Bipolar Disorder medication help

[blind_melon]

Last January, I began cutting, and eventually attempted suicide. I would always cut and then go to bed, but in the morning, I wouldn't remember what I did the night before. My mom found out, and I had to spend about a week at a therapy place out of town. They diagnosed me with bi-polar 1. Since that January, my therapist has put me on 9 differeny medications. They always work at first, then ware off. Switching so many times made me REALLY sick. The last med I was on was Lithium, but it made me sick, and didn't really help at all. Then, at my last visit, my dr. decided maybe I'm not bipolar....that sucked. So now, I'm not on any meds and am feeling worse than I did last year. I've been cutting more, and my "relaxing" medicine (seroquel) isnt too great either because I have to take like 6 pills for it to work, and then my mom notices that I take too many. does anyone have any ideas for me to stop feeling bad, preferably withouy any meds?

[byee]

My Dad's a Shrink, so I'll play 'jr. psych' for a minute. Your mileage may vary.

It would seem to me that the first step here is getting an accurate diagnosis. I'm not sure what you've been thru to get that, but my Dad always says that the only way to get an accurate diagnosis is thru psych testing by a Psychologist, and maybe have a consultation based on that with whoever is treating you. I'm not sure what it's like in Kansas, but here in NYC there are alot of very good places where a proper evaluation can be had. Maybe your folks need to find something similiar.

If you've got a family history of severe psych problems, it increases the chance that whatever you've got is probably the same or similiar, these things tend to run in families. So, the treatment that worked with them is likely to work with you. If this is really unique to you, it would further suggest that you need a good eval. If it is something like BPD, then no matter what you do in talking therapy, without meds, won't be totally successful since the basis of BPD is biological. Biological probs need biological solutions.

But regardless of what the solution is, you'd do well to figure out exactly what it is you've got , first.

[thesphinx]

I can relate to you it took me ages to get the right meds but when I did They worked great, don't give up on the meds yet you probably just haven't gotten the right ones. also I think you need to get to the bottom of why you are cutting yourself they have proven that the best way to cure depression/bipolar is with meds and therapy. don't give up on them yet. We're here for you.

[Sapphire]

To be honest, diagnoses suck and medications suck.
Don't be too angry about the possibility of a misdiagnosis. It is difficult to handle, I know. But we must understand that diagnosing a mental illness is difficult too. There are no swollen glands or high temperatures to indicate what's wrong.

Medication is a tricky thing to get right. For some people the meds simply don't help. It doesn't mean that they are doomed to an entire life of instability. It just means that they have to work a bit harder with CBT and other forms of therapy.

Whatever your diagnosis is, you can get better. You just have to hang on in there and keep fighting the "illness".

[jamesa]

Depression is one of those disorders which most people face in there life as some stage for one reason or the other. If it's children the pressure of studies gets over their head and if it's adults the pressure of work attracts depression. Rather than going on drugs, one should look for the reason behind there problem .
Xanax is one of those medicines which help in relieving anxiety and depression, but this medicine should only be used for small duration as this is habit forming drug and sometimes the withdrawal symptoms can be more depressing. The withdrawal from this medicine is a slow and gradual process rather than abrupt. Xanax works by slowing down the nervous system and hence relieves anxiety.

[Patchy]

Please do not post in old threads.

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