[Picassoschild]

It's been a month and a half since I got diagnosed with Bipolr II. I have always been impulsive (sliding down a fire pole, drunk and shattering my foot or throwing a $30,000 EKG defibrillator out of the back of an ambulance because it failed on a critical patient of mine). I just always thought the mania was normal. It was the depression that brought me in to the therapist. I couldn't get out of bed for days at a time. And when I would, it was to go to Target and blow my entire paycheck on things I franky didn't need.
So a month ago, I broke up with my boyfriend, and though I was sad about the break-up, I was not depressed over it. We make better friends than lovers. However for two days after the break up I couldn't stop crying. Amd I'm talking couldn't breath, chest pain causing crying. On the phone with him, he kept asking what the heck was wrong with me and all I could tell him was I had no idea. This worried him, my parents, my best friend. I went to my primary care doctor, who sent me to the ER for a psych eval. After speaking with the doc in the ER we came to the conclusion that it wasn't the break up, it was everything else. My finances are a wreck due to the manic spending, I was living in a difficult situation with a difficult roommate, I failed two of my classes because I didn't want to get out of bed. It was like the world came crashing down. I left the ER with a diagnosis of bipolar II and a referral to mental health.
I started seeing my psychiatrist two days later, was put on lithium and Celexa. And things are better. I'm working through somethings. I have food days and bad days. They have changed my antidepressant to lexapro after I had some really bad days recently.
So I guess this is more or less an introduction. I've never really posted to anything like this before. So this is the beginning of my story and it's Nice to meet you all.

[hamster-bamster]

Wow, what a beginning! Just a note: are you sure it is Bipolar II, not I, with all the manic spending?

[Picassoschild]

I don't have full blown mania, but hypomania (according to my pdoc and T) I'm currently on Lithium and Lexapro, which has helped so much I don't really have words. It's strange, I had been so....screwed up for so long, that now it's like a weight has been lifted. Even my migraines, which had gotten bad over the past few years have subsided some and I finally have some focus in my life.

[Anneinside]

Excessive spending is also a major symptom of Bipolar II. What I am amazed at is that you got in to see a psychiatrist in 2 days!

[Picassoschild]

I must have called every PDoc in my city when I got discharged from the ER. I spent a full day on the phone with mental health centers and various docs until I got my appointment. I lucked out with my doc, he had just started his practice (he used to just work at the psych hospital here) and he specializes in bipolar and anxiety disorders. The best advice I can give someone is don't give up, just keep calling. Mental health most places is difficult, but not impossible. Good Help (in my case, great help) is there, you just have to find it.

[moremi]

Welcome, glad you found us here at PC. Im sure you will find this site very helpful when needing advice or just someone to listen who understands your disease and has been where you are. Its nice to know that there are people out there who do understand. It can seem like no one in real life does, thats when I come here and chat with my friends on this site. They all understand and are always so helpful. Again Welcome.