I have experienced OCD for most of my life, but I never really understood the term technically.
Many people with bipolar disorder have OCD symptoms, especially under stress. I know that my OCD obsessions come from dating situations, travel and work stress that puts me under too much pressure.
What is OCD?
The initals say it all- Obsessions that lead to compulsions that become a disorder when they affect a person’s ability to lead a ‘normal’ life.
Obsessions are thoughts- compulsions are the actions a person does to calm the obsessions.
For example, if a person has the thoughts- “I left the stove on. I left the stove on. Oh my god I left the stove on. My house will burn down. I left the stove on. I left the stove on.” the compulsion to calm the thoughts is to go back to the house to check that the stove is not on. Then [ Read More ]
My brother just called and said there was an excellent episode of Law and Order- an extremely popular crime TV show here in the US- that addressed bipolar disorder. One of the detectives had trouble with his daughter and thought she was on drugs, it turned out she was manic. Oh yes, some of us have been there.
I didn’t catch the show. It’s great to see bipolar disorder handled correctly in the media. It took long enough!
I doubt that is a record, but it sure wears me out. In that past week, I’ve had at least 20 mood swings. They are mild, but certainly strong enough to chart. Yesterday I had three distinct upswings. The day before that, I had a few upswings and an intense hour long downswing where I immediately started crying. I’ve also been twitching a lot which means there is something not right with my Lamictal dose.
What is causing this rapid cycling? Though I’m glad it’s on the manic side instead of being constant depression, I know it’s not good for me. I can feel my adrenaline pumping and I feel like jumping out of my skin. The chemicals are racing through my brain much faster than they normally do. I feel like [ Read More ]
I’ve been on both Abilify and Lamictal. Abilify if an antipsychotic used to treat psychotic bipolar symptoms as well as mania. Lamictal is a ‘mood stabilizer’ that’s actually an anticonvulsant drug used to treat bipolar depression. It’s not a drug used to manage mania. But, it does help people with rapid cycling.
Abilify is an atypical antipsychotic along with Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa. Atypical means the drugs are newer and have less side effects than the older ‘dirty’ drugs such as Thorazine and and Haldol.
I’m having some tough side effects with my Lamictal tonight and they remind me of what my friend Sherri went through when she was on Abilify.
We both had restlessness, leg pain, an uncomfortable body and trouble sleeping. This is called Akathisia. Technically it’s an inability to sit down. Abilify is known to have this as a side effect, whereas my Lamictal problems tend to be from not having enough [ Read More ]
Mania is a strange thing. It completely takes away reasoning if you let it. Last night, I went into a mild upswing around 10PM, but I was able to keep it in check. I knew it was there as it’s been happening all week. While I was in bed reading and writing in my journal, I suddenly had the strong urge to go to karaoke and drink! It just felt like such a good idea. It was fleeting, and of course I didn’t act on it, but god almighty, that is ridiculous. Especially considering that I have cut my social activities in half in order to stay stable enough to work.
I stayed in bed and managed to sleep with the help of Ativan and a little extra Lamictal. But it worries me.
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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.
