Brought this over from another thread where it was totally off topic.
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I've never been on lithium, but my doctor says it probably would have made things worse in my particular case.
Prozac didn't do shit for me, but when they coupled it with depakote, I became a fucking zombie. I don't remember much at all of my 20th year. I ran out sometime around my 21st birthday and never got the 'script refilled.
I'm on a fun cocktail now, but it's working beautifully. What works for some doesn't work for others, trust me.
Glad that something has helped, and wish more bipolar people would get checked out instead of trying to hide the problem or deny it exists.
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Bipolar Disorder is what was once called Manic-Depression. There's something wrong with the neurons or the receivers in your brain, preventing the mood stabilization that normal people have.
Those of us with the disorder tend to have "cycles" of up and down periods. Keep in mind that normal people can do this, but we are the extreme version. According to my doctor, a normal person usually cycles between sadness and happiness on a regular basis, with more of a normal feeling of everyday regularity for a longer period of time. Usually their sadness/anger/joy etc. will only last a day or two, thus the old saying, "having one of those days."
A bipolar person often goes through that cycle in a day. I was going through it several times a week, making me volitile and depressed one moment, king of the world the next with no way of knowing which mood would strike when.
I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder - depressive tendancies. This means that I tend to get really high and happy before falling into a very deep depression that can last hours or days or months.
The drugs I'm on help so much it's incredible. I don't do the whole depressed thing for very long anymore, maybe just a day like everyone else, then I'm fine again. I still get sad, I'm not a zombie, but I'm "up" more.
Anyone else here have the same disorder? On drugs? How do you cope?