17/Male - Bipolar?!


Question: I am Bipolar. I am on Laymictal and Respradal. Reading onlne leads me to believe that you actually stop having mood changes on medication. I have been on this medication all school year and I am doing horrable. My mood changes many many times throughout the day. It is hard to go from superman to suicidal and back all day every day. It affects everyting about my life and myself. For instnace im dong horrable in school. I cant concentrate. I have been getting stupider every semester from freshman year when i had 4.0 to now im a junior with 2 F's. I cry all the time. I take my medicine when im supposed to. I just got a new job and i already want a new one. My mom has been unhelpfull as had my doctor and I just need to know if I need new meds or if this is just how life is going to be for me. Anything you have would be great. I would love resources. I just dont see a point in leading a life like this. Thanks for your time.


Answers: I am Bipolar. I am on Laymictal and Respradal. Reading onlne leads me to believe that you actually stop having mood changes on medication. I have been on this medication all school year and I am doing horrable. My mood changes many many times throughout the day. It is hard to go from superman to suicidal and back all day every day. It affects everyting about my life and myself. For instnace im dong horrable in school. I cant concentrate. I have been getting stupider every semester from freshman year when i had 4.0 to now im a junior with 2 F's. I cry all the time. I take my medicine when im supposed to. I just got a new job and i already want a new one. My mom has been unhelpfull as had my doctor and I just need to know if I need new meds or if this is just how life is going to be for me. Anything you have would be great. I would love resources. I just dont see a point in leading a life like this. Thanks for your time.

You clearly have ultradian rapid cycling bipolar disorder, which is the absolute worst form of it. Ultradian means your mood changes multiple times throughout the day. I'm on Lamictal and Risperdal as well. I have the ultra rapid cycling kind, the kind that changes every couple of days. The meds keep me completely stable. One thing is, once your 19 or so and not an adolescent anymore your mood might stabilize a lot. That, and changing medication may help. Maybe a benzodiazepine would help, some people with bipolar disorder take those. Upping your Risperdal dosage could help too. So, yeah, don't give up hope. Try adjusting or changing medications and wait a couple of years. It could easily take more than 2 years to completely stabilize your mood anyway. It took me 1 and a half years. Just hang in there.

For the concentration problems you could try Strattera, unfortunately other ADD/ADHD medications would probably cancel out the Risperdal. ADD/ADHD is kind of a problem that comes with bipolar disorder, unfortunately, and it's hard to treat.

You are comparing yourself to standards in life that don't apply to you. Set standards for what you want from life. Stop watching TV. Find something you feel is important, and do something. If you are living simply for the American dream--you'll never be whole. You only have one life--live it as it has been dealt to you.

I'm bipolar as well. I know its hard and people who aren't bipolar haven't got a clue how we feel. You need to talk to your doc or get a new one. You may need to increase the dosage or switch up your meds. I'm having a hard time with school right now as well. We have to keep fighting though. Good luck buddy.

You need to talk to another Doctor,counsler,call some treatment centers and tell them how your feeling.If the medicine is not working you need to have them change your meds. By the way your not stupid,Being bi polar might be a challenge ,I hope you get the help you need.

Have to tell you my son has been diagnosed with many different things and bipolar is one of them. Reading your story makes me feel sad it is exactly like my son. I would recommend you talk to your mom and tell her and your doctor that your meds aren't working and how you are feeling. I hope you are seeing a counselor at school or out of school or seeing a psychiatrist. This is something you can eventually improve you just have to find the right situation for you. You may not see a point in your life right now, but you were put here for a reason and I hope you don't give up!

i suffer from bipolar also, i see a shrink twice a wek, and i am a psychology major in college, and i KNOW that u need new medication go 2 your psychiatrist, and talk with him/her about what u have been going through while talking this medication
hope u find a solid solution 4 it
God Bless

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED MORE THAN JUST MEDICINE, AND MAYBE MEDICINE ISNT THE WHOLE ANSWER. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED COUNCILING ALSO, OR AT LEAST SOMEONE TO TALK TO. SINCE YOU ARE IN SCHOOL, I WOULD START WITH YOUR SCHOOL COUNCLOR. I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST SOMETHING THAT HELPED ME WHEN I WENT THROUGH A VERY DEVASTATING BREAK UP...
START WORKING OUT, RATHER ITS WEIGHT LIFTING OR JOGGING. THOSE ARE TWO THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN AND KEEP AT IT UNTIL YOU CANT DO ANY MORE AND YOU WILL FIND OUT HOW IT DOESNT ONLY DO WONDERS FOR YOUR BODY BUT FOR YOUR MIND AND SPIRIT AS WELL.
IT DOESNT COST ANYTHING TO JOG, EXCEPT YOU DO WANT TO GET THE RIGHT KIND OF SHOES, IT REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND IF YOU WANT TO WORK OUT, YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN "STARTER KIT" BY FILLING UP MILK JUGS OR EVEN YOUR OLD FASHION CALASTETICS...PUSH UPS, SIT UPS, JUMPING JACKS, JUMPING ROPE...THAT IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS...ETC.
GOOD LUCK

Not many people get total stability from medications, but most people get some benefit. There are cases that are termed 'treatment refractory' where no treatments have been found to help, but this is very uncommon.

Most people get at least moderate relief.

You describe your mood changing many times in one day. This is what is called "rapid-cycling" or even "ultra rapid cycling", because the mood swings from 'superman' to suicidal are normally much slower, people slowly become manic over a period of weeks or months, and then crash hard into depression for quite some time. My bipolar is also ultra-rapid cycling.

Out of the common bipolar meds used as mood stabilisers (including lithium, valproate, carbamazepine and lamictal), the one found to be most effective for people with rapid cycling is lamictal.

Risperdal is an antipsychotic, that has been found to be useful for treating rapid cycling bipolar, but obviously this combination of meds isn't working for you.

I have seen instances(including myself) where somebody taking lamictal, had risperdal added & it immediately made them a lot worse.

Of course there are a lot of people who the risperdal helps greatly, or else it wouldn't exist. It is only by working with your doctor that you can find the right treatment for you.

You need to talk to your doctor/psychiatrist about this, they need to try other medications. I suspect the risperdal has to be swapped for a different antipsychotic and/or an antidepressant. Maybe increase in lamictal dosage depending what your current dosage is.

PLEASE don't do anything without doctor's advise, I'm not a doctor.

There will be a combination of medications that will give you far better relief than what you are taking at the moment. You need to workt together with a really good psychiatrist to do this properly, finding the right medications and the right dosages is a science and an artform.

When is the last time your saw your psychiatrist? If you have seen them and told them about what you describe here, they should be asking to see you very regularly & carefully monitoring your response to treatment, so that they can find the right combination to stabilise you.

The doctor needs to work closely with you when doing this, whilst you will likely need to take an antipsychotic and/or an antidepressant along with the lamictal, both antipsychotics and antidepressants can CAUSE rapid cycling of mood & make it worse in some people. So this means close supervision is needed whilst working through this.

If your psychiatrist knows you are going through this, and isn't doing much, then you really need to find a new one!!

It can be life-destoying, but with persistance, there certainly is hope for a brighter future! School is important, but first focus on getting effective treatment, things will improve at school as a result of that.

It will take time to find the treatment that suits you best, but if you stick at it & keep working closely with your doctor, you will get there!

Best wishes & I really hope you find effective treatment soon, I know what it is like :( I remember all to vividly what you describe. There is hope - I certainly don't have total relief by any means, but things are definitely a lot better than they were.

I went through at least 4 psychiatrists before I found a really good one, but it was well worth the effort!

EDIT : If your mom has been unhelpful & also your doctor, you REALLY must seek out a new doctor. Talk to your school councillor, or go to a normal doctor, tell them your problems, and ask for a referral to a new psychiatrist. I don't know what country you live in, but there are almost certainly services you can call that exist for the sole purpose of helping youths with mental health issues. In my country (Australia) these organisations tend to attract some of the best psychiatrists, too.

My family never took my illness seriously, not because they don't care about me, they care a lot, its just that people who haven't experienced bipolar just cannot understand what it is like. They thought I should just pull myself together :/ Your doctor, however, is trained to deal with this, and he is obviously doing a very poor job.

Rapid cycling / mixed states are horrid. As someone already said... I don't think, I KNOW, your meds need to be revamped. If this is the best your psychiatrist can do, fire him/her and find another who specializes in mood disorders. Lamictal is probably too much like an antidepressant for you to handle and the Risperdal is not enough of a stablizer to keep things under control. Risperdal is an odd choice IMHO. It can cause prolactin problems and you are a young guy who doesn't need that particular side effect. Anyway, I take Lamictal, but over 200mg it impairs my thinking. That's not the most common side effect, but it's not rare, either. Most likely, the cycling is the bigger cause of your concentration issues, but the med could be a factor, too. Initially, I tried Lamictal and Lithium but still cycled so we added Depakote. The three straighted out my moods and my head is working just fine. I'm not dissing Lamictal. I can't take antidepressants so it's the best I've got in that arena. It just needs to be managed properly. Seriously, find a new doc.

Btw, a good site for info on psych meds is http://www.crazymeds.us

PS - think about printing some of this out and sharing it with your mom. She probably is at as much of a loss on what to do as you.

"mercury" knows what he's talking about-- it's time to go back to the psychiatrist for a medication change/adjustment. You are suffering needlessly, and it isn't your fault.
Hang in there-- once you get on the right meds, your life will improve dramatically.
I agree you should talk to your school counselor. They will bring the severity if the situation to your mom's attention.
Another thing-- you are NOT stupid. Having Bipolar illness is really rough, particularly for an adolescent whose meds aren't right. Hang in there; I know how hard it can be when you're cycling and feel so helpless; it's quite the ride.
I hope you're seeing a therapist. It's vital for those of us with this terrible illness to talk to a trained professional regularly. This person can be your advocate and help with your mom, the psychiatrist, and the school.

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this. I do understand. I am bipolar too. It sounds like you are rapid cycling, meaning that you go from manic to depressed and places in between even within a few hours. I am doing the same thing right now. You are not on the right meds. Please don't give up. There are many helpful drugs out there for you. In fact now that suppposedly 2% of the world is bipolar, they are paying a lot more attention to finding new treatments for it. If your psychiatrist won't listen, you need to get one who will. Hang in there. Hope this helps and that you feel better soon :)





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