--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, m2smart4u2000 <no_re...@...> wrote: > > My X manages his bipolar very well. Because we have kids > together and it is often inherited, we have educated them > on the disease.
Oh, wow, that must not be real comfortable for any of you, but you're doing just the right thing. > He recently felt the depression coming on again so he > made an urgent appt with his doctor and his meds were > adjusted. His depression improved with the adjustment. > With the advancements in this illness and his good > doctor he does pretty well. The problem again for many > is 1. Not having the where-with-all to get to a good > doctor immediately. Had I understood this first time > around, I would have forgotten the stigma of mental > illness and got him into a good pschiatric hospital. > > 2. the affordability of a PSCHIATRIST. When I hear of > someone taking PROZAC, i squirm. I think it is a generic > type medicine. (not sure tho) Prozac is more for plain-vanilla depression, not for the kind you have with bipolar disorder/manic depression. But if a person doesn't have a history of big mood swings, and their first swing is into depression, there'd be no reason, I don't think, for the doctor to suspect that it was manic-depression rather than regular depression. So Prozac may be an appropriate first choice in terms of the person's history, even if it turns out to have been the wrong one as the illness develops, if you see what I mean. And for regular depression--i.e., with no manic swings-- Prozac does seem to help many people. (It *can* also help with depression in bipolar disorder, but only if the mood swings have first been stabilized with lithium or something similar. Otherwise, Prozac by itself can trigger mania.) > The first medicine prescribed to my X, had no affect, > then he got onto lithium (21 years ago) and it was > like a miracle drug. Lithium is a miracle drug for many with bipolar disorder. It doesn't work well for everybody, though. > He could not focus or do any work due to his depression > but after a few days of lithium, he was able to do work. > Being able to focus and do work, at least gave him > something to do, other than think about how terrible he > felt. This was the beginning of recovery. He was fortunate that he found a good psychiatrist, that lithium worked for him, that he had you supporting him, and that he has had the self-discipline to stick with his treatment. It's a really tough disorder to deal with. Best wishes to all of you, and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
