Treating Bipolar Disorder - A Blog by Julie Fast

Baseball Inspiration

If you have been reading this blog for very long- you know I love to use sports analogies to teach about bipolar disorder management. A huge part of my treatment plan rests on a get it done philosophy. I have taught myself to get things done even when my brain tells me I should just kill myself or quit. My brain is very mean sometimes. I am sure you understand. If you love someone with bipolar- you don’t want to understand! It’s not pleasant. Athletes have to go out and get things done no matter how they are feeling as well. I admire that.

The following article from Yahoo Sports is an example of someone who made a decision and stuck to it. It inspires me.

Baseball Pitcher Finishes High School and Makes it Big in the Majors!

You don’t have to like sports to learn from the world’s greatest athletes. The discipline required to play professionally is the same discipline we need to manage bipolar disorder successfully.

Julie

PS: Here is one more story

Get it Done When You’re Depressed is the book that best reflects this post.

How are You Today?

I find that a really loaded question these days. Do I tell the truth? Part of the truth? Do I side step the question or do I lie?

When a person is depressed, it can be hard to answer the typical how are you question with an honest reply.

How am I? Thank you for asking. I have been suicidal for months and fear for my life, but I just keep going on and on and on.

How am I? I’m fine, thanks. How about that basketball game last night!

How am I? I had a manic episode last summer that ruined my marriage. Other than that, things are great!

How am I? I am so anxious I feel I am going to implode, but I have to get out in life to make money so that I can have enough money to buy my meds. My life is a mess.

Hmmmm. I don’t think that is what people want to hear. If you are sitting across a table from a friend and they say, “Julie, how are you really?” then you can say the truth.

Here is how I answer the how are you question. If things are going well, I am honest. If things are only mildly bad, I say, “I’m fine thanks!” If things are awful, I say, “It’s not a good day today. Let’s talk about you. We can talk about me later.”

I have worked hard on this so as not to overwhelm people. I know when it’s appropriate to talk about myself and this illness.

Julie Fast

Sleepy vs. Side Effect Drugged Sleepy

Oh wow. At age 46 I started having a very different reaction to my medications. I take brand Lamictal. I said in an earlier blog that I would write out the whole story in a newsletter and I will do that soon! If you are not on the newsletter list, you can sign up on the right.

I upped my meds a few weeks ago and am now having the sleepiness side effect I have not experienced for years. I often get blog questions asking about tiredness and if it means they are not getting enough sleep or good enough sleep. or if it is directly related to the medications. Here are some differences between the two:

Not Enough Sleep

1. It’s obvious that sleep the night before was not refreshing. You wake up tired and a bit cranky and worry that you will be tired in the afternoon, but you eventually wake up.

2. You are sleepy in the afternoon, but don’t really have a desire to take a nap as it would be a waste of time. You know you will have to go to bed early.

3. It only happens once in a while and is not constant.

Side Effect Drug Sleepy

1. You are so tired your head feels numb.

2. ALL you want to do is get into bed- and it’s not related to being depressed.

3. Your tongue, jaw and cheeks feel tired.

4. The tiredness is pervasive- in other words, it feels like every cell is tired.

5. It feels EXACTLY like jet lag.

6. Even if you had enough sleep, you can get into bed in the afternoon and sleep for hours and then wake up just as foggy as before.

I could go on and on about drug side effects as I have experienced them all, but this tiredness is hard to fight. The main way to know if it’s the drug is if it goes away when you lower the dose or change drugs!

Julie

PS: Thanks for all of the comments and reader questions. I read everyone and answer them in as many blogs as possible. My video plan is getting closer and I will have regular video answers to blog questions soon. It is always great if you answer the questions from others- some would love a pen pal – remember those!

TrueHope EMpower Plus Suppplements

I just received the following question from Allan:

Julie, do you or any of your readers have any knowledge or experience of an alternative micronutrient product called EMPowerplus sold by a company called Truehope? I have a 15 year old who has still not been accurately diagnosed by some of the best physicians on both coasts. This has been a 10 year battle costing a fortune. We have tried just about every medication listed in your blog. All of the symptoms overlap. Bipolar, ADD, ADHD, OCD, OCD, etc etc are all a part of this. I just ordered some of these micronutrient vitamin supplements to try as everything else has failed over the years. A family member sent me an article from a newspaper about this stuff. As with everything else, some people claim its a scam while other are having great results. Any feedback would be great.

Thanks

Hello Allan,

I get this question so often- it’s a good time to answer it here. Please remember I am not a doctor and this is for informational purposes only.

TrueHope’ s EMpowerplus is a very controversial. Some swear by it, some have no response and some like myself, have had a negative response. TrueHope is marketed as a supplement, but I see it as a medication in that it has similar results to synthetic meds. All herbs/supplements and other natural treatments have the potential to cause mood swings for people with bipolar disorder. There are many over the counter products such as 5HTP that are serotonin acting drugs that can definitely cause mania. St. John’s Wort has a warning about mania. It really depends on how sensitive a person is. It’s important to know that just because you don’t need a prescription for something, it’s not necessarily safe.

True Hope was investigated in Canada for making false claims, but the lawsuit was dropped. It is not a US product.

It made me psychotic- which is not safe. When I called their customer service and said I was having trouble, the person replied that it was impossible that it could cause psychosis. The person was wrong. But…. I have a client who swears it helps keep her mania down.

I do NOT suggest this product if your son has severe rapid cycling or is not able to get his mania or psychosis under control. I feel it can make it worse.

But, having said this. If you are at the end of your rope in terms of helping your son, I do know that you need to try all that you can. If you and your family have a VERY good system in place to recognize negative changes in moods, then it makes sense to try a product that may help- but is this the right product? That is the question. It just might be. I use my Health Cards to have a plan in place when I try a new medication. They work well for children and their families.

But please go in knowing there is NO real research data behind this product. I believe your son’s health care professionals need to know as well. If it even starts to change his mood negatively, that is a problem. I would definitely work with a health care professional. Would you buy some Abilify and see if it works without knowing the research or how it affected others? Probably not- it makes sense to use the same caution here.

Please keep me posted. All that matters is that your son finds relief- while staying safe. This may be what you’re looking for- but please use caution!

Julie

PS: Informational purposes only! And please ignore the misspelling of the word Supplements- for some reason the blog will not let me correct the title!

Bipolar Happens Poll

Mania, Hypomania and Sunshine

Mania and Sunshine Test

I live in Portland, Oregon and we are having a spectacular winter. It’s the best I’ve experienced in my seven years here. We are used to very, very dark winters. It’s usually dusk at four and dark at five. It’s depression and very bad for bipolar disorder. I was dreading it once again. And yet this year has been at least double the sun as normal. This got me to thinking about mania and sunlight. If you are newly diagnosed with bipolar or care about someone newly diagnosed- here is a test to see how the sunlight has affected your mania in the past: Give yourself one point for each yes.

1. Do you have more depression in the winter and more mania (or hypomania- the milder mania) in the summer?

2. Have you ever had a summer that was happy and enjoyable after a winter depression- but just thought it was the real you- even though you slept less, ate less and had more fun outside?

3. Do you start to feel a lot less depressed in the spring?

4. If you have been hospitalized for mania- was it in the spring or summer?

5. Do you crave sunlight and feel your brain clear when you get out in the sun?

6. Are you a lot more social in the summer- to the point that people comment on it? Is it a lot easier to get out of bed?

7. Do you tend to go off meds when it’s sunny?

8. Do your mood swings have a distinct pattern from winter to summer?

If you answered yes to two or more of the above, your bipolar is probably affected by sunlight. I know that mine it. My hypomanic episodes are almost always in the summer.

I can say that living in constant sun doesn’t mean you’re constantly manic. I lived in Hawaii for years and was rarely manic. I feel the body adjusts. If you’re from Australia, have probably experienced something similar. It’s about the CHANGE in seasons, not only the sunlight.

My first hypomanic episode was at 17 when I went on a school trip to Europe. It was in July- very sunny – with a time change and a lot of excitement. A mania cocktail!

What is your plan to prevent mania for this spring?

Julie

Here is a link to this bipolar mania test if you want to send it to your friends:

Bipolar Mania Test

A Note to Readers

Hello to everyone,

I want to say thank y0u to all of the readers who leave comments on this blog. I know that we all can learn so much from each others. I get a lot of questions from readers- I want to let everyone know that I read all of them- I try to answer in the blog posts themselves. I still have not found a way to get to the questions as mush as I would like to. My books answer the questions about bipolar disorder treatment and management- so that is where I lead people first- but I know there are many personal questions I would like to answer. I do encourage readers to leave their opinions and advice on the comments.

I just added new videos to www.bipolarhappens.com that give more information on the topics of managing the illness, medications and teens with bipolar. I will add more to the site and then post them here.

I know I always say I will do more podcasts to answer the questions- and I make that my goal for this year!

Many have written and asked for an update on my medication woes that I posted about below. Oh yes, I certainly have a story. I will send it in a newsletter. I found out a lot about medications that is rarely talked about- from involvement with the mob, poor control of counterfeits and bad batches. Most medications are real and very effective, but we need to know the other stories as well!

I am better.

julie

PS: Regarding my earlier request for interview volunteers- I had so many great responses and will get back to everyone soon. I have to admit that the medication problems took a lot of energy to correct – thus I have emails to get to!

Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

Baseball Inspiration

How are You Today?

Sleepy vs. Side Effect Drugged Sleepy

TrueHope EMpower Plus Suppplements

Bipolar Happens Poll

Mania, Hypomania and Sunshine

A Note to Readers

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