Topic : Bipolar Disorder

I was diagnosed as being bipolar about 12 years ago.  I went thru years of hunting and pecking toward the right medications.  Eventually, I went off the deep end and ended up in an inpatient  mental health and drug rehab facility.  I kicked the drug habit.  Within 6 months, I was in the middle of a bad divorce.  My ex and I were very bad for each other, so even though it was tough, it was necessary.   

I have overcome many things in my life.  The one thing I cannot seem to overcome is my mental illness.  I know I need meds again.  I see a psychologist and am currently looking for a good psychiatrist.   Taking meds is very difficult for me.  I havn't been medicated for this illness in many years and the last time I was, I ended up hooked on drugs and in a hospital.  Lately however, I feel the risk of not getting treatment out weighs the yo yo drug effects.  Have they come up with alternatives to prozac and lithium?   I have tried many of the popular choices offered by the general practitioners for such things as smoking cessation and mild depression, but these drugs all eventually make me crazy.  I have gone to my gyn and she says that my hormones are out of balance .  She suggested zoloft to see if elevating my seratonin levels could aleviate any of my symptoms  (nite sweats, insomnia, anxiety, forgetfulness, lethargy, depression).

Zoloft makes me crazy.  I'm afraid this can't be fixed.  Finding a qualified person and getting the right kind of help is very expensive and frustrating.  Not to mention mind altering and scary.  Do you have any suggestions on how to find the right meds.  It seems they always say try this and come back in  a month, then try this other one, then another.  Can't they do some sort of blood work before giving this stuff to someone and finding out later that it was the wrong medication for them?

I don't know of any blood test to find the right meds.  I do know that zoloft without a mood stabilizer makes many with bipolar "crazy".  (That's true for all antidepressants without a mood stabilizer).  Find a good psychiatrist and start finding the right meds.  There are many more alternatives besides lithium and prozac.  I wish you the best.

After many years of trying different meds, I have finally found the right combo.  For me it's Wellbutrin for depression and Abilify for a mood stablizer at night.

I would suggest to keep trying.  Never give up because there will be the right combo for you.

Keep posting............

Susan

I’m here. I’m ready willing and able. But I’m nothing more than a snowflake, one of many whom believe in the Snowflake Theory”.  Ever watch a snowstorm? Billions of snowflakes perish before they over come the land.  When the storm subsides “We The
People” deal with the effects, first the beauty it creates, second the misery it mostly causes. The most amazing aspect is, it all started from a single snowflake.

Unfortunately my first post may not mean a thing to you, or it could explain everything. Can you read between the lines? Are you willing to look yourself in the mirror and be judged for all that is wrong in and around your world?  If not than don’t Judge or pass blame. I did. I lost my self. It took years to rediscover myself, I still feel lost, alone, and tired. I’m like a prisoner of war only my wars are silent, and they rest within my head.  What terrifies me is that all this plays out for me constantly daily.

As I broke I repeated one thing over and over. “If you want me to be the voice of everyone, I must first be the voice of no one”. As the voice of no one I’m here typing in my computer trying not to over step the boundaries, Laws, or like most people the guidelines to which “We The People” live.

I call out to all, Mostly the deaf, as they hear the most. Help me on my quest. We could be nothing more than a few snowflakes but if there are enough of us “We The People” can and will make a difference. My first question would read as follows;

1.What is life going to like after climate change? 2.Are we “The People” prepared for living conditions that our world has to offer after global warming reaches its most critical points? 3. Is the climate going to drive us back to the stone ages? 4. Could all of the progress we achieved over time be simply lost in history, or lost in translation?  5. Can

“We The People” overcome all odds? The answer is as simple as pie. 6. I just don’t know if we the human race are ready for the answer to pie? 7. Do you remember what happened when someone learned how to split an atom???

I’m trying not to write a novel here but I think this sets my stage. And the world is my audience.

I’m stuck between two worlds. As the “Boy” with a dream, and the “Man on a mission.

When Worlds Collide!!! As Arnold would say I’ll be Back!!!  

Is this pen mightier than the sword??? Hmmm I’m Waiting!!! I’m waiting on a world to change. Imagine, a message in a bottle, would you stand by me, all I am saying is give peace a change. Take this sad song and make it better. 

The Boy  

S.O.S    …---…    …---…    …---…   …---…   …---…   S.O.S.     “We The People”

can you believe the show on brain scans....  i have trouble with my family believing my diagnosis and now they think i need a brain scan...... dr. phil is scary.... to say he doesnt know a p-doc that could diagnos bipolar without a brain scan is just rediculous,,,,,, what do u think

wow it has been a very long tie for me, its been a busy yer its een a hard year, but i just wanted to say that i quite often think of you all and hope you stay out of the rain clouds and in the gentle brezze of life

Love you all Auststorm

I didn't have a brain scan and I've been diagnosed bipolar.  I don't know what he is thinking?

Susan

 Hi Maggie my name is sheree and my husand is also recently diagnosed with bipolar. I can say I can relate to your experience and I am so sorry that you too are going thru such a horrendous time after betrayal. My husband has had 3 major episodes. They all entail pushing me away as he can't feel his love for me(always caused by stress) going to a prostitute who he then falls in love with and gives all our money to them to help them leave the business. He 'rescues' them thinking that he is a millionaire. When he comes out of the mania he is then suicidal when he realises what he has done to me, the love of his life (we have been married 29 years very happily) The latest episode was 4 months ago and I was leaving this time as I could not understand what he was doing. As the third time it was all too bizarre, I finally got him to a Doc who diagnosed bipolar with other issues relating to his mother and abuse as a child.

He has been on meds for nearly 2 months and is back to his normal self. His Doc sat me down and told me that if I want to make a go of it a last time I need to separate the disease from the real man. Everything he has done is so out of character, like two different people entirely. He said that if he was well this would never have happened. I believe this having seen the change in him after the meds. It is like he has awoken from a coma and has lost his old life. My husband can't deal with reality and escapes as a survival technique into a fantasy world of his own making. He is just as devestated as I am and has begged me give him another chance. I too am trying so hard to deal with the hurt and anger and am trying  to view it like the Doc has said. I have also decided that after the third time if it happens again I will have to leave for my own emotional welfare. Hypersexuality is apparently very common with bipolar and can get quite bizarre. I have been thinking that I was the only one who has had to deal with this type of behaviour but I think it is so embarrasing that many do not want to talk about it or they have left the marriage.

I will be putting safety nets in place.  I will be taking control of the money.  I have an agreement  with my husband that now he is aware of what is happening if i say he is ill he will have to see his doc whenever I deem it necessary. Our Doc has also discussed this with him. He will not drink alcohol as this is a contributing factor as when he begins to be depressed from stress he will drink. Then he does silly things sexually with alcohol to fuel his actions. He knows he has to stick to his meds as his life depends on it. I am fortunate that he does see that for himself and he is actually afraid to go off them.

As for the emotional side I am still dealing with that and I know it will take time. I am making sure that I take time out for myself to be with my friends and look after myself more exercise etc as my whole life has centred around him and my health has suffered. I am slowly helping him to return to his work as a talented photographer. We had a gallery of our own till he sold it all for next to nothing whilst all this was happening. He was going to leave me and hop on a plane to join a japanese prostitute who he enabled to go home to her own country. Of course she was just using him for his money then disappeared. So as for his business we will have to begin again from scratch. I wish you all the best and just know you are not alone.