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"Cured" of BP???
Another med help member told me that I was "cured" of BP because I have not had a full manic episode in years. He couldn't be more wrong. There are rare remissions but I am unfortunately not one of them. I still have hypomania and mixed episodes. True, I take anti depressants but many BPers do. I am not alone in this. It does not mean that BPers that take anti depressants are not BPers it just means our illness is different, our systems different from others. There is NO CURE for BP! Every BPer is different and every case is treated differently both cognitively and medication wise. There is NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL DEFINITION OF BP AND IT'S TREATMENTS I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD OR READ!!! YOU ARE WRONG!!! I HAVE CHECKED WITH EXPERTS IN THIS FIELD!! Sorry I had to get it off my chest. I have been upset for days and will from now on avoid this site!!!!
That person could not be more wrong. The last three psychs I have had said point blank, it only takes one mania to classify as BP2...in your LIFETIME. And did you know the mania can come out as anger and hostility? Mine does sometimes. Since on Lithium, I have not had a harmful mania and that is ten years. I have had a few angry ones. Like everyone else says, we each manifest different traits and sometimes we just have to go with the flow of what our doctors (those who have licenses to practice) lol and make sure we have ones that appear to have our best interest at heart and are smarter than the average psych.
zzzmykids
zzzmykids
When I first started going to the doctor as a teenager for problems with my depression (this was before they "officially" diagnosed me with BP2), I didn't want to go through therapy or anything like that because I didn't think it would help. It was more of a "give me the medication so I can see if it fixes me" type of deal. Then when I was in my 20's I met a doctor who told me something that changed my outlook on the illness forever. He said that medication doesn't "cure" BP, it just helps you live with it. I had never had anyone explain it like that to me. While it saddened me to realize that I was going to have this for the rest of my life, it brought comfort to me and really encouraged me to be a part of dealing with it instead of blaming medicine for not doing its job.
I think this person is misinformed because there is no "cure" or "remission" for mental illness, but don't let their ignorance get you down. You are always going to encounter people in real life or even in the forums that are going to have different opinions about what's going on in their brains. Even doctors have different opinions on it. Psychiatry isn't an exact science, it's all just a bunch of guesses. All you can do is learn as much as you can about your illness and share what you've learned. Don't let the man get you down!
I think this person is misinformed because there is no "cure" or "remission" for mental illness, but don't let their ignorance get you down. You are always going to encounter people in real life or even in the forums that are going to have different opinions about what's going on in their brains. Even doctors have different opinions on it. Psychiatry isn't an exact science, it's all just a bunch of guesses. All you can do is learn as much as you can about your illness and share what you've learned. Don't let the man get you down!
Well, my psychologist the other day confirmed to me that you only ever need to have one manic episode period and that makes you BP. It doesn't matter if you have it when you're 15 and then you never have one again and die when you're 103. So, that person was just misinformed.
People like that are annoying, but the only way to turn them around is through education, and they'll only absorb it if they want to. I see them all the time where I work, too, except for they have diabetes. People telling me they plan to be cured in a month or two of diabetes (type 2 diabetes, type 1 people never seem to think this way.) Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Even if you keep your blood glucose in perfect control for the rest of your life, you still have diabetes and there is no cure.
People like that are annoying, but the only way to turn them around is through education, and they'll only absorb it if they want to. I see them all the time where I work, too, except for they have diabetes. People telling me they plan to be cured in a month or two of diabetes (type 2 diabetes, type 1 people never seem to think this way.) Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Even if you keep your blood glucose in perfect control for the rest of your life, you still have diabetes and there is no cure.
Whilst i would never try to diminish the importance of the various psychological and enviromental factors in mental illness it is important to note that a large part of it is biological/physiological/neurological/neurochemical etc and is permanent.
While taking medication may recalibrate a persons abnormally high or low neurotransmitters in certain parts of their brains producing ''normal'' feelings and behaviours this cannot be considered a ''cure''. If medication stopped they would suddenly be 'un-cured'. Bipolar is a disorder with no cure. It can however be treated which is different to a cure and there are a number of treatments to in effect help things.
I am going to list a few things simply and plainly that 'help' and 'hinder' the symptoms of some peoples bipolar they do not apply to everyone just little things i have noticed about fellow bipolar sufferers. These are things to do with people and lifestyles and not about medication and therapy.
- Caffeine, many bipolar sufferers claim it sends them 'hypomanic' a claim i find quite exagerated to be perfectly honest but will not discount it just bare it in mind.
- Alcohol, it is a depressant and will therefore make you more depressed if you abuse it, i can tell you this from almost dieing from alcoholism, many bipolar sufferers have 'addictive personalities'.
- Cannabis, the simple drug that everyone smoked or at the very least tried as a teenage, to much research exists linking it to psychotic illness for me to ignore it any longer. If you suffer from hallucinations with your bipolar Cannabis really isnt a good idea.
- Stress, it may sound petty but stress and activity usually send me manic. Obviously you cant just quit your job on the grounds its to stressful for your bipolar its just something that should be remembered.
+ Routine, i have noticed two trends with bipolar sufferers. Some seem more stable if they have complete structured, undivergable routines because it makes them feel safer and secure. I also notice that other sufferers are quite the opposite and prefer things to be complete chaotic, spontanious and different everyday regardless of which 'pole' they are at. Inbetween the two extremes i personally have been at my worst as i prefer complete understanding or complete unexpectedness but not a 'bit'.
+ Sleep, a structured sleep pattern does help your symptoms. As a bipolar sufferer it is likey that your sleep pattern will slide in concordance with your mood usually hypersomnia when in the depths of depression and insomnia when in the grip of mania. For some it is hard due to work and lifestyle and i know that first hand but it can help.
+ Good support, by our nature we are very strong, independent and quite frankly have a 'i wont take any **** from anyone' attitude. This often leads us to shutting people out of our lives and problems and we end up dealing with everything alone. I actively do it myself, i recognise it but cannot stop it and know many of us are the same as it feels easier to just put it in a box and forget about it. Any trauma can be blocked out and forgotten but it will one day surface again and you will have to deal with it and take it from me its 100% harder. At the very least try and keep a good friend in the loop about how you feel, even the strongest of us need help sometimes.
While taking medication may recalibrate a persons abnormally high or low neurotransmitters in certain parts of their brains producing ''normal'' feelings and behaviours this cannot be considered a ''cure''. If medication stopped they would suddenly be 'un-cured'. Bipolar is a disorder with no cure. It can however be treated which is different to a cure and there are a number of treatments to in effect help things.
I am going to list a few things simply and plainly that 'help' and 'hinder' the symptoms of some peoples bipolar they do not apply to everyone just little things i have noticed about fellow bipolar sufferers. These are things to do with people and lifestyles and not about medication and therapy.
- Caffeine, many bipolar sufferers claim it sends them 'hypomanic' a claim i find quite exagerated to be perfectly honest but will not discount it just bare it in mind.
- Alcohol, it is a depressant and will therefore make you more depressed if you abuse it, i can tell you this from almost dieing from alcoholism, many bipolar sufferers have 'addictive personalities'.
- Cannabis, the simple drug that everyone smoked or at the very least tried as a teenage, to much research exists linking it to psychotic illness for me to ignore it any longer. If you suffer from hallucinations with your bipolar Cannabis really isnt a good idea.
- Stress, it may sound petty but stress and activity usually send me manic. Obviously you cant just quit your job on the grounds its to stressful for your bipolar its just something that should be remembered.
+ Routine, i have noticed two trends with bipolar sufferers. Some seem more stable if they have complete structured, undivergable routines because it makes them feel safer and secure. I also notice that other sufferers are quite the opposite and prefer things to be complete chaotic, spontanious and different everyday regardless of which 'pole' they are at. Inbetween the two extremes i personally have been at my worst as i prefer complete understanding or complete unexpectedness but not a 'bit'.
+ Sleep, a structured sleep pattern does help your symptoms. As a bipolar sufferer it is likey that your sleep pattern will slide in concordance with your mood usually hypersomnia when in the depths of depression and insomnia when in the grip of mania. For some it is hard due to work and lifestyle and i know that first hand but it can help.
+ Good support, by our nature we are very strong, independent and quite frankly have a 'i wont take any **** from anyone' attitude. This often leads us to shutting people out of our lives and problems and we end up dealing with everything alone. I actively do it myself, i recognise it but cannot stop it and know many of us are the same as it feels easier to just put it in a box and forget about it. Any trauma can be blocked out and forgotten but it will one day surface again and you will have to deal with it and take it from me its 100% harder. At the very least try and keep a good friend in the loop about how you feel, even the strongest of us need help sometimes.
morning
I hope it wasn't me , or perhaps it was me and i don't remember what did i say exactly. I APOLOGIZE a thousand times if it was me.
About getting cured from BP, i remember to have talked about it with someone somewhere, yet also i remember i said here that one can't get cured from BP. But what i remember i discussed with you the antidepressants saying USUALLY BP pts don't take them because they turn them manic. For instance i used to cut the lexapro pill 10mg into halves and yet a 5mg a day after 2 weeks made me manic. So i said you must be lucky. Because in my view the issue of AD's is the clue to "curing" from bipolrity because it's a viscious circle, we take AD->manic->AP->depressed...and so on.
please don't take it personally. No one here as IL said is so knowledgeable and I would add, again since you are so sensitive, psychiatrists themselves i don't believe they know it all. As you said nothing fits all of us, i was only going by the general rules.
don't withdraw from medhelp, we need your posts
I hope it wasn't me , or perhaps it was me and i don't remember what did i say exactly. I APOLOGIZE a thousand times if it was me.
About getting cured from BP, i remember to have talked about it with someone somewhere, yet also i remember i said here that one can't get cured from BP. But what i remember i discussed with you the antidepressants saying USUALLY BP pts don't take them because they turn them manic. For instance i used to cut the lexapro pill 10mg into halves and yet a 5mg a day after 2 weeks made me manic. So i said you must be lucky. Because in my view the issue of AD's is the clue to "curing" from bipolrity because it's a viscious circle, we take AD->manic->AP->depressed...and so on.
please don't take it personally. No one here as IL said is so knowledgeable and I would add, again since you are so sensitive, psychiatrists themselves i don't believe they know it all. As you said nothing fits all of us, i was only going by the general rules.
don't withdraw from medhelp, we need your posts
I'm sorry that someone's comment hit a sore spot for you. You have every right to disagree with the author of the message. There seems to be general agreement that BP can be managed, but not cured. Still, I hope that you can be generous enough to grant the other person the right to be wrong. We all have that problem from time to time.
Keep on forgiving and keep on living.
Keep on forgiving and keep on living.
I would relax. No one here is an expert. Any advice of a psychiatrist takes precedence over any words of advice posted here in all cases. When a person has bipolar their symptoms can go into relative remmission. No one has ever prescribed me a medication stating its a "cure". As for myself now I will state the exact words of my providers which are "recovered as well as on FDA approved anti-psychotics or better" and my schizoaffective disorder is "in relative remmission". I can't comment on other people's recovery rates because only their psychiatrist could. As new treatment modalities improve so will recovery rates. A "cure" is very hard to define and no treatment has ever approached it yet. But as people adjust to treatment their moodswings and other difficulties will improve. I would think providers would agree with that.
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