Hi. I'm new here. I have bipolar

@HH2O77 Welcome to the forums.

There are others here with bipolar, plus information that might be helpful. I’ll tag @eth . When she has time to drop by, she has a lot of helpful life experience, plus info.

Other threads where you meet other members is the Good Morning . It’s a light chatting way of getting to know who’s who.

The @ brings a dropdown, and is how we tag others into conversations.

Its good to have you here.

Hi @HH2O77 welcome to the forums. And thanks for the tag @Maggie

Mags is right, I do have bipolar 1 as well as cPTSD. I didn't get diagnosed bipolar until 11 years ago (I'm 57) and it's been quite a learning curve since then. Feel free to ask me any questions you have. Short story - I remain stable for 3 years now as a result of medication compliance (it took a long time to get the right balance of meds), weekly psychology doing trauma-based work mostly but also skills to manage bipolar, self-monitoring charts I keep daily, and working whenever I'm able to on self-care activities. I gradually had less extreme mood swings and for shorter periods and have stayed out of hospital since 2009.

The future looks a lot better now than it did for a long time. Have hope and keep in touch. Type @ and then the person's name you want to respond to and you will get a drop-down box with the name there that you can click on. That way the person will be notified of your reply.

Hi there,

I'm pretty new to bipolar too. I was diagnosed BPD2 just a couple of months ago, but I suspected it a couple of years ago. I had long bouts of depression until I got onto anti depressants. I only did that when I had a major anxiety attack a few months ago.

My manic periods are usually easy for me to see coming- but not always. Theyre my "no decision times". I actually enjoy them which is common my doc says. Gets me very active and busy, and I enjoy being a bit crazy for a while. I dont hurt anyone and just have a lot of fun- but too much sometimes.

I do feel very alone with BPD. I dont know anyone ekse with it so I cant share with anyone in person. I always feel like I dont belong in the world. Im extremely passionate and honest- and that is hard to find.

I have a very good friend to share my time with. And I have the best dog in the world.

Hi @Bushman and welcome to the forums. Nice sharing your story with us. And good to hear you have such a good friend as well as your dog to share your adventures. For me ad's don't work - they actually cause me to get manic. Took years for doctors to recognize this. I am on a mix of mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics. Just fyi we have to be cautious to only talk about types of med and not name particular ones as per the forum guidelines. And I think you'll find that BPD when you see it in the forums refers to borderline personality disorder - we tend to say just BP when we mean bipolar. Hope you are finding your way around the forums by now. If you want to comment to a particular person type @ and then their name and a drop-down box will appear where you can click on the name you want. That way they'll be notified of your post. Feel free to ask me questions if you like.

I was diagnosted this year. My first episode was 6 years ago and last year I got another one. I think I am getting to the point to accept the illness. At the beginning, It was hard to admite.

Sadly, my manic episode last year left consecuenques in my loves ones that I am trying to repair.

I don't know anybody with this illness in person either.

I was first diagnost with depression until last year that the doctors started to change their opinion.

Hi again @Bushman and to you too @HH2O77 and @Maggie

If you want to keep sharing about this I'll be happy to talk more. Just type @ and then my name and you'll get a dropdown box where you can click on my name. If you do that I'll get a notification of your post.

I was diagnosed with depression for many years too as that is when I would present to a Dr. When I was flying high I loved it. But many times my behaviour during those episodes caused negative consequences. However, I've been stable now for 3 years and haven't been hospitalized since 2009. I'm 57 and was only diagnosed bipolar 1 at 46. I also have complex and chronic PTSD and the two impact strongly on each other.

So if you want to talk about how to manage from day to day I'd be happy to share what's been working for me.

Take care all.

Hi @eth @HH2O77 and @Maggie

It's great to hear your stories.

A few months ago I had an anxiety attack at work, that's when I sought help. So the anxiety is another challenge I have to face. I'm just hanging on to my job but today I switched sites and now have better support. I hope to get back to full-time by December. I'm confident I can do it. My doctor and psychologist are helping me. I've been encouraged to practise mindfulness which is helping. The ADs have made a big difference to my life too.

Hi @Bushman hope the new work site works out well for you. It's great that you feel good about your Dr and psychologist, and that the meds are helping. It took around 8 years to get the right balance of meds for me, but now they've been good for 2 years. I've also learned more skills to self-manage having bipolar 1 and cPTSD, but that's a work in progress and probably will be for life. I do a couple of mindfulness practices every day too.

Hi @Bushman

I suspect I may have BP 2. Same as you I'm on second round of antidepressants. This lot is much better but it still doesn't stop the racey days. Which seem to fall over in exhaustion on another. I am not harmful to others I think. Maybe more to myself with some silly choices. If I drink it can send me into hypomania and I shouldn't but some other aids I do dabble in.
I'm trying hard to curb a calmer lifestyle. Maybe I'm some way there. Will see how I go!

Hey @Former-Member,

Keep battling. Have you got into mindfulness. Just breathing and stuff. Easy to do and does help to slow things down. Works for some and not for others. I can direct you to a site if u want to try. Anyway, keep the conversation going.