[Bipolar8921]

I was diagnosed with Bipolar when i was 18 and with OCD at 17.
I just had a relapse of OCD and have been sick since then . I take lithium 200mg daily.
I have been hospitalised 6 times in 4 years all because of manic episodes.
I just want to know if i would suffer with this till i die.I even heard people with Bipolar die at young ages. Is that true?

[st0psign]

yeah my guess as to the earlier deaths is extra stress on your heart. and it is lifelong, but I hear it becomes more tolerable as you age, but I'm only 26 so what do I know...

[Icare dixit]

Originally Posted by Bipolar8921

I was diagnosed with Bipolar when i was 18 and with OCD at 17.
I just had a relapse of OCD and have been sick since then . I take lithium 200mg daily.
I have been hospitalised 6 times in 4 years all because of manic episodes.
I just want to know if i would suffer with this till i die.I even heard people with Bipolar die at young ages. Is that true?

You don't have to suffer till you die. You can accept it, learn to use it and defuse it. You probably have to lower or change, manage, expectations. I'd imagine there are lots of expectations from your family, living in Karachi (maybe not). You should learn to be self-sufficient when it comes to feeling appreciated.

Learn to enjoy living with living as the purpose of living. It is.

I have heard it gets better, I've heard it gets worse. I believe the strength of your support team and working with doctors could have a better outcome. I have good role models and bad role models from my life who suffer BIPOLAR or similar. It's hard for me to get a feel for what to expect. My great uncle is the person I hope I can take after. He stayed on his medication and lived a normal successful life.

[lilypup]

Stay on all meds. The meds will (and are) getting better and I expect a good long life with meds.

[jules77]

i sometimes look forward, wondering what my life will be like in 10, 20, 30 years. I'm pretty young, so it seems terrifying to think that I could be dealing with this for so much longer, but I am trying very hard to stay in the moment. Everybody's journey is different - your friend probably has a different experience from yours. Every day is an opportunity to keep going and push through

[Ripose]

I have been mentally ill my entire life but either misdiagnosed or not diagnosed until my I was about 21, I am 55 now. I went without meds on and off for many years but I was officially diagnosed with bipolar 1 until 2003.

When I stopped taking my meds years ago I was in in hypo-manic or full blown manic mode nonstop so I self-medicated with alcohol. When I quit drinking 13 years ago and stayed on my meds I eventually leveled out although somewhat on the depressive side. But it did make me realize that I needed meds and likely would have to stay on them for the rest of my life since I am a little bit (a lot) crazy without them.

It sucks being on meds but I would be dead years ago without them.
I have heard the meds I am on can reduce life span anywhere from 15-25 years which means I would most likely die in my 60's. The last time I was in the hospital I was told I would not make it until 55 so who really knows. The doctors sure don't.

I am always glad to hear when people on this forum are able to drop meds and still remain stable. I wish I could do the same.

My great uncle was on AP's and lived to his 90s. Nothing is written in stone. He remained very fit and active though from what I know. That is probably a big piece to the puzzle. Everyone on my dads side lives long. Some aren't so happy about it. It scares me and thrills me thinking of living that long. Biome times it's a good feeling, sometimes I want to smoke a carton a day to avoid it.

[gina_re]

It is life long
However, the older you get, the better you become with managing your symptoms
At least that has happened for me
I have a better sense of when I am having an episode, and what action needs to be taken
And coping mechanisms become "easier"

Originally Posted by st0psign

yeah my guess as to the earlier deaths is extra stress on your heart. and it is lifelong, but I hear it becomes more tolerable as you age, but I'm only 26 so what do I know...

I think it becomes more tolerable because you learn how to cope with it better (which is what gina_re is saying).

My bipolar symptoms started when I was 11 and I didn't seek help until I was 24. My life was pure hell, and it kept getting worse and worse. I didn't know what was wrong with me either, and I just wanted to give up & kill myself. That's when I finally sought help, and now I'm doing a lot better because therapy has helped me learn to manage my symptoms.

I'm still 24, and I'm in a much better place now than I was 8 months ago. If I didn't seek help, I'd be even worse.

In hindsite, I was pretty sick much of my life. However, I wasn't diagnosed until my mid-40s. I too worry I must live with this forever. Right now I am pretty much stable so it doesn't seem so bad. Yet, I look baack at the huge personal cost having bipolar has encurred. I have hope though.

Expect medication changes along the way. Your body changes and so then does the way medication affects it.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

My bipolar changed with menopause. Until about 18 months ago I was more stable than I'd ever been. I wasn't going to go off meds but I have severe bipolar. I can see that someone with a mild bipolar who got through menopause and found they weren't cycling in response to hormonal changes might be able to come off meds or at least reduce them.

On the other hand I've been in very bad shape the last 18 months so menopause was far from a cure-all.

But it might be a factor for someone occasionally.

[bipolar4lifediagnos]

Originally Posted by Bipolar8921

I was diagnosed with Bipolar when i was 18 and with OCD at 17.
I just had a relapse of OCD and have been sick since then . I take lithium 200mg daily.
I have been hospitalised 6 times in 4 years all because of manic episodes.
I just want to know if i would suffer with this till i die.I even heard people with Bipolar die at young ages. Is that true?

I've done a ton of research and tried many natural remedies. And, like most disorders/illnesses (whatever), there is no cure and i have to stay on my meds unless i want to be slave to my vicious cycles. it's always the same when i drop the meds; I'm okay at first, looks like i didn't need them, then bamm; the extremist thoughts and behavior come flooding in like a broken dam.

Society remains largely ignorant of BPD (makes me regret trying to explain it to family/friends, "Oh there's nothing wrong with you", I'd love to believe that (and have, several times, with bad results). To answer your question, the ones that die young are usually due to suicide (more often type 2 than type 1 BP). I'm type 2 and considered it twice. i was hospitalized once (mixed episode, wanted to harm others). I wish i were like Mr Spock, not having to deal with emotions.

[Currently on Depakote and Zyprexa. Will start Latuda soon for depression]

[Woolly Bugger]

It's all about the medication, in my view. My psychiatrist and I have been chasing the right combination of meds for almost ten years. We are close, and I am doing quite well overall. Not perfect, of course, but well enough to be able hold down a job and stay married. I do feel older beyond my age, which is 58, but I don't really believe that having BP and taking a handful of meds every night will reduce my life expectancy. The one thing I will concede is that you probably need a lot of joy and laughter to live a long life. That is one thing I really can't seem to recover because of my illness, and it causes me a lot of concern.

[Bipolarchic14]

It is lifetime unless they cure it.