Replies to '08/01 Extreme Highs and Lows'

Just an update on your misinformation about rapid cycling, it's called Cyclothymia.  Feel like building a house at 9 am and weeping on the floor at noon.  I think perhaps it is probably an individual thing with how rapid one cycles along with whatever is going on around them.  The highs can be very unpleasant.  They can be utterly exhausting and draining.  Yet you just keep going because you can't stop.  When I was diagnosed I was asked by the doctor if I had mood swings.  I laughed and said "show me a woman who doesn't."  He then got more specific.  I now know that my periods exacerbated the cycling.  The anger was rage, the euphoria was wonderful.   I think perhaps women have a somewhat harder time with being bipolar due to hormone fluctuations, PMS, menopause etc.  But to be the way Cathy was is uncalled for.  Knowing she was abusive, nasty and just plain mean to her children was quite selfish on her part.  They should have been the reason she never stopped looking for help.  It took me so very many years to finally get the right meds and become stable but I knew I could not continue to hurt my children.  I believe, while the DSM 4 is accurate, not everyone will fit every criteria for something nor will one medication work for everyone who has the same thing.  We are all different.  I was finally diagnosed with BP first then many years later added BPD.  My therapist, at the time was sure I was but I didn't fit the mold.  Very few, if any, will fit the mold for anything.    I have never been diagnosed with ADHD but I can read and often understand what I read.  I was given something to go with my antidepressant, a drug that is given for ADHD.  Utterly amazing.  Finally the last piece of the puzzle fit together.   I found I could think sentences to the end.  It was awesome.  

As for the second guest, in the midst of despair that we suffer from I heard voices.  Some I knew some I didn't.   

Now I take my meds, see my dr and therapist and put every effort into being the best me I can.  I'm not perfect, I have times when I get down and when I just want to cry and I don't know why but I know it will pass.   

I share what info I have about BP with others that may want to know.  I let me know what I am taking now.  It is up to anyone to be in charge of their own mental and physical health.  A little knowledge can, sometimes be dangerous, but no knowledge can be lethal.    

Take care