[sugahorse1]

Just wondering- I'm going through a hard patch right now, and while I've been pretty stable for about 3 months, I think I can feel depression coming up. It's scary and lonely.

For those of you that have been through this a lot longer than me, how long have you managed to remain stable? Is it a given that our meds will end up not working or needing to be tweaked? Are we ever in a place where we are immune to episodes? or is it quite understandable that after 3 stable months, I may crash?

[venusss]

I think the ideal would be not to be freaked out about possible episode... I know it's like en elephant in the room... but the more you think about it, the more likely you are to bring it upon yourself. So NOT overanalyzing every tiniest feeling is the thing to go... I stopped mood charting for this reason... because I realized it was enhancing the bad feelings.

... but I just came to accept that these come and go. I deal with it when they come. I use all my strenght and all my tools to hold together. Mine episodes aren't superlong though and I learned (with years) to somehow manage them.

sometimes one has hard times stresswise... in such times,I prefer to thrust myself onto the work and put myself and my feelings in the background and sail through. If the stress is going on too long, one may reconsider if this is how they want to live (yes, I know changing your life is not easy... one has to consider what is worse.... live like you are for years to come, or risk and change things? Is the frustration long term or are you having bad time just now?).

[Larfu]

Originally Posted by sugahorse

Just wondering- I'm going through a hard patch right now, and while I've been pretty stable for about 3 months, I think I can feel depression coming up. It's scary and lonely.

For those of you that have been through this a lot longer than me, how long have you managed to remain stable? Is it a given that our meds will end up not working or needing to be tweaked? Are we ever in a place where we are immune to episodes? or is it quite understandable that after 3 stable months, I may crash?

Symptoms never really go away. Our brains are forever imbalanced, and since they change so regularly, so to do the needs of the brain. One psychotropic med combo might work for a bit, then let you down later. Even after 30 years, my mom still has to change her medication every once and a while. It's an ongoing battle, and you have to be up for it. Because it will consume your time and energy to try and get back to stable. Always.

Anyway, I'm Bipolar I. I've been on meds for 9 years, and I'm doing great. Just keep at it, and you'll be fine. Depression gets us all every once and a while, but that doesn't mean it's bad or a failure. It's just life.

[Kymaro]

LarFu, I like your response, and others too. It's true, medications can keep a person balanced to only some degree. There will ALWAYS be times that one slips up or down a bit at one point in time or another. Doesnt mean your medications are wrong. Sometime it can be just "daily stressors" that need to be resolved. I personally believe in a diary and a detailed mood chart. I find it helpfull to "Look back" and see what was going on in life at that point to be able to "know the stessors" that was causing the "slip". Sometimes those stressors can be twiked and other times it's the medications. And yes, VenusHalley was right. DONT dwell on it, it will only make it worse. Try to accept the fact that "Yes, there will always be those times but I know they are there and I can move forward back to balence". That doesnt sound right - "move forward back" umm Cant think of anyother way to word it.
Best wishes

I've actually gone YEARS feeling great - when I take care of myself, take my meds and everything goes along smoothly.
But one bump in the road and BOOM
Everything changes.
My last episode it took almost a year to go from the depths of depression, back up through hypomania, into stability....but that was 2007. Before that it had been 10 years since I'd been very sick.
now, 2011, i was doing great till my obgyn put me on a birth control pill which took away the effects of my antidepressants and other meds, coupled with a really bad job/boss and fighting with my husband....
This turned into a very bad depression very quickly....

But because I've done this before, i know what to do, and I feel better much faster now.

Just keep feeling good and working on how to feel better.

[onlymedid]

I've been stable on meds for many months at a time and then had an episode where my meds just needed tweeking. You are not alone.

[sugahorse1]

Thanks guys. I already kind of knew that I can only comfortable on my current set of meds for a while, until things get rocky and meds need tweaking. So this will be ongoing until the day I die

Yeah, sure it's possible to still have episodes. Hard patches definitely don't help, that's for sure! (Totally immunity is unlikely, but I do know people who have been stable for many years, so it apparently is possible for some.) Sometimes a med tweak is in order, sometimes not. Depends. I've been pretty stable for about a year and a half. It'd probably be longer, but since that's when I finally got on a proper med, that's how long it's been(!) Sometimes the dose goes up or down, but that's the only tweak I've had really. I definitely don't overanalyze or necessarily anticipate trouble. I just keep an eye on it as objectively as possible. I do find the mood charting helpful in this regard. There are times when it definitely is quite a shift, but doesn't last anywhere near as long as before meds, so looking at my charts help me to see that it's really not as bad and is more stable than I might feel at a given time. Helps me keep it in perspective. I don't expect total levelness or even to not experience shifts that go considerably beyond what a "normal" person would experience. As long as they don't go as deep or start to go on for anywhere near as long as they used to, I can usually just go with it.

Of course this is just my personal experience and level of tolerance for variation.

Sometimes I do know for sure it's going to be a biggie. For instance, though I'd been in very bad places for very long amounts of time, in the time from the Pdoc was strongly suggesting the meds ...not pushing, just that she could see the signs better than I could. And why had I lost perspective? I was in a big and extended hypomania at the time. No one could tell me anything! It would last forever and ever, right? But when the crash came, it came hard and fast and I knew beyond knew that it was going to the places I'd so wanted to deny while hypomanic. So yeah. Depends.

suga!

[sugahorse1]

Thanks Inner