Hi Blue Moon & welcome!

I'm so sorry that you have been struggling for so many years without the proper diagnosis, and therefore, without the proper treatment...
And I'm sorry that having your symptoms go unchecked have driven you into bankruptcy. I wish that someone had opened their eyes to what was going on much earlier... they certainly had enough time

My brother told me that my father was recently diagnosed as BP. He's 74 now. But I've known that he was since my early teens. He will not take medication.

I wish that your friend could take you to your hearing, and be there to support you, but it sounds like she has problems of her own. Please explain to the judge right away that you have mental health problems and are unmedicated because you had to go off your meds due to severe side effects. Hopefully, he/she will be gentle with you. Do you take any medication(s) for your anxiety?

Since you are newly diagnosed with BP, I doubt that you have gone through all the mood stabilizers out there already because there are A LOT, including many that are inexpensive or much more affordable. Some of them work a lot better for some people, like me. Your psychiatrist can get creative if you put your foot down and refuse to take the new expensive medications. It is not realistic to expect her to keep giving you samples forever, and those meds are just unaffordable for most people unless they have excellent insurance or financial assistance, which I would look into. Just because a medication isn't new, that doesn't mean it's not effective.

Unfortunately, you may have to kiss a few frogs before you find the med that works best for you. I'm so sorry that you had such severe side effects from Rexulti- that sounds just awful

When do you see your psych doctor again? It sounds like you are suffering right now (((HUGS)))

Again, welcome! I look forward to getting to know you better