kimberly19426

Health Interests

bipolar disorder,  mental health,  bipolar disorder treatment,  bipolar experiences,  am i alone

Drugs I am Taking

ativan,  lithium,  lamictal,  prilosec,  synthroid,  provigil,  birth control,  imitrex

About Me

I've been diagnosed repeated as Bipolar I, ultraradian cycling +/- other tagalongs since bipolar became the "du jour" diagnosis in the early to mid 80s, prior to that the hot tick diadnosis was depression. I have taken almost every antidepressant (Effexor XR worked best for me), I believe every psychatropic drugs, tranquiliers, sleeping pills, combinations of all of the above with and without varius flavors of therapy, to include yoga, meditation, accupunture, reiki, and I am sure others -- so far unsucessful, but I can tell you what will make you gain weight and what will make you feed yourself only when your stomach growls to remind you. I can tell you that benzies are addictive and life becomes intolerable and unmanageable without them. I can tell you that Propanolol can help stabilize the hand tremors, and that it is difficult to get a dr to help your memory (thereby gradually rebuilding your confidence) by prescribing aricept, that seroquel at low does can provide a nonaddictive calming effect for anxiety, lithium can effect your thyroid, especially if you have family history, an ideal drug concoction is only temporary and will ALWAYS need to be tweeked to maintain the same level of stability, some bipolar people can blend in with society and everyone else fights daily to not be isolated in the "crazy outcast" grouping, lack of sleep makes things worse by mountains, schedules are required, knowing when your head will allow you to safely drive and when you will probably cause an accident and potentioal injury/death, things get worse with each cycle, ultradian cycler are virtually uncontrollable, and certainly not curable, psychiatry is a mystery and not a science, once you have gotten your past vented and documented - moving on and to the future serves best for recovery. Normal is a subjective concept; my idea of normal is not yours, and finally as long as you manage yourself to "close" to your definition of normal, you are a success!