[SingDanceRunLife]

I was diagnosed with BP II four months ago, and while I'm doing better now, I am still far from stable.

How long does it take to reach stability? Or, how long did it take you?

I gave up my summer job because of my instability and just had to make a really rough decision (I'm taking this semester off from school due to my instability and meds not being quite right yet) and it sucks...My therapist has told me that many people take up to a year off to get things sorted out after their diagnosis...

Right now I'm taking Zyprexa and Lexapro, and honestly, I think that I need something added to the mix because while I like my meds, they aren't quite cutting it right now.

Ugh!

[Phoenix_1]

I was diagnosed June 30. I take 900 mg lithium, with imipramine, nozinan, and clonazepam. The last 3 drugs work together and I took them when I was diagnosed with unipolar depression in 1987. They are better for me than any combo I've tried with SSRI's or SNRI's.
It took me about a month to be stable and right now I'm so mellow that I'm boring myself to death.

[zbmom]

I was diagnosed officially this last week but my pdoc has been treating me as someone with bp for the last couple of months. Currently I'm on lamictal, I'm hoping it will help me level out soon.

[SingDanceRunLife]

I'm hoping that I can stabilize soon...

[lunarpariah]

Originally Posted by zbmom

I was diagnosed officially this last week but my pdoc has been treating me as someone with bp for the last couple of months. Currently I'm on lamictal, I'm hoping it will help me level out soon.

Lamictal was/is a life saver for me. It seems to take forever to work with having to go through the whole starter kit and all. But since it's a theraputic level now I am doing things (like cleaning mostly) that I very rarely did.

Good luck, hope it works for you too!

[Confusedinomicon]

Have you tried lithium? I'm on lithium and zyprexa and I've been fairly stable on both of these.

Are you going to therapy? A good therapist can help you with managing your symptoms and look at yourself in a new way. A lot of times when you're first diagnosed it is very overwhelming, hard to handle because you're only realizing the behaviors are linked to this disorder. However, as you become more knowledgeable of your triggers and limitations it becomes easier to deal with. Then, when you're comfortable again you can slowly push those limits and see how far you get. As much as medication helps, it doesn't give you a healthy mindset or change the way you behave.

Also, don't be hard on yourself. You've only recently (couple months, I remember that post) been diagnosed. It does take time! As long as you are open with your therapist and pdoc, I am sure they will try hard to help you.

[Anneinside]

This isn't the answer you want. There is no answer to your question because everyone and every circumstance is different. I had two periods of depression as a child, no depression (but some hypomanic episodes) until I was about 40 and then was depressed for 2 years... more years of some hypomanic episodes then another two year depression. Now I am just getting over a short episode of depression after 18 months of "relative" stability.

How will it be for you? No one knows.