Bipolar the illness that keeps on giving

[Dawn2]

I was told I had bipolar(manic depression) or to give it it's full name Effective Bipolar Distorder about 4-5 yrs ago. After having had a breakdown 3 yrs earlier. BP is a very hard to diagnose,I was told at first that it was aggited depression.
When I was told I had BP I thought great! Then he said you'll be on medication for life!
Living with BP is a living hell as a general rule people with BP dont cope with the unexpected or any form of stress. Will suffer from all most every thing that is discussed in NMP. BP is genrous like that.
Manic's/High's are horrid. You dont sleep very much till sleep becomes a swear word. Your brain just refuses to turn off. All the time you and the people a round you are waiting for it to end wondering how long it'll will to get over it.
The depression side of it is more or less the same as every on else with depression.
I will try and get some sort of control back so I'll self harm or starv myself.
I have been ill since I was 12 yrs old,I'm 42 in June I first tried to kill myself at 14.
Churchill was thought to have had it,einstine as well. Plus Stephen Fry. It is a lonely illness. Like most suffer's I have a tremour and spams and I carnt hold a pen long enough to write. The only thing BP dosnt stop me doing is driving.
But I swear that if some one told me we've found a cure I would be first in line. But at the moment I'll stick to my medication in cluding Lithium. And with the help of my friends/mental health crisis team and mental health unit. I'll get through each day 1 hour at a time if I need be in any way I can
Cheers Dawn

[Dying_Swan]

Hi Dawn.

I don't pretend to know very much about Bipolar disorder but I found your post very interesting...and very sad also

You will get through the hard times...you've gone through a lot of hard times in your life and been very strong. Go easy on yourself and like you said, take each day as it comes.

I wish I could say something to help, but for now I will send you some hugs


Take care of yourself

[sunshine-lady]

Hi Dawn,

As you already know I also have bipolar, I was diagnosed many years ago and like yourself take medication for it. I can totally empathise with how you feel.

Bipolar isn't all bad though. You mentioned a few people who also have this illness, to add to that list there is also Sting, Robin Williams, Florence Nightingale, Russell Brand, Frank Bruno, Mel Gibson,Sinead O'Connor, Axel Rose to name a few. I don't want to bathe in their glory, but would they have become as famous if they didn't experience the extremes of bipolar and the highs that probably gave them the inspiration?

I have accepted that I have bipolar and try not to be hard on myself. Yes I have highs and lows, but try to have back up plans arranged if things go 'tits up'. My hubby takes my credit card off me if I overspend, he will stop me from cleaning etc when I am high. When my mood drops he will clean the house and either cook or get a take away. I also have a lot of support from my mental health team.

It is like any illness, take the pills and make the most of things, don't get me wrong, I would take any 'magic pill' to get rid of it lol. Like you said, take things day by day, hour by hour, but you will eventualy find what works for you.

Take care, feel free to pm me anytime xxxx

[happyone]

Hi there,

I also have BP. I can sympathise a lot with what you are saying. I was diagnosed 3 years ago and am still waitng for the elusive stability. I am going to change to lithium quite soon......a move I am not looking forward to.

What I would like to say though, is that a huge amount of BP'ers have a nice stable life. Sometimes it just takes some time getting there, or waiting for the correct mix of meds.

There is a BP site you might find interesting www.mdf.org.uk They are leading charity for BP in UK and offer a variety of things to the user, including a forum.

It is a journey, a chaotic journey I know, I wish you well on it.

Happyone
xx