How long did it take you to get properly medicated? If not, how long has it been?

It took me ten years to get properly medicated. As I can imagine with most of us, this time was filled with frustration and pain. If you are now properly medicated, how long did it take? If you aren't, how long has it been? I ask because this question has come up with two old high school friends in the last two days, and I never would have thought I'd be having this conversation with them. It always amazes me what an important question this is, especially for those who are still struggling. I feel that the medical community hinders us as much as it helps us.

My meds have been the same and working for quite a long time. Years. But last week my pdoc added prn Haldol so that kind of undid that streak.

Im still not there but close. So far one year of strict compliance.

8 years of oscillating between over-medicated and being non-compliant and not taking anything. 6 of those years I was abusing substances too. It wasn't really a matter of getting properly medicated I now realize, it was a matter of cooperating with a team and getting to a place where I made decisions in my best interest.

Hmm... I don't know the answer to this. I agree that the medical community hinders more than helps at times. I was ''compliant'' for quite a long time with some med which helped somewhat. Now I have not found a med I can tolerate (apart from something they do not like prescribing)

I often feel like psychiatrists cause more harm than help, too. That said, there isn't enough known about the human brain to truly understand mental illness (or what "normal" is, really). So here we have all these psych medications, they're being prescribed, they pretty much help some people most of the time...enough, anyway, to keep prescribing them. The first time I saw a pdoc would I have wanted him to say, Sorry, there's nothing I can do for you...? No. I would have been furious and terrified. I was looking for medication that would help me function more normally. To stop me from being in so much discomfort.

So I go back and forth with the help/hinder debate.

As for my own medication history, I'd say that I'm the most stable I've ever been on the meds I'm currently taking. How many years? At least 25. I stopped counting a while ago, the number of meds I've been on. It's too scary.

So yeah, I feel most stable now. I do attribute some of that stability to therapy, too. But I feel almost too stable; I feel like I have no something...fire or motivation. I can just sit and stare at the wall and be okay with that. And so the hours pass. It's for that reason I want to decrease some of my med doses. At least give it a try.

It was years. In part because they kept prescribing AD which cause mixed moods. And in part because the AP that works so well wasn’t invented until a dozen years ago. Back in the 80’s and 90’s they really didn’t know much about bipolar and I had PTSD as well, so they just threw the kitchen sink at me. In truth it was therapy that helped the PTSD not meds. Then when I got the PTSD under control it was easier to medicate the bipolar. The sheer number of meds I was on at times made things worse not better. I took a break from meds and concentrated on the PTSD. I’m a firm believer in the fewer the better.

For me, it's been relative to other factors. Also, I have had very good periods somewhat quickly followed by bad ones, again. I must also mention that for me (and I think many) medications alone cannot be relied on. It's a combination of factors that have brought me longer-term mental wellness. If I combine all, it took a good 13 years after the beginning of my worst string of episodes.

I will not blame medications alone for the time consuming period mentioned above! That would be inaccurate and a cop out. Major changes needed to happen in my life for long-term stability. Mastery of coping and healthy living skills needed to be accomplished. I had to take responsibility for bad habits and change them. It was a personal journey, for sure, and one requiring patience and determination. Though others helped me along the way, it was up to me to do the work.

I've been on and off medicine for about 15 years. Right now I'm doing okay I don't blame that on the medicine I blame that on my cycle. For what I am being treated for I am doing good. There are several things that I not being treated for but I probably should be. They don't bother me as much as the things that I am being treated for.

I started showing symptoms when I was 16 but it was the 90's and bipolar was still an elusive dx for a teen. I started meds around age 23 and at about age 28 they were solid. I have been on the same meds for 17 years with some periods of non-compIiance so roughly its been about 10. I still have had some episodes over the last 10 years but very few and far between and it really came down to a better dose of geodon that saved me,

Key variables that people are bringing up in the journey to become 'properly' medicated are your own life circumstances and ability/willingness to comply. Thanks for your insights!

I don't know how long it took on the medications path but I ended up going to ECT and that has made all the difference.

Looking back, when I first went on medications in 2011, what pushed me over the edge was very challenging life experiences (my bad decisions, coping skills, on and off unemployment for both my H and I, family dysfunction, etc.)--I was prescribed welbutrin (bupropion) and xanax (alprolazam) which immediately made me feel better but the bupropion (300 mg) also made me worse in many ways (no sleep--I worked harder but never relaxed, back then I would sometimes drink one or two glasses of wine at dinner--I started drinking more on the bupropion because it amplified the alcohol high for me). It wasn't until 2018, when I was finally able to get VA healthcare benefits after being denied for years that my psychiatrist adjusted my meds so that they were helping more than hurting. I also began therapy in 2015, after an sui attempt. For me, the therapy was as important for my recovery as my medications are. I rarely drink alcohol now (I would estimate that I have had less than 8 glasses of wine since 2015--at Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings), am making better choices, and have learned that happiness comes from within--not from others or my circumstances because people are imperfect and looking back too much is very unhelpful, especially when you focus on the trauma and the drama. I had to learn to not feel responsible when others make bad choices--if I warned, helped and encouraged them then I have nothing to feel guilty of. When I made a mistake, I had to learn to forgive myself and move on. Another key to my recovery was focusing on God and being grateful for all that I have had and have--He helped transform me and not worry so much about the future though this journey is ongoing and I hope to improve and achieve for through Him.

It took years to be diagnosed (happened about 13 years ago and I'm 49 now), and then many years after that to get on the med cocktail that truly works for me. I'd say about 6 years. Since being on this combination of meds, I've been relatively stable, maybe 2-3 episodes a year, with a couple of 'blips' in between. But the episodes themselves aren't as bad as they were before I started taking these meds. Well, except for 2 major-major episodes.

I don’t know how long it will take me.... I was diagnosed at the end of May 2020.... I’m 42 and have a psychology degree... so I knew about bipolar BUT even during my mania and the diagnosis I didn’t believe I had the illness until I came down with a severe depression at the beginning of July 2020.... I’ve tried a variety of meds but didn’t feel like anything helped so I stopped taking everything except lithium. I finally feel like my depression is over and my sleep returned. I’m going to continue taking lithium or maybe another mood stabilizer in the future but I don’t think taking multiple meds for me was the answer. I truly feel like I needed to give my brain a chance to heal after going through the mania. And that’s why my depression lasted slightly more than 6 months. I don’t know if I will ever go through it again but I am not going to lie to myself and think I’m cured. This time I have the personal knowledge to know what I’m dealing with.