Well,as you probably know,an author lives for book reviews! If you have read my books Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder,Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and Get it Done When You’re Depressed,I’d love it if you would post a review of the books on amazon.com.
When you are there,please feel free to check the section that says Tags Customers Associate with This Product. This helps when people go to amazon.com to search for books on mood disorders in general. It helps me a lot if everyone does this section whether they write a review or not.
Of course,be totally honest when you write. I don’t read the reviews –but they are so important for people deciding what books to buy.
Your support is so appreciated! Here are the links to each book:
Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder:Understanding and Helping Your Partner
Here is a great question from Dana regarding medications.
Hi Julie,
I’m on the Lamictal starter pack and still taking 25 mg a day. I’ve been increasingly manic,irritable and aggressive. I have no tolerance for other people and haven’t been able to attend school. Is this normal? Will it be better at 100mg?
Dana
**
Hi Dana,
First of all,it’s great that you’re aware of what’s going on. Sometimes side effects happen so subtly that people stay in a state of physical and mental agitation before they realize what’s happening.
Lamictal,like all drugs works in different doses for different people. For example,my mother gets a lot of help from 75mg and I’m on 500mg. If she goes above 75mg she gets the jaw clenching that comes with the drug. If I go under 500mg I get pretty bad withdrawal symptoms including bad twitching and super bad leg pain.
Well,nine hours of sleep is so amazing for me I actually woke up and wanted to do a little jig. I’m what I call an undersleeper. I was actually talking with my friend Kristin yesterday- she’s the author of Bipolar and Pregnant,and we spent a long time talking about bipolar disorder and sleep. Here are all the ways it affected our sleep:
#1. Issues due to meds. Kristin talked about Topamax. She has no idea if it affects sleep- but she’s pretty sure it affects memory. Kristin uses Lunesta to sleep.
#2. When I’m depressed,I have agitated sleep which means my brain doesn’t shut down at night. Bother! I use Ativan to sleep when it gets bad.
#3. Of course,mania is the biggest problem. I rapid cycle almost daily,so on the nights I can actually fall asleep normally and get 7-8 hours of rest is pretty great!
I’ve been up and down lately and amazingly,more up than down! I could say HALLAJUILIULA (really,where does our spelling come from!) or I could do what I’m doing. I’m getting home early and watching Dancing with the Stars. I’m avoiding stimulating situations such as karaoke or dinner parties. I’m aware that I’m on the cusp of not sleeping. I’m using my Ativan instead of trying to force myself to sleep. There is a lot I can do now before it goes so far.
Here are my subtle signs of mania:I’d be interested to know yours.
#1. Cooking. I cook a lot more when I’m manic and I often make pretty complex dishes. Today I made chicken Marsala. I then tend to cook a lot of dishes to go with it,but I stopped myself today.
#2. I chop too quickly and tend to fling knives and cutting boards around when I’m washing [ Read More ]
I have a friend who has done everything possible to help his son find a diagnosis. The recent diagnosis was bipolar disorder. His son lived in a treatment facility for a year,went to a special camp in the country,learned more effective communication techniques and truly tried hard to fit in with his family. I have been amazed at how hard my friend and his partner have worked to find out what is happening to their child. The bipolar disorder diagnosis was a catch all- as it often is. It’s not that the diagnosis was wrong,it’s just that it was so vague.
Finally,some answers:My friend just wrote and said that his son has a new diagnosis that makes more sense. It’s called Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Here is what I just read in Wikipedia:**
The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD),as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD),refers to a [ Read More ]
The health information contained herein is provided for general education purposes only. This site should not be seen as a substitute for an official diagnosis or for professional health care.
