The Mood Stabiliser Patient and Family Handbook

Four drugs. One category name. Almost no explanation. Lithium, valproate, lamotrigine, and carbamazepine are grouped together as mood stabilisers, yet they do different jobs, carry different risks, and demand different things from the people taking them. The leaflet in the box cannot tell you which is which, or why you were given this one. This handbook takes the four drugs one at a time and explains them in plain English: what the blood tests measure, why lamotrigine climbs so slowly, what the valproate rules require, and how to recognise trouble early. It sets out the four arguments patients are rarely given both sides of, covering kidneys, thyroid, weight, and pregnancy, and it says plainly where the evidence is contested. Written for the people taking these drugs, and for the people watching.