[Creatre]

Hey all,

I've been going through some things lately and trying to figure out if it's normal or not. I am currently on 800mg Seroquel XR, 20mg prozac daily. Worked my way up to that dosage over the last couple months. So the dosage is still new to me.

Basically I go through phases where I overly research something, and I want it badly. And I find out every little thing about it, and how to get it for a great deal. However I have a hard time ever making a decision or actually acting on it. Eventually I will succeed but it takes many of these phases before the right situation or events happen so I do it.

For example: I have been wanting to buy a rolex. So I overly research everything and try to find some good deals. But I have a nice watch now, and don't really need it. So eventually I decide I should stop researching. Then I move onto something else, like a new car. And the cycle rotates through things I am interested in at the time constantly. My mind seems to be overly thinking and a bit busy during these times. I also used to get really irritable and angry during these times, but that appears to be better on the meds? But all this other stuff feels like it did before meds?

Then one day it just stops, and I'm satisfied with the things I have for the most part for a little while. Or I buy something which then takes my mind off it for a bit. Since I don't always act on these urges and I overly research and think about things, I'm not sure if it's really bipolar and it's just part of my normal life?

Thanks for listening.

Hi Creatre!

I do the same thing! This Spring i spent day and night for weeks surfing the Home Depot site plannng renovations. The financing took so long i had come to my senses and decided against it. I had a really nice time picking things out and planning it all in a binder. Then -- just: poof! I realized it was foolish and gave it up.

I do that with knitting, too -- surf vigorously and then decide against the project just when i've finally found something suitable.

It's a pleasant way to spend time and nice to dream about the things i'm researching. The key is [of course] NOT to do the things. I would have bankrupted myself if i had gone ahead with my renovations this Spring. So it's a benign and pleasant hobby if you can exhaust yourself doing research but resist the thing in the end. But that's a risk.

For me, it *is* part of my disorder as i dream up the new projects when i'm manic.

Interesting post -- thanx!

[muffinhead]

I do it as well. I will literally spend hours researching reviews on products that I want to buy, and even after I buy that thing, will continue to do so.

[faerie_moon_x]

Yes, I do this quite often. It doesn't necessarily need to be something I want to buy. It just has to be something that gets ahold of my thought process and I can spent weeks or even months at the worst levels researching things.

[sidney1771]

Hard to say whether this is bipolar related or not. Very good to question the motives though. I think most people find material items comforting and a synthetic way to make them feel better. The problem is that the cost to obtain these items eventually leads to more issues that need soothing and then you buy more things to ease those pains and so on. If there is an item that you really want and can absolutely afford to get, without compromising anything, wait 30 or 60 days and if you still want it, get it. Put little checks and balances in place for yourself.

[Takeshi]

It seems to me that you're just a smart consumer. I don't do enough research before I buy things and the impulse takes me over when I should be weighing pros and cons of my purchasing decision. Unless you're overspending, it's still within normal range(I'm using the term very loosely), but that's just my opinion.

I noticed that I have a spending cycle long-term. (mostly on non medicated period). I buy necessities and everything else that I can think of at that time. I buy back up of things(less need for research) and I feel like I have all the money to get whatever I want. At the end of my last online buying period, I was running out of things to buy and I thought I found this new interest. Then I was overspending. I was talking about this to my (useless) pdoc and I was being medicated during that period. I wonder if the medication was working against me somehow. Looking back, this is the first time I realized my own hypo state.

Thanks for posting this thread. I've learnt a few things here. I buy things whether I feel up or down. It could compromise me at any time if I don't keep those in check. It's hard to distinguish between normal/personal trait and my bp. I still yet haven't found out when my bp started, but that's another story.

Just my 2 cents.

Takeshi

[cool09]

There's nothing wrong with your behavior. Everyone acts this way. You don't have any kind of compulsion. And it's normal to feel satisfied with what you have and normal to want other things, as well. It's just a desire to acquire material things once in a while then come to the realization that you really don't need them. That's rational thinking, imo. If you couldn't stop buying material things and run up huge credit card bills that might be a compulsion.

[Creatre]

OP here.

Well I up and bought a new (used) car this weekend that really wasn't in the best shape. Sigh. Gonna try and sell it now. Wish I didn't do things like this.

[Resident Bipolar]

I don't think it's too abnormal. I'm a lot momore silly - I just buy, buy, buy until I'm broke. Actually, I'll carry on buying which is why I'm in so much debt.

[ozzy1313]

I do the same thing and everything in my life takes a back seat to whatever it is I am obsessing about

[WiseRabbit]

I've done the unneeded purchasing thing more times than I can count. It's the disease. When I'm hypo, I don't care about the money I spend. I want what I want, and I want it now. I spend hours and hours on Amazon and eBay, just looking for something to buy. Last year, during an extended phase of hypo, I bought myself into 4 grand worth of debt, because of Bill Me Later, an online credit card I have since cancelled. I've had to cancel ALL my credit cards, but I made the mistake of opening a store card with Amazon (they were offering a $40 credit just for applying). So now I have another debt I have to pay off.

My T has me searching Pinterest instead of the stores, as you can't buy anything from there. It has helped, as I saw several ways of making Christmas gifts at a low cost, but then I found funny T shirts on Amazon and am getting them by rationalizing that I need some new shirts anyway (Which I do, but I should be waiting until January when I have the money.)

You aren't alone!

[~Christina]

I research everything to death ! I see nothing wrong with it. I do not think its just a bipolar thing. My husband will spend hours upon hours researching things.

I think its perfectly normal unless your calling off work and not leaving your house for days on end.