[Mimielam]

Hello, I'm a middled age lady from up north. Here my short story : after two years of follow up..for humour issues a few weeks ago I called my psychiatrist office to ask for an appointment saying I'm not sleeping, have not gone to work, don't feel like eating and am spending all my time working on many home project..help me stop this before I loose my job and drive my partner nuts. she gave me a phone consultation and asked me to come the same day. i started with one week off and some medication to calm me down...they were way to sedating..could not function..another appointment, blood work results and she changed my treatment. she thinks I have cyclothymia and that I am in a hypomania cycle...all this to say that since last friday I've been on a mood stabilizer and she also told me to take the other medication if needed at a lower dose..she also stopped my antidepressant when I first saw her. oh and for the past six month I've also been told I possibly had ADHD.

Can someone tell me how long before the medication kicks in so I can stop having so many ideas all at once..it's driving me nuts I can't focus on something to long before one thing jumps to the other and If I dont write it or say it at the moment..when I just go on to another thing...day 4 on stabilizer dosage increase tonight..(scares me a bit..don't want to be unable to function..ah not too worried)
I just want to be back to a more normal pace me that can finish what I start without getting pissed at my loved ones who interrups me..cause then I feel a bit guilty..and so on. Also I've got to be able to get back to work..don't want to loose my job...and then there is the what the heck will I tell my coworkers..and the when will I be able to finish all the grrr renovation project I started and get my house cleaned up..and oh **** the credit card bills will be coming in soon..well that me right now..and I'm going to force myself to go eat something so I can take my med and try to sleep ..hum...hopefully more than 4 hours. I'll check in tomorrow hope I don,t forget..should write myself a note...another poste it..another app a noter password...night all

[Heechee55]

HI Mimilam, I have been going through pretty much the same things. I have cyclothymia too. I'm just coming out of a bad mixed state episode my self. Wanted to hide, did. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get back in the flow again. And my meds either knock me out too early where I then sleep for 12 hours or like tonight they barely calm me down and I can hardly sleep. I totally get all the stuff that is stressing you out, I just wish I could help, I just got diagnosed 6 months ago.

[tatertot514]

Originally Posted by Mimielam

Hello, I'm a middled age lady from up north. Here my short story : after two years of follow up..for humour issues a few weeks ago I called my psychiatrist office to ask for an appointment saying I'm not sleeping, have not gone to work, don't feel like eating and am spending all my time working on many home project..help me stop this before I loose my job and drive my partner nuts. she gave me a phone consultation and asked me to come the same day. i started with one week off and some medication to calm me down...they were way to sedating..could not function..another appointment, blood work results and she changed my treatment. she thinks I have cyclothymia and that I am in a hypomania cycle...all this to say that since last friday I've been on a mood stabilizer and she also told me to take the other medication if needed at a lower dose..she also stopped my antidepressant when I first saw her. oh and for the past six month I've also been told I possibly had ADHD.

Can someone tell me how long before the medication kicks in so I can stop having so many ideas all at once..it's driving me nuts I can't focus on something to long before one thing jumps to the other and If I dont write it or say it at the moment..when I just go on to another thing...day 4 on stabilizer dosage increase tonight..(scares me a bit..don't want to be unable to function..ah not too worried)
I just want to be back to a more normal pace me that can finish what I start without getting pissed at my loved ones who interrups me..cause then I feel a bit guilty..and so on. Also I've got to be able to get back to work..don't want to loose my job...and then there is the what the heck will I tell my coworkers..and the when will I be able to finish all the grrr renovation project I started and get my house cleaned up..and oh **** the credit card bills will be coming in soon..well that me right now..and I'm going to force myself to go eat something so I can take my med and try to sleep ..hum...hopefully more than 4 hours. I'll check in tomorrow hope I don,t forget..should write myself a note...another poste it..another app a noter password...night all

Hello, I am a 22 yr old, i was diagnosed with bipolar at 18 and recently, in the past year or so, started taking medicine. I have felt/dealt with a lot of what you're talking about. Getting the mediciation right takes time, but will help. Don't ever feel like you're bugging your doc(I called mine once a week). I gave a medication a week to kick in, if i felt sick/too tired after 1 week, then it was going to change. It took about 3 months to get it right, be patient.
Also, try not to overwhelm yourself. It seems like you have a million things going on, with racing thoughts at the same time? UGH. I know how hard that is. I found one thing (I started with my finances) and made a plan. That's all I focused on for a month and a half. Getting my bills paid on time. Then I went to the next stressor- my family. I tried to repair the damages I had caused(rebuild bridges). That takes more time. But focusing on what you want/need vs. what your family wants/needs can take some stress off. Then I moved to the next stressor, and so on. I have a really hard time with delayed gratification, but forcing myself to do it has proved great so far in what I've tackled. Right now I am tackling finding stabilization (I am being medically discharged from the Army). Wish me luck!
I hope this reply helps, and I wish you the best of luck in everything.

[Sprite22]

Meds get heavy. Very sedating at times. They over sedated me many times. It makes it very hard to finish a day. I would bring that up, if the meds are right you don't feel so sedated.

Good luck.

[Mountainbard]

First of all Mimielam, welcome to Psych Central. You'll meet some great people here. On the specific topic of how long a mood stabilizer might take to help with a hypomanic state, I can't say, but maybe others here can. I've only started on mood stabilizers (lamotrigine) when I was very depressed, and I had to take an ad to get out of the depression.

I hope you can take a deep breath, make a list, and tackle one thing at a time. And please don't feel guilty. Your behavior is due to your illness. And feeling guilty about it is really your illness talking.

All the best,
Randy

[Curious651]

Welcome to the forum. No one can really tell ya when the meds will kick in. Everyone is different. Could be six weeks or more. Therapeutic levels are hard to figure out without trial and error. As for normal, don't recall what that is any more. My normal is cycling. I learnt not to compare myself with others or what I thought should be normal because it plays mind games with me and I start to get in down swings (depression). I recall when I started meds I went through hell and back with hypo mania (if slept maybe hour if that for week, running, bouncing, racing thoughts, all the fun stuff). I guess I have become use to the thoughts and mind racing at this point. I could be wrong but I think most of us do to some extent. I hope you can get back to work soon. I recall when I would sit in my office and just stare with thoughts in head. Happens periodically, but not as bad. All I can say is be patient, good to your self, and follow suggestions that can be helpful. Thoughts and prayer!

[StayinAlive]

Welcome! I also am a middle aged woman with cyclothymia and maybe ADHD. I'd say it takes at least a week for me to know if a med will work or not -- for me. It can take some trial and error to get stable.

Don't know if that helps at all. Mainly wanted to welcome you and let you know you're not alone. You will find some good support here.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

[Mimielam]

Thank you for all the replies. Last night was hard..tried falling asleep but had these back cramps..lots of tossing and turning and noise during the +/- 4 hours of sleep I got..But I'm glad I when back to bed for a nap..did lots of good. I feel more calm..there is less jumping from one thing or idea..The pharmacist told me to take a muscle relaxant tonight and sais it should also help me get a good night sleep..I'm still not eating too much during the day..but at night when I take my med..first I force myself to have a toast and about 40 minutes later I'm hungry..thats good. I was a bit impatient today and a bit cranky ..it should get better.
again thank you..I take 250 divalproex at noon and 500 at night..1/2 25mg seroquel (don't like taking that) if at 3 am I'm not sleeping..it make me sleepy. and meds for adhd.. well good night all