment with an antidepressant, other AED, or antipsychotic, AEDs were significantly protective relative to no pharmacologic treatment (3 per 1000 vs 15 per 1000 PY).

Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry

The rate of suicide attempts for people taking antiepileptic drugs, or AED, was the same as those not treated with an AED or Lithium (13 per 1000), but the rate was slightly higher for those receiving no medication(15  per 1000).

Summing it up:

Despite Food and Drug Administration reports regarding increased risk of suicidality associated with AED treatment, the current study reveals that, as a class, AEDs do not increase risk of suicide attempts in patients with bipolar disorder relative to patients not treated with an AED or lithium. Use of AEDs reduces suicide attempt rates both relative to patients not receiving any psychotropic medication and relative to their pretreatment levels.

Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry

What does this mean? If you are taking an antiepileptic medication to treat bipolar disorder, it does not increase your risk of suicide.

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Categories: About Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Cyclothymia, My Personal Experiences, NOS, Psychosis, Symptoms
Tags: all about bipolar, antiepileptic, bipolar disorder, drugs, lower, medication, rates, risk, suicide