Weekly Mood Chart Dr. Aiken’s version
Daily Mood Chart the original NIH version
Wellness Tracker free app from Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
Mood charts for children and teens (a free research program from Robert Post, MD)
Retitration with lamotrigine after a rash
Antidotes for Common Side Effects
Constipation: Docusate-Senna combination (generic of peri-colace)
Dry Mouth: Gums with xylitol (Spry, Epic, Pur). How to use.
Nausea: Ginger tabs. How to use.
Tremor: Vitamin B6 for tremor, restlessness, or tardive dyskinesia. How to use.
Tardive dyskinesia: Gingko (Tebonin) (full dose 2/day or 240 mg/day)
Prescribing Psychotropics (Dr. Aiken’s 2022 book on drug interactions)
Medscape Drug Interaction Checker (free)
Epocrates (top-rated, free with registration)
Ora-Plus: Liquifies your pills so you can slowly lower the dose
Ora-Plus Sweetener and Sugar-free Sweetener allows you to flavor the liquid
Triple P Parenting: Online courses for parents of toddlers to teens. Evidence-based.
Love & Logic: Books and courses that help parents guide their children with “natural consequences.” Also evidence-based.
Essential Guide to Sleep
Preventing Jet Lag
CBT-Insomnia Apps: Search your app store for “CBT-i Coach” (free) or Somyrst (not free).
Top Mental Health Apps
CBT-Insomnia Apps: Search your app store for “CBT-i Coach” (free) or Somyrst (not free).
Depression and Bipolar Workbook
Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life: How Dialectical Behavior Therapy Can Put You in Control
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)
Choosing to Live (for suicidal thoughts and impulses)
Mediterranean Cookbook (for the antidepressant diet)
Savings Programs
For brand name medications, check the official website for coupons (the website is the brandname.com, e.g. trintellix.com).
GoodRx. Searches your local pharmacies for the lowest out-of-pocket price. Note that Costco often has the lowest price and you don’t need to be a member to use their pharmacy.
Needs Meds. Discount card and connects you to various savings programs, including patient assistance programs for people who need brand name medications but have a low income.
Save on My Meds. Checks for lowest price if you’re paying out of pocket, also verifies if an online pharmacy is safe.
Refill Wise. Discount card.
If you plan on getting your meds through an online or overseas pharmacy, there are ways to do it safer and ways that are riskier. Those risks are big, as many overseas pharmacies ship poorly made products with dangerous ingredients in them. Deception is rampant. Most of the ones that advertise as “Canadian” don’t even sell medications that would pass inspection in Canada.
The safest online sources are those with a “.pharmacy” at the end of their web address. Two groups that can check the safety, and give you a list of safe online sources, are:
Buy Safely. Type in your pharmacies website to check if it’s safe. Or download their list of verified pharmacies.
National Association of Boards of Pharmacies. Check their list of pharmacies that past inspection through their VIPPS program.
We recommend keeping all your pills in a weekly box. Otherwise it’s nearly impossible to remember them, and even more frustrating when you’re not sure if you did or not. It’s best to get 4 weekly boxes so you only have to fill them once a month. There are lots of good options, but mainly it comes down to the size you need and whether you need one with twice-a-day boxes.
Weekly large boxes for daily dose: Standard or Pop-up
Weekly large boxes for twice-a-day dose: Standard or Pop-up
Weekly large boxes for three-times-a-day dose
Travel-friendly boxes. These allow you to pop out a few days at a time when you’re on a trip: Daily doses. Twice-a-day doses.
How do we make our recommendations?
- We gather products that were shown to work in clinical trials.
- We find brands whose ingredients have been tested to make sure they contain the right stuff (usually through ConsumerLabs or US Pharmacopeia).
- We narrow that down to the most affordable options and list them above.