Five days

I am five days out of my last manic phase and doing good. My wife has been through hell. I am newly dx. Taking celexa in the am and seroquel at night. Having less mania but it is so hard even with the meds.

Glad you hear you are doing well, and welcome to the forums! Can't comment on your specific meds, as I've not been on those particular ones, but in general can say that it often takes a fair bit of time for meds to take effect, so hold tight.

Hi Grkgjohn; I'm glad you decided to post. I hope that you continue to do well.

My meds are going well. I just got a six month supply of my celexa and seroquel so I am good. Im hangin in there. I enjoy this forum alot.

I'm glad you like it here.

today i still feel good mentally but I must live with the fact that my stability can be lost at any moment,its a constant struggle even with the meds.

Just try to stay in the moment and enjoy the stability. I constantly waited for the "other shoe to drop" when I was feeling stable instead of enjoying it.

Seroquel is an atypical anti-psychotic and is what is helping you rest and keeping the mania at bay. Celexa on the other hand is a very good SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) and is also sold under the name Lexapro. Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters in our brain, a signal sent from brain cell to another. It is secreted by a portion of the cell called the synapse and it is effective as long as it remains in the brain chemistry before it is taken up into another brain cell. By having the Serotonin floating around longer, it leaves you with the "all-is-well, warm-fuzzy" feeling more than you would have without the SSRI. It will also have a bit of a sleepy effect on you. When you have two or more drugs that create the same side effect, it is known as a symbiotic additive relationship where 1 + 1 doesn't necessarily = 2 as far as the effect but 1 + 1 may = 4 so until you are familiar with the side effects, taking them on an empty stomach, relationship of dosage time to driving time; DONT DRIVE. YOU ARE RISKING A DUI.
The only thing about your medication regime that concerns me is that you are not on a mood stabilizer. The seroquel will make the mania not so bad and the celexa will make the depression not so bad but it would be great to see you stabilize and not have to bounce between moods. Lamictal (generic lamotrigine) is very effective and works well for a lot of people but some of the other common ones are depakote, topamax and lithium salts.
May I recommend that you and your wife look up the local chapter of NAMI? They have free education programs that are excellent that are designed separately for the patient and the family member. There is a direct correlation between the more you and your family educate yourself on your disorder, the more likely you are to find a plan of recovery that will work for you and your family. Recovery is possible and in some situations, couples find strength in this adversity and grow closer than they ever thought was possible. If you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to ask, myself or anyone here.
God Speed and Best Wishes
ptk

PTK: seroquelXR can be used to control both the highs and the depression in persons diagnosed with BP.

This is from wikipedia:

The FDA approved Seroquel XR for the treatment of bipolar depression and bipolar mania in early October, 2008.

You are absolutely correct though it is usually supplemented with an additional antidepressant. However, having used Seroquel and then Seroquel XR myself and having spoken with my resources (as I was concerned with the vast number of medications that I had to take) we were able to take out a lot of supplemental meds but Seroquel XR or Seroquel is not effective as a mood stabilizer. Thank you for the correction.

Welcome, PTK! Thanks for keeping us posted. As you can see, there are a lot of knowledgeable folks in this forum--and supportive, too. The process of medication is a lot of trial and error. The docs just have to figure out the best combo for each of us!

Oops, hello to the wrong name! Welcome to anybody and everybody!

Nothing wrong with that - maybe we should say "welcome" to everyone here every day. Sometimes it's the only nice thing we hear all day.

Why, thank you for the welcome!
Sincerely,
The wrong person

(snicker, hahaha)

thank you guys

Yes. I can see how helpful people are in here. I LOVE HAVING PEOPLE OUTSIDE MY circle who can support me in my up days and down days. Tonight I have to work and will be popping in and o7tvof this forum. Have a njce day.

Welcome John, it is good to have you here. Glad you are doing well. Like blueoctober said enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully it will last a long time.

I am hoping but wife says she see signs that i am about to flip the script.