[pirilin]

Hello all,

Do you think you're getting better?. Have you learn to control the ride?.
I mean mentally, not physically. The body loses a little every month, as my contemporaries know. Your input is highly appreciated.

I'm getting old. I'm 25. I'm an ancient artifact.

So far, it has not gotten better with age -- I can assure you that -- but it has gotten better with therapy and a proper medication cocktail.

I was doing rather poorly until I recently upped my Lamictal dose. Prior to that, I kept getting worse and worse, which is why I sought help in the first place. Yikes...

[gayleggg]

The depression has not gotten better with age. Still suffer from it. The mania is less but I contribute that to the meds. I just wish the depression would lift.

[raspberrytorte]

I'm 34. I've just gotten worse. A lot worse.

[Ocean Swimmer]

Early 50's.
I had one of my worse episodes at 19.

[bioChE]

41. Things have definitely been more stable on my current med combo. I miss hypomania, but not the depression. Worst time of my life was Sep/Oct 2015.

[Diddy232]

39, more aware of myself and trigers, have small episodes a few times a month for about an hour or so,can bring myself back to "earth" as I call it with music mostly. However I isolate a lot and stay away from public if I can.

I'm 53. Things got worse in my 30'- early 40's, but late 40's through now has been markedly improved. I attribute the improvement mostly to therapy working through my PTSD issues that greatly complicated my bipolar problems, and I think hormonal changes as I've entered in menopause have, in my case, perhaps helped (not sure). I also think, for me, just aging, maturing through life experience, and life becoming more stable in general has helped. I'm at a place where I'm really liking where I am in life: kids are about grown, financially much more stable, retirement is starting to look like a reality rather than so far off in the distant that it seemed unreal, just more comfortable in my own skin. Some of that just comes with age I've discovered.

[Coconutzo]

Mine has gotten worse the older I've gotten. More depression. Depression that spirals down much faster.Less good mania/more mixed episodes. More anxiety.
Welp.

Wish it did. Been at this BP crap for almost 35 years (early 50's now). Seemed the depressions became more protracted and frequent, which is what ultimately "forced" me to seek help. It feels like hypos were more the "happy" sort and that they were generally longer.

It's a little tricky to get a clear handle on because I wasn't dx'd till a decade ago, so many of those years -- though I knew there was something very wrong -- I didn't know what the various states were, so wasn't exactly keeping track. It's more a looking back over the (bounteous, lol) evidence.

Worst episode was at 49. Extreme duress, MAJOR upheaval, no provider and beginning of serious physical issues were likely issues helping set up the perfect storm for an approximately 3 month mixed episode. I NEVER want to go to that level of pure f****** HELL again. Still makes me shudder.

[*Laurie*]

I wish I could say my mental health has improved with age. I'm 54. Before my 50's hypomania would get extreme, which at least made everything especially beautiful. Colors brighter, music soul-stirring, and so on. I did tend to have anger issues, which I do not have now - that's much better. But in my 50's anxiety and depression has become worse, and much harder to treat. The 'positive' hypomania is not really present anymore. Some of that definitely has to do with grief and loss...losing loved ones and my kids growing up and leaving home. I also believe that some of it has to do with menopause/hormonal issues.

[along4theride]

I'm 54 and just recently re diagnosed BP vs. MDD. Mine is the worst it's been, but that might also be because I was not properly treated before.

[Nammu]

It's complicated

Definitely better but I used to also battle PTSD. I'm also a woman so I had to also do the monthly hormones battle. Both are done now and it definitely helps

It helps I've the right diagnosis at 28 was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. Took yrs for that to get changed to bipolar and a few more yrs before they figured out that AD were a no no.

I've done intense periods of therapy on and off since the 80's and that too definitely helps and I've learned to recognize the beginnings of an episode much earlier and can be proactive and slow or stop the decline. I've a much better attitude over all.

I'm also on the best cocktail I've ever had with very few side effects

I'm also not working so there's much less stress.

So yeah, it's better. But there's a lot of reasons for that.

[zijax]

Get better at hiding it.

[Gabyunbound]

45. As someone else said, I'm much more aware of myself and my triggers (therapy, pdoc education). I actively avoid stress. I'm now working part-time which I attribute to being more stable. I don't know how much longer I can afford to work part-time and this scares the heck out of me. With age, I've changed my cocktail many times, and am now on one that is effective for me, so in that sense the passage of time has helped me.

[h2os]

I'am 43 the symptoms are the same as allway,but I have gotten better dealing with them.

[Unrigged64072835]

51 and things are finally stabilizing. I didn't get diagnosed with BP until 2013; before then it was depression and anxiety with BPD thrown in for fun. Menopause and job stress did me in in 2012; it took four years of med combos, hospitalizations and therapy before I settled back down. Even now I'm on disability and still in a low-stress environment. I'm doing better with the symptoms.

[fishin fool]

I am 53 and I it has gotten worse for me.
I think in my mid to late 40s it went to a whole new level.
I was also under a tremendous amount of stress at that time which
I am sure didn't help. These days the meds keep me from experiencing
a lot of hypo but the depression is still pretty bad.

[JustJace2u]

I'm almost 43 and although I've been dealing with depression since at least my teens, the BP diagnosis was only made last year so it's hard for me to say honestly. The depression definitely has gotten worse. I'm not manic, but definitely get hypomanic.

[scatterbrained04]

I am 31. So far as I can tell it's really just a crap shoot how bad an episode is or when it will hit. We maybe just get better at dealing with them as time goes on.

[pirilin]

Wow, great participation. I'm honored.

Falling sleep now. Sorry. My .02 tomorrow. Thanks again.

[xRavenx]

My first true manic and mixed episodes, which occurred about 15 years old, was the scariest for me not knowing what in the world was wrong with me, but that's not to undermine the seriousness of other episodes that ended up causing a lot more damage in the long run.

I guess only time will tell. For a little while, I thought things were getting better, but things have been shaky over the past six months. People try to keep me positive that the time will come where I experience some kind of stability, but seeing is believing for me. My therapist and pdoc say that once my meds are right, I'll be able to apply the right tools, but it's hard not knowing what the future brings. Especially since we've been playing with my meds for months now...up doses, down doses, adding new meds...it has my mind spinning even more. It's been a bumpy road, but that's Bipolar for you.

[LadyShadow]

Originally Posted by Diddy232

39, more aware of myself and trigers, have small episodes a few times a month for about an hour or so,can bring myself back to "earth" as I call it with music mostly. However I isolate a lot and stay away from public if I can.

I can relate to this. As I have gotten older I am more aware of my moods and what triggers me. I have also learned that alcohol is a major contributor to my troubles.

But what do I know? I was hospitalized last year in a crazy manic episode. So it still comes back, no matter how stable I am on medication.

I'm 46, and I've been getting worse for years.

[Raindropvampire]

mom has settled down in her old age. Not as up and down as she was when younger. Much nicer to be around.