Medications
28 essays. Start-here picks first, then newest.
A prescription should come with a clear story: what this medicine is for, what the first weeks feel like, which side effects pass and which need a call, and how you will know it is working. These essays tell that story in plain language. You will find guides to starting an SSRI as an adult, as a family with a child or teen, and after age 65. Others explain why antidepressants take time, which everyday mixes matter, such as alcohol and CBD, and what genetic testing can and cannot tell you. There are also honest looks at newer options: Spravato, IV ketamine, TMS, Rexulti, Cobenfy, buspirone, low-dose naltrexone, and GLP-1 medicines taken alongside psychiatric medicines. Single-medicine guides cover lithium, Vraylar, Viibryd, and naltrexone, and a three-part series explains long-acting antipsychotic injections.
New here? Start with the first weeks on an SSRI. Then read the side effects no one warned you about, and the guide to drug interactions. These essays are education. Your own prescriber knows your history, so bring your questions to them.
Looking for treatment rather than reading? Medication management
All Medications essays
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Starting an SSRI: The First Weeks, the Real Side Effects, and When to Call
August 1, 2026 · 13 min read
An honest guide to starting an antidepressant as an adult: what the first weeks actually feel like, which side effects are real, and exactly when to call your prescriber.
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Antidepressant Side Effects No One Warned Me About and How to Manage Them
October 15, 2025 · 7 min read
Antidepressants can bring side effects no one warned you about—nausea, sleep changes, sexual side effects, weight changes, and more. Here’s what’s common, what’s serious, and how to manage each one with your prescriber.
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Drug Interactions to Know: Antidepressants, Alcohol, CBD, and More
October 22, 2025 · 15 min read
If you take antidepressants, some everyday mixes matter — here's how alcohol, CBD, and common over-the-counter remedies can interact, and how to stay safe.
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Weltruza: A Monthly Olanzapine Shot, and Everything to Ask Before the First Dose
October 13, 2026 · 28 min read
Weltruza gives olanzapine as one shot under the skin each month. Here is what the main study found, the side effects to plan for, why the PDSS question is still open, and how to check access and cost before the first dose.
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Lithium: What It Treats, How It May Work, Side Effects, and Safe Use
September 30, 2026 · 66 min read
Lithium can treat mania, help prevent new bipolar episodes, and sometimes help depression, but it needs regular blood tests and a plan for illness and new medicines. This guide explains the evidence, the side effects that matter, and when to get help right away.
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Vraylar (Cariprazine): Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and Dosing
September 30, 2026 · 31 min read
Vraylar (cariprazine) treats schizophrenia, bipolar I mania and depression, and is an add-on for major depression. What the December 2025 label supports, how much it helps, akathisia and other side effects, dosing, pregnancy, cost, and a one-page guide for families.
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Viibryd (Vilazodone): Uses, Side Effects, Food Rules, and Stopping Safely
September 30, 2026 · 30 min read
Viibryd, also called vilazodone, is an antidepressant for adults with major depression. How it works, why taking it with food matters, and what studies show about anxiety, sexual effects, weight, interactions, and stopping safely.
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Naltrexone: Uses, How It Works, Side Effects, and What to Expect
September 30, 2026 · 34 min read
Naltrexone can help some people reduce heavy drinking and prevent a return to opioid use after detox. How the tablet and Vivitrol injection differ, why opioid-free timing matters, liver and pregnancy questions, and what the evidence on low-dose naltrexone really shows.
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Long-Acting Antipsychotics: How They Work and Who They Help
September 30, 2026 · 18 min read
Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) release medicine over weeks or months. How they work, which conditions they are FDA-approved for, who might consider one, and what trials and large reviews show about relapse and hospitalization compared with daily pills.
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Antipsychotic Injections: Comparing Your Treatment Options
September 30, 2026 · 19 min read
A side-by-side guide to U.S. long-acting antipsychotic injections: Invega Sustenna, Trinza, Hafyera, Erzofri, Abilify Maintena, Asimtufii, Aristada, Uzedy, Rykindo, Risperdal Consta, Zyprexa Relprevv, and haloperidol and fluphenazine decanoate, including starts, schedules, and the Perseris discontinuation.
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Living With Antipsychotic Injections: Safety and Family Support
September 30, 2026 · 20 min read
What to expect at LAI injection visits, side effects and movement problems to report, health checks, late or missed doses, pregnancy, paying for treatment, and how families can support someone on a long-acting antipsychotic injection while protecting their choices.
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Low-Dose Naltrexone for Dissociation and Feeling Unreal: What We Know
September 20, 2026 · 9 min read
Small studies hint that low-dose naltrexone may ease dissociation for some people. No placebo-controlled trial exists. What is known, and what helps now.
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Can Low-Dose Naltrexone Help OCD? What the Evidence Says
September 20, 2026 · 8 min read
No study has tested low-dose naltrexone for OCD. What the small standard-dose trials found, why they conflict, and which treatments have strong evidence.
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Cobenfy for Schizophrenia: A New Pathway and Its Tradeoffs
September 15, 2026 · 22 min read
Cobenfy treats schizophrenia without directly blocking dopamine. What the trials show, the real side effects, the meal-timing rule, and who it may fit.
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When Treatment Hasn't Worked: What Clinical Research Can and Cannot Offer
September 15, 2026 · 31 min read
If medication and therapy have not worked well enough, clinical research is one possible path — not a rescue. What it offers, what it cannot, and what to ask.
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Buspirone (BuSpar) for Anxiety: How It Works, Side Effects, and How It Compares With Benzodiazepines and SSRIs
August 25, 2026 · 27 min read
Buspirone reaches the bloodstream in under an hour and clears in two to three, yet takes weeks to tell you whether it works. What the FDA label supports, what the evidence shows for generalized anxiety, and how it differs from benzodiazepines, SSRIs, and SNRIs.
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IV Ketamine for Depression: What the Infusions Do, What the Trials Show, and How It Compares With Spravato
August 23, 2026 · 32 min read
IV ketamine for depression is off-label — the injection is FDA approved as an anesthetic, and no psychiatric dose, infusion count, or maintenance schedule has ever been approved. What the randomized trials actually found, including the ones that failed, and what a clinic should be able to tell you before you pay.
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Spravato (Esketamine) for Depression: Who It Is For, What a Visit Is Like, and What the Evidence Shows
August 23, 2026 · 36 min read
Spravato is a prescription esketamine nasal spray for specific forms of adult depression. It cannot be taken home, every dose is watched for at least two hours, and the trials behind it are more mixed than the marketing suggests. Here is what the FDA label actually supports.
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Rexulti (Brexpiprazole): What It Treats, Its Side Effects, and How It Compares With Abilify
August 20, 2026 · 25 min read
Rexulti is one medicine with three very different jobs: an add-on for adult depression, a treatment for schizophrenia from age 13, and a treatment for agitation in Alzheimer disease. What the FDA label actually supports, which risks matter, and how it differs from Abilify.
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TMS Explained: What It Is, How It Works, and Why the Details Matter
August 20, 2026 · 13 min read
Learn how TMS works, what a visit feels like, how coils and protocols differ, which uses are FDA-authorized, and which safety questions matter most today.
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SSRIs After 65: What Changes, What to Watch, and What to Ask
August 1, 2026 · 13 min read
An antidepressant can safely help depression and anxiety later in life. Here is what is different after 65, which risks to watch, and the monitoring that keeps a start safe.
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Starting an SSRI: What Families Should Watch For in the First Few Weeks
August 1, 2026 · 14 min read
A calm, clear guide for families whose child or teen is starting an antidepressant. What is common in the first weeks, what a revved-up feeling really means, and exactly when to call.
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Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) in Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Guide
November 14, 2025 · 15 min read
Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) is being explored as an investigational, off-label adjunct in psychiatry. This guide explains what LDN is, how it may work on endorphin and immune systems, where current evidence supports a careful trial, and the safety considerations every patient and prescriber should know.
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Food Noise, Mood Noise: What Ozempic Means for People on Antidepressants
October 23, 2025 · 20 min read
A clinical review of how GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) intersect with antidepressant therapy: psychiatric safety, drug interactions, effects on mood and food noise, and evidence-based monitoring for patients combining the two.
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Food Noise, Not Joy: How GLP-1s Rewire Reward Without Flattening Feeling
October 23, 2025 · 9 min read
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can quiet the constant "food noise" many people describe. Current evidence suggests they do this by adjusting how the brain weighs food rewards specifically, not by dimming mood or joy across the board. Here is what the science shows, what to watch for, and when to talk with your prescriber.
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Combining GLP-1s With Mood Stabilizers and Antipsychotics: What We Know About Drug Interactions and Safety
October 22, 2025 · 13 min read
GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide are now widely used for diabetes and weight management, and many people in psychiatric care are asking whether they can be combined with a mood stabilizer or antipsychotic. For most people the answer is yes, with a clear plan. This guide explains where real drug interactions exist (and where they do not), why timing and lithium monitoring matter most, how to manage nausea so both treatment plans stay on track, and how Medi-Cal and commercial coverage in California changed in 2026.
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The Waiting Game: Why Antidepressants Take Time And How to Make Those First 6 Weeks Count
October 21, 2025 · 6 min read
Antidepressants take weeks to work, and the wait can be hard. Here's what to expect week by week through the first six weeks, and how to make them count.
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Your DNA, Your Dose: How Genetic Testing Is Changing Psychiatric Care
October 21, 2025 · 7 min read
Finding the right psychiatric medication can feel like trial and error. Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing looks at how your genes affect the way your body processes certain medications, which can help your prescriber personalize dosing and steer away from options more likely to cause side effects. Here is what PGx testing can and cannot do, who tends to benefit, what the evidence shows, and how coverage works in California and the Inland Empire.