Hi @Klutz @Meowmy @Former-Member @Shaz51 @Olga @Bunniekins @HenryX @SJT63 , @Appleblossom , @Olga , @Dimity , @Mazarita , and anyone else in this discussion. Very sorry I've had a hectic 10 days interviewing and trialling new support workers with a couple of significant dramas along the way, so I haven't been able to keep up with this discussion. As well as adjusting the loss of a support worker I had for 2 years and really had an excellent relationship with. One of the people I interviewed actually threw her hands in the air, laughing, and said "Bipolar - you can keep that!" I've done a formal incident report about that and also another one about another person I had a disastrous first outing with. Thank goodness it was a buddy shift and my long-time support worker was also with us. Long story about what happened that I'm not up to telling here. I've never ever had to do an incident report about a support worker before and it's a real shame to have to do two in one week.
Lots of pages to read back on here and I would like to do that and try to respond individually, but don't have time just at the moment. Will try early tomorrow morning if I'm up to it but then busy again all week til probably next Saturday. Just barely keeping up with offline life and closely monitoring to avoid being triggered into hypomania (at least).
This is such a valuable thread and I thank all those who are involved. I'm sure I've missed tagging some people but this is for all of you. And thanks for the tags here and there too. This subject is close to my heart. I wasn't diagnosed til age 46 (now 57) but with hindsight I can see I've probably had bipolar 1 since in my teens.
For me as I now understand it the reason a diagnosis of major depression for so many years was because I only presented to Drs for treatment when I was seriously depressed. When I was flying I loved it and never saw it as a disorder, tho' my family thought for many years I at least had personality disorders. So consequently I was only prescribed antidepressants for over 20 years, which have (all types) now been proven to trigger me into mania, as is the case for many (not all) with bipolar.
And with the 'flying' times (hypomania and mania and sometimes full psychosis) I would have mad adventures, but also take many extreme risks and suffer or cause major consequences, particularly for my child, but also for myself and others. Plus over spending benders, hyper-sexuality, etc etc.
For me sleep is still a major issue and most nights I have 5-7 short sleeps to get through the night. Despite using all the 'sleep hygeine' guidelines and being on a cocktail of meds, 3 of which are meant to help with sleep. It seems that nothing changes this long-time problem. So as I've seen with others here, if I have 3 or more nights with only a few or less hours of sleep it's pretty much guaranteed to accelerate me. It takes great discipline to keep going back to bed after a few periods of wakefulness every night, and I don't let myself use blue screens between 10pm and 6am, have a regular bed time etc etc.
I should add that my commitment is to being compliant with meds prescribed these days as I've been relatively stable with the bipolar for 3 1/2 years now and as my psychiatrist says, "If it ain't broke don't fix it" but yes, there are side effects which I also try to manage with other supplements (thank goodness for psyllium powder!) Weight control is the hardest.
There are many other triggers and as I have complex and chronic PTSD also, there are times when the two conditions spark each other off to escalate or freeze me. Lately hypervigilance at night is a significant problem as there have been prowlers around my building and drug dealing etc nearby. So that's an example of where being PTSD triggered can lead to bipolar swings.
Looking forward to participating more here as time allows. Keep on sharing and doing the beautiful mutual support I see here. Take care all. Eth.
