I am currently hypomanic. Im in flouoxatine and quietapine and I have been on this combo for around 6 weeks now. The hypomania only started like 4-5days ago. So although I would like to say it is the flouoxatine I think it would have started 5-6 weeks ago if it was. But I dunno it might be.
So yea, I quite like the combo I'm on/ don't want any changes to my meds. So is there any way I can combat this without medication changes?
Sometime I just think that medication should not always be the anwser. I mean I love this state of hypomanic bliss. I love the productivity and the creativity. But my family have been saying that my behaviour is worrying so I know I need to calm my brain a bit. Also my partner says I am really annoying when I'm like this so it make stuff with him hard. But I don't want to be medicated into a zombie state.
I have a meeting with my key worker tomorrow so I'm going to talk to her about it but do you guys know of anything that I can do to help carm the hypomania without medication?
I litteraly cannot sit still because I have so much energy
Thank you beautiful people.
Xxx
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
I find that when I've been hypomanic, as well as using meds to calm me down, I have found ways to change my lifestyle to help me to manage my hyperness.
Eating healthily and regularly is important, as is avoiding caffeinated drinks. Exercise can be good too, I found.
One thing I did was to avoid multitasking and try to focus on one activity at a time. I used to work myself up into a frenzy with lots of things going on at the same time, and it made me even more manic.
Maybe it's worth talking to a mental health professional just to check your meds are ok. They may not need changing but it's worth seeing what your options are. Especially if you could end up going more manic, or risk sinking inot depression.
What has happened in the past when you have been hypomanic? How have you coped with it? Did it fizzle out on it's own or did you need treatment?
Exercise sometimes makes me a bit worse. Becausei find it hard to stop when I have so much endless energy.
In the past when I have been manic or hypo manic I have usually been medicated out of it.
The one time when I was hypomanic and not in touch with services the hypomania lasted around 2months. I was then given some lorazepam by my GP and referred to psych team so was then medicated out of it.
One time when I manic episode was untreated I got a pretty dellutional and forgot a lot of what happened.
But this episode is definitely hypomania not mania.
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
Secret squirrels has good advice on the lifestyle aspect.
The tricky bit is when the hypomanic state is so enjoyable you don't actually want to calm it down - so you need to think realistically about where you have ended up in the past when you have let it carry on.
Reviewing your meds would be a good idea. (Sorry - I know you didn't want to hear that!) Fluoxetine (and other anti-depressants) can bring on hypomania, which could happen 6 weeks in. So it may be a case of reducing it for a while. If that's what the keyworker/psych recommend at least it means you'll be on less medication not more!
Why- thanks for your reply. Yes your right it is so enjoyable. I had an amazing day today. I see what you bout taking out the flouoxatine. My mum suggested that too.
Dolly pop- I don't really know how to meditated but I may see if I can just have some kind of relaxing music and try deep breathing or something. That's kind of like meditating right? Lol
Anyway I saw my key worker at day patient today and she is going to let my psych know about my elevated mood and I told her that I want to try and get over it without medication. My mum really wants me to stop the flouoxatine but I don't really wanna stop meds without a doctor oking it first.
I tried really hard to stay calm today. At day patient I ended up running around for a bit but in the afternoon some deep breathing and talking to myself slowly calmed me a bit.
We had to make goals for the weekend in one of my day patient groups today and I made my goal to as for help if I feel like I am getting dellutional and/or dangerous.
My key worker said they may need to take my drivers license off me. I really like driving so I don't wanna loose it.
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
Is there a particular reason you're against medication? It sounds like it's worked in the past.
Are you on the lowest dose of fluoxetine? If not, I guess that's something that could (possibly) be altered.
In answer to your question, I guess lots of exercise *might* help a little.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
I'm not really agaist meds. Think is I have many episode a year (I have had 7episodes in the last 12 months) and every time they change my meds. I'm never on one med combination long enough to really see if it could help long term. Plus I don't want it to be all about the meds, I would like to learn coping/management skills so that I don't have to keep changing med or see the cmht so much.
I kind of wanna see if I can manage this pretty much on my own.
Also medications have side effects and I don't like a lot of them.
Consiquently I'm feel a bit calmer today. Still full of energy but generally calmer.
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
Probably if you're having this many episodes maybe one of your long term coping mechanisms is taking your medication. If not the one you're on now than another your doctor prescribes. I can hear you're against medication in some aspect, and I understand that but realistically you have an illness, and physical or mental sometimes medication is necessary. You dont need to deal with this alone.
It's likely a combination of behavioural changes described above and medication is your best way to achieve stability. You've identified a link between multiple medications and multiple episodes, and rightly say that you haven't been on one long enough to establish if it can reduce these episodes. I strongly recommend you try one for a longer period of time.
You may not need to be on it forever but its your BEST chance of getting well. Bipolar disorder is a dangerous illness and you need to treat it properly. It's *great* you want learn skills to manage this without medication, but it'd going to be easier to implement these while on medication.
My personal advice is to take the medication for a prolonged period of time while developing skills to use to, youll need time to practice these. And maybe after a longer period of medication and with more skills and life stability you can consider managing it without medication. Until then, please speak with someone about your medication and stay safe x
Oh, if you think the medication is causing this episode i agree you should get a professional opinion before coming off. That's a great idea, well done. But I do urge you to reconsider trying another medication. But if not, and you do choose to do it without medication make sure you're being closely monitored for symptoms.
Take care x
Last edited by Snow White. : 01-06-2012 at 12:23 PM.
I totally appriciate your answers and has made me think about medications.
Just to clear something up though; I am still taking my meds. My problem was that I didn't want an increase in it.
I think you are right I may need medication to prevent escalation of my mood so I think I am going to ask my psych if, instead of increasing or changing meds every time I am gonna ask if I can instead have something prn that I only take during an episode. Then I think I will feel more in control of my own illness.
I have been painting and journaling a lot to get out all my creativity out in a productive way. It has helped a bit.
Thanks again lovelies xxx
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
How are you feeling this evening? Medication or not, it'd be worth contacting your psych/doctor if you think things are escalating, or getting worse, as there are lots of things they can do.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Fluoxetine gave me definite mania, although it literally happened within like 3 days. But I imagine it could occur at any point, especially since you're taking other medications that could interact. But there's really no way to know without changing the fluoxetine, which I can completely understand not wanting to jump back and forth on meds. I've been there and I understand that it makes it impossible to know what's helping and what's not.
I suppose some of the most important questions are how is the hypomanic episode affecting you? Does it cause problems? Things like your partner being a bit annoyed I think aren't really super relevant; someone can deal with a bit of mood change now and then. But if it's causing you to be in danger or have difficulty functioning as you need, then you want to do something about it.
I do agree lifestyle changes help tremendously. I don't have bipolar, but I can't explain how much eating and exercise changes help with the mood/other issues I've had. Exercise helps SO much when you have excess energy. The key is to find the type of exercise you enjoy. Also eating healthy, and avoiding caffeine helps a lot too. Also I find when my mood is up it can be good to avoid alcohol. Even though I don't have a problem personally with drinking, I do know it seems to make me a bit more hyper if I already am hyper for some reason. Also alcohol with those kinds of meds would be a bad thing anyway. Also getting into a routine of sleeping around the same time and for the same amount of time helps a lot too. Also like said, finding constructive things to turn your elevated mood to will help. Reading, writing, learning things, art, etc can be very good things to do so long as you are able to control them to where they don't interfere with responsibilities you have.
So really it comes down to how much is this affecting you now? Is it urgent to where you do need to consider other medication options, or can you wait it through and make lifestyle changes? Also how were the episodes when you weren't on medication? Comparing the before to now can help you assess how the meds are or aren't helping you.
Stereotypes are the epitome of human laziness.
- me
Sorry if I implied you had stopped your meds but what I meant was to not stop them. It sounds like you've put some thought into this, and you have a good plan I hope you can speak with someone about it x
Sometimes when I'm 'manic' or feel like I'm starting to go 'manic' exercise just makes me more wired..don't get me wrong I love exercising but yeah..I just wanted to let you know your not the only one who feels like that.
I try and regulate what i'm doing..keeping in a routine re food and exercise and sleep help me and if it's really bad just trying to sit and concerntrate on one thing also helps but thankfully my bipolar is pretty controlled atm.
Glad your feeling less 'high' today.
Life can be beautiful if you let it.
Step back, breathe and take it in
