The beginning of mania? How do you deal?

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@fluffyunicorn wrote:

@mrkotter

Do you mind me asking about your treatment? At the moment I'm just seeing a psychiatrist kind of sporadically, do you see a doctor for medication and then a psychologist for therapy? I've not being doing any kind of therapy so far and as much as I think my psychiatrist is great I'd love to talk to somebody on the regular. Would you recommend a psychologist or a counsellor or something?

Thanks so much for your reply 🙂

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@fluffyunicorn sure can! Sorry about the delay, my life is flat out at the moment.

I see both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. At my worst I was seeing both once a week.

It took me a long while to find the right mix of medications. As per the rules I can't go into what, how much etc. But I can say listen to your doctor and stick at it. Often side effects go away after awhile so you need to just stick with it. One drug when I first started taking it made me throw up 2-3 a week at night for a month or so. That went away, I'm still on that drug and it works well. My memory is still no longer that great due to the meds but I keep taking them and learnt to take notes.

But medicine was the easy part of getting better. Psychology was the hard part. I started out with I don't want to talk and especially not to a psychologist. I went for 18 months without saying too much (money well spent!) and when I learnt to trust her I got stuff out of it. When she moved she referred me to the one I see now. She really, really challenged me. Made me work hard. Which meant I got better. It dawned me that medicine gets you stable but psychology puts you back together again.

So yes I really do recommend a psychologist. If you are at uni they should be able to provide you one free of charge.

If I may, I want to give another piece of advice. You're going to uni so I guess you want a career. You need to be your own warrant officer if you want to make it professionally. Get a doctor, get a psychologist. See both regularly and keep your appointments. Take your meds even if they give you side effects. Get a routine, wake up at X am, bed at Y pm, everyday. Eat healthy. Exercise 5-6 times a week. Don't drink too much. Stay away from your triggers. And forgive yourself. You will make mistakes and c*ck things up. That's ok, dust yourself off and get back on that horse.

And yes I get bad anxiety in relation to what people think of me. I try to accept them as just thoughts and move on with my day.

hey @fluffyunicorn just checking in to see how you're going. You said you are seeing a psychiatrist soon. Has that happened? How did it go?

Sorry for the super late reply gang, exam study is currently taking up 110% of my time. Think my medication might have begun to work, have been sleeping well and although I'm still feeling pretty wired it's no where near as bad as it has been in the past. Thankfully 🙂

@GonePirate Geez that sounds absolutely horrible. I can't even begin to imagine what you must have been feeling. I felt frightened for you just reading it, you must have been so scared not knowing what was happening to you. I'm sorry to hear you had to experience that 😞

@Kurra Thanks for the great advice! I think I should definitely consider trying to reduce the temptations, if I don't allow myself to go to the shopping centre or browse online or go out and drink all night it will hopefully stop the bad behaviours before they begin or at least cut down the damage that's done!

@mrkotter No stress about the delay! As you can see I'm a pretty shocking replier at the best of times haha. Thank you so unbelievably much for your messages! I hadn't actually read the rules so that is great to know, I'll have to have a read now. I haven't seen my psychiatrist yet, it's impossible to get an impromptu session with him. Really quite frustrating but I guess it's fair enough.

After speaking to a couple of people I've decided that I should see somebody else as well as the psych.. I asked about it when I called requesting an earlier appointment and they said they would check with the intake team, so I got a voicemail later that day and they said that they'd need to speak to my current and get a plan from the GP and I started freaking out because I don't want my psychiatrist thinking that I've gone behind his back asking to see somebody else and I almost had a little panic attack thinking about returning the call so I just didn't. Sounds so silly now that I'm writing it down but at the time I was mortified.

I just feel like he thinks that medication is the real answer and I don't need to be talking about things but I have so much on my mind and feel like the horrible thoughts are controlling my life. Now I don't know what to do.

It's kind of like I'm in two minds right now, one minute I'm anxious and stressed and angry at everybody and the world, and then the next I'm happy and optimistic and to be completely honest I refuse to believe that I have anything wrong with me. But then the anxiousness returns. Feeling like this is so exhausting.

I like your point on routine, I do feel better when I'm taking care of myself. I think it's something for me to try and work on.

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@fluffyunicorn wrote:

After speaking to a couple of people I've decided that I should see somebody else as well as the psych.. I asked about it when I called requesting an earlier appointment and they said they would check with the intake team, so I got a voicemail later that day and they said that they'd need to speak to my current and get a plan from the GP and I started freaking out because I don't want my psychiatrist thinking that I've gone behind his back asking to see somebody else and I almost had a little panic attack thinking about returning the call so I just didn't. Sounds so silly now that I'm writing it down but at the time I was mortified.

I just feel like he thinks that medication is the real answer and I don't need to be talking about things but I have so much on my mind and feel like the horrible thoughts are controlling my life. Now I don't know what to do.

It's kind of like I'm in two minds right now, one minute I'm anxious and stressed and angry at everybody and the world, and then the next I'm happy and optimistic and to be completely honest I refuse to believe that I have anything wrong with me. But then the anxiousness returns. Feeling like this is so exhausting.

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Just on the psychologist. Trust me the psychiatrist will be really happy that you've taken this step. The medical system dictates you need to go to your GP and get a mental health care plan and then see a psychologist. It's just the process; psychiatrist will be happy. They like medication but they also see real benefit in psychology - medical research shows the benefit of taking medication and seeing a psychologist.

Actually maybe @Former-Member might want to pitch in here about what you could expect from therapy. If you haven't guessed it yet I'm a real fan of pyschologists. 🙂 Go see one, you'll feel better.

In terms of flipping between feeling ill and feeling normal that's really common in bipolar. And it is exhausting.

Edit: no worries at all on the delay - I just worry about my fellow bipolar peeps.

@fluffyunicorn oh and good luck on those exams!

Hi again @fluffyunicorn, I agree with @mrkotter that working with both a Psychologist and Psychiatrist can be helpful. And if they are good practioners with your interests at heart they should be pleased that you are getting assistance from both. Ideally the roles are complementary to eachother. Your Psychiatrist is crtical to getting your medication protocol right. A Psychologist will focus more on what it's like for you to have this condition (pretty damn tough at times by the sound of it), provide additional emotional support and work with you on strategies to build the best possible quality of life within your circumstances. For example, if your relationship starts being impacted by your mood swings, you can thrash that out in a counselling session with a Psychologist. Would your Psychiatrist do that?

By all means raise the possibility of counselling with your Psychiatrist, but please don't miss out on the measly 10 sessions Medicare give you just to avoid hurting their feelings. Feelings you're potentially projecting onto them which they may not even have 🙂

Also, all Psychologists are not created equal so if you don't like/trust/want to work with the first one you see, try someone else. I am one and I promise you that I never minded someone opting out. We can't be the right person with the right approach for everyone.

It's really hard being an advocate for our own health so I understand your concerns. But please give it a try. The right Psychologist can make a real difference.

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@Former-Member wrote:

But please give it a try. The right Psychologist can make a real difference.

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word. Could not agree more. I know whole heartedly that I wouldn't be where I am without my one.