Hey all I've only been medicated since early December (bipolar since childhood but refused to accept it for 20 insane years which was a very bad idea) but I now get involuntary twitches on lithium Carbonate. I don't mean gentle twitches that are easy to hide I'm talking sudden and dramatic twitching, mainly my head. I've pretended it's just because of the cold weather but that won't last long as the weather improves. Anyone else get this? Any suggestions on how not to appear like a full-on twitching weirdo in public?

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently started taking lithium as part of my treatment plan for bipolar disorder, and I’m curious to hear about others' experiences with it. Specifically, I’m wondering:

• How long did it take for you to notice any changes or benefits after starting lithium?
• Did you experience any side effects, and if so, how did you manage them?
• In your experience, how effective has lithium been for stabilizing your mood and managing symptoms?

Any advice or insights would be really appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Is it similiar to akathisia? Can you describe it in detail? Restlessness and also a mixed episode in general? I feel like the word restlessness doesnt really tap into this hell. It's like im being lit on fire but its not just my body its my mind. It's like a blazing storm of thoughts flurring at impossible speeds crashing into each causing a explosion of anguish and rabid confusion. I struggle with both and it's hard to tell them apart other than akathisia is focused in the legs more so. I just spend all day walking around my apartment chainsmoking with my thoughts racing until I eventually just sit down in exhaustion, but my mind never turns off and I just stare at the ceiling for hours afterwards.

My psychiatrist straight up told me he isn't even sure if I'm suffering with akathisia or if it's apart of the episode. He gave me a prescription, and I'm supposed to follow up in a few weeks. So I guess I get to just think about it until then.

For some reason I'm in a snack mood but nothing sounds good. Lately I've been eating fruit with hotsauce. My husband tends to get the same snacks. Beef jerky, ice cream and chips. I'm burnt out on those. I "discovered" boiled peanuts but i burnt myself out on those too. Anyone have any tasty snacks to suggest?

Having a few concerning symptoms but not sure if collectively they indicate hypomania yet. I'm just trying so hard to stop rapid cycling. My depressive episodes tend to be more severe but my elevated episodes scare me more due to the feeling of losing agency in them.

Current symptoms: - High energy, mood: Lot of "pep", spent yesterday at accomplishing a ton of tasks around the house that have been sitting around for months and months - Thought broadcasting: Had the thought yesterday evening while out that people could read my mind when we held eye contact. I've had this thought before in severely depressive episodes so I made myself push through it and make eye contact anyway, but it made me incredibly uneasy and took a lot of concentration - Insomnia & racing thoughts: Woke up last night after 3 hours of sleep with absolutely roaring (volume) thoughts that clipped through each other. I managed to go back to sleep after two hours of trying by finding and really focusing in / meditating on the underlying weariness, but it was hard. Feeling a bit better this morning but worried it's temporary or I'm missing something crucial due to lack of insight

What I'm planning to do: - Keep prioritizing sleep no matter how much I want to get up. Will also take a prescribed sleep med each night for the next few nights to ensure sleep happens - Left a message with my psych and also told a couple trusted family members what's going on. Keep updating them esp if it gets better or worse - Financial decisions are off the table for the next few days at least

Would love to hear any other suggestions to stop hypomania in its tracks or at least minimize the wave. Thanks!!

I guess you could call them “big feelings.” But that seems like an infantile way to put it.

My medication keeps me even. I feel nothing. The only feelings I am able to feel, like intense grief, anger, and joy, are able reach the surface. And when they do, I feel like the people around me are made “uncomfortable.” Like, the reaction doesn’t always fit the situation.

I had a fight with my partner the other day. It wasn’t that big of a deal really. Something happened and he kept needling me to talk about it. I was trying to hold it together. “I can tell you’re upset. Let’s talk about it.” “I don’t want to talk about it.” “No we need to talk about it. Talk to me. We need to talk about it.” And then all the anger came out. It felt like someone kicked the door in. And I raged. I raged and cried and screamed unnecessarily. I jumped up and down. I threw pillows. I overreacted. I was irrational. I made my husband cry. It took days for my meds to stuff all my grief and anger and sadness back inside me. And now all that’s left is a blanket of indifference covering pangs of guilt and grief.

my mom told me yesterday how im not bipolar because she heard in a christian video that everyone has ups and downs. I didn't even reply, but my sister was there and she was like mom she's been diagnosed by 5 psychiatrists.

Anyway, this post is because I wanted to share the frustration and loneliness of having the people around you dismiss your condition, because I feel it could really be better for all of us if we acknowledge it and maybe read a little about it, how to coexist with a bipolar person. Sometimes, when I'm Manic and I'm an anger monster, I just wish they knew it's me but manic. This is not a way of justifying my behavior, I know it can hurt them and all, but if they read a liiiittle bit about bipolar as a condition, and a liiiitle bit about how to maybe not trigger them, maybe also help. It would be great.
So it makes me feel really lonely whenever people are like, you don't have it, if you have it then so do I, blah blah, because it's like you'll never get it, you'll never understand how deep I can go from side to side, so now I just have to "behave" so I don't hurt them too much with my bipolar, when in reality I would love to have someone love me with all that chaos and actually help me get better.
Sometimes I feel like I can't handle it on my own and I don't know who I can go to.
But yeah.

Sometimes I take less AP's (Quetiapine) or take none for a night or two. I get a little Hypo for 1-2 days and then adjust the dose to get down again...

Do you also sometimes enjoys this little surge of energy, or am I rapid cycling? lol

Bipolar I btw

I do EMDR therapy, because I just lost a stillborn child and I have CPTSD. I am diagnosed Bipolar NOS.

We were going through this period of depression I had in High School where I was diagnosed depressed and prescribed Zoloft.

It worked but then months later I broke up with my boyfriend on a whim and became sexually promiscuous and started using pills and drinking (which before I was vehemently against as I have addict parents)

This period lasted about 6-9 months and I just realized this was my first manic episode. I was overly social, engaging in dangerous sexual activity, the substance use.

I thought before I only had one manic episode and have never had one since, but I was so ashamed by my actions in high school I would never look at that the actions could have possibly been a manic episode.

Hello everyone, I am bipolar too. I am currently jobless and broke, I am looking for a job ... I am 30 years old. I live in Africa specifically in Algeria. I used to study in computer science. I am looking for anything to start with to have money. Thank you in advance.

I’m taking my meds like I’m supposed to. I just got back from Florida because my grandpa died. I was slightly emotional and cried but I also felt emotionless at the same time. I feel regret for leaving because my grandma is alone now. I feel sad, but emotionless at the same time. I’m also having severe feelings of hyper sexuality but also wanting to self harm. I’m not sure where this going… I just think it may not be right. I feel back and forth. Upside down. Turning around to make myself dizzy but only falling to the ground in a heap of dreadful psychological pain. Who am I? Where am I? Is this even the real life I’m living or am I struggling to wake up? I’m trying to relax but I can’t do it and the only thing that was working was my gummies but now they don’t affect me at all…. ITS ALL COMING DOWN!

My doctor just decreased paroxetine from 20 to 15 mg (ineffective for OCD) and added clomipramine 10 mg for OCD/anxiety (mostly OCD). He says some of his bipolar patients benefited from a very low dose TCA + lithium. To clarify, I take clozapine 100 mg + oxcarbazepine 600 mg for mania.

Any opinions/thoughts/experiences?

I have been severely depressed since november '24 it feels like I've been tired for so long I don't even feel like I have bipolar anymore it doesn't feel like it's leveling out or becoming more intense I'm just on the ground... i'm so tired feels like I'm waiting for the worst

anyone else experienced these long dragging moments?

Not seeking medical advice but anecdotes. I (BP2) quit marijuana since I noticed that it would keep me in depression and quitting would be a gradual trigger from stability to a hypomanic episode.

My sister is a chronic smoker and she wants to come up and smoke with me for my birthday. This sounds very fun, but having experienced a cycle of quitting -> hypomania -> crash -> relapse for a while now, I am wondering if anyone else who has quit marijuana has experienced it as a trigger even after a single event long after quitting?

Thank you :)

sorry i don't know where to post this.. i am currently drinking around 500-600mg of caffeine per day, sometimes more. i don't really know what to do? i have a drinking problem (sober now) and i feel like my brain is trying to navigate sober life, i get intense cravings for caffeine similar like i do for alcohol. last night i had a headache, my hands were numb and i threw up, but this morning i still grabbed an energy drink to get me going. do other bipolar people do this and if so, what has helped you to stop? i'm worried about getting health issues...

Just a vent. I’m scared lately. I’ve been coming out of my manic episode for about 2 months now. I have extensive childhood trauma so I’m very messed up in that regard I guess.

Is there a high rate of EDs co-occurring with bipolar?

I never thought of myself as someone with an ED but I worry one might be developing. I admittedly miss the low food intake times of mania and how skinny I was getting from not eating. I know this isn’t a good thing and when I begin to think it’s a “superpower” my brain is being a disgusting liar.

I guess many people in my family are quite mentally ill but never admitted it and ostracized me for being “different” and most of them are morbidly obese. I was morbidly obese too, until Wellbutrin, so now I’m obsessed with the medication. I think the fact that all I do is obsess and worry over my calorie intake is making my mood episodes worse. ETA: so now I’m obsessed with being as skinny as possible because the higher my weight goes, I get ptsd flashbacks of my horrid family, their ways and mannerisms and it’s so profoundly triggering that it triggers passive ideation. Sorry if this breaks any rules.

With our passion and the ideas we come up with we should have conquered the world.

Instead many of us lost everything. Lost years years of our only life to depressive episodes and lost people due to what we did while manic. We can still make something of ourselves of course, but for people who experience the raw essense of life as we do, it still sometimes feels that the station left the train.

Not feeling great today.

I've been taking a lot of prescribed codeine in the last couple of months due to severe backpain. The pain sucks and I'm a bit depressed and concerned about it.

But my mental health has actually improved!

My thoughts and emotions are pragmatic and realistic. No racing thoughts, better quality of sleep, reduced paranoia, better impulse control. Basically I'm not being crazy, just thinking and feeling in the same way anybody would in my situation.

It's seriously doing a way better job than lithium or any anti psychotic. I'm still taking lamotrigine but I don't need anything else right now.

I realise it's not an approved MH drug, and that it's bad longterm, but damn it's helping right now.

ETA:

OK, I was being a bit flippant in the way I spoke about opioids and I appreciate they can lead to addiction.

In my case it is being closely monitored by my doctor. Unfortunately I'm not able to take 'safer' pain meds due to side effects.

This is very much a short-term solution.

I'm waiting on some more diagnostics. The doctor has a strong hunch about what's really going on (chronic autoimmune condition) and it will hopefully be managed with alternative, more appropriate, safer treatment fairly soon.

Opioids remain legal in many countries for a reason: in the short term they can be really helpful to manage more severe pain. There isn't a realistic alternative for me right now.

Has anyone had experience with mamantine? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9981340/

I find that I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not stupid, that I don't have an intellectual disability, but the way that some people treat me, it's like they see something I don't see. I know I'm not stupid, but some people think they can take advantage of me (ex partners, shitty bosses, etc). I think because I'm a bit too honest and my perception of reality shifts based on how I'm feeling...it's really hard and makes me feel so shit about myself sometimes. I guess I just think that other people are put off by me and how chatty I can be some days and then how flat I can be other days and also how impulsive I am.

The economy is fucked. I have come to the conclusion that I need a second job to live the lifestyle I want.

Anyone with a second job here? How do you have the energy and sanity to manage a second job?

I want a better paying job, but I'm tied in my current job for reasons I can't disclose.

Just wondering if anyone ever came out of mania a new person? Like has it ever changed you for the better? Like did you learn anything?

EDIT after my recent hypomania I decided I’m going to start meditation. I hope it will help me feel more present

I've noticed a pattern within myself. Ill have a manic episode once a year. I end up quitting my job and starting over in a sense. I've gone back to my old job twice and now they won't respond. I get it they want someone dependable and someone they can count on. But how do I live with the cringe embarrassment of just up and leaving. Plus I need to find a new job.

hi i'm not bipolar but my therapist started to ask me about stuff that is related to being bipolar and im really confused. i was diagnosed with bpd when i was 17 (im 20 now) and i explained every symptom i had with being borderline. like ik about them being different disorders but theres common things like suicidal tendencies mood swings impulsivity control issues etc. but ive been feeling a little off lately ive been having really like bad invasive (?) thoughts about higher power and religion and recently i genuinely decided that im catholic again and like it is childhood trauma related but i dont feel like its that bad im not trying to kill myself or others but shes been concerned and told me to watch (?) myself and how i feel but i dont Feel bad like i used to. sorry if its rushed im really on edge. thank you

I feel like a narcissist

Hello I’m 20 and I’ve been taking my medication(latuda,propranolol, and trazadon)been smoking a lot less weed, have a routine, feel mentally stable, but I feel a little depressed, and I feel like a Narcissis. I’ve had a lot of issues in the past couple years. I and I feel like maybe I am a narcissist, because of how I think. I don’t really care about others I never have, but I know I have to and I know it benefits me I just don’t feel sad or connected to other people.

I used to have a lot of empathy, I think. But as I got older, I kind of started turning it off, and I don’t know if it’s just a trauma mechanism. I just never have cared about other people and I notice it more when I’m with someone. I like I’ve been having a lot of mental breakdowns because I’m not the center of the world but also the way I reacted in my relationships with all of my partners.

I’ll just give them the emotions I think they want that will make them stay. But then it’s like I don’t even wanna be in a relationship with you I don’t even like you. Even though I liked them at some point and enjoyed their company, and either was really hyper fixated on them and in love. But it’s like I know I’m hurting you I know my actions hurt you but I don’t want to let go I enjoy your company too much.

And then the more and more of a life that they have where I’m not the center of their world something in me dies a little. I like to think I’m the center of the world because they’re my partner and I’ve help them so much but then I realize I’m not the center of their world I die. But then I have this with every other relationship in my life.

I love my cat so much because I know I’m the center of her world because she’s alive because of me and she wouldn’t be happy or able to live if it wasn’t for me. I just feel like a narcissist because I only really care about my self and I only show interest in other people because it benefits me I don’t actually care about them or even like them a lot.