I have bipolar disorder and have been sectioned. AMA!

[slipperyeel]

AMA if anyone is interested

The best present was a teddy, I could hold and squeeze it when I felt desperate

Other good presents; soft drinks, nice cordial, magazines or other light reading, crossword puzzles.

This is very individual but I was given a bible which meant a lot to me.

Yes a, everyone smokes except me!

I take both those drugs.
Im 'stable' and feel rubbish. I miss my highs terribly. I feel i have lost my personality. But i cringe so much it hurts about some of the things ive said or done
Also miss depression and being able to fuck the world off and stay in bed.
Will you ever embrace being stable and what made you relapse?

Thanks, great ideas. How are you at the moment?

Out if interest what dosage of lamotrigine are you on?

And for how long?

Sorry - that meant how many months/years and dose.....

250 for 2 yrs. Stopped deep depressions. Was on 200 but undermedicated.

Tapered up v slowly though

@Justtheonequestion
So does that mean you don't need meds anymore?

@slipperyeel
What about you? Did you try any other combinations?

@Bombardier25966
What med combos did they try with you?

.....as you can tell quite interested in the med comb

I’m on 300 lamotrigine and 300 quetiapine

I was first put on lithium which cured the mania but didn’t really suit me

I’m doing really well on quetiapine, back working and everything. The downside is the extra stone in weight!!

I also took fluoxetine but have managed to come off it. A/Ds basically triggered mania for me.

I miss the highs too but when I think of the night I ended up in hospital, I don’t.

Other good presents - nice water bottle, they make you drink loads of water on a psych wards.

Hand cream.

@slipperyeel
Were your phases brought on by anything that was at happening to you/around you at the time, or random? Did you go high/low/high/low or were there periods of 'normal', (whatever normal is ).

Anyone else in your family BP?

... and lastly did you have any family history of mental health issues or childhood trauma (yes/no - not asking you to talk about it)

How old were you when you were diagnosed?
You said we could ask you anything.......

Looking back do you think you had symptoms as a child/teenager?

I have a family member with severe BPD, has been sectioned in the past but still finds it hard to get treatment when they are ill, mostly because the treatment teams are understaffed and underfunded. Have you ever found that?

Bpd isnt seen the same as bipolar susan, it is a personality disorder so needs therapy and isnt as reactive to medication. Basically hospitalisation can make bpd worse and it has a huge stigma attached to it.

I was diagnosed when I was 22, think I had it from about 15.

I'm 40 now.

Initially I was triggered by taking anti depressants which are usually quite bad for bipolar.

My last breakdown was initially triggered by a bereavement then I stopped taking my meds.

Alcohol is a huge trigger for me.

There is a history of bipolar, alcoholism and suicide in my family but you wouldn't guess based on appearance.

My experience with the NHS is that the care when you are acutely ill is second to none. Otherwise it's hit and miss. If you have a decent GP you're lucky.

Basically I feel flat when medicated but I've come to accept it. I don't want to go to hospital again or be away from my children.

Happy to continue as long as people want to but just wanted to thank people for the kind comments

Thank you for sharing and for the present ideas, v helpful.

Where do the strange things you do and say when manic come from? Is it like a disinhibition where you act on thoughts that you would normally have but ignore? Or that completely random ideas are coming into your head that you wouldn't normally even think?

Later when you are well can you make any sense of what you were thinking during your manic episode?

Don't want to answer for OP but for me mania starts like excitement then builds. I begin projects but can't keep up with my thinking so start another one. Eventually I become grandiose and think I'm exceptionally gifted, then worry people are going to abduct me because I'm a threat to the government or they are going to steal my talent. By that point it's awful.
It doesn't make sense afterwards.
Sorry OP, I'm struggling with recovery and trying to live 'normally', I feel someone's taken my personality away. So finding this thread helpful.

OP, have you ever taken drugs (coke, marijuana etc) and what has your relationship been with alcohol over the years?