[Guiness187055]

When you are stabilized on your meds do you feel like your not bipolar anymore? Or even like you never were in the first place?

[Sunflower123]

I'm stable on and off but when I'm stable I still know I have it and it never goes back to where I was before the illness. Best wishes.

[Woolly Bugger]

Absolutely. I often ask my psychiatrist if I am really bipolar. He always says that I am the bipolar poster child. It is at these times that I convince myself that I am not bipolar and decide to go off my meds. Always a bad mistake, as I start feeling the edges of being unwell and sooner or later decide to start taking them again. I've just come off a two-week period when I didn't take my meds, because I didn't believe I was bipolar, and I have had a lot of anxiety and some hypomania. So back on the lithium, Abilify, and Lamictal for me. After a period of stability you just have to take it for granted that you are BP and have to take your meds. It's a good problem to have.

[wildflowerchild25]

I used to but not anymore. After I had a psychotic breakdown in 2014 I realized I am bipolar and I always will be. Before that I was constantly stopping meds to see if it was still there and yup, every time. Even now I was led free for seven days and immediately went into a mixed episode. I'm on meds for life. I don't care.

[Teddy Bear]

Yes when you're stable you don't feel that you need meds

Even when not stable I sometimes feel like I'm not bipolar oddly enough. (((Hugs)))

[HALLIEBETH87]

Yep. I sure do. I wonder
Hmmm maybe I was never sick to begin with

[hopeless2015]

Yep it's got me into a bad spit more than once to

[rwwff]

I've wondered how this will play out for me in the future, but not at the moment. I hope I'll think of it like my blood pressure or lipids. Both are perfect.... with meds. That doesn't mean I can stop taking those meds.

[bukowski06]

This is a question that I've had too. If you feel stable from the medication will this increase your chance that you will stop taking the medication? Sorry if this is a dumb question

[raspberrytorte]

I start thinking that the meds have made me bipolar, like they're just making me worse, so it's the meds that made me bipolar to begin with.

If that makes any sense.

[scatterbrained04]

When I'm stable, I still recognize that I'm bipolar. Usually I feel terrified because I know that an episode will happen again. So when I'm stable is when I focus on setting up safety nets (pdoc, T), stabilizing sleep, reducing stress, etc.

[benzenering]

Originally Posted by Teddy Bear

Yes when you're stable you don't feel that you need meds

Yep that's me...start, stop, start, stop...etc.

[bioChE]

Originally Posted by bukowski06

This is a question that I've had too. If you feel stable from the medication will this increase your chance that you will stop taking the medication? Sorry if this is a dumb question

Not a dumb question. It's very common for people to have an episode, get stable on meds, and quit taking them. Hence I would say yes, it is more likely you'll stop taking the meds. There's a reason people use the moniker, "They're bipolar and off their meds." I hate that phrase, but have to admit it contains truth and describes a real condition.

That doesn't mean you have to stop taking meds. I've been on meds for 20 years and have never stopped taking them. In this time I've had long periods of stability and I've had some rocky times. But I hang onto the meds using the memory of some specific episodes - like the one where I was so depressed I was in bed 20-22 hours a day for three weeks straight, during a med washout/change. For some reason that one is particularly fresh in my mind, perhaps because it was relatively recent, in 2015.

Thank goodness for Latuda and Lamictal.

[Unrigged64072835]

I remember (or reminded of) myself when I wasn't stable. Even though I'm stable now doesn't mean I'm cured. I think of it as being in remission. I may not wig out again, or I will tomorrow.

[bukowski06]

Thank your for your insight. This is all relatively new to me but I am trying to learn all I can so I appreciate your comment. I'm happy and also hopeful to hear that you and others have been able to find stability.

I believe I read in a different post that you are an engineer? If you don't mind me asking, did you ever have to leave the field because issues related to your dx? My husband was a laboratory researcher and he says that he would not go back, at least not now.

Originally Posted by bioChE

Not a dumb question. It's very common for people to have an episode, get stable on meds, and quit taking them. Hence I would say yes, it is more likely you'll stop taking the meds. There's a reason people use the moniker, "They're bipolar and off their meds." I hate that phrase, but have to admit it contains truth and describes a real condition.

That doesn't mean you have to stop taking meds. I've been on meds for 20 years and have never stopped taking them. In this time I've had long periods of stability and I've had some rocky times. But I hang onto the meds using the memory of some specific episodes - like the one where I was so depressed I was in bed 20-22 hours a day for three weeks straight, during a med washout/change. For some reason that one is particularly fresh in my mind, perhaps because it was relatively recent, in 2015.

Thank goodness for Latuda and Lamictal.

[FifteenYears]

I'm not sure I know what stable feels like, even after fifteen years. It's been hard to find a good doctor, and I've tried all the meds in the book. Maybe just not the right combination.

[Gabyunbound]

I don't question being Bipolar because all of the evidence is there, and I've been diagnosed by three pdocs. But I've been stable for about 2 years now and I consider myself "in remission." I'm not sure if that even exists in the context of Bipolar, but that's the way I see it. I know I need to keep taking my meds to continue to be in 'remission.' I see the BP as being quiet, there in the background, not rearing its ugly head, but waiting for its chance to come out. So I need to be careful and get on a good, consistent sleep schedule (which is easier said than done for me); If I start to feel overwhelmed, I seek the help of my support system and use my coping strategies.

If it helps at all, my pdoc who specialized in BP told me once that she had lots of patients who were stable for 10+ years and that this wasn't unusual at all. So being stable doesn't mean you don't have BP or never had it, just that it's not active at the present time. But, in my opinion, if you want to STAY stable, you need to keep taking your meds and continue using your coping mechanisms.

[bioChE]

Originally Posted by bukowski06

Thank your for your insight. This is all relatively new to me but I am trying to learn all I can so I appreciate your comment. I'm happy and also hopeful to hear that you and others have been able to find stability.


I believe I read in a different post that you are an engineer? If you don't mind me asking, did you ever have to leave the field because issues related to your dx? My husband was a laboratory researcher and he says that he would not go back, at least not now.

I've never left the field of engineering, been at it for 20 years. There have been a couple times when I've taken short-term disability, but I've always gone back to the same job afterwards.

[liveforsummer]

Absolutely. Not on meds at the moment tho yday was huge reminder I should be. But still waiting for second opinion with new psych end of month. ''Tis the roller coaster of denial.

[blue_eyed_siamese]

I've done a couple of med "experiments" before that all ended badly. My real problem is that on meds, I expect everything to be better and to have no symptoms at all. It is not a helpful way to think...

[UpDownAround]

Reading these responses, i am more sure that my answer of zero days in the "longest you have been stable" thread was correct. I have quit meds many times but it was because I was giving up or deciding I was no better than when I was unmedicated. Then I would discover they were helping because I would be even worse without them.

[BipolaRNurse]

I've questioned my bipolarity more than once, and never more than when I'm steady as a rock like I am now. But all it takes is one day without meds to convince me that I need them desperately. It takes less than 24 hours for me to start having symptoms. But every so often, I feel the urge to stop taking my medication just to see what will happen...stupid, stupid, stupid!

[BiPolarJoe]

If only it was simple like a headache - when the headache goes away, why would you continue to take Advil. I think lots of us get to the point where we need to tell ourselves the meds we're on are helping us feel closer to "normal". My psychiatrist shared with me recently it is one of her biggest challenges as a professional. People get their mood to where they feel comfortable and get to thinking they don't need the meds anymore. Sad but true