Bipolar support thread

aless02

Hi all, nervously jumping in here. My husband is newly-diagnosed with bipolar (probably II, with rapid cycling) and just started Seroquel. He's had signs/symptoms on and off for several years, with a marked decrease in mental health in the past year leading him to seek help and get a referral to our CMHT. He's gone through a pretty bad patch lately, likely brought on by lorazapam abuse and now withdrawal (ADs were given by the GP and the psych has taken him off them). He doesn't like forums, so I'm hoping to follow this thread to help give him info about the experiences of others.

He struggles the most with work as it's a fairly stressful job (sales), but we live paycheck to paycheck at the moment and can't afford for him to look for something else . That's the part I struggle with, because I wish I could give him the freedom to help improve his mental health.

Ralphy101

aless02 wrote: »

Hi all, nervously jumping in here. My husband is newly-diagnosed with bipolar (probably II, with rapid cycling) and just started Seroquel. He's had signs/symptoms on and off for several years, with a marked decrease in mental health in the past year leading him to seek help and get a referral to our CMHT. He's gone through a pretty bad patch lately, likely brought on by lorazapam abuse and now withdrawal (ADs were given by the GP and the psych has taken him off them). He doesn't like forums, so I'm hoping to follow this thread to help give him info about the experiences of others.

He struggles the most with work as it's a fairly stressful job (sales), but we live paycheck to paycheck at the moment and can't afford for him to look for something else . That's the part I struggle with, because I wish I could give him the freedom to help improve his mental health.

Hiya and welcome - I am too a rapid cycler bipolar 2.

It's a tough illness to treat and to get your head around - because people exhibit problems differently as with any mental illness.

If I could offer you one single advice , is to keep a mood diary . Since being diagnosed I have kept one a everyday I score my mood 1-10 , some days I forget - only natural! However it has given me a brilliant insight to my shifts. Get all thus scores and graph them using a line graph and I'm sure you'll find a pattern- mine us pretty much like a heart beat echo ... Up for 3 days , down for 3 days. If you can add notes to mi, this may give u triggers!

Stress is a major trigger for me , it's a bit of a viscious circle though - as when manic I spend spend spend, then come down, to a low , then realise how much debt I've accused panic and worry and then I'm back up again !

There's plenty of books out there - go on amazon and type bi polar , you can buy 2nd ones for next to nothing.

Just be there for your hubby , there'll be times when you simpley can't understand why he's high or why he's low , but realise it's not him it's the illness. Keep posting on here too- this thread is fantastic for support , advice etc.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Hi, all.

First thing about this thread is thanks to Trialia for a) getting me over here and b) the heads up about carbamazepine - that's an absolute no-no for me now I know about the auditory distortion. I'm not compromising on my music for anything.


New to this thread - have been diagnosed as having bipolar for 5 years, following a three week off-licence prescription of 10mg amitriptyline for pain relief that sent me bouncing off the walls for 18 months. Because of the side effects of meds (tremors, hair loss, flares in rheumatoid arthritis, etc), I was told within 6 months that I would just have to manage unmedicated (at which point they pretty much pushed me out the door and off their books), which I have sort of done.

Anyway, just been confirmed I have my first major depressive episode going on, thanks to the boyfriend escorting me into the doctor's and coming in with me - when the GP nipped out of the office to speak to one of the more senior doctors, I had already planned an escape route in case she came back with 3 of them, including the giant doctor that plays rugby

I'll try not to ramble when I stick my head round the door (but can't guarantee that I won't!), but at the moment I'm feeling pretty weirded out by things, as depression is a whole new thing for me.

Used to work in clinic admin for mental health services in a neighbouring borough, which doesn't help a great deal - although it means I know what not to say to avoid being placed on a 28 day wonder. Pretty much baffled as to what help is out there - for example, what CPNs or SWs can do.


Ugh. Enough sharing. I'll be about.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

www.moodscope.com is a decent website for plotting mood changes.

Although it's not ideal for bipolar, as it's more suited to depression anxiety, it does help track the changes. The creators are working on making it more suitable for bipolar people.

It is very easy & straight forward, you just need to ignore the feedback that it offers. You can also add notes which may be a help in understanding triggers, but so far I have just concentrated on the basic graph.

I too am very unwell at the moment. Going through a pretty bad depressive phase. Probs could do with a hospital stay, but I need peace not people kicking off.

System

Has anyone else here been to a MDF support group (or similar) I have the chance to go to on this week and just wondered if anyone had any experiences of it and could tell me what to expect?

sarah*a

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

Has anyone else here been to a MDF support group (or similar) I have the chance to go to on this week and just wondered if anyone had any experiences of it and could tell me what to expect?

I go to one each month (or should do - I've missed a couple recently ).

Mine - when I started going - was very good. We used to go round the group and if anyone wanted to talk about how they'd been since the last meeting, any problems they'd had etc - It was kind of like how I expect an AA meeting is - no-one judges you for saying 'i couldn't get out of bed for a week and didn't brush my teeth for 3 days because I felt so low' - as they've all been there too in some shape or form.

It was good too - once they got to know you - as they could detect changes in you early - say a member is usually very quiet and came in very chatty then others were aware they were probably heading to a manic phase and could keep an eye on them.

Mine was NHS run and we used to get experts in to answer questions - one month it would be the pharmacist to explain any med questions and another week it would be a psychologist.

It's changed a bit now and is becoming user-led - which I'm not happy about (hence the missing of meetings) and they are trying to get us to do 'projects' (a newletter etc) but no-one's really interested and so attendance is dropping fairly rapidly :mad:

I'd say go - check it out and if you don't like it at least you've tried

satankidneypie

Great thread, im gonna have a read through. Im a carer (not full time, but when I can) for a friend with Type II.

mandy_moo_1

hi, i've been reading through this thread as i am currently waiting for a referral to come thru to see someone about being possible bi polar

i've suffered with depression, severe anxiety, OCD and agoraphobia/social phobia for about 12 years now

saw my GP last thursday and after a good long chat, he's decided to refer me, as he thinks i've also got bi polar

i feel like everythings caving in on me, and its just ANOTHER thing thats wrong with me

my poor hubby has put up with so much over the years and i feel awful for always burdening him

anyway.....what i wanted to ask was....i already recieve LRM and LRC for my "problems", and after reading loads on here, i'm wondering about re-applying, as my hubby looks after me full time but isnt entitled to carers allowance, as i'm only on the low rates

so....should i reapply now or do i wait for the assessment to be done? i'm not sure how long it takes for that to happen....GP said it could be a few mths

has anyone else been in a similar situation? i can only deal with thinking about things like this when i'm on a "good" day.....and todays one of those thank god! been up since 4am and my house is positively gleaming lol!! and i'm stil going strong! doesnt exactly help when i get so called friends saying oh come and do my house when you're in a manic mood tho!!

thanks for reading and sorry for waffling xx

satankidneypie

mandy_moo_1 wrote: »

hi, i've been reading through this thread as i am currently waiting for a referral to come thru to see someone about being possible bi polar

i've suffered with depression, severe anxiety, OCD and agoraphobia/social phobia for about 12 years now

saw my GP last thursday and after a good long chat, he's decided to refer me, as he thinks i've also got bi polar

i feel like everythings caving in on me, and its just ANOTHER thing thats wrong with me

my poor hubby has put up with so much over the years and i feel awful for always burdening him

anyway.....what i wanted to ask was....i already recieve LRM and LRC for my "problems", and after reading loads on here, i'm wondering about re-applying, as my hubby looks after me full time but isnt entitled to carers allowance, as i'm only on the low rates

so....should i reapply now or do i wait for the assessment to be done? i'm not sure how long it takes for that to happen....GP said it could be a few mths

has anyone else been in a similar situation? i can only deal with thinking about things like this when i'm on a "good" day.....and todays one of those thank god! been up since 4am and my house is positively gleaming lol!! and i'm stil going strong! doesnt exactly help when i get so called friends saying oh come and do my house when you're in a manic mood tho!!

thanks for reading and sorry for waffling xx

Id wait until after you get a diagnosis (if you get a diagnosis that indicates bipolar). My friend got incapacity benefit prior to being diagnosed but was knocked back for DLA twice.

My friend got high rate care and low rate mobility, now they have a diagnosis. But I suppose it depends what your needs are.

Valerie84

DLA and Incapacity I think can help if probs have been around for long time.i honestly would wait for an assessment. I am unsure what else you would be entitled to. But with things like the OCD and agarophobia/social phobia- I think u kinda got to fight it and just put urself back into the game. I was outta work for a while and I really think that knocked me back. Things like meds can prob help to an extent with depression, but sometimes if there are other things thrown into the equation- u kinda wanna know when ur managing ur mind on ur own. Maybe the wait that ur GP mentioned would be good in a way for u to work to help urself in any way you can.

It's all too easy to go get into very focused tasks, that become obsessive.Try telling urself you will only allocate so much time to a certain task, or just however long that task takes. E.g u will only do half a pile of irnoing..yes even supposing there's still a whole heap left. You can break it down .(I been finding this too, as have started to kinda stop going out- ironically a moneysaver- but it's not worth even that either.)

Also to remember- I am not belittling these issues at all, but they are the kind of things people have more control over, than if they had a physical disability for example. Try thinking of it as "capability" rather than "inability". I bet you have heard this so often, but in my exp it does sometimes work. Have had this sudden hit of social anxeity- something I only had about 6 years ago, and I when I was out of a job that I hated (and a bad relationship!) , it got better.
So am hoping the breaking out of this episode will be much easier, since I not got that holding me back. Remember, if and when u get a diagnosis, it's not the be all and end all. I understand 12 years is a long time, but taking it (almost like a 12 step programme), just working on each area , gradually over time things may come together. Even heading out of that "cave" you were talking about.


I am sure your not seen as a burden, but make sure you can share with your husband the steps you are taking, will help him as well as urself. I hope some of this helps. I am with you on the social phobia side, so I do understand. wish you the best.