Welcome to the club Freshly ...

I was diagnosed young too. Let me give you some words that I hope will ease off some of your worries ...

1. Finding the right "cocktail" of medications that work for you will take time, patience, HONESTY, and the will power to keep going with it until you and your pdoc get it right. Will it be easy? NO! ... Will it be worth it? OH YES!

2. This illness will have some limitations, but don't let it ever define you! Read as much as you can regarding the illness and how to deal with it. But mostly how to recognize the symptoms of both Mania and Depression so you can deal with it right away.

3. Get educated, stay focused on getting better, and find ways to cope with the everyday stresses.

I really think it's like having diabetes - you have to watch what you eat and keep up with meds. You have your days where you just eat that extra sweet piece of pie anyway (mania) and your days where you feel like crap because you can't eat what you want (depression). So, it just takes a lil life adjustment but nothing that can't be handled!