I'm nervous. I'm meeting my new peer support person today. He's male. I've never worked with a man before. My old one is coming too. He's younger than me so it might be easier. I just hope he has some experience. He's not my therapist tho. I'm not ready to work with a male therapist. I hope it goes ok...

[b1ghr0ll3r]

Woke up with a toothache this morning but I'm feeling so much better since I took my meds & had a good sleep last night. Doctors appointment this afternoon to get some pain killers to tide me over til I go to the dental hospital on Tuesday. The sun is shinning & the rugby league season starts tonight, today just might be a good day :woohoo:

[gina_re]

I've kept my phone off all day today. Just needed to disconnect from the world.

[Shamrockkid88]

Had a periodontist appointment today which wasn't all that bad, hit on the girl at Dunkin' Donuts which I've been wanting to do but my shyness wouldn't let me, went to work, saw my therapist later tonight discussed the diagnosis more and some coping stuff came home and ate dinner now I'm ready to crash hope everyone had a good day! Probably going to hit up a bipolar support group meeting near me tomorrow night

Still doing basically well. Some frustration with a situation, but it's not in my control. Brain's having a hard time getting on board with that. Been doing pretty well with using coping tools in the rough patches to try to keep from spiralling. Went to a group meeting tonight.

[bizi]

doing laundry...mardi gras is over
sigh
but we still have king cake!
bizi

[hopeless2015]

Feeling pretty good today, supporting a friend of mine who is struggling a bit right now and glad to it, she is always there for me. Day two of working out. I've managed to get up at 5:30 two days in s row and I've been at work every day this week

[rwwff]

This week I've noticed continued improvement in focus and "normal"; I guess I just thought when the mania broke, that end state was what I'd be stuck with. (normal enough I guess, but serious work was still really a problem). This week, well over a month since I first got help, I've finally been able to focus on serious cognitive work for 4+ hours straight. Honestly, the first time I've done that in at least a couple years, and maybe a bit longer as my memory is trashed pretty good.

[scatterbrained04]

Having kind of a rough day. And also mixed emotions about a work thing. Kind of worse than just being straight upset. A giant suck hole of being happy, depressed, anxious, and paranoid all in one. Then I feel obligated to keep it to myself. Fml

[gina_re]

Well I went and saw my T this afternoon. He just helps me to make sense of everything. And I feel a little less weighed down after every visit. But we're barely scratching the surface, looking forward to continuing.
My sister also randomly stopped by with one of my nephews. Seeing a baby's smile will always put you in a good mood, so that definitely helped because I was miserable before that.

[Unrigged64072835]

Husband's pre-surgery appt. was this morning. He wants it done ASAP, meaning I have to be able to drive by the 20th so I can take him home. It's same-day so he probably won't be recovered from the anesthesia. Kind of freaking out.

I had anxiety at midday but we were in the middle of errands so we pressed on. Tried to take a nap afterwards but couldn't. At least the meat is marinating for dinner so I'll do that soon.

I'm not bummed out as much as yesterday, so hoping this will pass.

[xRavenx]

I found old books I have written (never published) from when I was hypo/manic. I think I was borderline delusional, but definitely grandiose surrounding my obsession with a particular celebrity who passed away and my relationship with him. The whole book had to do with our spiritual connection and interactions with one another in great depth. It went on for hundreds of pages. It's strange looking back.

Although I do believe in the spiritual world, this was rather extreme. Maybe I can do something positive with that kind of energy someday. There's nothing wrong with fantasy, but I can usually tell through my writing after the fact when I was in some type of an episode. I admit I'll save the book and skim through it here and there.

[Lifeischallenging]

So, thought I'd check in with the old one being closed. I have work today. I also have to register for some lab work. Is this normal on lithium? I'm also torn one what to do. I'm going to be moving shortly because my sister is moving back with us. The thought that is tearing me apart is that I don't know if I should get a car yet. I haven't decided on what I should do. I mean I've decided pretty much to spend three years of my education in the UK, but then I am looking at colleges over here as well. Any advice from anyone would be extremely helpful? Also, I intend to keep you all posted.

[rwwff]

Originally Posted by TheHPEnthusiast1987;5521151I

also have to register for some lab work. Is this normal on lithium?

Lithium is dosed based upon its concentration in your blood. Too little, it won't do much; too much damages kidneys, etc. But the amount take for each person for the same result is different, and can change over time.

So yeah, normal. Similar drill for depakote though looser parameters.

[bizi]

regained 5.6 pounds sigh

feeling like a failure.
bizi

[Shamrockkid88]

Took my meds enjoying my second cup of coffee going to get some breakfast and do some laundry probably play a little guitar do some writing. It's my day off so who knows where it'll take me.

I just woke up, so not much to report yet (aside from feeling rather "subdued", which is my euphemism for low that I don't want to admit yet), but this question is calling me...

Originally Posted by TheHPEnthusiast1987

... The thought that is tearing me apart is that I don't know if I should get a car yet. I haven't decided on what I should do. I mean I've decided pretty much to spend three years of my education in the UK, but then I am looking at colleges over here as well. Any advice from anyone would be extremely helpful?

I ditched having a car over a year ago and have no regrets. I DO live where there is good transit and that is important, imo. As you look at the various places, consider how walkable and/or the quality of transit in the area. I've lived in areas that are downright hostile to pedestrians with woefully inadequate transit and also with great transit systems.

Cars are expensive. The cost of the car itself, gas, repairs (hundreds of dollars is not unusual), and insurance. And parking. IS there parking? Does it cost (may be an add-on to rent)? How much? It adds up fast. One big bonus in ditching the car was the near-complete elimination of road rage. Of which I had much.

Consider the places you need to go on a regular basis -- grocery store, laundromat(?), etc. Pick a place where they are practical to get to from. Also, being in college even these may be irrelevant -- campus housing with laundry rooms and dining halls -- it's usually VERY easy to be car-free in college/university. I'd recommend it. One less thing to have to deal with, lower costs, better light exercise etc.. Not to even mention environmental considerations.

Hope that helps. You can PM if you have any other questions about it, I'm a big fan of car-free when possible (and drove for almost 40 years). Places are WILDLY different in this regard and all you have to do is throw it in with your other school considerations.

[hopeless2015]

Doing ok today. Having a little trouble staying focused bit I don't feel depressed, just distracted...this isn't unusual for me I guess. It just sucks trying to work when I'm like this. At least it's almost lunch time and I'll have an hour break, on a good note I didn't miss any time from work this week. If I can make it through this pay period without using any fmla it will be a miracle! Just have to get here every day next week to.

[gina_re]

I'm distracted as well. I haven't been too productive today. I'm just too exhausted to get much work done and pretty much don't care right now.

[Smileonmyface]

was productive early today and did laundry and vacuumed. then lied on the couch for the rest of the morning which felt very lazy. not much better this afternoon.

[Daonnachd]

Sitting in my office at work just had two deer run across the lawn. (Had to tell somebody.)

[Naynay99]

So I just got home from work. I actually had a pretty good day. Did a fun lab and got to interact a lot one on one with my kids which was fun. Sometimes i can't believe I actually get paid to do my job, it's so easy and fun. Other days I can't believe I don't get paid a lot more for all of the ******** and drama and soul sucking-ness that work often entails.

Anyway, I do feel sort of bad that I didn't make any weekend plans already. One of my new goals was to make sure I had stuff to look forward to already planned out. But all I wanted to do this week was curl up in my down comforter and sleep forever. So- no plans to speak of. Will try calling a friend tomorrow. Gonna attempt to clean up the disaster that used to be my house. Maybe go shopping and buy something I don't need with some Xmas gift cards I still haven't used.

Feeling undecided about the greatness or suckiness of life right now.

[Unrigged64072835]

Went to PT and picked up new test strips for the glucose meter. Talked to my pastor and set up an appointment next week to go over volunteering opportunities. (Plus catch up on what happened since I wasn't there for a while.) Wrote three poems and posted two. Trying to write something about Change that is between 250 and 400 words. Not getting very far with that.

Will be making dinner soon. Planned meals for the weekend and next week.

It's been busy here and there. I took extra meds for the anxiety. I seem to be doing okay although I am tired.

[bizi]

set my alarm for 4am. tomorrow leave for florida for a week, will be off line.
bizi

I will start with the positives. I've been sleeping a semi regular schedule for several weeks. In bed before 8pm and awake around 6:45am. Still having night terrors and waking frequently but overall, I'm getting rest. I've reduced some immediate stressors by an impactive amount.

Bad news is my stressors are still out of control. My life is like a snow globe....as soon as the dust settles and the coast is clear, somebody or something comes along, shakes the hell out of it and crap goes flying everywhere again.

Still questioning by DX but still taking my meds. Battling with the hospital over some abuses I endured which is very stressful since I have to keep retelling and reliving the events each time.

Still very sick, in a lot of pain and on the depressed side. Hard to focus or distract.

Grateful for my loved ones and friends. Worried desperately about my son.