Do you know your warning signs?

Just wondering, as I think I understand most if not all of my warnings signs that i'm going up or down, how many of you think you know what's happening and when and when to get help??

My Pdoc and therapist and GP all agree I'm quite knowledgeable about my Bipolar (1) and I'm in touch with my warning signs, so they do not feel the need to worry/be concerned about me. However, I'm not so confident. It would be nice if someone did have concerns for me....it feels like a big heavy load to carry around all the time, that I'm supposed to be so aware...It would be nice if being aware stopped it all lol...

I know when I am in trouble .. my Pdoc and T and I have a emergency plan all set .. I am very aware of when I need to use that plan to keep myself safe .

Do you have a safety plan ?

I have a plan of action for my child's care if I end up in hospital but that's about it. What does a safety plan include? Not sure if I have one or not, I'm thinking not!!

Here are some of my warning signs: I become allot more anxious and restless, I start to follow my risky impulses as though they have control over me, I am constantly talking and laughing, and I start to make impulse purchase decisions. Oh yes, I start becoming erratic in meeting my appointments, and I have some sort of compulsive, thoughtless behavior like constantly searching for forums to say anything at all. Of course some of these symptoms I recognize only after they have been with me for awhile. These are my symptoms when I am moving into mania.

tucson

For me its suicidal thougths and plans access to what I would need to do it ... If I get down to writing letters I need to call my T right then. Usually just talking with him is enough to talk me off the ledge so to speak .

If it's the weekend I still can call him on his cell .. but not all T's are like that. I usually pull the I can wait til Monday , I can wait til Monday .. mantra !

Everyone needs a safety plan I think.

~Christina - I have numbers I can call if I need to (or if my 2 friends listed on the care plan need to)...so I suppose that is a safety plan of sorts.

r010159 - Yer signs and symptoms have to be with me for a while for me to go "Oops yer".

My warning signs for hypomania are - paranoia, intense need to clean, increased energy, rapid thoughts and speech, and less sleep. I know Im on the way up when I notice those things starting.

The way down is a bit harder as sometimes the depression is mild. I dont always get a low mood but I get low energy, slowed down physically, negative thoughts, low self esteem, loss of interest and pleasure in things I usually enjoy and wanting to sleep a lot.

My emergency plan is PRN first, if that doesnt help, I go to my neighbour or boyfriend, if they think it is hospital time then we try to get an emergency appointment with my pdoc, if thats not possible we go to the emergency department for admission. Hospital is only for extreme episodes. I have other plans for less desperate circumstances.

Yes. Me too. But now that the "brain fog" has lifted, first time in years, all my symptoms are now becoming apparent to me. In the past, I knew I had problems, but the doctor has implied that this is just the way I am. But I knew better. My past did not fit with this assumption. But I could not put my finger on why I felt this way. Now that everything is much clearer to me, looking back, I can see my specific symptoms as being part of a type of hypomania, or at times even a type of "mixed mode" of bipolar. Most of those so-called personality traits of mine have disappeared for the time being.

I think I need to look for another pdoc.

tucson

I know a few of my warning signs. Beings pushed to the limit by someone over a few days. I begin to have rapid speech, I move around at a rapid speed, I have racing thoughts and begin to want to carry them it. When begin to mad a few times out of the day. Then I cry a few times later. I know I mixed episode is coming. I soon know both will happen at the same time.

I use to have a safety plan prior to moving out of state. This will be on my time priority list. Along with an advance directive.

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I no longer have distinct episodes, so I'll just have to pool symptoms together:

-Hypergraphia-I start writing my thoughts down a lot.
-"I feel like I've always felt this bad" or "this good."
-I start feeling more spiritual.
-I start listening to new music--usually I'll become completely enthralled.
-My sleep gets disrupted, and I my focus shifts towards "figuring things out"
-I feel like dropping everything and beginning a new life somewhere far away.

I am exactly the same way! Especially the part about thinking I have always felt so bad/good. It's like I forget there is any other way to feel. Then I start understanding things more, seeing connections between things, and I want to write it all down.

I am still working out the signs. I feel like i sort of slide into each so there aren't definite hard and fast things I do that tell me.

Hypomania: racing thoughts, pressured speech, obsession with new theories and ideas, sleeping less than seven hours a night and waking full of energy.

Mixed states: racing destructive thoughts, intense paranoia, feeling constantly angry or annoyed for no good reason, intense anxiety, physical restlessness and agitation.

Depression: Feeling flat or unable to feel any positive emotions, inability to think of the future, slowing of thoughts, inability to concentrate on anything, feeling hopeless, not wanting to do anything.

I don't have any emergency plan other than taking extra Stelazine PRN. It's hard to imagine a problem so severe my Stelazine and a few doses of Ativan wouldn't stop the problem.

Sleep is the first thing to go when I'm on my way to hypomania

When I'm getting manic: I get pressured speech and I find it hard to maintain one subject while speaking. I start planning different ways to take over the world(new business schemes, recording a new album, social engineering). Also, I get hypersexual and random cravings for drugs I've never tried.

When I'm getting depressed: I write lots of music, do pastel drawings, and write poetry. When I start getting suicidal I notice I find my way to bipolar or mental health documentaries. That lets me know I should tell someone something is up.

Well i'm in depression so i'll tell you those first.... Loss of interest, loss of hygine, loss of doing anything that involves getting out of my room, self-harm urges including overdose, Sleeping too much because I have bad dreams.

hypomania - sleeping too little, sociable, restless, overproductive (like i might put HOURS into my homework or video games for several days) paranoia, delusions, hallucinations. Like i might start thinking people can read my mind or demons live in my closet and are waiting to get me. (Both have happened >.>)