Bipolar support thread

Trialia

I'm in hydrotherapy for my physical disability and, given I'm in recovery from bulimia, I don't want to know my weight, but I do seem to be getting trimmer from the hydro.

My GP says I'm handling being unmedicated quite well, considering how rapidly I cycle (makes it impossible to even give me mood stabilisers, really, in combination with the physical issues). But what I'm really tired of is the headaches when I get angry...

samasina

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

How do people manage their weight?

I'm currently taking Seroquel & am expecting more meds to be added in the next few months. Unfortunatly, I'm over weight & am concerned about further weight gain. I am a full vegeterian.

While taking mood stabilisers/ anti psychotics, the only way to combat associated weight gain is to exercise -initially at a level you can manage and try to increase the amount you do gradually. It's difficult for many people when they first start treatment as these drugs can be very sedating but this usually clears within a few weeks.
I've known people who have made sure they have a walk everyday and others who've bought 2nd hand exercise bikes to use indoors..anything that gets your heart rate up.

The problem with them is that they essentially 'switch off' the part of your brain that lets you know you're full. So unless someone already has a an optimal weight/ good diet, it's difficult to resist healthier foods/ quantities.

A slight ramble but hope it helps in some way

whispywillow

Hi there

Glad i have found this section of the forum, its nice to read the stories and know that other people are sharing similar things to what i'm going through! I was recently diagnosed with bi-polar (about 6 months ago) and i also have borderline personality disorder (with much too'ing and fro'ing from my pdoc cos he was trying to explain away my symptoms to just one or the other but eventually he had to give up and i got lumped with the two!!)
I've been prescribed depakote, but have a lot of trouble taking the tablets as i always forget. I'll have them for a couple of days and be really good, then i'll forget one day and it just snowballs and pretty soon it'll be 2 months later, im on a massive downer, and i'll remember that i have these pills and start taking them! Ugh. I need one of those pill boxes made for dementia patients where its attatched to an alarm - there's a gap in the market for people like me and alarmed pill boxes!!

Doesn anyone else ever find that days just run into each other and pretty soon weeks have gone by without even noticing it? I get that all the time. Especially when it comes to getting a new prescription!

But anyway i ramble, as a type 2 bipolar i'd like to say helloo

samasina

whispywillow wrote: »

Hi there

Glad i have found this section of the forum, its nice to read the stories and know that other people are sharing similar things to what i'm going through! I was recently diagnosed with bi-polar (about 6 months ago) and i also have borderline personality disorder (with much too'ing and fro'ing from my pdoc cos he was trying to explain away my symptoms to just one or the other but eventually he had to give up and i got lumped with the two!!)
I've been prescribed depakote, but have a lot of trouble taking the tablets as i always forget. I'll have them for a couple of days and be really good, then i'll forget one day and it just snowballs and pretty soon it'll be 2 months later, im on a massive downer, and i'll remember that i have these pills and start taking them! Ugh. I need one of those pill boxes made for dementia patients where its attatched to an alarm - there's a gap in the market for people like me and alarmed pill boxes!!

Doesn anyone else ever find that days just run into each other and pretty soon weeks have gone by without even noticing it? I get that all the time. Especially when it comes to getting a new prescription!

But anyway i ramble, as a type 2 bipolar i'd like to say helloo

Can't comment on the feeling that days are running into one another but have you got a mobile with an alarm you can set for every day at the times you need to take your meds?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

My OH is my warning sign. He tells me when I need to take my meds, or like you, I would forget & realise when it was too late.

starnight_2

I have an alarm on my mobile I use, and family and friends who constantly remind me (in a nice way lol, as in are you ok? So still taking your meds? etc)

System

I frequently feel my days run into each other and before i know it weeks have gone by. I have a pill box but i still have a habit of forgetting my morning meds!

snookey

I feel really fuzzy headed today. Not depressed but not happy. Its a really strange feeling. Everything feels like an up hill struggle and too much to do. Anyone else feel like this.

System

onefortheroad wrote: »

i forget my morning meds a lot of the time as well

It also doesn't help that i'm rarely up by "morning"

snookey- i think i know what you mean, i get it sometimes, i usually feel a bit "out of it" of that makes sense.

quick question of my own: was anyone else diagnosed with something else before getting their bipolar diagnosis? i only ask as for the past 2 years i was told i had depression/BPD but recently have been told (haviung seen me when manic) its bipolar instead. It feels weird adjusting to this "new" diagnosis

snookey

Hi I was told that it was bipolar then recurrent depressive disorder. Im going with the bipolar as is my gp. A senior psychiatrist made the diagnosies of bi polar and was the only one who sat and listened to me properly. He also said that my reaction to anti depressents was a manic episode and not agitated depression as a cpn had said.