Manic Affair

[BpfarmersWife]

Husband of 21 yrs had 3 mo long affair, when I found prepaid phone he kept telling me it wasn't him.  HE wouldn't ever do this to me and kids. There was no sex but did kiss. He tried committing suicide and started cutting after this. I took him to pdoc and he was diagnosed bipolar. ( uncle committed suicide, other was manic depressive so it's in his family)
He keeps telling me he felt like some force was pushing him thru and that now he has lost most memories, has no emotions from it, and it feels like it never happened even though he knows it did.  He said he felt like he had no control over any of it and did not realize he was even in an affair.
He has a lot of guilt and is very remorseful. This is very out of character for him. We were both very blindsided by this.
Does all this sound familiar?  Anyone else experience this with bipolar?

[BpfarmersWife]

Thank you for replying. He has stopped cutting right now but pdoc increased his meds saying he's sicker than originally thought. He's having flight of ideas bad and his rage has increased since this first episode. We did not know to watch for any of this so we are still in shock from it happening. We can look back thru years and see symptoms but we truly were blindsided by his actions. He is having a hard time understanding how he could lose control and do something so far out of character for him and that he truly DID NOT want to do.

[CRSeaside]

Dear BP farmers wife. Thank you for your post. Yes. Manic behavior can be so intense & things can escalate very quickly.  Irrational actions happen & later there will be a real disconnect as to what happened & why.
  I can look back on some of my own episodes and have a feeling that is wasn't me. Or I can not explain what force drove me to some action.
  It's not a cop out. Mania is very real.  
   Guilt is bad too. It deepens the depression when we can not forgive ourselves.
    There's a group for Bipolar thru DBSA. It's called Friends & Family. It's free too. Go if you can. You can learn how to help him. Also others go thru things & can advise you.
Meantime, it's good to have him in therapy too.  Get him a Dr for the cutting behavior.  Medicine can help too, but it can also be tricky.  
  Thank you for helping him & be vigilant.  He needs you.   Pamela