Hi. Welcome. There are a lot of us bipolars on the site. I just got diagnosed a few weeks ago at age 29. It's pretty common I guess to be dxed from age 20-30, but it can go untreated/misunderstood well into one's 40s and 50s. I've suffered from depression since age 7, possibly earlier, that's just when I remember the long term underlying existential depression descended. I also have self harmed since childhood. I hate the sight of blood, so I inflict pain other ways. Anyway, this is a safe place to tell your story and to be supported on the good, bad, and ugly days.

I've just started Lamictal as my mood stabilizer, also an anticonvulsant, but it's only been 8 nights so it's not yet working. Apparently Lithium is given these days only for extreme mania or when the anticonvulsants don't work. Sometimes they're used together (lithium and an anticonvulsant like carbamazepine--the generic form of Tegretol according to the crazymeds website http://www.crazymeds.us/ --a fave site for many on here). In addition to your mood stabilizer (one or more), the p-doc will usually prescribe an antidepressant (if you're in the depressed phase for a sustained period and sometimes an anti-psychotic such as Abilify or Seroquel). These are generalizations and may not apply depending on your specific symptoms/issues/problems.

That's about all I know so far, because I'm a newbie like you. I'm sad that I have this disease, but it's important to know all you can about it and inform those closest to you so they'll be able to help if you have a serious swing that could be dangerous.

Hope to see you around.