Posted , 5 users are following.
recently diagnose with bipolar 2. Is it normal to feel either up and manic or down and depressed with very little middle ground? I feel like its either coming out of one to go right into the other.
1 like, 5 replies
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Notwavingbut... SallySue145
Posted
Yes I'm afraid so.
I battled with it for 23 years before receiving a diagnosis back in 2010, and it took another 3-5 years to come up with anything approaching effective treatment. I still go from one to the other, it's just that now neither swing is extreme - I still get depressed where I lack motivation and enthusiasm for doing things & feel on the low side, but I don't get desperately depressed anymore. And my 'highs' are not extreme but instead are times where I'm interested in things and engaged with life and people and get pleasure out of being alive. I like to think of that as the real me being present. I now make the most of those times and enjoy them for what they are (and they do seem to last longer than the extreme hypomania) and take the subsequent depressions on the chin.
It's taken me a very long time to accept that this is how life is for me, after years & years of different drug therapies and different combinations.
I've done 95% of all the work myself, including my own research, with very little useful input from professionals, except for one superduper psychiatrist, and the prescribing, as my adage for life is 'If You Want Something Doing, Do It Yourself'
I'm afraid if you've only just been diagnosed, unless you're extremely lucky, you have only just started on the path to finding the right treatment for you.
But don't give up, there are many different drug therapies & drug combinations so if one doesn't work for you, say so and be willing to try others. Good quality counselling to help you come to terms with your diagnosis and help in how to manage the condition is also extremely beneficial, so seek it out. But most of all,
Don't Give Up.
I wish you well.
lynne05476 Notwavingbut...
Posted
Hi
I completely agree with everthing previous person says .You have to have the strength of an ox to get to a place where u start to feel you know who u are .I have had massive support from gp psychotherapist work but most of all family and friends who have stuck by good times and desparate times.I was diagnosed 2015 and have finally got to dosings of meds that suit me.
i recently had 6/52 off work due to a relapse but because I've always been honest about how i can be my colleagues were brilliant now back on a phased return but its going ok .i had over 6 months off before diagnosis so proud that i seem to be coping.
you'll probably hate meds to start with cos takes at least 6/52 to know effect on you you may well stop start stop but this is you for life.I think you have to be prepared for tough times but equally managed highs can be enjoyable too
wishing u heaps of luck and best wishes .
diane98246 Notwavingbut...
Posted
I was also actively bipolar before I was actually diagnosed and did not believe the diagnosis for years until symptoms became exaggerated and amplified.
Because of the conditioning of my generation I was not used to paying any attention to myself and my behavior, feelings or state of mind. This makes it very difficult for me to identify symptoms such as depression; but recently I’m getting better at it and have come to recognize those times when I’m outgoing and enjoy people versus those times when I withdraw into myself and need a ‘blankie’ of some sort.
diane98246 SallySue145
Posted
I think it's normal to fluctuate that way and the severity of the fluctuations would vary from person to person. My dilemma is that when I take the amount of medication to make me approximate normal behavior socially, I then feel no zest for life whatsoever and feel in fact like I cant face the day when I wake up. Like I dont want to engage in any of my normal activities.
When I get the dose halved by the psychiatrist, I then feel motivated and feel enthusiasm for my life and my routine but I become slightly manic when around people - that is I become not aggressive but kind of worked up and overly talkative and perhaps overbearing in a friendly way. I am working really hard on that behavior and trying to stay calmer when I'm in a social situation.
I sort of become like a little kid and on the flip side of that if someone mistreats me I become 'loudly' angry.
Tough stuff this bipolar disease but from what I've read we who have it are not nearly as dangerous as Malignant Narcissists and we dont plot harm to others the way they do.
TimW SallySue145
Posted
I wasn't sure it was normal until I read this and the replies. Sort of helps to know I'm not going mad.
Im finding my meds hard to keep taking, I seem to swing much more on them than i remember being off them. So I guess the other posts about it being a journey to find the right regimen are right, but at least there is one.