Posted by MJ on February 4, 2001, at 3:11:04
I had what I thought was severe postpartum depression, and now my pdoc says it's bipolar II. After reading the excellent book-"An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison- and identifying with so much of her story and also feeling mood swings when pdoc tried to lower mood stabilizer I'm coming to realize that this disese will be lifelong. I'm still trying to find right med mix (have tried ~12 types/mixes of meds so far). And for the last year and a half either my husband, parents inlaws or hired help have had to be with me and my 2 and 6 year old 24 hours a day (I'm on SSI).What Id like to know is-what is the success rate of getting back to stability? Right now I'm feeling very hopeless, sad, and angry. Still not able to function to take care of kids/home for more than 10 minutes by myself before I get overwhelmed. Side effects on concentration, memory, etc. so annoying. Are there usual stages of grief, denial, anger, etc when finding out a person has a bad chronic disease? Everyone around me says as soon as I get on right meds I'll be just fine, and keep thinking positive. Personal stories, success stories, info in general about realities of management, and encouragement desparately needed please! I'm in a bad depression/very low functionability lately or else in the same day I might be in a decent mood for a while if there is no stress. I am very sad, confused and scared and my parents and I need to get lots more info because they can't understand why I'm getting so bad again, not sleeping, etc. I'll appreciate any and all feedback and help. Thanks - MJ
poster:MJ
thread:4384
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010105/msgs/4384.html