Bipolar Disorder and Travel – 3 tips for the holiday weekend

Three Travel Tips for the Holiday Weekend

It’s a three day weekend here in the states. Many people are traveling out of town or have events on the weekend.  On the other hand, there are those who are lonely and wish they had something planned.  Holidays can be tough for both sides. If I’m manic, I’ll just go have a blast no matter where I am. I’d walk up to strangers and she what they’re doing. If I’m depressed, all I can think about is that other people have a lot more fun than I do. They go to picnics and see people and throw Frisbees and have a wonderful time. I’m sure I’m missing out.

Of course this is a great illustration that my moods are not my own- and that I need to get focused and create my own moods. I do this by planning ahead.

Here are some tips:

[ Read More ]





When You’re Really Sick… make salsa…

Oh man am I sick today.. depression has me in it’s tentacles!

- It’s hard to get on with life, but you usually have to. – It’s hard to have conversations because you’re stuck in your own gloom, but you still have to talk to people. – It’s hard to get out of your bipolar fog and work, but you have to sit down and at least get started. – It’s hard to feel any hope, but you have to remind yourself that there is always hope because this is at treatable illness and it won’t always be like this.

Can you tell that this is what I’m saying to myself today? I have been sick for months off and on- lots of depression and rapid cycling between feeling pretty normal and then going way down. I haven’t had much hypomania- which is a bit odd as it is finally sunny here (off and on!) [ Read More ]





Julie Fast Video: Feeling intimidated by your bipolar disorder doctor?

I recently did a series of interviews for a large mental health website called healthyplace.com. Here is one of the first videos I recorded. I’d like to set this up a bit before you watch it. I went through a terrible experience in 1994 when my partner Ivan got very sick and was in the hospital for three months in a manic/psychotic episode. I was scared, overwhelmed and very confused about what was going on. I never met his doctor when he was in the hospital! The nurses were wonderful, but no one actually explained the illness or why he was so sick. I literally had to do everything on my own. Things have changed a lot of course! I wrote books on this experience myself- so the information is more out there now. The video below is a response to the question of what we can do to work successfully without health care professionals [ Read More ]





Bipolar ii Disorder and Bipolar I disorder- what is the difference?

What is the difference between Bipolar ii Disorder and Bipolar I Disorder? Do you know the answer? Many don’t though it’s very specific.

Bipolar ii disorder has all of the same symptoms as bipolar I disorder with one MAJOR difference. Bipolar I disorder has full blown mania that often comes with psychosis. Bipolar ii disorder has hypomania that rarely comes with psychosis. My dear friend Sherri has bipolar I disorder. She has to be very careful as her mania is always lurking around and waiting to take over. She takes lithium and zyprexa to keep the mania and psychosis at bay. I have bipolar ii hypomania. Mine is very euphoric though it can be agitated. Mine doesn’t have psychosis- my bipolar psychosis can be around without any other serious mood swings though I am usually depressed.

Bipolar I disorder was the only bipolar disorder recognized for many, many years. Recently, the bipolar ii [ Read More ]





Bipolar depression and anxiety: A tough, tough day.. once again!

I’ve had WAY to many mood swings in the last six weeks- i counted 23 on my daily mood swing chart. That’s too many. I’m examining what is going on in my life so that I can really stay focused on my bipolar disorder treatment plan. But it’s hard. Writing a blog seems like too much of an effort! But I know it’s not. It’s a lot more effort to not do something. I had a choice when I walked into my house- to worry about being to sick to look at my email and do a blog- or to do it and save the hours of worry I would have that I’m not working enough. Speaking of working, I haven’t been able to work very consistently for the past six weeks- but I keep going. It’s better than not working at all!

I feel better when I get things done. I’m off to [ Read More ]





Posted on May 16th, 2009 | Tags: , , , | Category: About Julie

A note about the bipolarhappens.com bipolar medications category

All of my blogs are divided into categories- you can see the list on the right- I’ve been consolidating them for the past few weeks. Here’s an example of what’s included in the medications category:

Medications: Abilify, tegretol, depakote, lithium, lamictal, lamotrigine, zyprexa, serequel, anti depressants, medical treatment of bipolar disorder, medications used to treat bipolar disorder, side effects, anti convulsants, anti psychotics, mood stabilizers, mania medications, depression medications, anxiety medications, talking with your doctor about medications, family members on medications, family members who refuse medications, medications in the news, what medications should a person with bipolar disorder take, etc etc!

Can you believe there is so much to learn about medications and bipolar disorder! If you just take an hour to read all of the  blogs in this category, you will know more than most people on the planet about the drugs used to treat the illness. It’s fascinating information. I have learned it [ Read More ]





Posted on May 14th, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Medications
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