@A MyDepressionTeam Member Just a thought..have you been manic? If you have been manic -medication is necessary or the mania won't stop. That's the way I think of it at least. I don't want to be manic so I take medicine that stops this from happening. Bipolar diagnosis' means that you need to find the medicine that stops the mania. At least that's what I think. I'm surprised your psychiatrist pulled you from work to get the right dose of medicine. I've never known that to happen. What are you supposed to be doing during the 4 week hiatus? Hope things are going ok. Check in with us when you have a chance. Thanks, Annie

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A MyDepre...

Perfectly stated. We have to advocate for our mental Wellness.

Thank you for your responses. It helps to know I’m not the only one. I have had depression for like 20 years but within the past year my psychiatrist told me she’s diagnosing me as bi polar and manic depressive. She is putting me out of work for four weeks to try to get the meds right. She added something to my depression med and it had adverse reactions. I was even more depressed and had thoughts of suicide. It’s had seeing and hearing people so happy and then they look at me and ask what’s your problem.

@A MyDepressionTeam Member Hi. How long have you been diagnosed? I've been diagnosed for 32 years and I'm still in the figuring it all out stage. Nothing is easy when you are Bipolar. It's sometimes/oftentimes a very lonely road. Like when you are manic..... it's hard to explain but a lot of people figure "well she's not depressed....this manic thing seems preferable." It's not. Currently I am very depressed so I'm answering your question with that state of mind. What I find peculiar is that if you tell friends, relatives that you are depressed - most of them don't know what to do. Or what you are experiencing. They are clueless. I have my family in that category. Friends well it depends on who you ask. Out of my closest friends only 1 has a clue. Again why do you have to explain you'd rather be dead than to go what you are going through? If you are on that level of depression I hope you have a counselor, therapist to call. Most people don't know how to handle that. So does that leave me friendless? No cus I have MDT to "talk to" The counselor I have now I wouldn't dream of calling. Past therapists yes. That does say something about the current therapist. (See I'm learning something myself). Anyways I hope I answered maybe part of your question. I have friends but most of them are clueless. I'm going to up my doseage of Lithium back up to the higher dose tonite and we'll see how long it takes for me to be back in the land of the living. Annie. I had a friend who's name was Eileen - she died back in Sept(cancer). I hope that I helped a bit.

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A MyDepre...

@A MyDepressionTeam Member Yeah I was never "allowed" to have time between hospitalizations and going back to work. But that was a long time ago. Do you like your job? It's hard for me to recall what it was like being away and then being back at work. Eventually I left my job because of my illness. That was many many years later. So when I was first diagnosed Bipolar I was put on Lithium right away. It is a mood stabilizer. You had mentioned that you had a bad reaction to a drug they tried. The only psych drug I had trouble with was Topomax. That was awful. Anyways I hope you get the rest you need. Take care.

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A MyDepre...