Howdy folks

As the title says, I don't know much about BP. I would really appreciate it if you would fill me in. Everyone is welcome to pitch in, or not if you'd rather not

I would like to know what BP is, what the symptoms are, what treatments are available, and what side effects of those treatments may be.

With this information (personal details not needed) I hope to gain a greater understanding of what people with BP are going through.

Hi ZS,
I think it's really great that you are trying to become as knowledgable as possible about this disorder, it's one of those that is very hard to explain and even more to understand.
I doubt that I am one to help the most but since I was just kind of ck'ng things out and saw your question, I thought I would give you what my take has been of BP.
I have never really posted on any BP forums.
As with any illness there is different symptoms and degrees of BP disorder, I have to say I have been very fortunate the last few yrs as I haven't had any major flares either depression or manic.
BP is not always easily dx'ed, at least not so with me it was many, many yrs I was just treated for dep. and not BP, that probably has mostly to do with having always been on the move and not being with one dr for any legnth of time and never seeking care for manic episodes as I really like em, though I didn't know that was what was going on til not to many yrs ago.
Imagine the worlds largest roller coaster with the highest parts being so high up in the clouds and your feeling like the world revolves around and just for you, then imagine falling and falling in to the deepest. darkest pits of hell that no man has come back from so fast you didn't even have time to blink!
Myself I have to say that I never really knew that the ways I was feeling wasn't normal and that everyone didn't have these same feelings as I really can't remember a time of not.
Even though of late I haven't had any major flares I can go from up to down or vise-versa in the blink of an eye and many times in the course of a day.
I hope this helps you to understand some, I'm sure others will give you their veiw and medical terms, I just wanted to say hi and tell you my version of BP and let you know I have been reading many of your post and find you to be a really all right person, thanks for caring..
LindaM(suede)

http://www.bipolarworld.net/Bipolar%.../diagnosis.htm
there are many good links to learn aboutbipolar
BP1 tend to run a bit more manic than bp2 who tend to be on the depressive side more often, Hypomania are the individual symptoms that are triggers for you to pay atention to and can lead you into full blown mania if not careful.
Pychotic, delusional ideation, paranoia, are the extreme out comes of mania, multiple sprending sprees, I bought 2 cars in 3 weeks....have thousands of dollars in debt from spending. Projects get blown over the top. excessive anything can trigger me. when I star something I usally go over board and through myself in then have to bow out when I come down and don't have the energy to continue. lots of folks experience aggitation and anxiety when they have symptoms. When depressed they are at risk for suicide.
Stress is a huge factor in all of this. I find that I do best with a routine...others don't.I will try to find more links for you.
bizi
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/bipolar/

Thank you both for sharing

It looks like I have a lot of reading to do. So please bear with me while I do.

Hi Zombie,
Hello and nice to see you.
Are you also asking what we do here? What are needs are?

I am easily stressed and easily fatigued (not every one manifests the same way). So I complain a lot -- or at least I am now because I just just moved 4 miles away from my old apt of 13 years and the boxes are everywhere and everything is not right yet.

I believe (and someone will correct me if I am wrong) that on our forum we can put up with someone saying something weird/out of character/ rough/ mean occasssionally. Usually in a day or so they come back and explain or delete. I am ok with that.

Mari



I use this site often to check on med info and latests studies.
PsychEducation.org
http://www.psycheducation.org/index.html

Glossary of Bipolar Disorder Terms
http://bipolar.about.com/od/glossary/

Yes I suppose that I am.

So feel free to tell me well basically anything you want.

deleted due to lack of links.....
~sigh
bizi

For me bipolar was swinging almost daily between euphoria - dancing, singing, leaving jobs to go get "lost" and never return, felt like I hadn't a care in the world... or sometimes I'd buy big items- like fancy computer monitors/tvs, or bunkbeds... and it always felt "super". I'd talk a mile a minute about everything yet nothing one day then fall into depression thinking seriously about suicide the next. This went on for YEARS before I was finally correctly diagnosed. Before, I was told I was depressed. I also had vivid visions of maiming people which were VERY scary. Or I'd wander around the neighborhood "un-attached"- floating-like, through the world and everything seemed so much more vivid and dream-like. I would get afraid that I'd do something stupid, so I'd go to my boyfriend's house just to keep myself "grounded"- so I couldn't take off and drive away. Once, I took off to Georgia (I'm in Michigan) and got there in about 10 hours- to visit someone I'd only known online. The swinging moods were extremely EXHAUSTING! I just couldn't take it. The 'happiness" of mania, is not happiness at all- it felt like I was compelled to do things- to run and do SOMETHING ANYTHING! Uncontrolled and separated from reality and judgement. I evern have had sex on the first date w/o protection in the past.

As for treatment, I'm on Celexa - but not sure if they are just weaning me off, or just back to what it was- and just a month ago (when diagnosed) was put on Depakote for the mood swings.

Dear Nathan,
Yes welcome to the world of mood swings...unfortunately you have seen it on extreme ends of the poles. I am sorry..its hard isn't it.
I am taking lamictal as my only bipolar med...it has antidepressant properties as well as mood stabilizing ones.
I also take ambien to sleep at night.
Thankfully this new med for me is working out alright.
My moods have been staying in check....
Glad that you found us and keep posting.
bizi

Hi Zombie Slayer... It is such a great thing for a mod to be getting acquainted with our forum, to want to understand where we (as individuals, even) are coming from.

I am a mild bipolar. I have been on antidepressants most of my adult life - originally for a straight 11 years. It was only 4 years ago that I was recognized as bipolar. It was rough getting going with docs who wanted to tank me up on antipsychotics that turned me into a zombie who gained weight like a steer in a feedlot. But then I changed doctors and found someone who recognizes that patient's feedback is unmatched in learning what works for a particular patient.

I often tweak my meds and have even changed antidepressants. I am doing fantastically for the past two years on Lamictal, an epilepsy drug that makes me less Tigger-bouncy. For one example - where I used to drive more like a teenager, I now am much more careful, less likely to make u-turns in unusual places or pass other cars so closely that we swap bugs caught on the wipers. Stuff like that.

With Wellbutrin (an antidressant), I am not as likely to disappear for days at a time into the escape of sleep and I am starting to move forward in dealing with things. Not things you might imagine - just the things of daily life that regular peole never think twice about. I am still not able to deal with all that I was able to before I was bad enough to go on disability, but I actually believe that I might be able to regain a lot of functionality. It takes a patient therapist able to tolerate slow progress and frequent regressions, able to spend a lot of time just being there for us. Especially for those of use who simply have never had ANYONE who was there for us.

About being on disability. It wasn't the bipolar alone that put me here -- but it may have been an aggravating condition with isolation, severe repeated PTSD over 10years, complicated by CFS/CFIDS, and severe birth-family dysfunction that victimized me. Lots of us have been THERE.

It was common (where many of us come from) to feel that members of this forum were considered "crazy" and "different" - "not one of us". There is a stigma attached to the diagnosis and it is not at all unknown to experience the leper resonse.

Also common is that because we are given to emotional excess and great passion, we can seen (by outsiders) as unreasonable, out of line, disruptive and are, as a consequence, we attract negative reactions from non's.

Some of us are more given to occasional emotional outbursts or even disagreeable behavior and lashing out (usually indiscriminately). This often comes from a perception that they are not liked or rejected. It is like a ultra-sensitivity... But what is not recognized (by outsiders) is that the same person is loved and valued within our community. While we may express displeasure with some of the more exteme behavior, we are always happy to welcome them back, forgiving them totally. Bipolar is a tolerant, accepting and warm loving community.

I do not recall a single time in the past when there were any significant disruptions within the community that lasted more than a few days .. and all died away on their own. The only major disruptons were not within our community, but were in protection of our community from outsiders who did not understand our needs at all, yet gave off-the-mark interpretations, offering half-baked treatments and cures, or who sought to impose their views on us.

We hang together here - for in our real world lives, we often dangle alone.

Bipolars greatly appreciate the type of moderation offered here. No matter how angry or out of line some few of us may sometimes be, we always get over it, creeping back with apologies and, like the prodigal son, are greeted with acceptance and understanding. Bipolar exemplifies the word community.

Complicating the varying presentations of bipolar include the fact that bipolars are not one thing, but an entire spectrum of degrees of impairment, an entire spectrum of giftedness in a myriad of styles, an entire spectrum of mood and responsiveness, an entire specturm from extreme confidence to hiding under the bed. We are all individuals - dramatically so. We can, in no instances, be conveniently pigeonholed.

Also, there are other co-existing conditions that occur more frequently in bipolars than the population as a whole - things like learning difficulties of various kinds, personality disorders of various kinds, and a variety of complicating behaviors that can develop as a consequence of (in SOME, not all, people) living for long periods with bipolar.

Again, thank you for introducing yourself to this community and