Bipolar life
Hi, my name is Charli and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2 about 6-7 years ago although I had clear signs for a few years before then. I am very lucky and I’ve been stable on lithium for 4-5 years now and it’s given me a quality of life and stability I hadn’t experienced before. I am fortunate that the ‘major’ symptoms of my bipolar are reasonably well managed but I still have symptoms that I find effect me. I would love to meet people in a similar place to me.
Hi 1990 - that’s awesome you have experience- I am very new to all of this and also want to connect with others experiencing and living with Bipolar- Do you take medication?
Hi, sorry I didn’t see your reply. I do, I take 1000mg of lithium a day. They did try me on aripiprozole but it made me feel anxious so I stuck with lithium. I think different drugs work differently for different people so it’s just trial and error until you find the right one for you
@charli1990 Hi Charli, thank you for sharing. I am bp too and I think having symptoms is normal, even though you are taking medication. Just as someone with diabetes cannot eat a big piece of cake everyday, emotional regulation and mood management will be something you always have to work on, just like having a workout routine (but a mood one). That's my experience, hope it helps!
Thank you for replying. I think you are right, you need to regulate yourself as well as taking medication. I think it’s when I’m stressed or get emotions out of my control it’s difficult to prioritise my mental health over other factors but that’s something I need to work on I guess ☺️
@charli1990 and Im sure you will get really good at it! Keep going :)
Hello Charli. Good to hear you have been stable for a few years. I have bipolar type I and I was stable for a few years until a recent stress trigger caused yet again hyperspending, trying to get into multiple projects etc. At least I recognized there was an issue so ended up seeking psychiatric support and communicating a lot with text based therapy apps which eventually helped me from going full blown into mania. Being stressed is the worst possible trigger and trying not to beat oneself down so much from the mistakes made over the years seems to be a hard but much needed process.
