Thanks. What is your opinion on someone with these behaviors fighting in an octagon as long as the medication prescribed seems to be controlling that behavior? Do you think he was on medication before the incident and it quit working?
I think he was never on medication, and did very well until recently.
This is a guess. A guess only for the sake of sherdog, not from experience.
Moving forward, I think it is almost impossible to fight on those meds until you are in a NEW routine, with the same medications (that are working, this is a whole side topic i will address in a moment), and have found a "consistency". Rather, a positive consistency.
Usually what happens, medications take a few weeks to "mellow out" because your body goes mental creating chemicals to break down food, pills, etc... then there is emotions, which have biochemistry happening from sleep, stimulus etc... and ofcourse there is a regulation in the body constantly happening.
Should you change that biochemistry (say, have a coffee) immediately your body reacts in shock.
This is why you shit after coffee. Your organs react, and function by chemistry.
Now, let's say you give someone an anti-psychotic.
First off, you will spiral into a strange couple days, usually it is being extremely tired or extremely jacked. The reason for being tried can vary from mental fatigue (of chemistry going wild & stress of the situation of a new "feeling") to actual changes in bloodflow which require you to rest. I will skip the jacked part, but assume it means the pills make you react opposite temporarily.
Eventually your body adapts to cycles.
This is the part about SAME MEDICATIONS. Most times, they change your meds every few weeks, because at first... it is impossible to tell if they are working. This applies to almost anything, even exercise. Biochemistry works slowly, mostly in reaction to other chemistry. Think why we use radiation to kill cancer, but radiation can kill you. The correct amount (dose) of something should have a reaction and we watch & wait to see it take affect. So, give someone a toke of a joint who NEVER smokes, or a person a new medication that is design to be STRONG, they will have a rough couple days even after it would "wear off" on most people quickly if they consistently use it.
Back to Tony... if he is placed on anti-psychotics & mood stabilizers for bi-polar, we are getting into a dangerous combination for a human to regulate internally. Some of these meds are banned certain places because they cause addiction. The side effects are extreme as well, shakes, appetite changes, irregular sleep, lack of energy, so they give you MORE meds to balance out THOSE issues.
To try and go to work on those meds, is beyond tough. It is life changing.
Now, imagine that each human has a slightly different biochemistry.
I LOVE chocolate milk, some people cannot have a lick of ice cream or a sip of milk.
Their body will shit, or even vomit, they will get headaches, have to lay down. From milk.
Imagine a pharmaceutical designed to mess up your chemistry (in the hopes to balance it).
To give yourself a personal idea of it ...
eat until you are bloated, then sprint till you feel sick, then stop in your tracks and chug something gross (buckleys in milk, hard alcohol, whatever triggers you).
How you feel minutes later, is pretty much what Tony is going to be dealing with.
Tony will either stop taking his meds (unless he is truly being fullly supervised 24/7) and this will be his decision to get his energy back, or he will pull out.
If shows up, and everything appears fine, his performance should be reduced around Round 2.
Then again, he has the help of the UFC to get him on track. It is literally a 50/50 as to what happens next.