[earthangel1]

I was given my 8000 dollar savings to save for the next 2 years. I am 21 and I am bipolar. I spent 6000 dollars in the last 30 days on clothes, video game systems, flat screen tv, and new dog, books, novelties I don't need, etc. I also have had crazy thinking, hearing some voices, getting frustrated and irritable. These are all symptoms of when I have mania but I am very depressed. I am making such horrible decisions right now it's like I don't use reason. I am taking Lamictal 200mg, Risperdal 2mg, and Klonipin .5mg 2x day. My medications were doing so good until 2 weeks ago. Somebody please help.

[Mountainbard]

I would urge you to call your pdoc ASAP. It sounds like you've got a mixed episode going on w/a lot of mania. Go inpatient if you need to. Right now you don't have a handle on your own behavior. Please be safe.

[butterflypower]

Yes. Go get help!
I was doing the exact same stuff. Spending money like crazy especially!
I heard it takes a lot of different combination of meds to get it right. Go seek help immediately. Talk to the doctor or go to the hospital.

I wish you lots of luck!

Yes, please call someone ASAP.

[Wander]

I agree with above posts. You really need to get in contact with your doctor ASAP in case it gets worse. Take care

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by bpenniman

I was given my 8000 dollar savings to save for the next 2 years. I am 21 and I am bipolar.

My son is 21 and not bipolar so far, and I do not have money (I am in debt), but if I had money, I would still not give him so much at once. He is a very reasonable boy and he probably would carefully plan his expenses and use the money wisely over 2 years and not 2 months, but I still would not give him the money because it would be tempting.

So I am unclear who gave you the money and if that person knew your age and your bipolar diagnosis, I would say that that person was totally irresponsible.

You cannot return the dog, but you can return many of your purchases since they were made in the last 30 days. I think that while you are looking for help, you need to:

- get a list of all your purchases (I realize that a manic or mixed bipolar person who is only 21 years old is probably not the most avid user of lists, but now is the time to start) in a spreadsheet:

- column A - items,
column B - price, if you have the receipt
column C - store,
column D, Y/N on whether you have a receipt,
column E - date of purchase if you have a receipt, and the first day on which you started your shopping spree if you do not have a receipt. Make sure the format of your cell in column E is DATE and not plain text.
column F of your spreadsheet, put the number of days in the return policy if you have the receipt (the return policy is usually printed on the receipt, but sometimes it is on the back side) and ? if you do not.

Name your columns. Make the top row frozen and the left column frozen. Insert filter across the column headings. Filter on column F, only getting the ? marks. This would give you a subset of your purchases for which you do not have receipts. Find the website of each store (store is your column C) and navigate to the return policy on the website. Replace the ? in column F with the number of days in the return policy which you will read on the website. If the item is not returnable, put 0.
Release the filtering in column F. The cell format in column F is number.

Now, in column G, insert the formula

SORRY I have to go but I will log on later to finish the description - it only sounds messy, but in reality can be done very quickly. The goal is to output a schedule for you so that you can return whatever is returnable starting from the most urgent item first. I realize that you are inside an episode and this may require too much focus for you - I will make a spreadsheet for you to fill out if you let me know. I will log on again in a couple of hours.

You made a mess but there is still time to clean it up.

- corral most of your purchases in one place - those that are easily movable

- go to the website of each store (see column C on the spreadsheet) and look up their return policy.

[earthangel1]

Thank you all. I took extra 2mg Risperdal last night and I feel normal and back to normal. I have realized what I did and I am committed to fixing it. I feel a lot better now. I will have to talk to my pdoc about increasing Risperdal. Thank you all!

[hamster-bamster]

Great. Take the purchases that are movable, corral them all in one place, switch on as muc light as possible, and take pictures of the pile from different angles. Next time you think of wasting money, look at the pictures in your phone - maybe seeing them would be a wakeup call for you! Might help and in any event won't hurt.

[Gemstone17]

Of course it's not good to spend like that and you'll go broke soon enough. However, being manic makes this happen. Everyone is so ready to analyze you instead of saying oh well, you messed up a little but your your young and supposed to be impulsive ( to a degree) so bring back what you can and enjoy the rest ... Play with your puppy !!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[earthangel1]

Originally Posted by Gemstone17

Of course it's not good to spend like that and you'll go broke soon enough. However, being manic makes this happen. Everyone is so ready to analyze you instead of saying oh well, you messed up a little but your your young and supposed to be impulsive ( to a degree) so bring back what you can and enjoy the rest ... Play with your puppy !!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for saying that. I love my puppy. I'm glad I was manic because he's the love of my life.

[Mental reward]

I just wanted to say..about the pup! When I rescued my dog 3 yrs ago let's just say I wasn't in an ideal situation, and there were a handful of people who didn't think it was a great idea, or who maybe thought I couldn't take care of her properly..who knows, there will always be outside opinions that you may be subjected to. Especially when mental illness is present. There will always be critical judgement when something is done 'out of the ordinary'. Having a puppy is such a gift! They are wonderful, loyal creatures that bring love, energy, and can really help you stay centered in who you actually are. Not everything done when in 'mania' is torture afterwards, reflecting does help for the future, but it is just as valuable to be grateful for the some of the actions that also enrich our soul. Good luck!!