Tcmoon,

Hmm sorry I very much disagree with you on all fronts pretty much. I also have years and years of dealing with this on meds. I am not a newbie to bipolar the woes of dropping without having concrete skills and tools and life plans. I don't need to look around this forum more than I have, I have been here for a few years despite having a newer account.

I don't see it how you do. I read the forums evedyday and you know what, almost daily people are in pain and suffering despite their compliance to med. Given the fact that the meds have the some of the exact same side effects as the symtoms people are taking them for....if the meds worked so well for everyone than the forum would look a lot different. I was never once stable while on meds for more than a month here or there for nearly a decade. I tried every combo they could think of.

What I do know is that it takes a heck of a lot more than meds for most people. I know about the different types of bipolar, I am not sure where you were going with that statement. I have a dx of Bipolar 1 with psychosis nos since they could not decide if it was a matter of schitzoaffective. I was also dx with anxiety and panic attacks, ptsd, and long standing anorexia. I have been able to work most of these issues to a point of being almost symtom free from all of it. It was neither easy nor fast. And my doctors did not tell me that this was even doable, quite the opposite. I took what they said as gospel for many years.

The fact that an accurate dx is not available to us as you said is all the more reason to second guess and get more answers in my opinion. I view being proactive and doing what is best for your own wellbeing as being responsible. There are a lot more than a few people who can manage bipolar without meds. Being med free is not the same thing as being med free and managing bipolar. Therapists or Psychiatrists that tell people that they will not ever be able to manage, will always have symptoms and need meds for life when we do not even really know what exactly bipolar is, nor the cause, nor how the meds work or fail robs people of hope and it is not the whole truth or fact and that is irresponsible in my opinion.

It's fine that we don't agree. But don't assume too much about what I understand. People do not always see things the same way. However as most things in life there is usually more than one solution .