somebody help me please!!

I've been browsing the postings and I have to say that I feel better already, just knowing there are others out there like me, because I have been feeling really misunderstood and alone for so long...

I'm a 40 year old mom of 2 teenage girls. I was finally diagnosed bipolar about 2 years ago. Before that I had been treated off and on for depression, mostly with Prozac, since I was a young adult. I lived happily on that treatment for many years...really REALLY happily. Since the BP dx I have tried many different drug therapies, including Lithium. We went to the Lithium after everything else had failed. The Lithium worked, but the side effects were debilitating, and for me, worse than my symptoms.

So...I went off meds altogether, and spiraled into a pretty bad depression...we all know where that leads to, and I want to live!! I refilled my Prozac and have been back on it for about a week. I'm starting to feel better, but I know that will soon turn into hypomania...we all know where that leads to...

Is anyone else out there able to manage symptoms without meds?

((((((((((((sweetleaf)))))))))))))

sorry to hear you're struggling.

i just suffer from plain old major depression...so i don't really think i can be of much help...just letting you know i care

We welcome to PC...I weaned off once and had a similiar spiral...

I am sure there are people who can do it with out meds...I'm not one of them...Lamictal has been very good to me I spent the last 2 months titrating up and the last week or so there is some stability.

Suggestion I have is to talk with your doc...find the lowest possible dosages that help squash your symptons or at least make them manageable...that probably would be a first step...

I too had a problem with antidepessants,came off and holy cow it was not pleasant at all....things got pretty bad.
I was on lithium carbonate (after ad's) and really had an issue with nausea.Then my Pdoc put me on dualith which has been much better...once a day taken after supper and no nausea.
Im expecting to be on meds for the rest of my life....I was just dx too.......but Im coming to terms and trying to accept it.
I need the stablizing effects of meds.....just like high blood pressure needs meds.
Hope this helps.

Thank you so much. I don't think being off meds is the greatest option, but so far everything I have tried ends up with side effects worse than my bp2 symptoms were to begin with. I'm hanging in here for now...with my good friend Prozac.

sweetleaf
i understand about side effects. right now i am on a good cocktail of prozac, neurontin, cymbalta, thyroid meds helps alot.also on other meds but thats for pain. so good luck ask your doc about the drugs.-onyx

I know where you are coming from....I have been on Prozac for years. Over the years the dosage has gotten higher. When I decide that I don't want to take it anymore...the depression is horrid. Currently my doc has me on prozac, neurotin, lamactil, topamax...and a few others for other problems. The lamactil is starting to help a lot with the mood swings and the side effects weren't too bad...considering other meds i have been on. I know you would like to do it without the meds....I think we all would like to go a day without having to think did I take my afternoon meds....make sure you take your meds before you go to bed....but I don't see that as a possiblity right now. Stick to the meds your doc has given you...btw...it never hurts to do some research of your own to find a medication that may be better suited for you and discuss your findings with your doc.

sorry for going off on the deep end on this post...sometimes it helps me to talk or write.

Mydarlin,
I'm bipolar II and from what i've read, and from i experienced for myself, getting and staying stable on or off meds is not easy. And even with the best "cocktail" i can still get unstable. A doc once told me that the meds just help, they are not going to cure me. I've gone off meds and have found out that hypomanic episodes can be very self-distructive, so i can't risk it. i'm not in the best of shapes right now, but i've had some good periods of stability, that were possible through meds. after 13 years of depression and now bipolar II, i accept that i'm going to be one of thoses people that will be on meds all of my life, but without the meds i don't have much of a life. i become depressed, manic,unstable. for me, what works is having a good doc, that knows meds, and is compassionate towards me as a patient. bipolar is full of ups and downs. sometimes it's hard to hang on until the stability comes. but noone appreciates it more than we do when it does come.

In the seven years since my diagnosis, I have taken a few med breaks, none successfully.

I think I must have a mild form of BP, and Lamictal seems to work well for me, though I still struggle with anxiety.

Do you think you could benefit from counseling?

Best to you!

jo,
i suffered from anxiety for so long i thought that it was part of my personality. The doc i just went to was the first one in 13 years to give me a simple questionaire to test my anxiety and mine was off the charts, not really, but my score was high. He said that i have "generalized anxiety disorder," and perscribed buspar, a med that i wanted to try years ago, but none of the docs agreed. i've been taking it a little over a week and i think that i feel less anxiety, i did better at work last week. I hope that i will reach a point where my anxiety isn't so bad. I think that i would deal better with life. didn't mean to run on...

I can not function without meds. I suppose there are people that do. There are many meds out there to treat bipolar and while it may take a while to find the right one(s) for you it is well worth the time and frustration. Please don't give up and settle for something that isn't working. Maybe talk to your pdoc about it? Good luck.

BB