Essential Reads: Lithium and Pregnancy
While the use of lithium has been in decline over the last 20 years, lithium continues to be a useful and highly effective mood stabilizer for women with bipolar disorder, especially those with a history [...]
Postpartum Depression: Unipolar or Bipolar?
About 15% of women will experience postpartum depression after the birth of a child. While most of those women will have unipolar depression, a certain number of women will have bipolar depression. At this juncture, [...]
Is Suicidality on the Rise in Pregnant and Postpartum Women?
Suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States. According to a 2017 study from California, drug-related deaths (3.68 per 100,000 person-years) and suicides (1.42 per 100,000 person-years) accounted for nearly [...]
Lamotrigine (Lamictal) Dosing During Pregnancy
For many women with bipolar disorder, lamotrigine (Lamictal) is an effective mood stabilizer. Given its favorable reproductive safety profile, lamotrigine is a reasonable option for women who require treatment with a mood stabilizer during pregnancy. [...]
PCOS Carries Increased Risk for Bipolar Disorder, Risk Reduced with Metformin
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine-related dysfunction in women of reproductive age. Multiple studies have observed a higher prevalence of psychiatric illness, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and bipolar disorder in [...]
Can We Predict Bipolar Switching in Women Diagnosed with Unipolar Depression?
For women, the postpartum period appears to be a time of increased risk for conversion to bipolar disorder in women previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Sharma and colleagues observed that the rate of diagnostic [...]
What We Are Learning From the MGH Postpartum Psychosis Project
Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a rare but serious psychiatric illness, occurring in 1 to 2 per 1000 women in the weeks. Because postpartum psychosis is so rare, we do not have specific guidelines regarding [...]
What is Postpartum Psychosis: This is What You Need to Know
Because postpartum psychosis is a relatively rare event, we do not have as much information on this illness as we have on postpartum depression. In addition, most of the literature we have on postpartum psychosis [...]
Clinical Update 2019: Lithium and Pregnancy
While the use of lithium has been in decline over the last 20 years, lithium continues to be a useful and highly effective mood stabilizer for women with bipolar disorder. We have long been aware [...]
Lithium and Anticonvulsant Mood Stabilizers: No Higher Risk for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes
For women with bipolar disorder, choosing whether to maintain or discontinue treatment with a mood stabilizer during pregnancy is challenging. This is a process which requires careful and thoughtful consideration, weighing the risk of adverse [...]