[Lost alex]

Do you feel like you are always managing a certain level of symptoms? I feel like I don't have many clear edges to my episodes, rather it seems to be perpetually shifting. Sometimes there are clearer, steeper climbs/falls, but is almost always there in some form.

If something is going on in my life it is more likely to be an issue, but in general it doesn't seem to matter what is happening in my life. It has a course of its own.

[JustJace2u]

I'm exactly the same way.

[Wild Coyote]

My experience is similar.

Life stressors certainly add to the mix; however, my "conditions" seem to have a life of their own, somewhat independent of life events, even when life seems very quiet otherwise.

My symptoms are not always in direct response to present day life.

As my pdoc says, we are always chasing a moving target.


WC

[franz kafka]

I do have clear lines between episodes, but they just keep coming one after the next (and the in-between is filled up with OCD). So yea... I do feel like I'm dealing with constant symptoms.

[Ellie_jo]

Yes. When one thing is under control the next thing pops up. Or at least becomes visible.

[violetgreen]

Yes. Always shifting. Sometimes triggered by something I recognize, but other times changes for unknown reasons. Symptoms don't just disappear.

[Unrigged64072835]

Since I have multiple MI I always feel like I'm dealing with something.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I am never symptom free. Clozaril has slowed my cycling more than any other med (until the current depression but it's not nearly what previous depressions have been) but it is always there. And like Fharraise I have more than one diagnosis so more than one thing to deal with (I thought that was a good point, one I hadn't thought of).

[Lost alex]

Yes I too have more than one diagnosis. My OCD is always there too. In a way I expect it to always be there, but people talk about bipolar as an episodic illness. I find my bipolar in more or less constant flux- it takes the greater toll and is the main reason that I feel like I'm always wearing some kind of mask to hide. A "moving target" is a good analogy. Thanks Wild Coyote!

[~Christina]

I used to micro analyze every blip and bump and worry " No!!!! I can't handle another shift" etc

Here is what I have learned through trial and error.....

Bipolar can indeed reach up and slap the snot out of me with no heads up or trigger.

I can control a certain amount stress and triggers that happen... But it can and will happen....

Unless Big Pharma finally comes up with a more reliable medication that doesn't kill off brain cells and make us a non stop eating zombie then we just have to have a huge toolbox full of coping skills and lifestyle changes.. Sleep hygiene, healthy food choices, exercise... Etc.

Now here's where I might piss off some people (no one in particular)

Sometimes we just have to get up and fake til you make ???? Oh I know how dare I say things we hate to hear out of neurotypicals.

It's often easy to wallow in the soup that makes up everyone's version/brand of Bipolar.

So ...... Maybe a person needs to kick claw and fight , it's actually healthy to get pissed at Bipolar.... It causes you to focus on not letting Bipolar rule your every waking moment.

I wake up do a quick 2 min self check and go about my day.

Sorry if this offends anyone as that is certainly not my goal. I just let Bipolar take up the smallest part of life as possible...



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