What Causes Poor Concentration While Treating Bipolar Disorder With Antibiotics?

Posted on Sat, 30 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 30 Jul 2016 Answered on

Mon, 22 Aug 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi. I have bipolar.I am on 800 mg priadel, 1200 valproate, 450 mg seroquel xr, 5 mg olanzapine. The most recent addition was the olanzapine eight weeks ago. I find my concentration for eg watching tv isn't up to scratch. It has been off for a long time. Should it come back in time? Is it a permanent bipolar thing? I don't think it's the meds as they aren't at a very high dose. If you could shed some light on this I'd be hugely grateful. Kind regards.

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Could be due to Valproate but detailed evaluation needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hello, thanks for asking from HCM for your health related queries

I can understand your concern. You are on 800 mg Lithium (Priadel), 450 Seroquel (which is an antipsychotic), 1200 mg Valproate (mood stabiliser) and Olanzapine (antipsychotic).

It is not very common to see poor concentration in bipolar disorder. So this is not a permanent thing. Yes your medicines are not at very high dose but 1200 mg Valproate along with 800 mg Lithium can cause slight decline in cognitive performance.

Are you taking these medicines in divided doses?

Have you ever taken any benzodiazepine like Xanax or Clonazepam for long during course of treatment?

What is your body weight?

Do you suffer concentration issues during your work too or during calculations?

Long standing Lithium, Benzodiazepines therapy can cause concentration issues.

Please describe the details in follow up so that we can proceed further.

Thanks, Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar