Lemmings who have personal experience with bipolar disorder (self, family, or friends), how hopeless is the situation, really?
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]It's absolutely manageable with medication and good therapy.
The medication is there to get them calm enough so the therapy can do it's work. But the medication will probably also be something they need to take their whole lives. The worst seems to happen when people go off their medications, in my experience.
There is also now genetic testing that can be done before prescribing medication so you can know exactly the best biological pathways that your body has. In essense, which drugs are most easily metabolised by your body.
This gives psychiatrists a better path to finding a good set of drugs that can help instead of going in scattershot. Knowing which drugs will be best metabolised by your body avoids wasting time on drugs that don't metabolise well.
I strongly suggest the genetics testing for this and I stress the importance of finding a good therapist your son trusts.
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
I don't have any experience with bipolar but I just wanted to say how great it is to see all of this support and reassurance in the comments. This is the internet at its best.
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]There are multiple types of bipolar disorder with various features, so take any advice from strangers with a grain of salt, as they probably don't know the specifics. I have a couple of personal experiences with bipolar disorder in general.
First, a close friend of mine - his manic episodes would usually involve him staying awake for days at a time, and his depressive episodes were pretty bad. Before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder he had some pretty bad experiences with therapy from a "therapist" that clearly didn't know anything about depression or bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed and settling on a medication he has been much, much more stable. I used to lie awake unable to sleep from the stress of worrying about him, I don't anymore. He still has depressive and manic periods but they are much, much less severe.
Secondly, an aunt. She had one of the more severe types, but we didn't know it. She always had bad depressive episodes (and there was apparently an early bad episode of mania that was written off as a one-off mental episode from stress or something) but it wasn't until she suddenly left my uncle and their children to run off with a married man she barely knew that it became more apparent something else was wrong. I suggested - stressing that I am not an expert in the matter - that it kind of sounded a lot like some of the self-destructive manic episodes I had heard about, not from my friend but from Stephen Fry. I had heard him talk about his bipolar disorder at one of his shows in Sydney, and his past involved a lot more trouble than you'd expect. He has a couple of documentaries about it, but I can't speak on how helpful they would be. Anyway, I turned out to be right, and so far she seems to be doing better, but it's still early days.
The main takeaway is there is hope. One thing I took away from Stephen Fry's talks in particular was that it is vital to keep taking the medication and not to decide, after a period of stability, that you don't need it anymore, that's a recipe for disaster.
-
Hi, I'm currently engaged to a wonderful man who I love very much. He is diagnosed with both ADHD and bipolar disorder, and has been since he was a kid. He's had a long time for him and his doctor to experiment with which medications work well for him and get him stable, and so, to be very honest, I don't think I really notice much of anything that I attribute to his bipolar. If he had never told me about it and had only mentioned his ADHD, I don't think I would have ever known.
I'll admit that I don't know very much about bipolar, so it's very possible that maybe my fiance is lower on the "spectrum" (if one exists - I personally have depression and autism so this is where my first hand experience lies) than your son, but like you mentioned, your son is early in his journey compared to where my fiance is at. But I want you to know that there is definitely hope, especially with parents who love and care for him - and you must, since you're here asking about him.
If this is your first experience with mental health care, it might be advantageous to research groups in your area for help. For instance, in my area there's NAMI, which was a big help for my fiance's mother when he got his diagnosis.
If you'd like to ask more questions about my experience, feel free to shoot them my way!
Thank you for your response. It is very helpful.
I've been hopeful because my son has shown that he wants treatment.
When he was weaned off his meds, we all latched onto the idea that the diagnosis was wrong, and I think we missed red flags because we didn't want to see them. I don't think we have to feel guilty about that, but we have now gone back to accepting the reality and we know we have to pay closer attention.
-
There are multiple types of bipolar disorder with various features, so take any advice from strangers with a grain of salt, as they probably don't know the specifics. I have a couple of personal experiences with bipolar disorder in general.
First, a close friend of mine - his manic episodes would usually involve him staying awake for days at a time, and his depressive episodes were pretty bad. Before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder he had some pretty bad experiences with therapy from a "therapist" that clearly didn't know anything about depression or bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed and settling on a medication he has been much, much more stable. I used to lie awake unable to sleep from the stress of worrying about him, I don't anymore. He still has depressive and manic periods but they are much, much less severe.
Secondly, an aunt. She had one of the more severe types, but we didn't know it. She always had bad depressive episodes (and there was apparently an early bad episode of mania that was written off as a one-off mental episode from stress or something) but it wasn't until she suddenly left my uncle and their children to run off with a married man she barely knew that it became more apparent something else was wrong. I suggested - stressing that I am not an expert in the matter - that it kind of sounded a lot like some of the self-destructive manic episodes I had heard about, not from my friend but from Stephen Fry. I had heard him talk about his bipolar disorder at one of his shows in Sydney, and his past involved a lot more trouble than you'd expect. He has a couple of documentaries about it, but I can't speak on how helpful they would be. Anyway, I turned out to be right, and so far she seems to be doing better, but it's still early days.
The main takeaway is there is hope. One thing I took away from Stephen Fry's talks in particular was that it is vital to keep taking the medication and not to decide, after a period of stability, that you don't need it anymore, that's a recipe for disaster.
Both times, at the height of the episode, he recognized that it wasn't right and asked for help.
While sitting in the crisis center with him and waiting for an out-patient placement this time, there was a moment when I was saying he just needed meds to get centered. He objected and said he was centered. I pointed out that if he was centered, we'd all be sleeping in our beds, and he was able to accept the logic of that.
The only reason he went off the meds the first time was because he was experiencing some bad side-effects and the doctor wasn't certain of the diagnosis. I'm pretty confident that he'll stay on the meds.
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]As a person with a bipolar parent I won’t go near a bipolar person if I can help it. They’re often ok if you’re not too close but it’s only a matter of time until they flip on you and the nature of the disorder is inherently self reinforcing, like most personality disorders. I know some people with bipolar claim to manage with meds and what not but they’re still always off in noticeable ways and I’ve never met a bipolar person I would trust to stay on their meds with out constant supervision and enforcement, idk why so many bipolar people love going off their meds so much but in my experience it’s universal and most will lie to you that they’re still taking them even when it’s obvious they’re not.
I’m sorry you’re both dealing with this and I’m sorry my comment isn’t positive but in my nearly 40 years on this earth that’s what my experience with bipolar people has been
-
It's absolutely manageable with medication and good therapy.
The medication is there to get them calm enough so the therapy can do it's work. But the medication will probably also be something they need to take their whole lives. The worst seems to happen when people go off their medications, in my experience.
There is also now genetic testing that can be done before prescribing medication so you can know exactly the best biological pathways that your body has. In essense, which drugs are most easily metabolised by your body.
This gives psychiatrists a better path to finding a good set of drugs that can help instead of going in scattershot. Knowing which drugs will be best metabolised by your body avoids wasting time on drugs that don't metabolise well.
I strongly suggest the genetics testing for this and I stress the importance of finding a good therapist your son trusts.
Thanks for your response. We will ask about generic testing.
-
I don't have bipolar disorder myself, but I have friends who have it and have dated women who have it.
So, without speaking from the POV of someone actually dealing with the issue, all I can say is that in my experience, it's absolutely manageable.
The issue I've noticed seems to be with the medication. I've had a friend tell me he hated the side effects so he didn't keep taking them, and would thus swing into a manic or depressive episode until he'd start back on the meds. Similarly, I've heard of people (but not met personally) who take the meds for some time, decide that the meds worked and they don't have the condition anymore and then stop taking the meds. Only, of course, to swing into bipolar episode.
It's definitely got to suck, but I think if you all listen to his doctors (even though one made a mistake by taking him off the meds, they're human, too) and he is able to manage his medications you will all be ok.
I can't speak to his relationship. That's gonna be between them, but it's probably best for all parties to read up on bipolar disorder so they can better know what to expect and what not to fear. I have a coworker whose husband is bipolar and not the best with his meds from what I understand, and while she has some interesting/funny stories and long nights sometimes, they still seem very happy together.
I guess all that is to say: It sucks, but his life definitely isn't over lol. Listen to the doctors, maybe get him into some sort of therapy (if he's open to it), and stick with meds that work. My bipolar friends are all kind, mostly successful, good people. For some, I wouldn't even know had they not told me.
He is open to therapy, but we are in the US, so there are challenges. However, I have excellent health insurance through my employer, and he works for the same employer, so when he ages out of my plan, he'll be able to sign up for the same insurance.
The other detail about him is he's one of the most caring, kindest people I know. There is really no chance he will hurt someone else, except that if he hurts himself it will hurt the people who care about him.
-
The part about preferring mania? Super accurate. During the year or so of dialing in the meds, my wife alternated between numbness and depression, and eventually climbed her way up to “Normal”
She hated normal. I had to explain that this is how life is for everyone else. Sure there’s highs and lows, but not every day is an explosive rollercoaster of emotions, and that’s a good thing. Stay here with me a while and see if you can learn to love it. Well, she did. And life is good. But there really has to be a lightbulb moment where it clicks that life without the meds is chaotic, destructive, and unsustainable.
That's what I was saying to him in the crisis center. It sucks that you can't feel fantastic. But the merely ok feeling you have to feel is what everyone else feels.
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
An important question; type 1 or 2? They're both difficult but type 1 tends to really wreck lives in a dramatic way.
-
Thanks for your response. We will ask about generic testing.
You're welcome. The company my psychiatrist used to do it is called GeneSight if that helps at all.
Be careful though, they have a lot of negative reviews about people's doctors saying it is covered and then getting a bill for services. I did not have that experience, mine was definitely fully covered and I have not received a bill. Check with your insurance to be sure, and if you're open to paying it out of pocket, it sounds like $300 to $500 is about the cost most people pay when insurance doesn't cover it.
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
Hi, Bipolar NOS (“not otherwise specified”) here, more down than up. It’s absolutely possible to do great. Like your son, early 20s onset, spent some time inpatient to get sorted out, and have been in consistent outpatient therapy and psychiatry treatment ever since. Completed a PhD program, got married, job market sucks but I’m still optimistic all things considered. I think consistency in treatment, lots of patience, and a good psychiatrist who you can trust are key.
My spiel on the medication part, and some bipolar stigma: some people want to chase the mania, or get a little hypomania and think they’re doing better and don’t need the meds, or think the medication “stifles creativity,” and they give us a bad name. Think Kanye. For every up, there is a down. Not every up is good. The down is far worse. For me, it’s important to remember how bad things can get, because I don’t want that. Whatever side effects and months/years of tinkering with medications are worth it, to me, over losing my spouse, friends, family, or even my life.
Yes, the process of trying medications sucks, but it’s entirely necessary. Also have a good plan for if things get suddenly worse, because they absolutely can — a dud batch of mood stabilizers from when your pharmacy switches manufacturers, for example.
I could literally go on forever, but the tl;dr is that you can do great, just be prepared to put some time and effort into it. And never stop taking medications because you think/feel you’re doing better.
-
Thanks for your response. We will ask about generic testing.
I want to second genetic testing! I had it done for myself after taking medicine for depression for years without it helping, and my doctor and I were able to find something that has helped me a lot.
I'm not sure if there's different companies that do it, but just so you have a name, the one I used was Genesight. I think my insurance told me that they wouldn't cover it, so I was able to get it for free.
-
Thank you for your response. It is very helpful.
I've been hopeful because my son has shown that he wants treatment.
When he was weaned off his meds, we all latched onto the idea that the diagnosis was wrong, and I think we missed red flags because we didn't want to see them. I don't think we have to feel guilty about that, but we have now gone back to accepting the reality and we know we have to pay closer attention.
I do think that medication is key, and luckily my fiance is very dedicated to taking his pills diligently. If your son is seeking treatment, then that's a great step in the right direction. And with your support, I think he will definitely be on the right path. Best of luck! I'll be rooting for him and you
-
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He's in his mid-twenties, so it's the average time for onset of bipolar disorder. No family history that we know of, but if it was just two generations back, it probably wouldn't have been talked about.
He had his first manic episode early in the year. He spent a brief time in in-patient treatment, followed by a period of out-patient treatment. During the out-patient treatment, his psychiatrist started to think the diagnosis was incorrect and she weaned him off his meds.
He has had another manic episode, and he's back in the in-patient facility. Luckily he was able to get back into the same place he was in before, so they aren't starting from zero. They started him back on different meds, and he's much better much faster than the first time.
His fiancee was talking to a friend and someone overheard. The person who overheard said her mother was bipolar and she had to take her to the hospital six times, and she told his fiancee that she should break up with him.
The only experts I've spoken to have been the doctors in the crisis center, and I don't know to what degree they are trying to sugar coat things to prevent us from giving up hope.
I'd rather know the reality.
If anyone has any personal experience they can share, I'd appreciate it. If anyone has any professional experience they can share, I'd appreciate that as well.
EDIT: Just wanted to add to this that we were able to visit him today, and he's doing very well.
Diagnosed BIpolar 1, mostly depressive, but sometimes manic.
I am deathly afraid of the manic episodes that I've got some fear of "being too happy". I'd rather deal with the lows (even the lowest of the low) because at least with those, I can trust myself to lack the energy to be destructive. I am fairly confident that in my lowest, I won't even have the energy to commit suicide even if I want to.
Mania is a very different beast altogether. It might manifest on a spectrum from "just too wired up for sleep" to, in a couple of really badly unmanaged episodes, going off to an entirely different part of the country on a whim just because "who cares, I'm dying anyways?" Only through sheer luck did I manage to get home safe both times.
That said, honest self-awareness, honesty to the mental health professionals, and sticking to the treatment plan could make it manageable. It's no guarantee, but it helps.
It also helps to manage expectations: the treatment won't be on target especially on the first states, while the doctors adjust the medication and the dosage, deal with the side effects, etc. Some kind of faith in the process is necessary, I think--not blind trust, but trust that if you inform the doctors honestly any effects (side effects or not) to the best of your abilities, then the doctors can manage the condition better than if you think "I feel fine, the meds aren't needed anymore!"
The treatment--the management of the condition is likely to last until the very end, and that's fine.
About being in a relationship? It's really up to the person and their partner: I wouldn't trust myself to go on in a relationship without at least informing my partner about it--and keeping them up to date with "my mood weather report". However it probably takes experience, a few cycles to get used to it.
-
There are multiple types of bipolar disorder with various features, so take any advice from strangers with a grain of salt, as they probably don't know the specifics. I have a couple of personal experiences with bipolar disorder in general.
First, a close friend of mine - his manic episodes would usually involve him staying awake for days at a time, and his depressive episodes were pretty bad. Before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder he had some pretty bad experiences with therapy from a "therapist" that clearly didn't know anything about depression or bipolar disorder, since being diagnosed and settling on a medication he has been much, much more stable. I used to lie awake unable to sleep from the stress of worrying about him, I don't anymore. He still has depressive and manic periods but they are much, much less severe.
Secondly, an aunt. She had one of the more severe types, but we didn't know it. She always had bad depressive episodes (and there was apparently an early bad episode of mania that was written off as a one-off mental episode from stress or something) but it wasn't until she suddenly left my uncle and their children to run off with a married man she barely knew that it became more apparent something else was wrong. I suggested - stressing that I am not an expert in the matter - that it kind of sounded a lot like some of the self-destructive manic episodes I had heard about, not from my friend but from Stephen Fry. I had heard him talk about his bipolar disorder at one of his shows in Sydney, and his past involved a lot more trouble than you'd expect. He has a couple of documentaries about it, but I can't speak on how helpful they would be. Anyway, I turned out to be right, and so far she seems to be doing better, but it's still early days.
The main takeaway is there is hope. One thing I took away from Stephen Fry's talks in particular was that it is vital to keep taking the medication and not to decide, after a period of stability, that you don't need it anymore, that's a recipe for disaster.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]jsyk, BPD stands for Borderline Personality Disorder, not bipolar disorder. I get them mixed up as well because BPD could reasonably stand for both.
The disorders can seem similar, which leads to more confusion, but they are pretty different in some aspects.
-
jsyk, BPD stands for Borderline Personality Disorder, not bipolar disorder. I get them mixed up as well because BPD could reasonably stand for both.
The disorders can seem similar, which leads to more confusion, but they are pretty different in some aspects.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Whoops, I knew that, but I typed this just after waking up. I'll edit that.
-
Both times, at the height of the episode, he recognized that it wasn't right and asked for help.
While sitting in the crisis center with him and waiting for an out-patient placement this time, there was a moment when I was saying he just needed meds to get centered. He objected and said he was centered. I pointed out that if he was centered, we'd all be sleeping in our beds, and he was able to accept the logic of that.
The only reason he went off the meds the first time was because he was experiencing some bad side-effects and the doctor wasn't certain of the diagnosis. I'm pretty confident that he'll stay on the meds.
It's worth exploring different medications to see if there are less side effects, it took my friend a few tries to find one that was effective without intolerable side effects.
-
It's worth exploring different medications to see if there are less side effects, it took my friend a few tries to find one that was effective without intolerable side effects.
Yeah, I spoke to him about that in the crisis center. I told him that it's going to take time and it's important to keep trying and to be aware of the possible side-effects so he can watch out for them.
When he told us that he started meds again, he told us what it was and let us know that he asked the doctor about side-effects, so I felt good about that.
-
Hi, Bipolar NOS (“not otherwise specified”) here, more down than up. It’s absolutely possible to do great. Like your son, early 20s onset, spent some time inpatient to get sorted out, and have been in consistent outpatient therapy and psychiatry treatment ever since. Completed a PhD program, got married, job market sucks but I’m still optimistic all things considered. I think consistency in treatment, lots of patience, and a good psychiatrist who you can trust are key.
My spiel on the medication part, and some bipolar stigma: some people want to chase the mania, or get a little hypomania and think they’re doing better and don’t need the meds, or think the medication “stifles creativity,” and they give us a bad name. Think Kanye. For every up, there is a down. Not every up is good. The down is far worse. For me, it’s important to remember how bad things can get, because I don’t want that. Whatever side effects and months/years of tinkering with medications are worth it, to me, over losing my spouse, friends, family, or even my life.
Yes, the process of trying medications sucks, but it’s entirely necessary. Also have a good plan for if things get suddenly worse, because they absolutely can — a dud batch of mood stabilizers from when your pharmacy switches manufacturers, for example.
I could literally go on forever, but the tl;dr is that you can do great, just be prepared to put some time and effort into it. And never stop taking medications because you think/feel you’re doing better.
Thank you for sharing!
It's interesting that you mention Kanye, because the first time they mentioned bipolar in the crisis center, he said he had been thinking about Kanye.
