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Mental health disorders improve with two primary treatments: psychotherapy and medication management. Bradley McClure, MD, and his experienced team at McClure & Associates Psychiatry in Tulsa, Oklahoma, offer comprehensive medication management, ensuring you get the medication and dose needed to ease your symptoms and achieve optimal mental health. Call the office today or request an appointment online to learn if medication management can help you return to a thriving life.
Medication Management Q & A
What is medication management?
Medication management refers to getting medication to treat a mental health disorder, but it’s a comprehensive service covering more than a prescription.
Your medication management includes follow-up appointments to make sure your symptoms improve and catch early signs of side effects.
You also need this service because psychiatric medications typically require some trial and error. Your provider may need to adjust the dose and/or type of medication several times to find the one that works for you.
Some patients need ongoing psychiatric support because they don’t respond to medication, a problem called treatment resistance.
Will I need medication management?
Whether or not you need medication depends on your diagnosis and the severity of your symptoms. However, any mental health condition could need medication management, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Medication management is usually combined with psychotherapy to get optimal symptom improvement.
What happens during medication management appointments?
During your first appointment, your McClure & Adolescent Psychiatry provider learns about your symptoms and does a complete psychiatric evaluation.
If your provider determines you need medication, they discuss the medicine’s benefits and potential side effects and answer your questions. Then, you decide if you want a prescription.
Follow-up appointments are shorter than your initial evaluation. Your provider asks about your symptoms and how you feel, learns if you have any side effects, and evaluates your progress.
At the end of the session, they may refill the same prescription, change the dosage or medicine, or decide you no longer need medications, depending on your progress.
How can I improve medication management results?
You will get the best results from our medication if you:
Take your medication as prescribed
Psychiatric medications are only effective if they reach and stay at a certain level in your bloodstream. If you miss doses or take less than prescribed, your symptoms won’t improve.
Talk with your provider before stopping
People stop taking their medication for many reasons, but suddenly stopping some psychiatric medications can lead to a severe relapse of symptoms.
Talk with your McClure & Associates Psychiatry provider about why you want to stop. They can help find solutions or gradually reduce the dose to wean you from the medication without problems.
Call McClure & Associates Psychiatry today or book online to learn more about medication management.