“I let people know how my medication makes me feel so that together we can choose the right one for me.”
After diagnosis, your doctor will choose the medication he or she thinks is best for you. More often than not, the medication is an antipsychotic.
There are two types of antipsychotic medications: Typical (Conventional) and Atypical. These treatments present in different ways as some are tablets and others are long-acting injections. Antipsychotic medications vary in their effectiveness so, it’s important that you partner with your doctor to find the right medication for you.
To help with this decision, it is important that you:
- Be open about how you feel about treatment;
- Discuss what you want from a medication;
- Ask about different ways and times that medication can be taken;
- Find out the medication’s side-effects and how these can be managed; and
- Discuss how taking the treatment will fit into your lifestyle.
Here’s a tool to help you and your doctor decide what form of medication might suit you…click here to access the MARS tool.
It is important to take your medication as directed by your doctor as antipsychotics work best when taken regularly.
The medical community is continually working to develop more effective and more tolerable medications, as well as more convenient ways in which they can be taken. These developments increase the number of choices available to you.
To find out more, read MIFA’s and SANE’s factsheets on medication.