[Eaglescout787]

I was diagnosed at a rather young age with ADHD and being bipolar. Being so young and rebellious of course I told my parents to stop medicating me.

. I was under the impression that I was a normal human being if I'm gonna be wild then that's the way it should be I shouldnt have to take pills to fufill this normal image my parents and doctors Imagine, felt like I was being controlled. Shortly after going off meds I got into drugs you name it I did always chasing a high it. Been 8 years now I believe...Self medicated myself as I would see it became a dealer whole 9 yards to sustain a high. Never really became dependant on anything tho like severe addiction kinda thing. Life was pretty good mood swings were still there of course but when your ****ed up your thoughts are pretty positive and you can imagine anything.

I moved out of my parents bout a year ago and boy oh boy when you got bills to pay its hard to get high. Aggression, severe insomnia, racing thoughts got a million times worse I used to be able to tell myself I could control it. Now now that I really don't use the mood swings are unbareable really hard to contain myself and getting more then 3 hrs of sleep a day would be a miracle if I sleep at all. As things are getting worse I push everyone away no matter how close they are to me.

What helps the mind from going straight into negative thoughts or getting angry in .3 seconds over practically nothing?
Getting sleep get any easier?

[gayleggg]

You sound like you have learned a lot from your past. The only way I have learned to deal with mood swings is with medication. Right now I'm struggling with finding the combination that will work for me again. The ones I was on quit working so I'm struggling right now,too. I hope you feel better soon.

[Victoria'smom]

Melitonin until you get to a pdoc.

[Trippin2.0]

Alongside the melatonin I suggest you look into incorporating a good sleep ritual coupled with a sleep schedule. Repeating the same actions at the same time every night has helped me in teaching my brain to know when its sleepy time. Although I naturally need less sleep than most, I find this technique helpful.

I don't do the med thing anymore because it doesn't work for me personally, but I will say that it helped me cope when I was in crisis and maybe you should look into it as a means to an end.

Many people believe med free as well as illicit drugs exacerbate your symptoms. I don't find the former to be true and have no experience with the latter although from talking to a friend of mine who is a recovering drug addict and managing med free, I do think it may sometimes seem worse because people are too high to know how bad it really was in the first place.

I self soothe and meditate to cope with my mood fluctuations. Music helps me release the emotions that feel much too big for my tiny body and I have safety nets in place should things get out of hand. Like no access to credit and handing over debit cards to a trustee to deter manic spending and a support system for when depression gets too dark and dismal.

You know yourself better than anyone, explore what type of coping mechanisms is best suited for your needs.
This may take some time and will definitely need you to do quite a bit of self-exploration. Getting to know yourself alongside your bp as well as seperate from it.
Perception plays a huge role in how content we are, and contentment is important to achieve a good quality of life.

For me, bp is like surfing, I see the mood episodes as waves I need to ride out. The tsunamis still manage to scare me, but so far I win eh

I find posting here to be an immense help, its good to talk to people who relate and learn what works for others so that I can try them out on me. Not to mention my brain gets so full that a good ole word purge proves extremely cathartic.

[steelfang]

When melatonin isn't enough, I use valerian root. It's a natural sedative and I always wake up feeling refreshed when I use it.