When do we ask the professionals for help?

I know we are all different and our relationships with your practitioner are all different, but I wonder when do you phone your T or pdoc outside of the normal appointments? What things warrant a situation to be "serious" enough?

Anytime my mood varies significantly outside of normal for more than a couple days, I call my therapist. He helps me decide if what is going on warrants a call to my psychiatrist. Having my T help me assess things is invaluable.

My mood is so down, and i am fatigued beyond belief

i think if something is going on that is disrupting your life to the point it couldn't wait until you went in. If it is something serious the doc will understand. Mine does.

I feel that you should always ask for help when you feel that whatever is going on is having an effect on your regular daily routine and is causing you concern. It is better to ask for help before things get out of hand.

I hope you feel better soon, Suga.

My depression caused me to get about 10% of my work done today. And I just about dozed off in a presentation. No, this is not well

I call when I absolutely cannot stand myself another minute---when I'm either coming-off-the-spool manic, or in a depression so deep I need to have light piped in. I know I shouldn't wait that long, but I'm one of those stiff-upper-lip types who has to be a half-step out of the hospital before I'll call. My pdoc's the best, so it's not the thought of "bothering" him that stops me; I guess I sort of play this game of how much more can I take? with myself like it's an endurance contest. I don't know.....it's stupid, but I can't seem to change it.

Well, I've just realizes I ant actually get hold of my pdoc until end July. So fat lot of good that is!! I'd have to go via my T or even GP to send me to the ER and then admitted. I feel so let down by my mental health system. I even asked his secretary - so when can he see me in an emergency? She said i must phone back for cancellations.

I could cry. But maybe that's a good thing too

Ok - I explored all avenues:
T I see tomorrow as usual
Main Pdoc can only see me end July
Pdoc's partner can see me 6 July
GP can see me this afternoon. Will make him take bloods, maybe give me neurobin, and give me his opinion on things in general. Including my flu, sore back...

It sucks that I feel helpless

idk when to ask for help

its like i know who i am
but idk how to recognize problems.

whats a problem?'
when my life is disrupted?
is always disrupted...but i dont see the problem?
or maybe there is?

usually other people see a problem and they tell me?

If you felt comfortable doing it, I'd suggest you try using the optimism online tracker. It's for iphone or online or you can download it to your pc so it's not online. Even though technically it's a mood tracker, it can be fully customized and used for anything.

So you could track things like voices or paranoia level instead of moods. You could set up the triggers and wellness goals to be whatever you need them to be, and all the check boxes can be rated from 1-10 as well. You might start to see a pattern or a baseline.
Optimism Mental Health Apps for Self-Tracking

what type of baseline/pattern would i see that would help?

I've stopped mood tracking because I also couldn't get a very useful baseline from it.

I had made the decision to call all the professionals in my life, and not one was really useful.

I'm sorry they didn't help when you need it. Please keep us updated so we know you're okay. I'm praying for you.

Well, ended up going to my GP and asked him to do bloods to rule out any issues with regards to me always being tired. Got those results today and apart from one liver enzyme being a little out, all is ok.
My pharmacist is sending me Neurobin, hopefully by tomorrow.

I told my T on Wed how upset I'd gotten that I felt there was no one around to help me, and she just said that I'd done the right thing, and that at the end of the day she had at least phoned me back when I needed advice on what to do. She had prompted me to rather go with my normal pdoc's assistant.
I don't really know her. She's going to have to know about my Rivotril and Ativan use. And that I'm not supposed to be. And hopefully help me get rid of the shaking in my hands.

My T noticed yesterday that I was pretty dysfunctional and more depressed than both of us had thought. She said she'd try get me an earlier pdoc appointment. It's nearly 5 PM and I haven't heard back. I feel better today though.

My GP irritated me, as it almost seems like he thought i was just being ridiculous. Making a scene out of being exhausted. It's more than that - I actually nod off!! He hasn't come up with another avenue, just blames the psych meds - non are really sedating though?!?

Oh well - just keep going forwards hey?

Did your GP's blood test check your thyroid? I had mine checked around the beginning of this year and found that I had hypothyroidism, so I've been taking a hormone for it ever since then. Before the test I was falling asleep here in the living room even as my children played around me. I still do that even on the hormone, just not nearly as much.

I'm not sure. Since it's not a mood you'd be tracking it's hard to say but patterns can emerge.

I have a pattern. I've learned that. I cycle so fast but I do have a very distinctive pattern barring triggers, of course.

Like on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being dysphoria and 10 being euphoria, I tend to sit at a 3-4 most days. My "elevation" (which is like how bad my thoughts are racing and how "speeded up" I feel,) with 1 being slow and 10 being extremely fast, I usually sits at a 7-8. The thing for me is that when my mood drops to a 1, my elevation raises to a 10. And mood wise I never go over a 6. Elevation wise I never drop under 4....

I've been using optimism online for just over a year now, I track for about a month and then I start forgetting, then I start a few months later. But this pattern always comes back up. It makes really nice, easy to read graphs.

BipolarLady - yes, he did check thyroid. It was one of the main things he suspected. But it came back fine

I try to call the of when I can feel myself sliding, because once my brain goes I don't think I have bI polar anymore and think I'm "making up" feeling really bad/good. So I try to dob myself in early while it manages sense.

I try to call the of when I can feel myself sliding, because once my brain goes I don't think I have bI polar anymore and think I'm "making up" feeling really bad/good. So I try to dob myself in early while it makes sense.

I have decided that I'd rather ask for help sooner than later. It still seems like it's a whole month wait before I see my pdoc.... Crazy