bi polar

mandy_moo_1

hi, i think i'm really looking for a shoulder

i was diagnosed with bi polar II about 3mths ago, after years and years of being handed out anti depressants and passed from pillar to post

they've put me on depakote....been taking them for 2mths now, but i honestly think they're making me worse

my psychiatrist has already told me i'm highly unusual as i have highs that last months, then the lows hit, but only last about a week, then i'm back up there on a high again

anyway, since i started taking the depakote, i've been sooo unbelievably down....much worse than my normal downs. i've even tried kicking my son out and my hubby, even tho i KNOW they hadnt done anything wrong, and i just cant stop crying, no enthusiasm for even getting up, let alone doing anything

i asked my CPN last week and she said its load of rubbish that its the tablets making me feel like this, but i know my own body!

so i started to wean myself off them last week, and i've been off them 5 days now, and i'm getting back to my old self thank god

but how do i broach it with my CPN or psych? they just patronise me and tell me i HAVE to take meds......but who's to say its wrong to be on a HIGH all the time?

i've never done anything really bad when on a high ie spending loads or getting us in debt.the worst thing i do is i cant sleep, so i get up at 2/3am to hoover, or bake,or sew.....i have been known to start baking tho, forget about it and go and do something else, only for the flippin oven to be on fire!

do i have the right to say i dnt want meds, i would just prefer the therapy they're offering me? i DO have other problems they're addressing with therapy....i have severe anxiety, agoraphobia, OCD and social phobia, but i just feel like they're taking over my life, when i was perfectly happy before

can they MAKE me take meds, just because i'm in the mania phase so much? when i felt really down just a few days ago i convinced myself they're going to section me and force me to take them, but they cant do that can they?

waffling now.....sorry

GlynD

mandy_moo_1 wrote: »

hi, i think i'm really looking for a shoulder

i was diagnosed with bi polar II about 3mths ago, after years and years of being handed out anti depressants and passed from pillar to post

they've put me on depakote....been taking them for 2mths now, but i honestly think they're making me worse

my psychiatrist has already told me i'm highly unusual as i have highs that last months, then the lows hit, but only last about a week, then i'm back up there on a high again

anyway, since i started taking the depakote, i've been sooo unbelievably down....much worse than my normal downs. i've even tried kicking my son out and my hubby, even tho i KNOW they hadnt done anything wrong, and i just cant stop crying, no enthusiasm for even getting up, let alone doing anything

i asked my CPN last week and she said its load of rubbish that its the tablets making me feel like this, but i know my own body!

so i started to wean myself off them last week, and i've been off them 5 days now, and i'm getting back to my old self thank god

but how do i broach it with my CPN or psych? they just patronise me and tell me i HAVE to take meds......but who's to say its wrong to be on a HIGH all the time?

i've never done anything really bad when on a high ie spending loads or getting us in debt.the worst thing i do is i cant sleep, so i get up at 2/3am to hoover, or bake,or sew.....i have been known to start baking tho, forget about it and go and do something else, only for the flippin oven to be on fire!

do i have the right to say i dnt want meds, i would just prefer the therapy they're offering me? i DO have other problems they're addressing with therapy....i have severe anxiety, agoraphobia, OCD and social phobia, but i just feel like they're taking over my life, when i was perfectly happy before

can they MAKE me take meds, just because i'm in the mania phase so much? when i felt really down just a few days ago i convinced myself they're going to section me and force me to take them, but they cant do that can they?

waffling now.....sorry

No you can't be sectioned unless you show you are not coping at all. I'd ask for a referral back to the psych unit because if Depakote isn't working then you need to try a different chemical intervention. There are many but it is a lottery trying to settle on the right one sometimes and I think you're right to insist that you change.

I know this illness and I feel for you because the mania is terrible to cope with, as are the downs. As you know there are many side effects too.

CountryGuy

Yes they can section you if they think you could be a danger to yourself or others. At the moment it is taking all my energy to prove I am coping and convincing them I do not need to be hospitalised. Basically I have been pushed into a very tight corner to not discuss any of my feelings with anyone in the hope it keeps me out of hospital.

No they can't make you take your meds but be prepared for them to make a decision to section you.

Ask for a different medication.

mandy_moo_1

thanks guys....saw my CPN this morning and she's going to speak to my psych this afternoon about trying a different medication

hope you manage to get the help you need countryguy xx

dmg24

mandy_moo_1 wrote: »

thanks guys....saw my CPN this morning and she's going to speak to my psych this afternoon about trying a different medication

hope you manage to get the help you need countryguy xx

Just to make you aware that you do not have to take any medication if you do not want to. There is certainly a role for meds in managing bipolar, but it is not the answer for everyone.

If you don't feel that your psychiatrist is helping, you can ask to see another one.

Is your GP supportive? It might be worth discussing it with him - mine knows how hit and miss psych services can be, so is quite used to me having a good moan at him about them!

CountryGuy

mandy_moo_1 wrote: »

can they MAKE me take meds, just because i'm in the mania phase so much? when i felt really down just a few days ago i convinced myself they're going to section me and force me to take them, but they cant do that can they?

England and Wales

The Mental Health Act of 1983 provides special legal provision for those people with a mental disorder who are a danger to themselves or others, and who refuse to accept treatment that they require.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/medical-conditions/mental-health-act.shtml

mandy_moo_1

dmg24 wrote: »

Is your GP supportive? It might be worth discussing it with him - mine knows how hit and miss psych services can be, so is quite used to me having a good moan at him about them!

my GP has been giving me antidepressants for about the last 15yrs, and when i told him they werent working, he would just up the dose :eek: it was me that asked for outside help, thats how come i've been referred to a psych and CPN. they cant believe that my GP didnt recognise the symptoms that i was telling him about.

he'd just make jokes about it....ie when i said i have boundless energy and i'm hoovering in the middle of the night or ironing, he asked if i could come round and do his as his wife hated doing it....i'm even aware that i can talk really fast and trip over my words which i have since found is one of the symptoms...he just said blimey you could talk the hind leg off a donkey....and with my agoraphobia, he said if it gives me panic attacks then just dnt bother going out, let my family do the shopping.....

considering this is the GP i've been using for about 30 yrs now...no, i dnt think he IS supportive

the way i see things, i've been this way for years, and now someone's put a name to it, they want to run my life and tell me what i should and shouldnt be feeling and if i'm no real major risk to myself or my family, why CAN'T i be "up there" most of the time??