Quote:
Originally Posted by eeyore1234
Hi
I'm a 22 year old female and I've just recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 2. I have been struggling with depression for almost a year and a half and right now it just gets worse and worse....
I have a few question and I was hoping you could answer from your personal point of view or maybe you know some statistics:
- When you find a cocktail of meds that works for you. How likely is it that you will stay "normal"/stable forever or many years? Will a person still have the extreme highs and lows?
- Can a person with bipolar 2 live a completely "normal" life, just like everyone else? With a career and family?
- Does everybody get back to "normal" after a depression, I mean when it comes to "brain activity"? Right now I have problems reading, spelling, concentration and so on.
- Do a person with bipolar need to take special things in consideration? When it comes to job/career, working hours/times, sleep and so on?
Now to a more personal question. I was a straight A-student in high school and when depression got me down I had just started med school. I had to drop-out of school and shortly after I decided I didn't want to be a doctor after all. I've looked at some other jobs and careers and decided what to study. The problem is that I need to pass a language class and exam to get in. I've taken the class online since January, but I'm far behind and I just can't keep up. I can't read, I can't remember, to be honest it just feels impossible. If I don't pass the class I can either wait another year to apply for university or I can find another course to study. But it really means a lot to me to pass the exam and study Audiologopedics. My questions are:
- Do you think I should keep taking the language class and try to pass - even though it seems impossible and might cause me extra stress? Or should I "give up" and take it slow?
- I haven't been "normal"/myself since I got depressed, and dropped out of medical school. Should I wait another year to make a career decision or should I do what I think is right now?
Btw. I am getting treatment for bipolar disorder, but after two months there hasn't been much improvement, I've actually gotten worse! I'm taking 1350 mg lithium and waiting for my blood test results. I'm hoping that my psychiatrist will add an antidepressant (even though they have never worked on me....) and antipsychotic.
I don't even know if I'll be ready and well enough to attend university in late summer?!
I'm so sorry for the long thread! I just didn't know what to do and thought I might get some answers and advice here!
Thanks  |
I am diagnosed with Bipolar 2, OCD, and GAD. I was diagnosed around your age, and it took about 6 months to get stabilized due to the complications of (a.) finding the right psychiatrist (that wasn't a QUACK!) and (b.) getting my serotonin balanced from the worst-ever episode I've had of OCD (living hell). So, my diagnosis is a little more complicated than yours because I deal with the OCD and anxiety. But I can tell you what my life is like.
After my 6 month episode, I went back to finish college. I had to get special allowances from time to time from professors due to my "disability." E.g. I needed them to understand me making it late to class due to difficulty waking up from meds, or sometimes giving me more time to turn in papers. After college, I worked crappy jobs and hated it. But then I got more clarity on my career path. So I went back to school and got my Master's degree. I didn't need any special allowances and didn't even have to tell my professors about my "disability," but I did have to take Ritalin to help me focus the last couple semesters of my Master's Degree.
I now work part-time, but I make a good amount of money because I have my own business and I can charge a lot per hour (music lessons). I CAN work full-time, and I'm actually considering changing careers due to scheduling (working evenings) and stability of income (I lose students and it's really difficult not knowing how much money I will make from month to month). I struggle with worry a lot but that is my OCD (probably not something you will have to struggle with), but I stay mostly stable. My psychiatrist can't treat the OCD much because of my bipolar (antidepressants make me hypomanic). My moods do go up and down but they are mild shifts from mild depression to brief spurts of hypomania. I am "rapid cycling," so I can spend half the day normal and a couple hours hypomanic and maybe even a brief period of very mild depression. I still consider myself very stable because my behavior is very "normal," and I don't feel the need to tell people how I'm feeling.
My husband and I have been married for 4 years, and about 2 years ago, my husband and I decided not to have kids. So he got a vasectomy. I know that I could not handle being off meds to be pregnant, nor could I handle the stress of parenting. I'm very sensitive to stress, so I really can't lead a "normal" life compared to others my age (33).
I am generally a very happy person, though. I handle things pretty well, I'm optimistic, and I see my psychiatrist every month (sometimes more often if I feel the need for a med adjustment). I've started seeing a psychologist for therapy regarding my obsessive thoughts and worries.
Everybody's different, but that's my story.