[sugahorse1]

Hey there.

I have been suffering with what I can only consider to be depression for the last 8 or so years. Only went to see a doctor about 1 year ago when my life came crashing down. Looking back, and talking to 2 of my mates who have BP, I could really relate. Told this to my new p-doc and she agrees.

So anyway, now that my feelings have an explaination and a name, here i am to learn more.

I've been on Anti-dep's for a year now, as well as anti-anxiety and sleeping tabs, but will be starting Epilim today.

Any advice from long-term sufferers to give me strength?

[grizmom]

Hello and welcome! I have 2 pieces of advice, the first is to keep a notebook with a record of all medications; date started, dosage, side-effects, and reasons for stopping the medication if they decide to change something. I wish I had done this, because it's been 18 years since my diagnosis and they've had me try a lot of different meds, and now I can't remember which ones I've been on or why we stopped them or what the side-effects were.

The other advice is to keep a mood diary. You can find some online, but most only give you one option for your mood or anxiety for the entire day, and if your mood and/or anxiety fluctuates a lot during the day, it's hard to pick one rating. I keep my own that I made (I just keep them in a binder) and I track my mood and anxiety 3 times a day, my energy level, meds and time I took them, wake up time, bedtime, naps, etc. Every 2 or 3 weeks I go online and create a line graph of my mood and my anxiety to be able to see the patterns. I wish I'd started doing this sooner as well, because when I get depressed for a few days it gets hard to remember when it actually started since it feels like it has been that way forever. You can rate however you want, I use a 0 - 6 scale: 0 is none/baseline, 1 is very mild, 2 is mild, 3 is mild - moderate, 4 is moderate, 5 is moderate - severe, 6 is severe.

Again, welcome, and stop by and ask questions or vent or rant or whatever, everyone has been very nice to me here

[SunnyD]

I really like the idea of keeping records of meds. I can't even remember the AD's I have been on.
Charting moods is important because it is easy to forget what happened between pdoc appointments. My pdoc relies on them as I am always "ok" when I see her.
Another thing I think is important is to commit to being medication compliant. I know that you have been but it is even more important as they may add or take away and need to know how effective they are. This way they can adjust them and take into account any side effects.
All the best to you...SD