Different medications are used for different types of episodes as well as for different individuals.
Depressive episodes may be treated with different medication than manic episodes will be treated with. Sometimes combinations of medications or cocktails are also used to treat bipolar disorder.
Each person is different and bipolar disorder can affect them in different ways. This often means that medication treatments will vary in both the type of medicine as well as the dosage.
It can take a patient time in order to get used to the dosage of medication as well as it can take time for psychiatrists to find both the right combination and dosage.