Pollen Sucks in Bipolar Disorder

   Pollen Sucks.

   In my neck of the woods, Spring has sprung and everything is beginning to bloom.  Every morning I wake up with my nose running.  For a person with chronic health problems that really sucks!

    I go to bed with my nose congested.  Makes life hard when you have sleep apnea and you depend on a cpap machine for sound sleep.   Sleep, or the lack of it, is one of my triggers in by rapid cycling of my atypical bipolar disorder.  

    In addtion, if I don’t sleep there’s not only bipolar, but the fybromyalgia flares up. 

    I can’t seem to find any over the counter antihistamines that won’t collide with my other meds.

   

Hit Bottom and Bounced

   I know to expect odd times with manic depression and in particular, rapid-cycling after going on the proper meds.  Yesterday was one of those days.  The odd thing about the depression part of it, I didn’t hit rock bottom as I’ve done the last few years.  It was like a soft bounce to the a different blow and then back up again.  Has anyone ever experienced that before? 

    I’m finding my obsessive-compulsiveness is an obvious trigger in my moods.  Again, it appears Zoloft and Depakote are my rescuers at this point.

Survival Day-byDay Was My Mission

  My wife asked me the other day how I had survived the last four years.  As I’ve mentioned before, my flight in life broke up in mid-air when a tornado picked up a truck I was driving in May 2003.  The PTSD that caused, plus, other gruesome sights I saw on my job after that, changed my life forever.

So, how did I survive the mood swings (mostly gutter wrenching lows), PTSD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and surive?  I refer to it as just getting by day-by-day.  My mission from the time I got up in the morning (if I got out of bed at all) was to to slowly take whatever the day offered until It was time to go to bed.

I worked three of the four years until everything crumbled one last time.  After that, it involved watching a lot of television, and enduring many dark thoughts and lonely hours, along with not wanting to go any where or deal with any body.

It took the proper diagnosis from my psychiatric team to pinpoint my exact problems.  I can’t say enough good about them. 

I know work is out of the picture ever again.   My life has to be refocused on the time I have left in this world and enjoy it with my family.

Yeah, I’ve already had a few down days, but for me this Depakote has been amazing.  That added with Zoloft (ocd) and Lunesta for sleep, I’m seeing more sunshine in my life–not those black days.

Life is Wonderful

The ol’ blood pressure is not where it needs to be.  If it isn’t lower by Monday the doc plans to increase the medication for that. 

When I started taking Depakote, the pharmacy said not to take Mobic any more for my fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis.  The doc has told me to continue to take it pointing out that the small risk is nothing compared to the greater good it will bring me.

Back in for another blood draw this morning, the first since I’ve been taking Depakote ER. We’ll see how that turns out in a few days.

I’m still feeling great mentally with no rapid cycling.   No problems with PTSD in the way of any flashbacks.  That was the big trigger for setting off the Bipolar phases.  The OCD seems under control with the Zoloft. 

My wife continues to say, “Welcome Back!”  T