The Bipolar Support Thread

[BippityBoppity87]

Hi everyone Just thought I'd start a shiny new thread for anyone who is suffering from bipolar disorder.

Hope everyone is ok!

I think I have to tell my friends I can't drink alcohol next time I come to stay. I have to ask for their help with this and be open.

My meds are just in the kitchen cupboard but there's three different ones and I think it would just be easier if they were in a box I think.

I've told some of my friends. But they're just as bad as me so no judgement. I'm still the same person, just with a diagnosed illness.

I bought this pill box

Need to cheer myself up one way or another, and it's a good incentive

OK but a weekly box is better. Then you can see instantly if you are running out.
www.co-opmobility.co.uk/health-and-wellbeing/pill-boxes-and-reminders/weekly-pill-boxes/p/weekly-pill-box?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiuTygJaa3wIVzZztCh2EFwHnEAkYBSABEgLVXvD_BwE

Or you can ask dispensary/pharmacy to put the pills in these sort of cardboard folder bubble wrap things each week - they put them in their time slots for each day like morning lunch evening and night. Had that for a while when I came out of hospital on what felt like a really complicated regime. Now I’m only on lithium and don’t always remember that despite a brightly coloured weekly thing.

Have four of these www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B009F9AYWG/ref=mp_s_a_1_4_a_it?ref=plSrch&keywords=weekly+pill+box&dpPl=1&dpID=41gvfgZqwuL&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1544614085&sr=8-4 and my daughter just fills them up when she gets my prescription

I take my MH meds as well as epilepsy meds so have to be really organised with meds.

Sorry I went and had a nap! Absolutely exhausted.

They do that for me already Why I just want them all in the same box and not sprawled out everywhere.

I was looking at that too Swipe

I asked if I could take the aripiprazole at night instead, but she said no. It's knackering me out.

Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, but wanted to say hello. I've got bipolar disorder, it started initially when DD2 was born 8 years ago. I'd never had any problems at all until then.

I take a massive amount of medication (agomelatine, carbamazepine, lamotrigine and 2100mg of Quetiapine.) I've been stable for almost 4 months, which is a long time for me.

Hi historyrocks From what I've read and I've read a lot about it it can be triggered by major life events, such as having a baby. I had really bad pnd when my DC was born. Lasted a good year and a half. I never saught treatment though, as I never realised at the time, but other people did. I suppose you're always the last one to know when you're ill! In my experience anyway.

I don't drink at all any more. Just before I was diagnosed I went through a spell of drinking every evening but after diagnosed I tried some vodka one weekend and felt ill for days afterwards. Just not worth it anymore.

I pick my meds up weekly and the pharmacy always seem to mess it up. I try to remember to check when I get to the car so I don't have to go home then out again.

I can't take any antidepressants, they all send my mind whizzing! I tried sertraline 2 years ago but sure enough a few days in I was gibberish and I couldn't settle. I also mix up dreams and reality, I'm not working just now either. I'm lucky if I sleep 3 hours, I'm also peri menopausal atm so feel a bit low. Not depressed which is good

I'm the same DiaryofWimpyMum I mix my dreams with reality. Sertraline when I first took it (50mg) sent me sky high for almost two weeks, then I crashed and went hypomanic again. People in my work thought I was on drugs. I did feel like I had about 10 shots of espresso mixed with cocaine though. Then they increased it for some reason and didn't seem concerned. Just said yeah that's normal ok then!

I was like this for months until they realised that I was actually bipolar.

Just thought I'd post this. I've found it quite helpful, if anyone hasn't seen this yet.

Not going to lie, the tea comment makes me laugh.

😂

Based on that chart I’d say I was about a 4 at the moment and really pleased with that... unless you take into account my excessive tea consumption, which pushes me right up to a strong 7 😆

I would say I'm about a 7 just now. I was 1 a few months ago. Although I'm not drinking tea haha. Coffee yes, I drink a lot of coffee!

Just thinking about this today, don't answer if you don't want to of course! But has anyone had a run in with the police? I've had about 5, most recent in July and a caution about 10 years ago.

Just wondered if it's not uncommon among us bipolars? Or is it just me

I think it’s quite rare to find a bipolar person who hasn’t ended up with hospital and/or police involvement at some point.

I’ve had both.

Ah ok, makes me feel a bit less alone! I was starting to think I was the only one. I had the police at my door and in my house a couple of years ago. Without going into too much detail, it was just a welfare check.

Once in July, while I was singing quite loudly in the street 'I'm on Fiiiiiire!' The song by Kasabian, they just took it as a laugh though I may or may not have had a couple of drinks.

I was hypomanic at the time, then went to a bar on my own and danced at the bar. But I knew someone who was working there, my only saving grace that night! Who then walked me home.

The police have always been really nice to me but it’s sometimes uncomfortable to think about 😕 once I was picked up hundreds of miles from home, I’d been missing for a few days but I still can’t remember what I was doing the whole time. I remember driving and having night vision, and switching my headlamps off believing that would make me imperceptible to radar They tracked me with ANPR cameras, but not before they’d taken my computer which had stuff on it that I couldn’t in a million years begin to explain. Led to a long stay in hospital and lost more than one friend.

I’ve mostly been picked up by the police when running away, but I was also arrested for breaking in to a house to feed a cat that I thought had been locked inside and forgotten about - people were there, they didn’t have a cat. It was just a random house. Missed my sister’s wedding because I was detained. Etc etc

Oh gosh Why! My stories sound pretty tame in comparison! The longest I've been detained for was I think about 10 hours until
I agreed to see a psychiatrist. I think I spent most of the initial assessment bawling my eyes out. Then they rang my partner to make sure I got home and made the appointment.

I remember this guy just sitting there in one of the waiting rooms. I tried to open the back door to try and escape, but it was locked obviously 🙄

He was trying chatting away to me and I was giving one word answers, bless him. Just sitting there quite happily drinking his tea and there was me with a face like thunder thinking everyone was crazy in there except me!

This was after I had an ambulance, 2 paramedics and a doctor chasing me down the street as I tried to run away from a&e. Not my brightest plan.