Hello, WillBeMe4Life, I can understand your situation very clearly. The
truth is that you need to get back on medication. You recognize the symptoms--not being able to sleep, feeling confused, watching the bottom fall out sometimes. These are all symptoms that need to be stabilized.
If you explain to your doctor that you are bipolar (tell him whether it's
bipolar I or bipolar type II, so that he'll know what medications are
best for you) and that you need to be medicated--to stabilize your moods and to be able to sleep, he might consider prescribing Clonazepam (or Klonopin) which is very inexpensive for sleep or anxiety. There are mood stabilizers now (some expensive, some less so that you need to ask about
and consider taking one prescribed by a physician).
I can also understand your husband's concerns about
the costs of some of the newer mood stabilizers. It can be alarming without insurance. Ask for something good, but not quite so expensive to see how it works. Frankly, Depakote, which is far less expensive than some medications (such as Lamictal or Abilify) is a good mood stabilizer. However, only your doctor can recommend one for you. We can't do that; we aren't doctors and can't recommend anything for you to take other than to watch your diet, etc. I mention the names of meds just to alert
you to the fact that new ones are out there now that may work as well as some of the older ones.
You definitely need to confer with your doctor right away and get started on what he recommends to get back your good feeling tone. It will make such a difference in how you see things and in how you feel overall.
Take care of yourself first so that you may be able to take care of your
great family.
P. S. Psychiatrists will advise you to stop using anything containing caffeine or drinking anything with alcohol in it. They both make the illness worse. They will also advise you to take your meds and to get your rest. Those four things are really imperative if you want to get better, I was told. They might also tell you that it has been found that bipolar illness is an inflammation of the brain and that aspirin will reduce the symptoms. They don't know yet what causes the inflammation, but it won't be long before they locate the problem; much research is going on in the field.
It's Genetic
Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 7/20/2011 5:45:34 PM (GMT-6)