Questions??

I have recently been and finally!!! diagnosed Bipolar. I have questions. I have read the materials online, etc. But, usually going to those that suffer is better than reading the cold dry stuff. I have alot of posts on PsychCentral because I come from the Depression board, where I have not been in months.

How long between highs and lows? They seem back to back to me.
When having a high or a low, is there any normalcy in between episodes?
In either case, are the episodes really, really bad, respectively?
Do the events around you help to predict either episode; family issues, etc.?

I have been experiencing truly bad lows. Last week all I wanted to do was crawl under my psychologists desk, but I didn't, I just sat in the chair and put my elbows on the desk and hide my face...sort of. Last week was truly awful and scared the h*** out of me.

He always has two questions, 1) How are you? and 2) What's new. For the "how are you?," I told him I felt 'broken' and I did feel that way. It took me over a week to get to that degree of low, and it was the worst I have felt in a long, long time.

On Wednesday of last week I came out of it and by the end of the day I was on top of the world; I felt like I could tackle the world. That feeling has dissipated somewhat because I have been in my eldest daughter's home for a few days, but sitting here now I don't feel so awful. My eldest is very critical and yells at me a lot. I seem to never do or say anything right to her.

What do I take:
100 mg Nortriptyline
400 mg generic Lamictal

I have a feeling that when I see the psychiatrist mid-month I will have a meds change.

p.s. My father is bipolar, although he is now 89 yrs.

<<<<"How long between highs and lows? They seem back to back to me.
When having a high or a low, is there any normalcy in between episodes?
In either case, are the episodes really, really bad, respectively?
Do the events around you help to predict either episode; family issues, etc.?">>>>

I find highs, lows even what is normal between episodes for me varies by the day, seasons, holidays, stress load, wellness, etc. I've learned to 'watch out' for depression around holidays including birthdays and Mother's day. Some lows are worse then others but I find when I keep a mood chart, I can see some patterns such as the ones I just stated and I can keep an eye out for it. I highly recommend you keep one. There's one on this site under Quizzes.

Hi bigcasper..

I notice a big sense of relief in the tone of your post, I'm happy for you.

I imagine your doctor can give you a better sense of what you are looking for regarding your questions. I think some answers might depend on your type of BiPolar (I, II, or NOS), but even that gamut runs far.

Medication and therapy together can help you so much! Wishing you much luck and peace...

Dee

FOr me, highs and lows vary.... in fact I really only have lows. I am either really depressed or depressed. I rarely feel elevated and have never been manic. When I start to feel sped up it's a bad feeling of irritability and I can be very violent throwing things and yelling at people and all that. Often a "mini high" will follow the depressive episode.

The frequency of cycling is different for everyone. For me, the longest stable period I have had was like 2 months last year. Otherwise I am depressed basically.

The episodes aren't always really bad. I seem to be finally coming out a a bad episode that lasted 4 months but it depends. Again, it varies based on the cycle. Also if you're compliant with your meds and you're in close contact with the pdoc, you can often avoid a really bad cycle by a med adjustment. If you haven't yet been stabilized on a mood stabilizer (though Lamictal is sometimes used as a mood stabilizer) it's be hard to tell what your cycles are like. Expect to start cycling if you become extremely stressed or have too many changes at once. Also if you miss a day or two of meds, that can often kick off a cycle. Not sleeping is really bad and can either kick off a cycle or indicate that you're already headed toward mania.

My suggestion to you is that for the beginning stages right now, keep a mood journal. Go to Google and type in bipolar disorder mood chart. You'll come up with a few different kinds and you can look and see which one fits what you're going through the best. Different people like different graphs.

I wish you the best. The begining is always the hardest because you don't know what's typical or not typical for you. Hang in there and take care!!!

It depends, because everyone is different. You can feel like you're having a good day and go from 0 to 1000 in less than a second. I'm sure we've all been there in one form or another.

welcome to the world of knowing that you have bp...its different when you know becaue then you can get the help that you need...as someone esle said there are differences beteween each person and you will see that with readinge ach post...so for you it will be different ...l;amitcal is very good to be on i have been on it for as long as i have been dianoised which has been almost 4 yrs now so good luck and keep us informed

Thanks to all of you. I hadn't even thought of a journal, but I will start one now.

I assume everyone has something that triggers? I know my trigger is my highly critical daughter, whose home I am in three to four times a week.

HI there,

I have not yet found a trigger, but I do realise I seem to be worse at work than when I am at home with my significant other. I also mainly experience BAD depression, depression or neutral (Stable) without the manic phase. I am also new to the diagnosis and have only recently started mood-stabilisers on top of anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication. So I cannot comment on how effective they are for me yet.
But it sounds as if you are going through a lot in your life, and I would suggest regular therapy to help you get your feelings out in a neutral territory and to help you manage them.

Sadly, I am 61 yrs old and just now being dxd. I believe the reason is that my life has been a series of crisis management since I was 15 yrs old. It has only been in the past couple of years that my life has leveled out a bit.

I talked to my Mom over this past weekend and re-asked the question I have asked several times in the past; just needed one more confirmation that my Dad was diagnosed in his 30s as Bipolar. My mother added that she thought he also had Schziod tendencies too, the not dxd. As I child I just remember home being a scary place to be.

So, when I changed psychiatrist last year for meds management, she noted at the first appt with me that I was somewhat bipolar and added Lamictal to the Nortriptyline. I was put on Nor at Johns Hopkins last fall 2009. I was there for a month...long time.

Yes, it is good to have a name put on my 'behavior', but this last episode was one of the worst and knowing I have BP I now has many, many questions. I will begin with my psychologist tomorrow and next week bring many questions to the psychiatrist.

I'm sorry you're going through this bigcasper but it's great when you finally have a diagnosis that fits. It really releves you in a way. I understand that it brings up tons of questions but you're 100% correct in taking lots of questions to T and pdoc. That's what they're there for. If they aren't willing to answer them then it's not worth havig them on your care team. Feel free to post here any time with questions. I like to bring up questions to pdoc and T because I get the book answer but here you get the lived experience answer. The people here have actually been through some of the stuff I have and can bring a different perspective to it which is refreshing. Take care and I'm glad you're taking charge of the situation. Good for you!!