Coping With, And Enjoying, Hypomania

I identify with the struggles you are having with your daughter.  We had a rough time with one of my boys.  He's a great kid, but was a real handful growing up.

 

Congratulations on your social security!  You got through in less than 3 years, which I hear is the average.  We're helping my son down that path right now, and it's a brutal process.  When I get to be King, that's going to change...

 

OK, you HAVE to tell me about Redneck Car Bingo.  You have my curiosity up.

 

Thanks for your comment, and may your productive and pleasant hypomania last indefinitely. 

As well as something to get you to sleep - try Quetiapine (Seroquel) to keep you asleep.  I am doing exactly that in a very very active and creative state .. I no longer call it hypomania .. everything is relative .. and I guess relative to most people it is a dramatically elevated mood.  But eat well and drink plenty (of water) and with sleep you can maintain the state !  As GJ says, avoid stimulants .. you do not need them .. you are high enough without them.

CtryGrl,

 

Thanks for your comments, they're always welcome.  I struggle with sleep from time to time, and I do have Ambien to help when that happens.  But like someone told me, insomnia is insomnia, you can throw all kinds of things at it, and it goes away when it goes away.  Mine doesn't usually last too long, but I do get concerned as it can trigger other bad mood swings.  But notice I'm not too concerned about it right now.  A testament to my current frame of mind.  But it's just the way I like it...

 

Thanks for the comment, and keep those emails coming! 

I have heard from a couple people that Seroquel was the only drug that helped them to sleep through the night... might be worth a try if you haven't tried it already.  One thing I forgot to mention in my sharepost today is that I find it helps to turn down the lights when I feel hypomanic, to help calm me down. 

Liz,

 

Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.

 

It took me a few years to begin to get a handle on my moods.  I mood chart, and taking a few minutes a day to actually record those moods does wonders for our ability to recognize them.  We begin to learn about, and pay attention to, the triggers and signs that alert us to changes.  I think it can help anyone with a mood disorder.

 

Thanks again for reading, and taking the time to comment. 

Magic - very well said.  I will add one thing, we don't always see ourselves for what we are when we're hypomanic.  I had a guy at a support group meeting bring me down to earth with a sarcastic comment when he said he could always tell when the bipolars were hypomanic.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! 

Magic - I try to keep in mind that the people in support group meetings might need help as much as I do, and I try not to be judgemental.   I've been "bruised" a few times at meetings, but it's the nature of the beast.  For me, it's still a more positive than negative experience.

 

But I'm right with you, it's sometimes hard to bite my tongue. 

Thanks C.J.,

 

     I admire your patience...  Perhaps I'm just at the point in my life where my tongue's bled a bit too much from biting it.

 

     I've also been in support groups, but sometimes people don't realize that they've been hurtful(even when it's their illness speaking).  However, I've always believed that it's better to politely say, "That was below-the-belt and it hurt me.  And this why I'm hurting... ."

 

    If the "victim" doesn't speak up, how can the "perpetrator" know that s/he's is bruising me?  Maybe that's not necessary the first time someone zings me, but I figure someone who also needs help should be told how they're affecting others (and that's a way to help him too.) Next time they might try to be more aware of others' feelings and attempt to be more "diplomatic." 

 

       Even if my honest reaction doesn't lead anywhere, it allows me to express and validate my own emotions. And manic-depression is about, if nothing else, one's feelings and learning to express and thus control them.

 

        C.J., I can't imagine you ever being hostile about someone hearing voices, for example. However, if a paranoid group-member pointed to me and blamed me as the person responsible for his psychosis, I certainly would have the right to say quietly, "Your accusations are making me feel very uncomfortable. I am not your enemy."  It's true, s/he is "sicker" than me and needs more help just then, but, as a sensitive bipolar--someone who has trouble emotionally shielding myself, I have the right (and the duty) to take care of myself... .

 

      During severe depression I tend  to tiptoe around and believe that--because I'm a worthless slug--others' negative treatment of me is okay. Acceptance of my illness has always been my bugaboo. However, I'm beginning  to realize that-- just as I accept my personality, intelligence and body-- I also need to accept my manic-depression.  For me to like myself, I need to reach out, shake hands with, and hug that part of me, too. And to truly integrate my bipolar illness as part of me, I must love and take care of that too. Protecting myself psychologically is also part of that personal pact. 

    

    Thank you so much , C.J. for expressing yourself and for being so willing to "listen."  We bipolars can be among the most generous and most insightful.

                   Be content.

                                  **E

 

Magic,

 

An excellent comment, so many true and insightful things in that comment.  You're 100% correct.  I don't often let people know how I feel in a face-to-face setting.  In so doing, it would help educate not only the other person, but the entire group.  And I agree with you completely that we have to embrace the way we are, and take care of ourselves.  If we don't take care of ourselves, who will?

 

Thanks again for your educational comment. 

SG - your post is an excellent example of why hypomania can be so dangerous.  I've gone months on end getting 4 hours of sleep a night, at best, and many nights much less.  After a while my brain started doing strange things, I started hallucinating, my personality changed, and so forth.

 

While I don't take Seroquel regularly, I always have it within reach.  It can cause weight gain (what doesn't?), but when I need it, I need it.  For me, a mania or bad episode can set in quickly, and I need to deal with it when it does.  Seroquel works wonders for me in this scenario.

 

Take care of yourself, and I hope this passes quickly and safely for you. 

There are so many medications now at our psychiatrist’s disposal to help with sleep that by voicing your concern about weight gains (a reasonable concern) that he or she can prescribe something else.

 

 

Most people in a mixed state usually don’t describe it an s a good time as in hypomanic state. If you don’t get into too see you doctor soon…it’s going to blossom into paranoid delusions, outbreaks of rage, hearing voices…and on and on.

 

 

Sleep patters are a good indicator with us of where were at usually. Too much is usually a sign of running low, and of course too little swings the other way. Get in now and ask for something.

 

 

I hate talking about any medication in that they affect each and everyone of us different. One can work for me whereas have a totally opposite effect on you.

 

I would talk with your doctor about trazadone as a possibility and let him make the call from seeing you on a regular bases…he or she want you to get enough sleep.   

 

Thanks for your suggestions & concerns.  I am already taking trazodone & klonopin to help me sleep, but they just knock me out for 1-3 hours & then I wake up with the feelings of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

 

I think the reason this mixed episode feels good is that I am mostly hypomanic, but can have a breakthrough depression where I have crying spells, the suicidal thoughts, etc. come over me quickly. 

 

Doc was seeing me every week, but my ins. coverage ran out so I'm going to have to limit my visits until 2008.  I do see her in a couple weeks, though.

 

A couple weeks ago I did call suicide prevention when a depression suddenly overtook me & I felt like I did when I ODed.  I think that was a good step.  I don't want to OD again. (My mother had bipolar & committed suicide so I don't want to do that to my kids).  I'm trying to remind myself of that & that the depression will pass when I'm going down.

Sue,

 

A great comment.

 

You make the point that therapy along with meds is important, and I agree.  I really think that one without the other is only a partial treatment.  And I'll take it another step.  I hope that at some point in the future I'll be so cognizant of the disorder and how it impacts me that I can either cut back on my meds, or eliminate them altogether.  I'm to the point now that I know a mood is coming before it hits.  I've mood-charted for a while, and I've worked very hard to be self-aware of my disorder and what it's doing to me.  Next is finding the coping techniques necessary to make it through a bad spot.  Maybe it's a pipedream and not possible, but we all need those dreams to work towards.  That's one thing that keeps me reaching for the answers.

 

Thanks for reading, and taking the time to comment.  I hope to hear from you again. 

GJ...Thanks so much for responding so quickly.  Im so glad for finding this website, there is so that I have to learn and recognize in wellness from this disease.  I took the tour on the site you sent my e-mail.  I never even knew this was a possibility.  Obviously Im getting hypomania and mania mixed up in my vocabulary.  I will look into this new Method that you have brought to my attention.  Still a little scarey though but all Ive got is time and I rather be doing something productive.  Is there any other websites I could go to further explain this new method.  God I wish I could sit down and have coffee with you..lololo  I give you kudos to you for holding on to your dreams and not letting go. 

 

Sue