Topic : Bipolar Disorder

Try Depakote  that is what I use. 

Really, Been there doing it. Now by mysel, My husband di noyhing but call me psycho etc. and made things much worse. So i left and now I feel alone, And every day I wonder why? why am I here? whats the meaning of this & what did I not do that it effected me. 

So I do relate. 

I would be so simple if everyone could take the same medication and get the same results. I tried Depakote after I developed the allergy to Tegretol and simply could not tolerate it. It is a good drug and works for  a lot of people but I just couldn't take it. I have had so many people tell me that they couldn't tolerate Topamax and yet it works great for me. Unfortunately, it is a trial and error game where each person just had to try meds until he or she hits the right one.  

Damn fool disease 

have the same question--how do I get someone who doesn't want to take medication to take it? I don't have an answer for that. I don't think you do. You have to be motivated to be able to manage bipolar disorder and the motivation must come from within. I spent five years trying to find the right meds and in the eighteen years since then probably haven't missed more than 20 doses of medication, this from simply forgetting to take it. (Paid for it by not being able to sleep, too.)  

You can talk to the person and explain the alternatives, but if he or she does not want to work on getting better, there is nothing you can do. Especially in a society where people believe that you have a "right" to be mentally ill and the only time intervention is called for is when the person is a proximate danger to himself or others.  

I'm sorry. I do not have an answer. 

Hello all, I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and Paranoid Personality Disorder for about eight years, that's when I finally opened up to a doctor.  However, I have had these problems with depression and anger and over the top exciteability for as long as I can remember.  I do not have anyone in my family that is supportive of me seeing doctors and taking medications and trying to help myself, except maybe my Mom.  I am on disability and after fighting with employers and losing jobs, she suggested I try to get disability.  Well I did.  I think she thought that would be a way for me to deal with my issues and myself on my own.  The rest of my family thinks I am just a lazy loser, who just doesn't want to do anything!  This keeps me pretty down and hateful toward them.  They all live about 750 miles away anyway.   

I have an eleven year old daughter.  Her father was abusive to me when I was pregnant and I left him at 3 months pregnant.  He recently quit paying child support and quit my daughter's health insurance about five years ago.  I've been living with a man for quite some time now, about eight years, and he has asked that we leave now because he has grown tired of my behavior!  He says I can change my behavior, I just choose not to.  He knows all about my disorder and he has witnessed it but he doesn't pass up a chance to call me a dopehead or ask me if I've taken my medications today in a condescending way, he likes to put me down.  He has become very cruel toward me, even threatening.  He does have a drinking problem and I do know that it is best for me to leave.  It is just very hard for me to be on my own with these disorders on a very limited income  with my daughter.  We don't have health insurance and it's going to be tough and I am very scared.    

I don't know where all of this stuff comes from and I wonder if it has to do with how I was raised.  My Father was an Alcoholic and very abusive to my Mother, my three brothers and myself.  They split up when I was 16 and he faked his death.  And started a new family under a different name.  Maybe this is why I'm CRAZY!!! 

First off, I too do not have the answer.  It's simply the old cliché, "You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink".  I've spent the past twenty some odd years arriving at the best, I think, med. cocktail but, even still, I have a few cycling periods.  I've 'flunked' damn near every profession known to man, but now that I"m on SS Disability, I have the opportunity to pursue my true heart's desire....and that is to write.  But the kicker is, my writing is so much more exciting, intense....my 'voice' is unbridled and uninhibited when I'm off my meds....but, I've learned the hard way, it's just not worth it. 

My third suicide attempt pretty nearly succeeded - I was on a heart monitor for three days - but it was truly a blessing in disguise.  It landed me at Menninger's, the mental mecca of the Midwest, and from that wonderful institute, I learned first hand what the consequenses of a bipolar II / borderline personality diagnosis OFF THEIR MEDS can result in.  During the three months I was confined to the hospital, two of my close friends/patients upon their release, did in fact, commit suicide.  Fantastic, bright, funny people who loved the 'highs' but couldn't tolerate the 'lows'.  I still think of them and what a waste...... 

I'm finally on a med. cocktail that doesn't entirely reduce my creative muse to a zombie but it took a lot experimentation.....Topamax and Prozac has been my saviour.....and it's worth it! 

That's my story and, likewise, I'm sorry I don't have the answer. 

I was a writer for a corporation when I was fired for being bipolar. I always wanted to write, but my mind was too chaotic before I was medicated. It was only after I began to take medication that I was able to write. Since going on SSA disability, I have turned my writing into a hobby with some limited success. I have had several stories published, but haven't been able to get my book into print. 

I,too take Topamax, but took Tegretol until I developed an allergy to it. I had to go off that and when I did, my employer found out that I was bipolar and I was fired after working for the company for six years, shortly after receiving an award for being an outstanding employee. That's why I was unhappy with the show yesterday--it did nothing to improve the image of persons with bipolar disorder--just emphasized to employers that there was good reason to be rid of them before they go postal.