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Bipolar New bipolar diagnosis

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ImSad

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So, I just returned from an intake appointment with a nurse practitioner. She confirmed what I’ve suspected/what’s been suggested for a while now: I have bipolar disorder, type 2. Even though I pretty much knew it already it’s still kind of a weird feeling to get this news. It feels like confirmation that I’m going to be “crazy” forever. Hopefully it just means that I can manage it better and be better able to work through my trauma in therapy without having that extra layer of instability.
I’ll be starting Lamictal. I’m a little nervous, I don’t love being on psych meds. But I’ve always been on the wrong meds before because they were always antidepressants, not mood stabilizers like I need.

If anyone has experience with this and can offer any advice or words of comfort, that would be greatly appreciated.
 
Be sure to titrate up sloooooowly as to avoid that skin disorder that can be caused by lamictal. I had it, and fortunately it was caught early....but unfortunately that’s one less mood stabilizer available to me. The slow titration means it may take longer to see any positive effects, but just keep with it. Good luck!
 
Be sure to titrate up sloooooowly as to avoid that skin disorder that can be caused by lamictal. I had it, and fortunately it was caught early....but unfortunately that’s one less mood stabilizer available to me. The slow titration means it may take longer to see any positive effects, but just keep with it. Good luck!
Thank you! Yes, the nurse practitioner wrote out a titration schedule for me so I’ll be starting out on 25mg for the first two weeks and going up very slowly from there. Going to take my first dose before bed tonight, fingers crossed for no bad side effects!
 
I'm Bipolar and have been diagnosed for years now. I take a number of meds and have been on the medicine you are taking in the past. I am on other meds now. I guess they have to change out the meds every once in awhile so that my body does not adjust to them so much so that they become ineffective.

Anyway, I have found that Trauma Based CBT has been helpful for me, probably with both conditions. Thankfully I found a Therapist that does it, so it has all worked out and I am doing OK. Sure, I have a few days upon which I am not at my best, but who doesn't!?!

I wish you the best with this, especially the new med.
 
I'm Bipolar and have been diagnosed for years now. I take a number of meds and have been on the medicine you are taking in the past. I am on other meds now. I guess they have to change out the meds every once in awhile so that my body does not adjust to them so much so that they become ineffective.

Anyway, I have found that Trauma Based CBT has been helpful for me, probably with both conditions. Thankfully I found a Therapist that does it, so it has all worked out and I am doing OK. Sure, I have a few days upon which I am not at my best, but who doesn't!?!

I wish you the best with this, especially the new med.

Thank you for your reply, @Changing4Best ! I’m glad to hear you’re doing well with your treatment of meds & therapy. I am a little wary of having to be on meds for this forever, I’m just not sure how well I’ll be able to stick to it, but we will see I guess. My current therapist has been using mostly IFS and EMDR. I see her next week and will let her know about the bipolar diagnosis then; maybe we will adjust the treatment method with this new info. I think CBT would be helpful to be integrated, but she’s said that IFS/EMDR tend to have more successful outcomes? I’m not sure. It’s been working okay so far, and maybe i will see more improvement once these mood stabilizers begin to work. But it’s good to know that CBT & trauma therapy together have been helpful to you. Maybe I will see if she would be willing to implement some CBT in my treatment plan.
 
There is actually a Trauma Based CBT where CBT is done on your traumas. So the two are combined into one process.
Oh okay, that sounds interesting. I’ll have to look into it and talk to my t. I like my t a lot, and I sorta like the therapy we are doing together, but I feel like I haven’t gotten very far. It’s been less than a year though and I’ve been undiagnosed/unmedicated bipolar the entire time, so I think I’ll give the meds a bit of time to work and see what happens from there.
 
Hopefully the diagnosis is the beginning of good mood stability for you. For me? Definitely medication helps a lot. Getting that right took a while, but life would be a mess without meds.

Also, don’t underestimate the importance of lifestyle on your mood. Good sleep routines, good balanced diet, and (super important) regular exercise. It took me a good number of years to realise just how key these things were to keeping my mood stable, and restabilising when a life stressor threw things off. It sounds a lot like a doctor just trying to pass the buck when they bat on about he importance of lifestyle stuff, but really, they aren’t kidding. These days, it’s the first thing I look to when my mood changes.

Also, if you haven’t already, maybe consider keeping some sort of basic mood journal for a year. It doesn’t need to be a big complex thing, but changes are different for everyone. Your mood may have natural swings throughout the day, and through the different months, and that sort of information can be invaluable to preventing instability.

Bipolar 2 does indeed suck as a diagnosis, because the depression can be a tough road. But keep your chin up, because having the diagnosis does now mean you can nail down the right treatment. Which can change your life:)
 
Hopefully the diagnosis is the beginning of good mood stability for you. For me? Definitely medication helps a lot. Getting that right took a while, but life would be a mess without meds.

Also, don’t underestimate the importance of lifestyle on your mood. Good sleep routines, good balanced diet, and (super important) regular exercise. It took me a good number of years to realise just how key these things were to keeping my mood stable, and restabilising when a life stressor threw things off. It sounds a lot like a doctor just trying to pass the buck when they bat on about he importance of lifestyle stuff, but really, they aren’t kidding. These days, it’s the first thing I look to when my mood changes.

Also, if you haven’t already, maybe consider keeping some sort of basic mood journal for a year. It doesn’t need to be a big complex thing, but changes are different for everyone. Your mood may have natural swings throughout the day, and through the different months, and that sort of information can be invaluable to preventing instability.

Bipolar 2 does indeed suck as a diagnosis, because the depression can be a tough road. But keep your chin up, because having the diagnosis does now mean you can nail down the right treatment. Which can change your life:)

Thank you for this reply @Sideways ! Lots of helpful advice. I took 2 doses of the lamictal and spent the last 2 days feeling as if I’m coming down with the flu, so per my prescribers suggestion I’ve stopped taking it for the weekend to see how my symptoms improve and will go from there.

But I know you are absolutely right about the lifestyle changes! Before this diagnosis, I’ve always gone through phases when I’m a little more “up” of trying to eat healthier and work out regularly, but I always end up falling off after a month or 2 of those healthy habits. I’m hoping that once I get the meds right it’ll be easier to actually keep up with some of those lifestyle changes.

I haven’t yet started keeping a journal of my moods, but that’s a really good idea! Something I’ve thought about but never implemented. I’m pretty bad at looking back and remembering my moods too, because I feel like they change a lot. In general I can remember if I’ve been in a depressive episode, but figuring out the hypomanic can be a little more difficult depending on how intense they are. Like giving my nurse practitioner a history of my mental health, especially within the past few months as I’ve been all over the place, was really difficult. I knew that I’d been really depressed and had a few instances of feeling hypomanic, but because I hadn’t kept track of it it was hard to tell just how often I had experienced either one of them.

Thank you for this feedback, it’s been super helpful!
 
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