Let`s talk about Bipolar

Hello, I am 36 years old and I have been diagnosed with bipolar for about the last 16 years. After my initial manic episodes I have been battling with terrible depression, which didn't fully respond to medicines in the beginning, and has meant I have had to have regular maintenance ECT for the last 15 years to maintain a reasonable mood and a part time job. I thought I would join on here and share my experiences so thanks for giving me the opportunity to do that.

Regards

Hello @BlinkFan and welcome. I hope the ECT suits you - some people report memory loss. I've had only one course of ECT, many years ago. I've had severe depression for a long time but chose to stop antidepressants several years ago. I'm about to try trauma therapy. My psychiatrist isn't keen on antidepressants with bipolar but says there's a mood stabiliser that could help.

Thankyou for the welcome Dimity 🙂 Yeah the ECT was a last resort for me and I have experienced a fair bit of memory loss over the years but I have stuck with it. I am also on antidepressants and mood stabilizers to try and improve my mood and keep my head above water. If you dont mind me asking what is your current diagnosis? I have found that antidepressants can work well as long as I have a mood stabilizer to keep things under control.

Hi @BlinkFan my current diagnosis is bipolar but I just had a DASS assessment that came up as extremely severe depression, severe anxiety, severe stress. I'm on an antipsychotic (my only psych med). I suspect underlying c-ptsd which I'm trying to address - a couple of siblings have it.

It's good if you're keeping your head above water and still working part-time. I worked as long as I could but took early retirement. I hope you've developed strategies around the memory loss.

I hope you make connections here on the forums. There's nice people with a wide range of interests.

Ok well I hope you find the right combo of meds and therapy to help you. As we all know there's alot of trial and error with treatment.

When it comes to my memory issues thankfully I have been working at the same place for 14 years which helps with remembering what I need to do.

Hello @Gezza

@BlinkFan , @Dimity , @Olga , @Bella121 , @tyme

How is everyone going today xx

Hello @Former-Member , @Captain24 🙂

Hello @Shaz51 @Olga

I'm muddling on. Started trauma therapy... maybe it will help shake my depression.

Haven't heard for a while how mr shaz is?