A CHANCE FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL and I hope the year brings you stability, happiness and joy in what you do. For today I am thinking how fortunate I am to have stability and happiness and joy most of the time.

For those of you who are just diagnosed and panicking at the thought of medication and a life long illness, there is hope. It is not so grave and terrible as it may seem. For those of you who have been fighting this thing forever...You know, trying to do it without medication....or with less medication...or trying to treat it with natural supplements...or alcohol...or drugs.../ there really is hope for stability with the right doctor relationship, proper medication, and therapy..

I am diagnosed Bipolar I, rapid cycling and fought 10 years before finding stability. I understand your pain and frustration. I have been there I fought it for the first three years taking the medicine. But I would drink and party on the weekend..so, of course, I was unstable and in and out of hospitals every 3 to 4 months. A couple suicide attempts. Then I lost my soulmate...and I got sober. I took the medicine, still convinced that I would get better......I didn't watch things like having a routine, sleep, stress and I was in and out of the hospital every 6 months Another two suicide attempts and two hospitalizations - one long term. Doctors had me on every drug known to man and nothing seemed to work.

Then I met my current doctor and therapist. They have taught me two things: acceptance of the illness and to be proactive in my treatment. They talk WITH ME about my medication and therapy, what it is supposed to do, and ask me what I think and if it is working. I research on the computer every medication that I take and keep my family doctor advised. I run a program for drug interactions on the computer whenever I get a new medicine from the family doctor just to be sure. My psychiatrist says "I want you to know your medicines because I may not always be your doctor and how will you know what has been going on with you?"

It is very important that the doctor you have respects you as an intelligent person. That he listens to you and your concerns....for example, if you don't want to take a medication that is known to add weight (which is unhealthy) or is known to be hard on the liver or has some other side effect. It is your body and there are just too many options out there to be stuck taking the ones you consider harmful.

I believe therapy with a Ph.D. is an integral part of treatment for bipolar disorder. Cognitive-behavior therapy is very effective in developing coping skills for problems associated with bipolar disorder. A therapist will also help with the areas bipolar patients need like keeping a routine, adequate sleep, stress management, mood charts and the like. Without this help, I would not be stable.

Finally, take your meds faithfully, same time every day.

If this brings hope of a new beginning to just one person, it will have been worth writing. Happy New Year. M