[QUOTE=USMCBIPOLAR7;6616842]For 30 years I have been Bipolar. I worked in psychiatric hospitals for 17 of those years as a counselor and was successful and achieved 2 degrees with honors and was rated 30 % disabled by the military. Then after 20 years of struggling but achieving my condition got worse. I became 100% disabled by the military and social security. So for the last 10 years my condition has been extreme highs in the spring and extreme lows in the fall / early winter. To top it off they have tried me on antidepressants twice and they shot me into manias. In one mania I spent 35,000 dollars on scratch offs in 3 days. My marriage of 17 years almost ended. So as a last ditch effort I used all I’ve learned to get my mental health back. I used a light box, a sleep apnea machine, took medicine exactly as prescribed ( which I had been doing) stopped all alcohol, stopped smoking, stopped energy drinks, decreased my work load( as I had tried to make up for my condition by working extremely hard around the house and at my moms. I’ve tried to not dwell on the past , not worry about the future and just focus on my health today. After a month I saw huge results and now it’s been 2 months and I feel great and am doing Awesome. My health is so much better and since I’m not impaired now my choices are Awesome as well. Of all I have achieved better health is the pinnacle. With it the sky is the limit. So focus on your health and you’ll be so much better and having stable moods is all the success I’ll ever need because with it doors will open. Good luck[/QUOTE)

This post really spoke to me as I see a lot of parallels with my husbands disorder. He is 58 years old and has recently been what I will call officially diagnosed with bipolar. He appears to be resistant to medicines working for him and his extreme highs and lows are long winded and seem to swing (high) in spring/summer) to low (winter) for months at a time. This is very difficult for me to cope with.

My husband works construction and is very physically busy when our NY spring/summers are here. He is laid off during the winter and depression for him can be paralyzing. For him it is very "anxiety" based. Especially in recent years where after experiencing a few major depressions (Most are not major) where once he was feeling better, he would become full of energy, ideas, anger, general chaos and could not be reasoned with. It included 2015, where he purchased 3 Ford Mustangs to the amount of $115k! That same year he went to several auctions and amassed over $20k in debt for all kinds of junk! He also has developed hoarding which then causes him great anxiety in winter due to the magnitude of all the "stuff" has has collected.

I am curious of what meds you may have taken that help you? He has a therapist that is now working with his Psychiatrist which in actuality is a NP specializing in Mental Health. This has been a very volatile journey for me, and I am desperate for resolution and answers in all of this. Your post has given me a snippet of hope. Thank you.