[Velouria]

Does Bipolar Disorder get worse if left untreated?

Has anyone experienced this?

I feel like whatever it is I have has gotten worse as I've gotten older.

[lilypup]

It's gotten worse as I have gotten older and I have been treated.

[BipolaRNurse]

My bipolar has definitely gotten worse as I've grown older. I was basically unmedicated except for anti-depressants, a couple of which made me manic, and benzos. But I didn't know what I had until I was 53. Then it continued to get worse before it got better.

But I've finally reached a stage where I'm on the right med combination and I've been doing relatively well for the past six months. There are times when I want to go off my meds, but I resist the temptation because if I were to do it, the chances are that the same meds would no longer be as effective and I'd have to take more of them or even start over with different ones. I don't want to start over, it took me two years to get where I am. So I just take my pills on schedule and thank God they work for me.

[venusss]

I gets worse if you don't take care of yourself.

[notALICE]

Worse for me too. Diagnosed at 41.

[~Christina]

I wasnt diagnosed until age 43 (age 47 now) .. I dont think i have gotten worse at all .. It allowed me to learn ways to stay healthier.. I am more self aware and pro active when I notice a shift in mood.

[Velouria]

So for some or all of you, were certain symptoms milder when you were younger?

[~Christina]

Of course I didnt have a label way back when.. I just thought everyone has racing minds and depressions at times ..My episodes now are the same as they were when I was young .I just have knowledge now.

[Victoria'smom]

I'd say I was way worse as a child. I had no impulse control, add drugs, alcohol, hypo-sexuality and psychosis it's just a disastrous combination. I honestly have no idea how my parents raised myself and siblings (All of us have BP or scizoaffective BP). However it has gone from euphoric to disphoric but I truly feel I was all mixed episode as a kid.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Of course I didnt have a label way back when.. I just thought everyone has racing minds and depressions at times ..My episodes now are the same as they were when I was young .I just have knowledge now.

Yeah, I know what you mean. And it's tough when you can't experience anyone else's brain for comparison. I feel like it's normal for everything to just kinda ebb and flow, it seems like the nature of things in general.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

I'd say I was way worse as a child. I had no impulse control, add drugs, alcohol, hypo-sexuality and psychosis it's just a disastrous combination. I honestly have no idea how my parents raised myself and siblings (All of us have BP or scizoaffective BP). However it has gone from euphoric to disphoric but I truly feel I was all mixed episode as a kid.

Ah, I was "the good one." I hid everything so I wouldn't rock the boat after my two older sisters. I didn't even make a huge splash when I told my parents I was an alcoholic. I had my mood swings, conniptions, got real *****y and agitated, but never got like my eldest sister did when she was a teen. I generally bottled things up for the most part. Funny enough, when I got sober, I kicked a hole in my wall. At 27 years old.

But bottling things up is probably part of the reason why I wound up doing all sorts of drugs and drinking heavily and being promiscuous.

[venusss]

I just deal with it better.

Some of the stuff has gotten more intense, but I blame some of the traumatic stuff I went through for that, not "natural" progression of the condition.

[StayinAlive]

My moods got dramatically worse when I started into "the change" (perimenopause). It took me a while to realize hormones were part of the problem.

[eleckra69]

Yes, studies show typically it get's worse as we get older, but in about 3-5 years there should be some great new meds coming out according to scientists.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by eleckra69

Yes, studies show typically it get's worse as we get older, but in about 3-5 years there should be some great new meds coming out according to scientists.

What kinds of new meds?

[Love&Toil]

This is an interesting discussion. I think my mental health issues have gotten better with time as I learned ways to cope with them such as CBT, reducing stress, exercise, healthy eating and adding meds that work.

[Onyx7]

Mine has gotten worse and I do everything I am told. I am tired of being miserable. I take my meds too. Its either extreme anxiety or severe depression. Very rarely do I simply have a good day.

[StayinAlive]

Originally Posted by Velouria

So for some or all of you, were certain symptoms milder when you were younger?

It is difficult to answer the above, because I have been on meds for a long time. My life was chaos and drama when I was younger, before meds. I'm talking at least 20 years ago. I know some of the youngsters here weren't born.

So I can't help much from experience. I'm almost positive I have read that these mood disorders can progress. My cyclothymia could progress to BP2, for example. But I'm not sure why or how. Definitely a good discussion to have with a pdoc. I think I'll do that myself.

Thanks for raising this question.

[GALAXYGAL]

My bipolar symptoms are not any worse than they have always been. My last manic/psychotic episode (3 years ago) was by far the worst because it was the scariest and I was not medicated.

Now that I take the right combination of medications I am stable most of the time and in some ways I am used to it. I am always tempted to stop my very expensive medications to save some money.

[IAmUrOpiate]

I didn't have my first psychotic episode until 38. I had some really great coping mechanisms, whenever there was too much stress I just avoided it. I say great but that cost me a lot of things in my life but it prevented a severe breakdown. I also self medicated with alcohol. That episode and my subsequent diagnosis was eight months ago and I still don't feel like I have recovered.

I have meds (seroquel,neurontin) but I abhor taking them I keep going back to "trying to be myself " but it isn't working. To top it off my wife volunteered to leave for work for 6 months leaving me with more stress which I think is leading me back to the same dark place. I have completely isolated myself and am paranoid about my doctors (not sure if this is the illness or they are just not the ones for me).

Long story short my illness has become much worse with age. My grandmother had this happen around the same age as well.

Sorry my first post here.

[lilypup]

One difference: when I was younger the mania was more intense. Now the depressions are the larger feature. I realize you may not have psychosis, but mine has worsened. But like Christina, I am more self-aware and can do more to help myself.

[Nightside of Eden]

I started having mood episodes in later childhood and they gradually worsened each year until I finally started meds at age 26. I obviously should've started much sooner, both because I let the problems get worse and because I missed out on a lot of things in life. Even on meds I'm still struggling with a complete inability to tolerate stress, which I might've avoided if I'd gotten treatment sooner.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by lilypup

One difference: when I was younger the mania was more intense. Now the depressions are the larger feature. I realize you may not have psychosis, but mine has worsened. But like Christina, I am more self-aware and can do more to help myself.

I feel like, if what I get is mania or hypomania, it's gotten worse/more noticeable. Or I'm noticing it more now. But I'm not sure. I'm not diagnosed with BP, but I have "components." I no longer self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. I feel like they were often blamed for things they shouldn't have been blamed for (many times they were very obviously to blame, I'm not discounting that). And I'm not as sick as I used to be, but I feel like something's shifted. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something's changed.

I get delusional paranoia. Had a lot of trouble at my job because of it at one point. And once, without evidence, based on "intuition," I asked my boyfriend if he was cheating on me. I just "felt it." Put my relationship on the rocks for a good six months or more.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by Nightside of Eden

I started having mood episodes in later childhood and they gradually worsened each year until I finally started meds at age 26. I obviously should've started much sooner, both because I let the problems get worse and because I missed out on a lot of things in life. Even on meds I'm still struggling with a complete inability to tolerate stress, which I might've avoided if I'd gotten treatment sooner.

It's funny -- certain stresses I have no problem dealing with, I'm like Superman, while others I curl up in a little ball and hide. And the latter are usually the normal things that everyone can handle, while the former are the things that people normally freak out about. I think I'm upside-down.

[gubernova]

It is better overall, but our minds play tricks on us. We tend to filter out negative associations so the past seems better than the present. Facts are facts. I have not been in a mental hospital in years, only attempted suicide when I was young, and I'm strong enough to be in a relationship with a loving and understanding woman. I just roll with the punches now and realize that the cycles are temporary. Enjoy the stable times and have hope that the depression and mania will pass.