newly diagnosed

I've been on this message board several times because I was fairly certain I'm BP. I was just diagnosed today w/BP, mixed, severe,w/psychotic behavior. I'm glad I can come here because I have no friends due to my very unpredictable and oftentimes overbearing behaviour. This is so hard to admit. Before today I was blaming everyone else for my horrible personal life. (My family life is good. I have a wonderful husband of 25 years) Well, here I am. I plan to hang around a bit

I am also newly diagnosed. I've been bipolar since I was 16 and i'm 36. My last breakdown lasted almost 9 months and I can only describe it as Jeckyll & Hyde. I only got diagnosed because I tried to take my life. I'm here by the grace of God. My husband doesn't understand my illness as a disease and has pulled away from me thinking I did everything on purpose. How do I get him to see this as an illness and I acted in a severe mania and psychosis? how do I get through to him before I lose my family and our 5,4 &3 year old and the man I love with all my heart? Can anyone give me advice?

i can only say that for me and my partner it helped when he spoke to my doctor and read info from people who know about bp--that worked alot better than me telling him everything that i am going through--it is not easy-but he's still hanging in-good luck
adamsgirl

Welcome to the newbies here. It's good to have you with us. I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder last September, along with a bunch of other stuff. I've been on several differents meds and combinations since then. I stopped all meds nearly a month ago. I'm much better off for it, I think. If any of you want to talk about what's going on in your livs, or have any questions regarding bp, just shoot me a message. I'll gladly listen and respond. I hope to hear from you soon.
sniffles

What adamsgirl replied with is valuable,and really is a huge help.
Some hospitals have Behavioural Health departments that have free family support group meetings, which are specifically designed to help the family and friends of those with Bipolar disorder, if not the hospital,many counties have them.
Another thing, check out my post above, this organization's info can help also.
It helps so much when the patient and family/friends work together with this, it really can help prevent some nasty occurences, even quell some episodic behaviour,besides sticking to moodstabilizers as prescribed.
Close communications with the prescribing pdoc is important,keep them in touch how you are feeling, just in case a med change or doage change needs to be done.
I wish you lots of luck, and please know there are many supportive people here.

DE

I was diagnosed about 4 yrs. ago with bipolar I. I was also in a mixed state with delusions...mostly about my husband. I was very paranoid about him hating me & wanting me to commit suicide. When I got on the meds, I came out of that way of thinking & was amazed at how good I felt. I've never felt like that before. I was misdiagnosed with unipolar depression for over 30 yrs.! My mother was bipolar so that should have been a clue! But I was going to my family doc, not a psychiatrist all those yrs.

Anyway, my husband felt like he was walking on eggshells around me. I had an explosive temper & could go on crying jags where I wanted to kill myself. I went to an outpatient program at the hospital & they had a family educ. class where he learned that those behaviors of mine were part of the illness. He heard other husbands describe similar experiences with their wives. It helped him trememdously to understand the illness. He stopped blaming me for my rash behaviors. We have been married for 32 yrs.

You can also have him come in with you to see your doc & have the doc answer questions for him. Two groups that have very good support both for the "consumer" (patient) & family are the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) & Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). Look them up on-line & they will list contacts in your area.

I actually teach a class through NAMI that is free called Peer-to-Peer where you can learn a lot about your mental illness. They also have a class for family members called Family-to-Family. This is free as well. Your husband can learn about your disorder. Plus both of these groups have support groups for both family members & consumers that meet once a month.

Hang in there. It will probably take awhile to get the right combo of meds for you (it took one long year for me, but I have been stable for 4 yrs. now). Hope this has been helpful.

welcome. I have been misdiagnosed and finnaly diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago. Right now I'm trying to not use any more meds. But I see so many saying to stay on them. Life on them seemed so much worse and I constantly worry about the long term effects. Mostly I can't stand not being able to do anything. I have no desire to do anything and I'm always so tired. Not sleeping does that I quess. I've just had two good days and it feels so good to be able to do something no matter how little. I'm taking 3 omega 3's twice a day plus B 100's and Calcium Magnesium. I was doing good but holidays came and I got careless because I felt good and didn't keep them up. So now I don't do anything till I take them. Now I'm waiting to see if I cycle again or start sliding into another depression. I'm not good at recognizing the changes yet. Although I notice the tiredness coming on till I can't function. Anyone else having any success by just trying to eat healthy and exercise etc.?

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sniffles said:
Welcome to the newbies here. It's good to have you with us. I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder last September, along with a bunch of other stuff. I've been on several differents meds and combinations since then. I stopped all meds nearly a month ago. I'm much better off for it, I think. If any of you want to talk about what's going on in your livs, or have any questions regarding bp, just shoot me a message. I'll gladly listen and respond. I hope to hear from you soon.
sniffles

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> Hi sniffles,I'm a newbie and running out of time at the library,but want to find out how to do a separate posting on this forum,Plz could yu help me and I definately will chat to yu in the near future,at the mo,learning how to swing around on this site,I'm still a baby at cyberspace,but going well,just want to say my story on one of these forums and cant figure out how.that's hoping you'll get this.Thanks for your support and I hope i can for yu 2.ta mate.back 2mrw.