r/BipolarReddit

If you are unmedicated, is everyday life a challenge?

If yes, how so?

i feel so good rn. sorry anyways, im not diagnosed with bipolar. and im only 15. not tryna self diagnose or ask for one. i just want people with bipolar to tell me if this seems like something thats worth talking to a professional about. when i take adhd meds and dont sleep, i feel euphoric and wired and good and hyped up and i feel so good right now. but i also have this underlying irritability. my whole body feels warm and buzzing and my head feels light and good. when im in these elevated states, i feel like life is worth living and im made for something bigger and i need to find out what it is. and im secretly an evil person. like i have a secret identity that i need to find. like i have a different life im supposed to be living. but i also feel aggressive. i wanna go out and do crazy things but i can’t. i wanna go out and socialize but people piss me off. i don’t want to sleep cause that means failure. i feel tired under all this but i try to gaslight myself into not feeling it. im prescribed sleeping pills but i dont take them cause i like feeling like this. i like not sleeping. last summer i was barley sleeping and energetic and social as ever. so is this just normal sleep deprivation or adhd ? i feel insane

also i took my adhd meds and coffeeeee

i want someone to talk to me cause i feel like talking and socializing

i don’t even know why i posted this. im probably just overreacting. i just feel so good. but there’s this bad void that i can feel underneath and im scared that it’ll come up. i have a call with my doctor today. what should i say?

i wanna talk and socialize but people piss me off and don’t match my energy

i feel somewhat normal now. but still good and hyped

why am i so pissed off and irritated rn

now im also euphoric

I have things to do, I have a life but I can’t do this. I can’t get myself out of bed some days, I struggle with basic things. It’s something that takes every thing from me and I feel that eventually will take my life away

Hello. I was diagnosed bipolar (along with a list of other diagnoses) over thirty years ago. I am very familiar with the periods of being manic and depressed.

I keep seeing the term hypo mania on this community and am curious. What is experienced during periods of hypomania?

I didn't sleep all night. Nothing matters. Just ranting lol. I feel super good. A little kinky and alluring. Hahaha. I am on a super engulfing bed with pillows and a nice quiet hotel. Im just away and free. I fucking love it. Slipping away. I have insomnia but it's ok lol. I am on vacation. Tired. Feeling happy.

Edit: I'm fine u guys, let me write. Im literally about to take an Ambien. Christ. 🤣😠😴

I have a long mental health history (over 20 years) 95% of the time I’ve been on meds. The times I was not was due to extreme nausea and I couldn’t keep the meds down. I am a strong believer in meds, and I am aware there’s an adjustment period.

I remember what it feels like to feel good. I was out of the hospital for 7 years prior to last year. I felt amazing for about 5 of those 7 years. My last hospitalization was in October. Since then I quit indulging in weed (smoking and edibles) and the last time I drank was in January. In theory I feel like I should feel normal, but I feel far from it. I’m not sure if I’m like rapid cycling? That’s not typically what happens to me. But the most pressing feeling is depression. I keep getting lulled into a false sense of security bc my depression goes away for like a week or so every month and then it’s back to the bottom.

Luckily I don’t feel suicidal whatsoever but I cannot function. I barely go out anymore, and I’m a really social person aside from mania.

I currently take invega sustenna and lithium. Something is telling me I need an adjustment. I’m thinking going up on the invega and lowering the lithium. I just don’t want to rock the boat. I have a few commitments this week and in June that I can’t cancel but I’m not at my best. I can’t take antidepressants bc I’m very mania prone. Should I just leave it as is? It’s been over 6 months no mania, but I’m scared to adjust and become manic again, I absolutely CANNOT be manic again.

If you’ve been in a similar situation, how do you know when it’s time for an adjustment vs just waiting for the depression to pass on its own on your current regimen? Would love to hear personal experiences more so than direct advice.

Some days I feel I just have really bad anxiety and a benzo would suffice. But benzo is a no-no now in medicine. But why is using APs like quetiapine with a whole list of side effects - memory loss, metabolic - is still okay?

I have suspected something wrong with me for a LONG time.. basically any time I was coming out of depression and reaching hypomania and I had a moment of clear thinking , I would think "something is seriously wrong with me" ..and the few times I mentioned to my partner that I think I might be bipolar or have something wrong with my brain, he would basically say that I for sure wasn't bipolar bcuz he's seen what true bipolar looks like and he said I wasn't that.

I have officially ruined our lives. I've ended all of our friendships, and made it impossible for us to have friends as a couple. I have no job because I can't stay stable. My body has changed so much in the last 6 months due to a deep depressio that we can't even enjoy the activities we used to enjoy. . I have gone to soooo many doctors about my sleep problems for so long (which I am just now realizing is a huge sign of BP).

I feel so fucking angry and stupid for not listening to my gut and asking for a BP screening a long time ago.

How does my partner still deny my BP diagnosis? Like he thinks it's not "real"...he thinks that I can just try hard enough and not have these issues.

Okaaaaaaaay..... So you think I just WANTED to blow up our lives and feel constantly angry and unstable and depressed and hyper? Like wtf!!!!!!! 14 years of marriage and watching me go thru this cycle every month and you think THATS NORMAL and that I've just chosen that EVERY FUCKING MONTH?

My entire fucking world has been turned upside down. And my entire life finally fucking makes sense.. I've never been able to keep friends..I've never been able to keep a job.. I was too scared to go to college...too scared to waste money on something I knew I wouldn't be able to stick with because of my emotions.

Yes, I've started medication and I have a good psychiatrist.

It doesn't fix the mess my life is.

Wtf. Wtf. Wtf.

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

Prozac is the reason I discovered this BP... It ruined my life even more. It was the straw that broke the camels back.

Hi everyone. I think I’m going through a mixed episode and I feel really overwhelmed. My mood is all over the place, my thoughts are racing, I’m agitated, and I can’t really sleep or think clearly.

If anyone has been through this, any advice or grounding tips would really help. I just need to feel a bit more stable right now.

I’ve been in an anxiety fit recently and terrified that the police are coming to get me. At work and at home I watch by the window and check the door all day to make sure they aren’t there. Actually I’ve often seen cops and cop cars come into the parking lot at work and I’m terrified and feel certain they are there for me.

I’m not even depressed, just in an intense mode recently, but I’m PETRIFIED with this. I’m really scared. Ik I haven’t done anything wrong but I’m so scared they’re talking about me and going to lock me away. It’s just been building for days and weeks and I can’t pull myself from the window now. SO SCARED. Ugh

Be realistic, do meds allow you to function significantly better on a day-today basis or just keep you mostly out of mania.

So about a week ago I had a full blown manic episode with psychotic features. It went from me believing I somehow ran across a glitch and I obtained a shit ton of crypto currency. Then I was convinced my cousin was out to get me for stealing the crypto. In my head he ended up getting arrested for something and it was on video. In my thought process everything on my phone was accurate (definitely not). I showed my aunt the “proof” but what I was showing her didn’t add up at all. I was delusional and was paranoid so in that moment I changed all my passwords to all accounts on my phone and set 2 step authentication for all my banking apps. My aunt noticed and tried to snap me out of it. She said she talked me and everything sorta added up but then she said I lost her and my story wasn’t consistent and it was all over the place. It took me about a week to finally feel “normal.” I was down bad for a cool minute but this episode was different and totally messed up mind. I didn’t pick up my phone for a good week. Comments and insight are welcome 🫡

Giving birth next week, bipolar 1, psychiatrist prescribed this to me 2.5mg for irritability or lack of sleep after the birth. Mom (trigger) is visiting so I need some sort of post partum antipsychotic to deal with her. I heard you can gain a shit ton of weight. Is this true for a dose this low. I’m incredibly self critical and vain, if I gain any more weight it will put me into depression.

Apparently this is the gold standard for post partum antipsychotics. I have tried many before just not this one. Wondering if there are any other options!

Since getting medicated I’ve been grieving about the life I could’ve had. I feel grief for my younger self who was tormented by bouts of depression and SI for years and years. So much grief. She deserved so much more than I was able to give without knowing my diagnosis.

I'm not sure if this is illness, or Abilify, but I notice I have these longings and desires I didn't used to have: namely to date, or to be with men. This has been going on since I started Abilify in 2012. And I sometimes develop crushes on certain single men who I work in close collaborations with, like for projects and such. And this is problematic. I would download dating apps too off and on.

I didn't used to be like this before taking Abilify, but then again I was super ill before Abilify too and that was my best option to get me out of mania then.

I told my doctor about studies having to do with Abilify and lack of impulse control, and she denied it. She thinks it helps with impulsivity, and I can't convince her to even look at the study.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has felt this way, and if upon reducing or eliminating Abilify, if the impulsivity went away.

I am overweight but why would olanzapine still be in my urine one month after not taking it if the half life is much shorter? Im worried its a liver and or kidney issue. I did have elevated alt liver enzyme at 115 recently from a statin I was taking, could the statin be the cause?

This is for all you 37+ people out there which may not know this. I knew this disorder was progressive but didn't stop and think what that meant. Im 38 and I HATE chat gtp but thought fuck it, and it shot out an answer that actually made sense to me.

After a 4 month manic episode that required a month long hospitalization I have been was wondering why am I still angry, depressed, anxious, no memory, brain fog, no patience, empty etc etc. We'll I felt ok when I left the hospital but yeah I guess I was not fully ok.

I asked chat gtp. Is it normal to "not bounce back" or feel weird after an episode in your late 30s? It shot out that yeah its completely normal. Our brains don't act like there young anymore starting right around the late 30s. Its like trying to drink the same 6 shots you drank as a 25 year old and were fine and it now makes you hung over asf at 37.

The goal posts keep moving and im to exhausted to pivot.