Medication Management

Medications can be life-saving for people with psychiatric disorders, but they require careful management. Highly skilled psychiatric nurse practitioner Margaret Miller, DNP, LMSW and the team at Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry in Greenwich, Connecticut, use medication management to ensure that the drugs they prescribe improve your symptoms and don’t cause adverse reactions. Call Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry or request an in-person or telehealth consultation online today if you take medicines for a mental health condition.

What is medication management?

Medication is a valuable treatment choice for many patients seeking relief from mental suffering. Common conditions that benefit from medication management include depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. Medication option types include the following:

• Antidepressants
• Anxiolytics (anti-anxiety drugs)
• Stimulants
• Antipsychotics
• Mood stabilizers
• Addiction withdrawal medications

The Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry team recognizes that every patient’s response to medication is unique, requiring a personalized approach. 

What benefits does medication management provide?

Medication management benefits include:

Optimized results

Many different medications are available for mental health problems. For example, antidepressants include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclics, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Within these classes are further variations – SSRIs have seven approved varieties.

Psychiatrists use their experience and expertise to select the drug they think might work best for you. Still, many patients experience little improvement with one and must try another. It can take 4-6 weeks to know if a drug is working, so changing can be a very long process.

Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry overcomes this problem using advanced genetic testing, evaluating how your body processes medications. This cutting-edge approach offers valuable insights, enabling your psychiatrist to choose the most effective drugs and dosages.

Minimal side effects

All medicines can potentially cause side effects — unpleasant reactions such as dry mouth, nausea, and headaches. Some can trigger an allergic reaction or life-threatening conditions like organ failure.

Genetic testing helps you avoid these problems. Ongoing medication management ensures you can change any medications that cause adverse effects and avoid harmful drug combinations.

What does medication management involve?

Medication management reviews occur regularly, either in person at Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry or via a secure telehealth video link.

Your psychiatrist checks your medications and ensures you take them as prescribed, for example, before or after food and at the right time of day. They also ask about medicines you take for other conditions (like painkillers or blood pressure pills), over-the-counter remedies, herbal treatments, and supplements, which could react with the psychiatric drugs.

Your psychiatrist asks about the positive and negative changes you’ve experienced and answers your questions. They make changes to your prescription if needed.

The path to better mental health is highly individual, and the Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry team believes in providing patients with a spectrum of choices. They aim to empower patients to make informed decisions, with support and guidance, to ensure they find relief from their suffering and enjoy improved mental well-being.

Call Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry for more information about the benefits of medication management, or request an appointment online today.