Hi Guys. I suffer from mental illness ( Bipolar type I) and am entering a bad?
depression right now. The problem is I can’t get in to see my new psychiatrist until 2-13-08. What can I do until then to stop this from becoming a major episode( I had one over the summer and was in the hospital for it, a depression, and a mania 18 months ago). Thanks.
I do currently take several medications:
Seroquel, Topamax, Valium, and Ambien CR. The Ambien was new prescribed by a reg. doc in exchange for trazadone for sleep but trazadone has antidepressant properties as well as sedative ones. I may just have to go back on the trazadone until I see my new pdoc.
Tagged with: Bipolar • entering • from • Guys. • illness • mental • Suffer • Type
Filed under: Bipolar Type 2
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Take your meds correctly and talk it out. Call someone.
I usually talk to my mom… even if I have to keep her on the phone for hours, if it keeps me out of the hospital – job well done.
If you feel you need to see the doctor, perhaps call his office and let his staff know you need to see him before the 13th, or talk to your family doctor (maybe he could get the ball rolling with your psychiatrist).
Sometimes we have to take extra steps to see a doc when needed. I hope you do.
hugs
You could go see a regular doctor instead of your psychiatrist. You could also just go to the hospital and see what they can do for you, although I’m sure you’d rather not do that. Orrr you could call one of those mental help hotlines and see what ideas they have for you, since they actually know what they’re talking about.
Stay away from Caffiene. Eat often. Sleep as much as you can. Try to get friends or family to come over and see you once in a while, but do not go out if you can help it and make sure to stay awy from alcohol.
I think I am going through the same stuff right now. I feel for you. It is so tough, trying to control it all the time and it is easy to lose your sense of reality. I hope you feel okay, soon!
Find some PRNs, or things you can do, that will stave off the depression or mania.
For me (bipolar II), the best way to achieve mental constance is by attaining physical constance. Work out – eat a healthy diet. Work out and eat meals at the exact same time every day, or as close as you can get.
It will surprise you how much this will affect your moods. You will stop bouncing from highs to lows so easily, because you are in control of what you can control and that equals power.
An OTC my psychiatrist recommended in Omega3 fatty acid fish pills. What you want is 2-3 grams of the EPA ingredient, so look for something that has around 500mg or you’ll be swallowing a lot of pills. Trader Joe’s has a good brand. If not that, go to a health food store and look for a mid price product that hasn’t been sitting on the shelf forever. There is some science supporting efficacy. It works for some (me enough to notice a little) but not for everyone. I’ve been through enough stabilizers to know that there’s no interaction issues which is something that can’t be said for most OTC “antidepressants”. Ground flax seed is another. Tastes pretty good in oatmeal and some other foods but I haven’t noticed any effect from it.
Otherwise, call to see if you can get your appt pushed up. If not, see if you already are on something with some antidepressant effect that you could ask to have increased until you get into see the doc. And, of course, force yourself to get as much exercise as you can (endorphins and all), eat right, etc, etc. Let your friends and family in instead of pushing them away. Try not to isolate.
A website on meds that you might want to check out is:
http://www.crazymeds.us
Walk in a circle , find a spot to circle if you cant get out to get some room , circle ,. if you can get out , Go for a walk , stay quiet , don’t be talking to yourself, try not to draw any attention to yourself , but get out and walk , even jog a little if your not too overweight , just keep moving forward , and leave your problems behind ,,,,,be sure to bring along some music to sooth your racing thoughts , but keep moving .
Are you currently on meds??? If so, make sure you take them religiously!!! You should go ahead and call your new psychiatrist’s office and let them know you are having a mood change and ask them to let you know if you can get in any sooner than February 13th, that way they will know you need to come in and if they have any cancellations or anything, they can give you a call and maybe let you take the empty spot. If you aren’t currently on any meds, or they need to be regulated, hopefully your new doctor will be able to get you on some good ones and get them regulated for you quickly rather than experiementing for several months until finding the right combination for you. Of course not all drugs work the same on everyone, so there is always the possibility that you are going to have a lenghty trial and error process – I don’t mean to sound negative, but you should definitely be perpared. It took my doctor and myself about 6 months to find the right combination of meds for me and get them set at the right doseages to help me stay level. I have now been on the same meds for almost 3 years (in March) and we’ve only had to do minor adjustments now and then. I’ve also been stable for the same amount of time – I don’t actually go down so far as to reach the “normal” level everyone talks about so much, but I stay in the “hypomanic” stage, and after staying at this level of stability for such an extended period of time, everyone has determined that “hypomania” IS my “normal” level. I feel deeply for you because I’ve had your exact experiences. I too have had to go the hospital for quite a lenghty stay until I could get “better.” It wasn’t too bad of an experience because I came to realize that I needed the help of a new doctor and new medications and even therapy. Also that I wouldn’t be self-medicating anymore. All of these things have worked out well for me, and I’m glad I made the decision to start over with a clean slate and get myself on track to get my life in order. Of course I know that not everyone comes out of there with such a different outlook as when they went in, but I did, and I was truly proud of myself for the first time in my life.
Now, as for trying to see your doctor early – have you considered seeing a psychologist as well??? I realize that there are plenty of people that say therapy is crap, that nothing useful ever comes from sitting in a room and pouring your heart out to someone like a big baby, but it does. It works wonders for me. I attend sessions every three weeks, and when I walk out of her office, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I don’t have a care in the world, and I have no more burdens to deal with for a while. I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to…granted I end up with a lot of unfinished projects like that, but at least I finally get the ideas flowing. And by the time I start to feel overly stressed or that the weight of the world is crushing me again, it’s time to go back and talk it out and get it lifted back off my shoulders. So maybe you might want to give that a try as well. If you schedule therapy sessions between your doctor’s appointments, you’ll have the both of them to talk to and there won’t be a huge gap in between times to talk to your doctor.
Anyway, just a few suggestions I have for you from personal experience. If you want to talk more, feel free to email me, and I’ll see if I can help you in any way. Good luck to you.