My manic symptoms are pretty clear as well when I start going up. I get obnoxiously arrogant, I can’t string together thoughts correctly, and I can’t sleep longer than three hours a night but am never tired. If those things start coming up then I start paying more attention to my own mood swings.

And a support group can be pretty helpful if you find a good one. If it turns out to be a crappy one, don’t let it turn you off to them. I’ve seen good ones that were valuable places of neutrality for people and others where everyone seemed to be in an ass-pat-fest to excuse their actions yet do nothing to change them.

You might want to check the http://www.dbsalliance.org website to see if they have any sponsored groups in your area (if you’re in the US). If you’re not, there may be consumer groups wherever you live that sponsor some as well.

You have more experience that I do as an observer. Forgive me if i made it sound like a holistic approach was better. As Jenny mentioned the exercise regimen worked for her. I should clarify that with my girlfriend at the time, it seemed like a conglomeration of things seemed to help, such as proper medication and Physician care, good diet, proper sleep at regular times and of course physical activities as tolerated. I do know the medications in the proper doses were crucial. I know in her case though, it seemed to be a delicate balancing act. Hopefully your experiences and that of others in clinical trials can help create better medications and dosage rates.

@ Jenny. The caffeine is bad even if you are not bipolar. I had to practically give up coffee as it had an adverse effect on my sleeping patterns, not to mention staining my favorite joe camel mug, lol. Hopefully you noticed an improvement without the caffeine and sugar. Thank again for the insight and info, to the both of you.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to talk or ask any other specific questions. Going through this crap seemingly “alone” is pretty difficult. I’d venture to guess that there are more Bipolars where you live; they just may not be diagnosed or realize it. I think it was NAMI that said 1 in 64 people fall in the Bipolar spectrum. People just don’t talk about it.

I’m on lithium too. I’d sacrifice my thyroid for it. I can’t imagine going back to how unstable I used to be. Speaking of which- why are you still on lithium if you’re still having these massive destructive unwell periods? Any reason you haven’t tried anything else? A mood stab is supposed to keep you from reaching that extreme- if it doesn’t then it’s not working.

@Rick: Physical exertion is a great way to work out some of the energy. When I was manic, I used to life weights until my various body parts just gave out- which probably wasn’t all that healthy but yeah. I feel it was a better choice than beating the shit out of someone.

I know a lot of people beat the drum for holistic/natural approaches; but I don’t put a great focus on it. Psych medication is supposed to eliminate mood swings altogether. If a person can get their mood swings into a manageable state with a holistic approach; that’s awesome. The problem is that there is really nothing keeping that person from reaching an extreme again like medication does. When you’re on a good mood stabilizer, it’s like you hit a ceiling and your brain just won’t advance farther. Same deal with an antidepressant and the lower end.

I’m not saying everyone should jump on the med train. Just that a natural/holistic approach is going to guarantee a severe unwell period down the road when the right catalyst comes along. Something will push that person into extremes and there won’t be a “safety net” there to keep them from screaming into unwellness.

Thank you for the comments, and to Jenny and J for sharing their insight. One thing I wanted to point out was the fact that with my girlfriend, I attempted to take a more holistic approach to her disorder in addition to the medication and therapy she was on. I believe she had suffered abuse in various forms when she was younger too . The holistic approach was rather simple. Diet and exercise in addition to physical activity.

She loved going to the batting cages as she had played softball when growing up. We also would often go to the driving range and hit a couple bucket of balls. To liven things up, we tried to tag the shielded and caged cart which retrieves the balls. They told me everyone did that, and i had thought we were unique .chuckles.

This approach gave what ever aggressive tendencies she might be feeling during an unwell period an acceptable release, while also giving her physical exercise. After a light lunch, we were both good to go. I also was able to enjoy her more, as she seemed more herself. I think the exercise route may also be a good approach as well, for those that don’t have a physical issue that might prevent that.

This approach seemed to alleviate some of her worst symptoms, but didn’t make the problem go away. I think taking control of your disorder and not letting it control you is the way to go, and it seems people here have a handle on that.

And you are absolutely right in that you need to be in a strong place mentally to deal with it. You cannot let a mentally unwell person run wild over you because it can completely destroy both partners’ lives. Ideally, in a well managed relationship, the unwell party can trust the well party to say “Hey. You’re getting unwell. We need to take actions to mitigate the damage.” The well party can provide a much needed anchor to reality that can reduce or even eliminate the damage we normally do to our relationships and lives.

Unfortunately, that leap is hard for some of us who’ve spent our lives alone in our minds, dealing with the chaos on our own terms.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Rick. I know it was a difficult decision for you. She probably knew that too.