Just Diagnosed - What Now?

One piece of advice. Don’t just quit on your medication or medications. If the med isn’t working right, let your psychiatrist know. It sounds like you are already doing this.

As you start to feel better, you will need to work with your psychiatrist on a long-term meds strategy. In the meantime, you will pick up your own coping skills. I strongly recommend a support group, where you can talk to fellow patients face to face.

Keep in mind, debilitating side effects should not have to be the price you pay for bringing your symptoms under control. This includes major weight gain, feeling jittery, feeling sluggish, no sex drive, and anything that causes major physical discomfort. Psychiatrists are often tone-deaf to patients’ complaints about this, so please be encouraged to read yours the Riot Act in this regard. If your psychiatrist still doesn’t listen, then find one who does.

Another piece of advice: Your psychiatrist is only as good as what you tell him or her. So, show up for appointments prepared, with questions in writing.

Also, watch out for stresses, watch your sleep, your diet, get exercise, build a support network, and look to your strengths.

You made an excellent first step in checking out this website. Learning everything you can is crucial - both from the experts and fellow patients. That way we don’t have to be helpless bystanders. Also, check out my own website at mcmanweb.com.

I’ll wrap this up now, Shannon. I trust I’ve answered your question about the frustration of being a guinea pig. As to your other question about whether it’s bipolar or family history - probably both. Bipolar runs in families. The expert consensus is that the illness is genetically transmitted, and that stress triggers the illness.

I’m not an MD, so we’ll skip the Seroquel question. I’ll sign off by officially welcoming you to the bipolar club. We’re all in this together, and we’re all here to help. Please know you are not alone, and by all means stay in touch ...