[intergalactictraveler]

What does one do when nothing works to slow down, let alone stop, ultra rapid cycling and associated decline in physical health? I truly have a great pdoc, who is also a researcher at the NIMH and she is willing to try anything, which includes alternative medicine. She's open to information I present to her. It's like the Cosmos has led me to the kind of doctor I've always wanted, only to realize that even great doctors can't help everyone and that the major breakthroughs probably will happen decades after I'm gone or come too late in my life to even matter. FYI; I turn 65 in May. Not an old man, but...

[kaliope]

gosh i dont have that answer for you as i am in that place myself. it took me almost three years to find something that worked and now i have neurological issues so i am making that choice of do i deal with the issues to stay stable or do i get back on the merry go round and get off it. i have been on them all and nothing fully helps. ..............i am glad you found a dr you can work with.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I've been there with getting to almost no meds helped and being in constant, terrible mixed states with rapid cycling. I was fortunate that first time and the last med likely to work did help although I need much more of it than normal. And now I'm at the place where there are few drugs that I have not tried and those that I haven't aren't the best idea for me if avoidable. Right now I'm on an emergency dose of Seroquel that is double the FDA approved amount. But the good thing is that there are new drugs due out soon. One at least is an antipsychotic unrelated to any anti-psychotic that is out there and my understanding is that it should be available pretty soon. So maybe there is a little more hope? I know it's really hard when there aren't options open. I'm currently really worried about what happens when I have to get off this much Seroquel and what happens when the dr finds out it is only partly working when I know we need something that is working 100% pretty soon.

The other positive thing is that in the 13 years I've been diagnosed we've gone from 2 or 3 drugs approved for bipolar to so many I can't count. At that rate in another year or two there will be more options for you. I know that seems like a long time but it isn't forever.

[LastQuestion]

Dark therapy has helped me immensely - an innate consequence of dark therapy is a regular sleep cycle. Regular exercise and a very healthy diet promote and support my complete health in ways no psychiatric therapeutics ever have or will. When I need a little bit more help I use ashwagandha root extract, l-theanine, and melatonin. Meditation is always useful.

My ability to cope has steadily improved as I taper off of lamotrigine, the last psychiatric medication I am on. Sometimes medication isn't the answer and placing hope that it will be is a losing strategy. Personally, I wish I could find a capable clinician I could collaborate with for my own treatment.

In any event, give dark therapy a try, but keep in mind that medications can be sources of woe that, even after discontinuation, take time to recover from. My ability to go to sleep has steadily improved the less medication I've been on and the utility of dark therapy has become more potent.

[~Christina]

If I had tried all the medications and life style changes and I was still all over the map. I would really consider ECT. I know most people freak out with the thought, But I have seen many people finally get relief.. I don't know if you have tried that avenue.

Also many people have found some help smoking some pot. Again not sure what you have tried, I can't remember, sorry

[intergalactictraveler]

@LastQuestion/ I read about the dark therapy trial at the NIMH and indeed, it was amazing to learn, but outside of a controlled environment, how do you do it at home? If you live alone, you can create your own schedule and dark room but my wife, whom, after 23 years, still doesn't understand much about bipolar, despite my educating her, would have a hard time if I went to bed at 6p.m. and didn't emerge until 8a.m. I do much better with my sleep when I travel to Florida or she's out of town for a 10 days, visiting family.

Know, too, that new meds are in the pipeline but it's difficult for me to get hopeful about them. Unless they're radically different, they seem to be variations on the same theme, with the same potential side effects. But as we all say, YMMV. My med sensitivity borders on a pathology in and of itself. Even if I could have meds compounded, it would eat up the remainder of my small SSDI check. However, nothing is off the table.

@Christina/I have considered pot, but Maryland is slowly implementing medical mj. Also, the most beneficial forms of mj that I've read about are low in THC and higher in canabadiols(CBD). Actually had a pdoc suggest mj but he couldn't prescribe it. My current pdoc is also a specialist in addiction and I haven't broached the subject of mj. ECT for me is too risky because of my sensitivity to anesthetics. Round and round it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows.

[Homeira]

I have hear that ECT has helped a lot of people. It is not as bad as the myths about it assumes. But it is not for everybody, and there are potentional side effects to this treatment. But I think it is at least worth it to look into. I have not tried it myself, but I have become somewhat open to the idea to treat my depression. But I have not tried a lot of different meds, so of course that is something I must do first. I really do hope you guys find a way out of these problems. It must be so hard to cope in such situations

[LastQuestion]

Blue frequencies of light suppress melatonin production. Glasses that block the blue spectrum of visible light can be part of dark therapy. There are some on Amazon, as well as night lights and light bulbs that are amber color/free of blue light. Personally I believe luminosity plays a notable role as well in a sleep wake cycle, that it is not simply about the blue frequency.

I am content going to bed at 8-9 and rising at 6, especially as that schedule follows sunset and sunrise times during late spring, summer, and early autumn. There's no substitute for sleep, bipolar or not, and undergoing unending suffering when such a simple solution as 'go to bed early' exists doesn't make much sense to me. Tell your wife it's doctors orders, or point her to the research, or quote Poor Richards Almanac (early to bed early to rise), or just straight out tell her 'I need this to be healthy and happy and not getting this causes irreparable harm to me physically and emotionally' - aka, ask for the consideration and kindness required to achieve personal well-being.

I am easier to live with due to dark therapy. You and your wife might find the same to be true of yourself, even of each other in fact.

Honestly, just think about these options:
- Convince wife to be considerate of unusual sleep needs.
- Ingest psychoactive compounds with detrimental side effects, which range from brain fog to death.
- Undergo ECT, risking memory loss and brain damage

I know which one I'll be choosing for the rest of my life.