Bipolar 101 -- Answers to basic questions

the most positive way to look at being bipolar would be to see that the maniac stage allows us to excel in whatever we do.............like those famous people with bipolar e.g. Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and others...............
but it is hard to live when life is hard on you and nobody understands how you feel and makes your feelings valid and stops in their tracks to help you with your day

As well as having bpd i also suffer from cyclothymia. Sometimes i feel so lost as to where my emotions lay, and how long my mood will be low for. its been low for a couple of months, im in therapy at the moment... my question is can i also be suffering from depression?

Hi sunnygirl1uk; cyclothymia is on the bipolar spectrum and includes hypomanic and mild depressive episodes. Two months is a long time to feel depressed, so if you aren't already I would suggest seeing a Psychiatrist.

Hello,

I have bi-polar disorder amonst other mental disorders. I have been doing the ECT treatments for a total of 8 treatments now. Personally, I am going to stop them for various reasons. First of all I am a cancer surviver and when they give these treatments they must of course access a vien and my viens are bad do to all the things I have had to do. In ECT they first of all give you a shot to numb the area they are going to access the vein to put you to sleep. After they do that they put a oxygen mask over your mouth and as you breathe deeply into it they give the shot to put you to sleep. Oh I forgot to mention they also put a mouth guard in to protect you from biting your tongue or hurting your teeth. When you are asleep they start the ECT that causes you to seizure however you won't remember a thing about it. The doctor controls your seizures, they are only a few seconds long. Yes it does effect your memory however they say it is only tempory and after you stop treatments you get it all back with time. I do forget the sillyest things but every one is different. It also makes me a little sore (muscles) from the seizuring. It's not BAD, just a little sore. When you wake up you won't remember a thing, meaning you have no recollection of the seizure. It seems like you are put to sleep and then you they wake you up and allow you to rest for a few minutes. You may feel a little wobbely at first, like sea legs but that to doesn't last very long, a few minutes for me, other have said they feel just fine. Every one is different. Personally my veins are what they call "stripped" meaning they have been through heck so it has become harder and harder for them to find a good vein for me and when they inject the stuff that puts me to sleep it burns like fire and my arms gets all red. Like I said, that is just me. The others that have been doing this on the same days and time as me tell me it does not hurt them very much, a little sting and they are OUT LIKE A LIGHT..

For myself, I do not feel they are helping me feel better. However I talk with this guy a little bit before treatments and he tells me it has helped him, and there are a coupld of ladies that feel the same as he does. There is only one lady that feels the same way as I do, it makes her feel worse because she feels weird forgetting so much. I wish I could forget the bad, but it doesnt work that way. They are designed to help you "cope" with your issues in a more positive way than to be depressed by them. Many swear by these treatments for the better, a few feel such as myself. I am stopping them because my veins are bad, they feel the same on that issue, I don't like the terrible pain I feel as they are injecting me and my memory loss, well I hate that to.

If you are looking for advise here, I suggest ( I am not a doctor, just a patient and this is only MY opinion) that you give it a couple of tries and see how it affects "you". Don't be afraid, you are very well monitored and very well taken care of. They usually do these treatments VERY EARLY. For me I have to be there at 5:45 A.M.and it is all done around 8. That is because there are 6 other people getting treatments as well and they let you sleep for a while before they wake you up and then.....you just go home to rest.

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. Like I said I can only speak of my expierence, I am not a doctor or nurse etc.

Good Luck. Let me know if you want what you decide and if it helps you. I will say a prayer for you.

Thanks for that, yes it is and yes im seeing a psychiatrist and she says its a reaction to my therapy.

I have been bipolar for 17 years (diagnosed and treated with medications). I was born bipolar but was not treated for the illness until I was 23 years old. What I have learned is that it is a mental illness that is genetically passed to us from our parents and their parents. You can break down genetic to genes inherited from our parents and also behaviors we learn from our parents and surroundings. In my opinion IF your kids are properly diagnosed they will keep their diagnoses for life. Mental illnesses are not like the cold or flu. They are not contagious. They do not go away. I do suggest you use a mental health care for the diagnoses and treatment because they deal with nothing but mental illnesses. It takes a lot of research and reading and asking questions. I have read alot and know a lot but I still dont have complete control of my bipolar 1 with mania. Wish you well.

Sorry, just to correct bFoxy - Bipolar does not have to be genetic. I am not aware of anyone in my family being Bipolar, or even suffering from clinical depression. It can be brought about due to circumstances, stress, environment...

How does this work? I thought it was a chat room.

Okay so I am dealing with my moms death and my sisters not understanding where I am coming from. I have been on medication for the past 2 years for depression. But I have been in and out of therapy for 30 years. I am going though Menopause...even thought today I think I might be pregnant...great something else to add to the pile of worries...I wish I could yell-scream and everything would be okay, but reality is it won't be okay.

I feel like I missed something along the way of being a normal human being. My sisters--well thats a huge issue on its own. 4 older sister who all have their own lives and I am so far away in age its not funny. The 3 older ones are so close in age I have to wonder what my parents were thinking--they weren't. The one that is closes to my age. Well I have huge issues with her cause when I lived with her when I was 13 I was sexually molested by one of her friends and she was too out of it to see anything. I final tell her some of what has happened. I know its not her fault- I know this--but it seems as soon as I told her this instead of being closer it put more distants between us. going as far as her telling me her friends are more important then her own sister. Gee slap in the face on that one.

Really how am I going to deal with that one. With this little background I am up and down in feels. I scream at my kids and then I can't remember why I scream at them. I am happy one moment and the next I am pissed at something. I have a good friend who is bipolar and she is so drugged up most of the time..I just dont' want to go that route, to be in a fog and not be intouch with life--then again do I want to be this angry, depressed weird person. I can't talk to the one person I always went to cause she has died. I hate this.

I just wished that my sisters would just tell me it would be okay...Yes I am angry all the time towards them--why I dont' have a clue..

No, but from what I have read it may be underutilized due to stigma and time/resourse limitations of the psych docs. I have sometimes wondered if it would be good for me and I asked a doc about it once but he said it was only for serious depression cases. But my whole darn life/illness has been serious and sometimes i think one of my greatest problems has been appearing so damn "capable" or "together" desipte all the serious problems and difficulties providing evidence to the contrary.

Anyhow,,, I am seriously interested in hearing about your experience and results.

Take care,

Greg T.

How are things now? It does seem like you were very overmedicated. How were you on all those? Did they test your levels regularly? I'm bp1 and been on Depakote and geodon and lithium- different times though.

There's a study going on at the university of Michigan about just that- genetic or environment.

If family don't understand, have you got a friend you can talk to? or talk to people on here.

If your sisters are not giving you support have you got a friend who you can talk to and also talking on PS helps lots.

I thought I'd ruined my life too. I'd wracked up thousands of pounds of debt, lost my job, was so unwell that I couldn't leave the house to pay bills, put the bin out, shop (therefor running up more bills, because I ordered takeaway to feed my son, and bought clothes etc online for him rather than shop around in town for the best bargains.)

Anyway, things are so much better now. Things can definitely improve for you, if you just hang in there, and let people help you.

I got enlightened by this.
I do wish that I can find a good psychiatrist since it seems right now that I havent found a long term doctor.

You are not crazy just symptoms of Bipolar. And if you are not sleeping this can add to your bipolar, so you might want to mention that your not sleeping to your dr. He might prescribe you something to help you sleep and sleep can make a big improvement in our mood swings.

I had the procedure twice. Please research it before doing it,it's an individual choice. I really believe I wouldn't be here without it. I had some short term and long term memory loss the first time but it was worth it. The second time no memory loss. I think it depends on which kind of ECT is being done.

my son has a mental illness as well and no diagnosis because of his age. However his illness( what ever one it is) is keeping him from learning in school being able to attend regular classes and cant engage in summer camp or school activity's. He's been on numerous meds and the doc is lost. I need help too! It's making me crazy!

your not this world is full of negative things

i am new to this site to. I was diagnosed bypolar type 2 when I was 25 i am now 32. I have been taking medication for this disorder and sleep problems associated with it. I was diagnosed when i was in a rehabilitation center by the veteran center while there. I honestly at the time did not want to believe that I was classified being a manic depressive type personality so i sought out other doctors who in turn told me that i was in fact bypolar. If you go to a doctor or a physch be honest with them and be open to the fact that you may or may not have a brain chemistry problem. I have learned that when i choose not to take my meds as prescribed by the doctor i run in a manic state with very little depression. I have racing thoughts, its hard to concentrate. I sometimes feel like i can feel the hair growing out of my head. I tend to get more accomplised but have very little follow through or completion with my work. mean i start something in a manic state and dont follow through. But, when I am on my meds life is easier to take controll of. I am able to stay foccussed and work a steady job or devote my full time and energy to something. Bypolar can take years to treat with medication. I have been on several meds with sideaffects and am and have been on the same meds that have worked well for me for years. My suggestion to you is to research bypolar if you show signs of the sympton see a doctor. ALthough they might be expensive the proper diagnoses and the right medication could save you some sanity.

Hi yes, I have been diagnosed with BPII about three years ago. Never been through electric-convulsive therapy though. I do struggle with memory loss (short term) but thatcould be too, because Ijustgenerally forget things.

I am curious to know how thaty goes for you??

Hi you should go see a psychiatrist. Try to find one that specializes in treating Bipolar, this way you know you are in good hands and also you can go for a 2nd opinion once get checked out. be honest about all your symptoms. I am not bipolar but I was treated for depression and the dr was suspicious of BP. goodlluck!

Psychotech9,

I don't know if this will help you....but my mom back in the 60's had undergone this (or similar) shock treamtments, I don't know that it helped her....she still suffered terribly (she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, I believe these days she would be diagnosed with Bipolar 1) in any case, she did tell me she had short-term memory loss.....again, I am only recalling what she confided in me approx ten years after her treatment.....and .....wouldn't they be doing these procedures differently/ better now? She was horrified at what they had done, but then she was recalling it from a parnoid's perspective.....
have you gotten, possibly a second opinion or, and I'm guessing you have...done a lot of research on this? All my best to you, keep us posted...

I just read a great article online about bp in children....and the importance of them getting treatment early on....otherwise they will, because of mood swings, etc be set apart from there friends and feel self conscious (my words, but this article described me to a T.) I suffered all my life with this....my words of advise, get them help, fast, the sooner the better...don't wait until things are out of control.