bipolar girlfriend off sex? worried.

[notsohappy]

hi, this is my first post, not sure if its in the right place, my girlfriend in her 40s has bipolar, ive been with her over a year and can tell by her behaviour, staying up all night cooking etc, manic behaviour, hyperactive without much sleep.
when we got together we were sexualy active on a regular basis, like you do when you first start out, but in the last 4-6 month she says she off it and we only make love maybe once every 2-3 weeks. I read that bipolar sufferers have a higher sex drive but she seems the opposite, im worried she is getting her kicks elsewhere but have no solid proof and we are together most of the time. its making me very anxious worrying about it and now im paranoid shes cheating. could anyone explain if they have bipolar but decresed sex drive, by the way she is on anti depressants which i know can affect it but then again she has the hypermania quite often? please help. many thanks

[littleredhen]

Hi - welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will get lots of advice here and - may I say - you gf is lucky that you are taking such an understanding interest.

Is she cycling on a high or a low at the moment? If she's on a low and you are managing once every 2-3 weeks, then that's good going I would say!! (sorry to say!).

Also, even if she is on a high, she may well have the energy for all the manic stuff, but not not have the emotional energy for sex, let alone getting her kicks elsewhere. it would seem she has not reason to. Try not to worry - anxiety can be catching, so look after yourself too. In my experience, BP sufferers do not make good liars because when we are cycling we are INVICIBLE (lol!) so have no reason to lie!

Most anti-depressants I know of suppress sex-drive - so check the leaflets for side-effects and discuss it with her. The meds for BP definitely level you out, so she may have no feelings whatsoever at the moment. That's the way it gets me.

However, I've never particularly heard of bi-polar suffers having higher than average sex drive.

[fred_h]

Mania may be associated with a higher sex drive but it's not necessarily the case. Also if she's really bipolar it's quite weird she's on AD... non wonder she has "hypermania" quite often.

[notsohappy]

hi thanks for your kind replies,
she has been on the hypermania episode for a while, she stays up for hours with no sleep, she is constantly cleaning and keeping busy, she was given meds when she felt low and slept alot and now shes the opposite.
i have noticed shes not as hyper as usual.
she says she loves me and im very supporting to her but when we go to bed it feels like im alone. she hardly kissses me or cuddles me and i have learnt to keep a distance when she is like that so i dont anoy her.
she always dresses nice and gets alot of compliments and because she is so outgoing she will talk to anyone. i was worried something was up because when we first got together we made love regulary and she was always flirting with me etc but it seems to have stopped, i was just worried because i read about the hypersexual thing with bipolar people and worried that shes not like that with me so it could be with someone else.
at the moment she is slowly slowing down and resting more so i worry about a low mood coming on. i have tried to research bipolar so i can understand her more as i want to be able to give her the best support.
many thanks for your advice.

[magt]

I am bipolar and my medication effects my sex drive. I used to have a high sex drive but my medications and cycles of depression make sex the last thing on my mind.

---------- Post added at 20:56 ---------- Previous post was at 20:52 ----------

I am bipolar and my meds and cycles of depression effect my sex drive. I used to have a high sex drive but it is the last thing on my mind because of my meds. Keep that in mind.