I will have to say that any doctor can be a bad doctor. False information will definitely cause a doctor to be unable to effectively do his job. If I had left my childs BP care up to her & the doctors, nothing would have changed. As time goes on and with the notes I keep, and the information from her teachers we are able to show the doctors what is or is not working. Constant monitoring on my part and the part of others who work with her daily make it possible to keep her on an even keel. Limiting drastic changes in her routine and giving her plenty of notice of up coming change also helps. Understanding her needs and meeting each challenge with common scence and the Doctors guidance. We do very well. BPD will not be the center of our world. She gladly takes her medication at this age. She hasn’t yet forgotten h0w she felt before meds. So she isn’t willing to go backward. She recognizes her excessive moods from having a fit. AS she calls it, to being terrable sad. She knows that this is better. She has also seen the difference in her ability to get good grades, have friends, and in general, getting along with others. I hope this pattern becomes a habit. But there is a plan if something suddenly changes.

Good article Dave!

Hi, David!

Fabulous e-mail message today.

My Doctor swelled up with pride when I asked if he wants a mention on the TV programme next month – he actually couldn’t stop smiling! Heck! He DESERVES the credit, good old Dr Peter Edwards! I wish that EVERYBODY could have a Doctor like him.

The meeting with my Mother and Psychiatric Nurse, John Tredget, went really well today and I think that they both enjoyed chatting, whilst the survey forms were completed. Don’t worry – EVERYBODY knows about you and your organisation from ages ago, but NOW that John and I are about to make a documentary about Bipolar, he’s taken more interest and I believe that he’ll be subscribing very soon to your web-site, if only to check any tales that I’m writing about him!

By the way, although I’ll have no control over the editing, if I’m able, can I mention your organisation on TV, or will the extra subscriptions cause you too much trouble?

I’m particularly worried about Hentell and her dog today. I hope that I’ve helped and not given out bad advice. It’s so hard, because everybody has a different way of coping and various levels of inner will-power and strength.

Well, I’m off to bed to watch TV and relax after a busy day. I’m feeling extra tired because I was busy replying to Ana at 7am this morning, then walked about three miles to my Doctor’s BEFORE the survey meeting and subsequent car tour around the countryside afterwards to treat my Mother. After feeding and grooming the ponies (whom are starting to recover and putting on weight), plus walking the dogs, I’ve got no energy left.

Take care all of you out there and especially David and Hentell,

Sue and all the animals. x

THIS IS SO TRUE…I HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM IN THE PAST WHEN I WAS PARANOID ABOUT TELLING THE DOCTOR THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT. I HAD SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS AND THEY WERE ENTIRELY MY FAULT. I HAVE A VERY GOOD AND HONEST RELATIONSHIP WITH MY DOCTOR NOW AND I TAKE WELLNESS CLASSES AT MY MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY TO HELP ME COPE WITH MY RECURRING SYMPTOMS.

I agree with you, Dave. I try, as a person with bipolar, to tell my psychiatrist ALL the feelings I have on my medication, and NOT involve her in my day-to-day activities and stresses that are affecting me. She told me from the beginning, to mention the “triggers” and situations that were facing me, to tell my THERAPIST, and only discuss med changes and side effects with her.

Sometimes when I’m with my shrink, I WANT to bring up the things that are affecting me at the time. And – it’s hard NOT to bring up financial and physical problems that are going on.

However, when I’m obsessing about something, or trials and tribulations are affecting my daily activities – THEN I bring them up. That is the reason she doubled my Valium for 3 weeks, to try to alleviate the extreme anxiety I was feeling with these other stressors.

It is VERY important to be honest and up-front with your shrink. She can’t possibly HELP you without all the facts. I kept my marijuana usage from my shrink (and my therapist), and know now that I shouldn’t have. I quit smoking weed about 6 months ago and don’t miss it. But – I’m sure it had a LOT to do with working with my meds. THESE are the things your mental health professionals HAVE to know; if you can’t tell your shrink, maybe your supporter CAN.

Keep it open and above-board when you discuss symptoms with your psychiatrist. This is the ONLY way s/he can truly be a “good doctor” instead of turning into a “bad doctor” for you.

BIG HUGS to all bipolar survivors and those who love us. I am happy to report that all our prayers were answered for Susan; she is doing soooo much better. Please save a little prayer for me, too, as I go through my financial, physical, and emotional trials right now.

Hi Dave,
Yes very good article. Heaven see if your doc will give you colonopin, it is kinda like valium, my doc will not give me valium either he does give me the colonopin. If you must read the patients rights, then envolk them. If you feel your doc is not helping you find one that will. Good luck! Thanks Dave, Karen

Me, again! (I’m starting to bore MYSELF!!)

After just reading the later comments on this blog, I can see that there are different attitudes towards the prescribing of various drugs, depending upon what part of the World one resides.

My medications are constantly being monitored and altered according to the amount of stresses in my life at any given time, but I’m actually taking ‘Temazepan’ and ‘Diazepan’ every night, on top of my Mood Stabilizers and ‘Hydrothyroxine’.
Mind you, I AM usually “Hyper”, so maybe this is why my ‘Shrink’ prescribes these pills, when others won’t for different individuals.

Whenever I go into an ‘Episode’, I continually vomit and can’t even hold water down, cry continuously whilst I hyperventilate and start having the “Runs”. It usually takes a few days of emotional stress to build-up, where I’m not eating or sleeping, before the really unpleasant stuff starts, but when it does, the Doctors have no choice but to sedate me, so that I can sleep and regain my strength.

Actually having the ‘Episode’ IN the Doctor’s surgery MIGHT help persuade some of those Doctors, refusing to help people suffering, to change their minds! (It helped me! Now I’m under the personal supervision of the Senior Doctor – I guess that he doesn’t want me to cause a “Scene” again in front of loads of people.)

* There’s a chance that if any of you try this method that you might get ‘Sectioned’ and carted off to a Mental Health Hospital, but so long as you’ve made prior arrangements to have your pets and loved ones taken care of during your abscence, you’ll actually be achieving some positive result, because when you’re in an ‘Episode’, you’re not going to care WHERE you are, as long as you get help and the hospital will have ‘Shrinks’ there that are authorised to prescribe you relief FAST!

No last thing to help those in financial difficulties. There’s an International web-site called ‘FREECYCLE’ where people advertise items that they don’t want within their area and others e-mail back that want them, then collect them for FREE. Also, if you want/need something, you can post a ‘Wanted’ e-mail and it’s surprising how generous many people are who respond. Even cars are offered FREE! I’m busy trying to get the ‘P.D.S.A.’ Head Office to approve it so that ALL the Charity shops can post ‘Offered’ e-mails on their local Groups for all the stuff that they can’t sell, so that we reduce the payments made to Refuse-Men every week, increase the monies going towards the treatment of animals and help the needier people within Society. I’m mentioning this because if you subscribe with your local Group(s), you’ll be able to get stuff for free and make savings so that you’ll be more able to pay for medications, etc. Visit http://www.freecycle.com for more details.

I’m about to have a ‘Cat-Nap’, as my Doctor warned me yesterday to slow down, because I’m getting ‘High’ and I’m feeling odd today. Take care all,

Sue and all the animals. x

Last night my cat tried to sit on my lap the same time as my laptop and switched everything off, so half a blog got posted (not sure how it got through). Here’s the whole story:

At last all is well again. My boyfriend is picking himself up with an increased dose of anti-depressants and hopefully staying off the booze. After running around town yesterday not finding anyone who had seen him since Saturday and getting really panicky and trying to think of a way of enquiring at the doctors and hospital. Who do you think I meet walking his dog towards my home?

He looked terrible: unwashed, unshaven and quite ill. I told him I had been worried sick about him and he said he had spent the last two days in bed with the phone switched off. When I mentioned how upset I was about him swearing at me that Saturday night, he looked shocked. He could not remember anything! He then apologised a dozen times and called himself a few names. We made up and he stayed over last night (Wednesday). He literally wasn’t himself Saturday night, full of drink and even his voice didn’t sound like his own. Now I can understand how in older days people believed they were possessed by demons who made them do things which they were unaware of. Their voices and to some extent their looks changed – it can be scary.

He did say that if it wasn’t for his dog, he had been “down” enough to want to throw himself off the bridge. The same had crossed my mind, that it’ll be his beloved dog who will stop him from doing the worst. Animals are wonderful therapists. My cat is often a comfort to me when people let me down.

Now my boyfriend is going “up” again and going through a “religious episide”, which is usually the stage between the low and the high. Then he comes out with things like: “I know that God has a very special task for me,” and makes plans on how to save the world. I usually leave him to it and don’t argue back, though I have tried to explain the difference between spirituality and religion and we have had some interesting discussions.

When we first met I suppose I was just another notch on his bedpost (never been a saint) and he used to go out and have sex with 2 or 3 other women. When we became friends and he confided in me, he even told me about them in graphic details. They were ex-girlfriends and so-called friends and they were all madly jealous of me. Eventually as we got closer and our relationship got stronger he lost interest in them. All is going in the right direction at the moment. Bipolar is totally unpredictable and it’s best to live in the present and not make long term plans.

Hi All:
Yes I have had this experience between my daughter and her (our) Psych. Before she turned 18, which made their sessions taboo for me, I was in there telling him how she was while she was just letting enough of herself show so he could diagnose BPD. Then just before she lost Medicaid (at age 19) she really started telling him all that was going on with her! Exasperating, to say the least! Now she has no medical and I have to pay for her visits and meds, etc. What a mess. But today is going to be the day she calls the SSA and applies for SSI. I am tired of waiting for her to take the initiative and I am going to push this issue even if I push her back into a manic episode because I can’t afford her now.

i am going to kill myself. I am going to overdose on a bunch of pills, slit my wrists and drive off a road. My insurance claim was denied for pre-existing condition because I was treated for depression prior to my short term medical leave in Novemver 2007. I cannot handle the bills and not being able to have insurance. My family wants me to be dead as well. Kerrie

KERRIE, you are not alone. You have friends here on this blog. Dave mentioned in some of his emails that he can help people with financial problems. I have only read your post just now. We care about you. Please let us know that you’re ok.

For Heaven:
We are all here and I can say I am listening. Please call 911 or your Psychiatrist, if you cannot reach your Psych or do not have one please call 911. And please do not harm yourself. And when you get back home and if you want someone to listen directly then please email me at:

angryaswipe@yahoo.com

and be sure to put something about David’s blog in the subject line because I get a lot of spam and I do not want to delete your email. You can email me now if you want. Write all you are feeling down in an email and send it to me I will listen. I am not a doctor or anything but I will listen to what you have to have to say so write it out and send it to me but PLEASE FIRST SAVE YOUR LIFE BY CALLING 911 OR WHATEVER THE EMERGENCY NUMBER IS IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Karen – how did you get the insurance company to pay for long term disabiity benefits, having what they said, “a pre-existing condition?” My lawyer told me to get a copy of the Summary Plan Description, which is the legal document. He said he’d look at it for me. Any ideas you have would be appreciated, thank you. I have been feeling really bad, have been worrying about everything. I have a psychiatrist that has not been helping me and I think he has given me the wrong medication as well as the wrong advice. I will have a new psychiatrist next week, but now I am worried about having insurance and income. Jobs are really hard to find in our city. And, I have chronic lower back pain in addition to depression. Karen, I am sorry about your husband. I hope and pray that your daughter is doing better. Thank you for your kindness. Kerrie

KERRIE, I hope you received Dave’s email today. This seems to really apply to you and I hope it’s helpful. Don’t give up.

Well said, I must say that sometimes as a supporter I find that my husband who has a bipolar disorder will forget chunks of important information especially when he is going through a bad phase which unless I knew better I would probably think that he had a “selective memory” certain negative things will stick in his mind and leave no room for anything else. So from time to time I will chat to his psychiatrist over the phone. In the beginning when he was still being settled on his treatment he went through a very bad manic phase and at that point I would go to the Psychiatrist with him and fill in the blanks, this also encouraged him to be honest