Bipolar 101 -- Answers to basic questions

No, it doesn't sound like bipolar but I would consider borderline personality disorder.

I've considered BPD in the past, but I don't have most of the symptoms. Most of my relationships are pretty stable, and I don't usually flip out like that. It only really happens when I get in a more driven/uppity state, and I become increasingly irritable. And it just started recently...that's another thing that threw me off.

But anyway, I digress. I should get some sleep.

Hi I just wanted to ask. Has anyone been really up and happy full of life start to come down your mind starts to ease and quiet down some but then you start thinking about everything you're not and should be. You get sad but at the same time you have energy. Just feelings with the opposite also contributing? I've been paying much more attention to my mood since going on medication so I'm not totally sure if this is normal for me or I should be worried. Then again I thought I just had.ptsd lol surrrprise =S. Anyway I just wanted to know if this is normal or if I should be worried.

Hi, it sounds like you might be having a mixed episode. I do not know how long you have been on your current medication, but it may need to be tweeked. I would call you psychiatrist and ask your doctor about it. You should be aware of your moods, it is very important to keep track of them and let your doctor know how you are feeling. I downloaded a great free mood tracking software for my desktop, also available for phone. It is called Optimism. Check any search engine, it will help you, you can chart your moods, keep a journal and even print out your mood chart for your doctor and therapist to try to find patterns to keep yourself aware of how you are feeling. It has helped me immensely. I hope you feel better soon.

Bipolar can be genetic, it can also happen for no reason. I do not know about ADHD or not. Just because you are bipolar does not mean that other membersof your family will get it. My mom suffers from depression, is not on meds, my sister had post-partum depression and was on meds, not sure if she is or not, my dad has panic disorder, as do I and my brother and sister do like-wise. I have Bipolar NOS- non specified-not bipolar 1, and not enough symptoms to be Bipolar 2, but I have been manic, hypo-manic and suffer from bipolar depression from time to time. Being on meds keeps me from being manic or hypo-manic. You may want to talk to your doctor about adjusting your medicatios if you are experiencing mania, your meds may need to be tweeked.

Hi sweetie,

I am so sorry your husband is treating you so poorly. Why won't your husband go on medication? Bipolar Disorder is a serious major medical illness and needs to be treated like Diabetes or Heart Disease is treated--With both Diet and Medication. Bipolar Disorder is Serious, there is a potential for suicide if not treated properly. I would do some research on the internet, read all about Bipolar and have your husband read about it too! Medications will straighten out his moods and help him feel less irritated and abusive to you. It is a mood disorder and is not a character flaw and admitting that you need help to change the way you feel is the 1st start. If he loves you and is truly sorry for the way he is treating you, tell him you want him to get help and go with him to the psychiatrist's office. I have had Bipolar Disorder since I was a child. A serious medical illness gave it to me, I had viral encephalitis as a child, (similar to meneghitis) and the brain damage left me with Bipolar Disorder at the age of 2-1/2). I was not officially dx with Bipolar until 2002 by my pdoc and have been on medication ever since. I do have mood shifts now and then but for the most part I am pretty stable and am finally happy. I feel balanced and stable and normal with my meds and fish oil. If things are really bad you might want to call your pastor or a psychiatrist/psychologiost or social worker to see what would be the best way for your husband to get the help he needs. You always have the opportunity to call 911 and have him committed. My husband did that for me when I had an adverse reaction to prednisone and it helped me a great deal to be in a safe place.

Going on medications is not admitting you have a character flaw but is admitting that you need help and will be a much happier person because of it, and your husband once stable will no longer be verbally abusive towards you.
Your hubby has a serious disease, he cannot help it and until he does see a doctor/(psychiatrist) he will most likely continue to be abusive and very irritable towards you. I hope you will consider seeing a mental health professional and talk things over if you feel you are at the end of your rope.

eh. Meds do not cure abuse. Unmedicated abuser once he gets on meds becomes... a medicated abuser.

and please do not excuse abusers as "cannot help it". Yes, they can. It's not a "disease" that makes one abusive... being abuser IS a character flaw, plain and simple.

Many bipolars are pretty damn nice people, even if our meds don't work (or if we aren't medicated). Snapping once in a while is human characteristic. If it's constant thing, it's a different matter.

Having ADHD does not "predispose" someone to developing Bipolar, but they mania part of bipolar can sometimes be misdiagnosed as ADHD. Try going to the Bipolar definition on this web site and it will describe the symptoms. I have done a lot of online research and read books on it since I was diagnosed about 10 years ago. Good luck!

I neeeed help! Its an extremely long story but i think i have bipolar disorder. i cant be diagnosed by a doctor because my mum has a mental illness (has attempted suicide) meaning that i would be put into a children's home if they found anything severe. I dont know what to do, my condition is getting worse and i cant cope. Im fifteen and have been traumatised by past life events.

Why would you be put into a children's home if you have a mental illness too? It's common for them to run in families...

But, either way, if you feel that going to a doctor is out of the question... then I guess the best thing to do would be to try to find resources to help you learn to manage your behaviour.

What makes you think you might have bipolar? We can't diagnose you at all here, but we can always try to give suggestions on how to manage specific behaviours.

I would still recommend going to talk to someone though. You could still try to talk to a therapist or even a school counsellor?

I suffrer from hypo mania and panic attack i was an extacy user for a year i did it like every week because i had a deep depression and insecurities even thought everyone see me as a fun and confident person i had issues in my mind anyway one day i mixed it with antidepressants i dont why i just wanted to feel more good than than the extacy effect didnt go away forever i felt warm happy i felt it in my veins big eye pupils it had been 1 week like this you cant imagine how good and terrible it was both and then i have done check up every blood test but nothing seem to be wrong with my body im still feeling tipsy very stupid and happy and panicking all at the same through all this anyway my doctor advised to put me in a mental hospital but i realy didnt want to so im just using ativan and diazem for my panic attacks they realy cool me down but i feel weirdly confident and i can swear it feels like a drug in my blood when i go to club or do something exciting my heart beats realy fast like 120 per minute my eye pupils get big i feel warm happy i cant feel my face sometimes and my eye color has changed its not me saying it its everyone lol it was dark brown its turning into green when imhaving these hypomania attacks i cant hear a thing my vision gets blurry and lots of other things i realy dont know what to do it has passed a month like this its weird as hell...

Did you know you get a aid payment from the state for the bipolar condition

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My double diagnosis of Bipolar II and BPD has made my life miserable since I was a pre-teen. Job and personal relationship instability. People do not react to me well, and then I get to a point where I no longer want to be in the presence of others because I feel they will probably reject me anyway. This is probably just an aberration of the mental illness -- I hate those words, "mental illness," but I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that I am, indeed, mentally ill and need help. Although on medication (which helps some) going to psychotherapy I fight tooth and nail, because who wants to reveal their most shameful acts to another in order to face these things? Why my wife has stayed with me all these years is a mystery, but I'm sure glad she did.

You're not crazy...but I know it can feel like it sometimes. When I get manic now the good feeling lasts only a short time and then I too feel very irritable cranky...so I feel your pain. It's a horrible place to be in. Has your doc given you any AP to help bring you down from.the mania? I have olanzapine that I use as a PRN in this type of situation. All the best to you.

What do you do when the idiot agency you deal with cuts off your meds.....Yes I was a fee patient...no insurance, no job...
was getting lithium and effexor and kpins....
The Meds person was a PA and not a MD. She would not consult the MD.
It was RHA/Phoenix in NC and because I was transferring from another agency that closed, she said you were off the Kpins for X weeks so I am not ever ever going to give you these again. I guess she might have said I was cured(LOL).
Also they have a substance abuse/DUI business that brings in the big bucks, thus everyone is "a druggie" and everyone must stop any meds that MIGHT be addictive(but are required for panic attacks)

Any navy yards around here?(JK) Don't people know not to mess with mental health people's meds? Unreal!!!!

In a panic cause I had a breakdown dream with some of the players from my original breakdown from 07.....UGGG

Rod B in NC (feel free to email me suggestions)

I was wondering how to search the forum for topics of interest?

There is a search tab on the blue bar near the top of the page. Should direct you to a search feature.

All of this information is very helpful, it is going to take me a while to get through it….

I have to add to the verbally abusive husband with untreated BP. First, men much more than women see mental illness as weakness. And therefore seeking help and treating his illness is resisted as seeking help only makes them feel more weak because they feel they can't do it on their own. People who feel this way, say to themselves "I can handle this", "I don't need some shrink giving me a bunch of pills" ..etc and it sound to me that your hubby feel like this as well. I must add that I disagree with the comment regarding medication not helping abuse. I disagree, your right that if a person is indeed an abuser, they will continue being an abuser, but anger, hostility and aggressiveness to hand in hand with BP. Until I found the right meds for me I was constantly verbally abusive, hostile and darn right nasty..almost all the time. So, if your inappropriate behaviors are caused by the illness which I am sure of, then treatment with meds & therapy will lower his aggressive and hostile behavior. Mine got better. I had a lot of soul searching to do also and that helped as much as if not more than the meds regarding resentments I had carried for years, which were exacerbated by my illness. And though I was behaving abusively, it was purely a symptom of my illness and not a personality trait.
Back to your husband thou (sorry I am jumping around here and not using names, but just joined last night and using the phone app which offers fewer options when replying) like I stated above I was hostile and it was all due to the BP which I hadn't yet found the right meds for me, therefore were not relieving me of my irrational anger. He probably doesn't realize he's behaving badly in the moment, I just hits you like a 16 wheeler, and there doesn't even need to have a reason to show itself. I could sit all by myself in my favorite chair and out of nowhere, bam, I was PO'ed....then I'd get irritated that I was irritated...it sound insane because it is! but do you research, learn all you can about BP, it's a spectrum disorder which means it has varying degrees of severity. One person with BP can live a normal life, another with a more severe form of BP may be incapable of just keeping up with daily chores let alone holding down a job! Learning what he's experiencing will help you see that this is not about you, if it wasn't you it would be someone else. You're just handy...and even people w/o mental illness take things out on the ones they love....so, your really getting nailed. There is a wealth of information out there & here! You should read about his illness, being a spouse of a BP, convincing a loved one to get help and so on. He needs help and you need to get that across to him, pick a time when he's relatively calm & approach him with understanding and as much kindness as you can muster. Berating him or judging will make him hostile and more rebellious about accepting that he is sick and needs help. Sending you hugs, love and prayers.

Much love, Diane

How do I know when my medication is working and its not my HAPPY moment of my BP2?

ME TOO! i just found out im BP2 and im 28

I looking for answers about bipolar it get bad sometime I like to have and friend to chat with

Well, once you get diagnosed with something, you will be better able to handle it because you will know what you're actually fighting against. Plus they will probably want you on medication and maybe see a counselor as well. Bipolar is so unpredictable and it has to be treated.

I am wondering about this also...started lamictal two weeks ago and felt like it helped a little immediately but now I am not feeling so hot again...doctor says it takes 6 weeks to reach therapeutic dose and what I felt at first is probably placebo affect which kind of made me feel crazier when she said that. now I am wondering if I was just in an "up" phase? one of my biggest symptoms of my depression is fatigue and that disappeared almost completely within maybe three days of starting the lamictal so I don't think that part is in my head.

Hi all, hope your all ok ? I'll be brief, is it common for people with bipolar to experience complete and utter memory loss ?
I don't mean the occasional missed appointment or forget to do basic things, I'm talking about not recalling the past 3/4 days. I've absolutely no idea where I've been or what I've done what I do know is I've emptied my bank account and that's it. Really need some professional advice before it happens again

Thanks Brian