[Marie]

I was diagnosed about 4 years ago. The original diagnosis was depression about 5 years ago, but then I said the magic words "I feel like a yo-yo" and my dr. put me through the bipolar test to which I aced with flying colors. Actually the dr. said, "I think we can stop here, you only need to have 5 of the symptoms." And I'd had 8 on the list or somthing like that by the time he stopped 2/3 the way through. Meds were a godsend then. But I definitely got acclimatized to them fast and then they didn't work. I'm not sure what gave me the idea to give them up, but I'm thankful that I did. For now, exercise and the light therapy are keeping me stable. But if I have problems, I don't rule meds out. (FYI, that's a change from Sept when I said never again)

I defnitely make sure I go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day (unless I'm sick). Weekends included. It's made a difference too. Ever since dr. said that regulating the sleep is important, I followed that. Except I sort of miss lounging in bed on weekends, I am much better because of it.

TTYL.
Marie

[sweet_pea]

cathy ~ that info on thyroid was really interesting. you posted something on one of the daily threads but i lost track when we started a new day. i know i used to have readings that were outside the range but then they came right. however i haven't done all the readings you had on your list. something to think about but first i want to get my diet right and see what impact all the sugar is having.
thanks for the link i will check it out
well done for getting up and walking

leenie ~ i forgot to say thank you for picking up on the weekly thread instead of daily. i love it!!!

marie ~ i have also been dx as bipolar, altho i'm not convinced it's right. right now they have a big question mark over my dx. also since depressive anxiety manifests very similar symptoms to mixed state bipolar, plus i have narcissistic personality disorder which has some similarities to manic state. so very confusing!!!

amanda ~ one of the things my CBT told me to do was to monitor moods and each day log level of depression etc etc out of scale of 10 so i could see when things were changing. i need to get back to monitoring my anxiety, depression and physical energy levels daily to see how i am doing.
also you need to identify your triggers that are likely to swing your mood or indicate your mood is changing

sleep is a major problem for me. i have trouble sleeping and getting refreshing sleep. i can not sleep more than a couple of hours at a time without pills. yuck

danielle ~ i guess we all get different side effects. i was on cipramil and a little drowsy on that but the effexor is completely knocking my socks off. i do notice tho that i have less food cravings. loss of appetite is a common sideeffect of effexor. hooray!!! are you saying you have adult ADD? i am seeing the doc next week to check things out

This morning I rushed out to the vet no breakfast. The vet thinks the stream across the road has caused saffie’s tummy bug. She’s sending a sample off to check for Giardia etc. hopefully it’s nothing major. Meanwhile I have to give her some yucky stuff for her tum. She took one look at the syringe coming her way and ran fast!

I lost my keys this morning out doing errands. Lucky I had a spare in the garage, have phoned everyone but noone has the keys. I was quite hassled jasmine threw up in the car etc etc so I obviously put them down somewhere and forgot. Grrrr so then I had to go back out and look for the dang keys. Found them in the grass outside vet where I walked the pets.

Came home and had an apple and then got stuck into the buzz bars. i love those things.

Anyway now I am watching DrP today is about changing bad habits and addictions. Cool. Just what I need.

[sweet_pea]

oh no, my dog has campylobacta. i now have to treat both my dogs for it and the cat to be safe. grrr

am off to disinfect everything ugh ugh

cathi ~ where on that website are the symptoms of thyroid problems?

[april99]

Hi all....just checking in....couldn't go to sleep....but am going to bed now....to try again.

April

[sweet_pea]

what do you do to help you sleep?

[sweet_pea]

thyroid:
i checked and my doc has been doing
- TSH
- Thyroxine
- T3

so I think she has been testing the right things???

[nicolee]

Good morning ladies! Thurday's here which means only one more day of work for me this week thank goodness. I have an appointment with my therapist this afternoon so I get to leave early today.

I've been reading and have since purchased the book titled "Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder". This illness has caused a lot of problems between my husband and me so I decided that we needed to work through that book together. It's got exercises in it for both spouse and patient to sit down and list symptoms, triggers, etc and eventually you make a master list that the spouse can refer to if they feel like you're not stable. We've not started on the book yet since it just came in to the bookstore but I'm hoping to start on it one night next week.

This morning is off to a good start. I only took 12.5 mg of Seroquel instead of my regular 25 mg and I didn't have as hard a time waking up this morning. It didn't seem to affect my ability to sleep so I may just leave it at 12.5. I see the psychiatric nurse practitioner on the 20th so I'll talk to her about it then.

Hope you guys have a great day!

[Leenie]

Good Morning,

I'm sorry ladies, I can't chat today... we're so busy at work and my boss keeps popping his head out of his hole looking lolol...

I will catch up. HUGS TO YOU ALL !!!

[desertdreamer]

Hey all, how ya doing? Doing alright over here, got some running around to do and that's about it. Giving my sore leg a rest today from exercise. AF is knocking on my door and I'm cranky and craving chocolate!
I'm so sleepy! Have not been sleeping well for awhile now. I think I may need to discuss my Effexor w/ my dr. Something's not right.

Sweetpea- I'm sorry to hear about your pets! I hope you got everything taken care of. Yeah, I guess you could say I have adult ADD. But judging from my childhood and things I did then, I have had this probably my whole life. Back then they just considered me a dreamer and stubborn for not listening & not applying myself. It wasn't until my mom was diagnosed w/ it, did we start putting pieces together since we both have all the same disorders, except she doesn't share my OCD.

April, hope you're getting some good sleep.

Amanda, glad to hear that you are reading up on your dx and that dh is willing to be a big part of your recovery. It's such a relief when your spouse can lend that support and give you a soft place to land when you need it. Good luck with the book. I hope that the Seroquel works for you at the lower dosage.

Leenie, have a great day! Make that boss of yours keep his head in his own office so you can visit with us soon!

Everyone have a super-duper day. Great to hear such good things from ya'll!

[cathyxxx]

oh man! I just lost my whole post and I am really rushed

but I did get up this morning and did 3 miles in 38 minutes of the 5 mile dvd

i'm really busy at work today but wanted to answer Sweetpea

The tests you listed ...
- TSH
- Thyroxine
- T3

are NOT the same things that I have listed. What your doc ran is what most docs run and there are more accurate tests that should be run. T3 is not the same as FREE T3. T3 Uptake is not the same as FREE T3, and T4 and Thyroxine is not the same as FREE T4.

You need to ask your doc to run these specific tests:
FREE T3
FREE T4
TSH
(and the anti thyroid antibodies tests which are called)
TPO – THYROID PEROXIDASE and
THYROID ANTITHYROGLOBULIN

If your doc will not run them, you can have your own bloodwork done thru healthcheckusa.com and get your results.

Sweetpea - you also said "cathi ~ where on that website are the symptoms of thyroid problems?" are you talking about on the thyroidmadness site? let me find it and get back to you. If I don't see it I have some lists I can send you - or I can even post the list on the Depression Articles thread if anyone else wants to see the list of symptoms.

ok gang - sorry I gotta run - I'll try to get back here this afternoon and read the other posts that were posted since I was here yesterday.

hugs,
cathy
February Miles = 10

[cathyxxx]

hey sweetpea - I just found the link for the symptoms that you asked about - sorry it's kind of hard to find the way it is listed but you can see the list at

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/

I think it's called "long and pathetic" bec the list of symptoms is long and pathetic - sorry for the confusion.

Please let me know if I can help.

Cathy

[cathyxxx]

hey - I can't find the post - but didn't somebody mention "depro-provera shots" here? if so I want to share some info with you that I just read.

[Marie]

Hi everyone,

SweatPea, I'm so sorry to hear your puppy isn't feeling well. I will be thinking of her. Dogs with upset tummies aren't fun to deal with. They puke wherever and whenever they please. My pup puked in my closet yesterday. Icky!

Amanda, one of my bipolar tendencies is to overspend on everything when I'm manic. Last year, advice given to my on another thread, said that while things were good, to tell my DH all of my tricks for hiding the spending. I did that and I'm so happy that I did. He now knows all my secrets. I don't regret that and it went a long way in helping rebuild trust.

Well, I will be back later. I need to get back to work.
Marie

[sweet_pea]

Marie that is such a good idea! now your hubby can partner and help you manage the spending. i got impulsive spending too but with me it's more 1 big purchase (like a house or car) than lots of different shopping. and i have noone to answer to except the bank so the consequences aren't dire hehe.

honestly i am in survival mode right now. i am just so exhausted. the disease the dog has can be transmitted to humans so i am constantly disenfecting everything and washing everything several times.

And this morning I woke to chaos so I demolished the buzz bars for breakfast. First thing I see jasmine has found some loose wallpaper and pulled it off and chewed it to bits. Grrrrrr

Next doggy poo and pee. On the tarp which is good. but one of the dogs obviously stepped on the pee and tramped it around the house. Given that they have an infectious bacteria I am now too scared to walk around the house without shoes. I am going to have to get a professional floor cleaning service but I can’t do it until the dogs are cured.

they shouldn’t have needed to go inside. I took them out before bed and I definitely saw Jazz pee. Saff went down to the end of the section so I couldn’t see what she did. I have washed my hands so many times they are almost raw. i went for a walk to buy disposable gloves. Cripes I am very unhappy and feeling scared I might get this disease.

while I was out getting the gloves and mop i took advantage of the McD offer of 2 bacon egg mcmuffins for price of 1 and had em for breakfast. I saved a bit of the crust for saffie but ate all the filling and a giant OJ chock full of sugar. Now I’m not going to need to eat for a few hours hehe

off to lie down for a bit. hope it doesn't rain on my washing. very grey clouds.

cathy - i will read that link when i get back up hehe. sorry haven't read everyone else's posts will come back soon

[Stepping Out]

Leenie: I think needs a vacation, don't you?

Cathy: You're doing so great on your WATP tapes! Does Leslie have anything that could be adapted for a 'physically challenged' person like myself? I really need to get on an exercise program

April: I have sleep probs too. I know that part of it is my pain level, which always goes up at night. I think that part of it could also be 'the change'. I don't really have too many symptoms (other than the obvious), but my inner has been coming out a lot lately!

Nicolee, Sweet Pea & Desert Dreamer: I don't remember if I ever introduced myself . I've seen you both posting a lot, so I know you're enjoying it here

MMarie: A good friend of mine is also bi-polar, and she has to be very careful about staying on a schedule and getting enough sleep.

SweetPea: I'm sorry your dog is sick. I hope that he/she will be well soon!

We're still working on selling our house. No bites yet, but we're not in a hurry

to everyone!