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New to BP - BP lifetime ?!!

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Bipolar Disorder
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Posted 2/13/2006 1:07 AM (GMT 0)

Hello everybody,

I'm 25 years old woman (actually I regard myself still as a girl   :-)   ) with a 5 years old son. I think I have BP for about 4-5 years but I just recently read about this disorder and thought I may have it. I mean I felt bad so I decided to search the internet for what is wrong with me and I found my condition to be a BP. I still haven't visited a doctor but I will next week, I just didn't know what was wrong with me. Another reason for assuming I have this disorder exactly is that I recently found out that my father and his sister had it too. (My father is dead).

So I read a lot about this disease and I became to feel good because finding what is wrong with me and treating it is a hope but there was one thing that scared me a lot. At first I thought this disoreder could be treated for a perioud of time (9 months for example) and it is over. And now I come to understand as I read that it is a lifetime disease and medicines can only keep you well and not cure you. Please give me some information about that - is it true you will never be cured ? And is it necesarily that my son has this too ?

Posted 2/13/2006 1:43 AM (GMT 0)

Hello Eva,
Sounds like you are where most of us were when we learned about BP - I know that as scary as it sounded, there was comfort in knowing there was a path through the chaos of life I had been living. As far as I know, you are 100% right in saying that there is no known cure for BP - just treatment. Having said that - once you find the right treatment, although it may take a while to narrow down the right mix, most people can lead average, healthy, happy, productive lives despite the BP diagnosis provided they are diligent about their treatment. Since the very nature of BP is cyclical, managing the extremes allows many people, myself included (I'm 25 too), to minimize the amount of medication that we take as a whole.
I don't know the stats on the whole inherited portion of BP, but I don't think that just because you have it, your son is garanteed to have it. I think it does increase his risk of developing it later in life, but the fact that you have experience with the disease will give your son a better chance of understanding and being able to deal with that possibility.

I hope that you find some information and support and welcome to HW,
Putter

Posted 2/14/2006 2:48 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Eva,

I'm not a Dr. but my husband has been dealing with this illness for about ten years and all the information from all the Dr's and research materials say that this illness is more likely to pass in girls not always but more likely.  Get all the information you can and just be aware of your sons moods.  There are lots of things out there to help you just have to find them.

Hope I've been of some help,

Tired

Posted 2/15/2006 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Eva,

Welcome to the chat group!  It is true that bipolar disoder is considered a chronic illness that can only be treated through meds, but not cured.  Other illnesses like diabetes don't have a permanent cure either.  I am 23 years old and have been on medication for 3 years.  Sometimes it is hard for me to accept that there is no cure.  It seems weird that when I am 60 I will still have this, and still have to be on meds.  However, the alternative of living my whole life unstable isn't even an option.  Maybe with modern technology, one day there will be a cure.

My life is much better now that I am stable on the right medication.  I lived with undiagnosed/misdiagnosed bipolar disoder for about 5 years.  Those years were aweful years. Had I been treated correctly sooner I would have been better off.

When you see your doctor just be as honest as you can about your symptoms.  If it turns out you have bipolar disorder, just know that treatment is the best thing you can do for yourself.  Oh, and just because you have this disorder doesn't mean your son will.  The rate of having bipolar in the general population is 1%.  If a parent has it, that 1% chance of having it does go up.   However, it still no where near 100%. 

Posted 2/15/2006 6:18 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Eva,  Welcome to Healing Well forum.

There is not a cure for bipolar (as yet) but hopefully one day there will be.  The important thing is to stay healthy and follow the recommendations of your physicians.  You said that you believe that you have this but you haven't been diagnosed with it?  For people that have BP it is extremely important that they see a psychiatrist for medication and follow ups.  Is this the type of doctor that your appointment is with next week?  In regards to your question any mental disorder will predispose a child of that person.  It is not a guarantee that they will get it but the chances are a little higher that he could. 

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