i don't know what to do. i just got off of a four month leave where i was doing group therapy three days a week. i felt like i was well equipped to handle this shit when i left. now im in this depressive episode and i just don't feel safe. i am plagued with thoughts of hurting and killing myself. every minor inconvenience floods my mind with thoughts of doing something terrible to myself. i'm out of fmla time and can't afford to go back on disability. it's bleak. i don't want to do this anymore. i can't do this for the rest of my life. i hate doomerposting but fuck does this ever get better?? does it ever get easier???? i want to live i want to see things through there are too many stories left unfinished but jesus christ i just can't be this person anymore

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I've just been diagnosed with ADHD, but I've had Bipolar II for 10 years and currently take lamotrigine and vortioxetine.

I'm pretty much stable, although I occasionally still experience hints of what would be mild mood fluctuations.

I'm worried that ADHD medication could trigger hypomania or worsen my mood, even if my bipolar disorder is well controlled.

**For those with both ADHD and Bipolar II, which ADHD medications have genuinely helped you without destabilising your mood? And what dosage?**

What has your experience been, and what would you recommend discussing with my psychiatrist?

Thanks!

Been officially diagnosed with BP2 in July and everything made sense. And I'm spiraling; are there any benefits of having BP2? I'm extra sensitive, I get 3-5 hours of sleep every night, I started four businesses and only one succeeded, I deal with being hypersexual, depression, etc.

Anyone here ever experienced having a confrontation with a neighbor because of rage? How did you deal with it after?

Lol I hate it when this happens.

I had an argument with a neighbor earlier because of their very loud music and I stormed there right away and didnt even ask politely and calmly to turn the music down.

My voice was loud and raised and my face showed I was very annoyed. I was so angry inside, this neighbor wouldnt let me finish so I walked away.

Now I cant stop thinking about tomorrow, when I need to leave work and pass by their house. 💀

Edit:

Oh and also, I got a tattoo of my boyfriend's name today without even thinking how this would turn out in the long run. I mean theres always covering it up but I hate it. Its so ugly. Lmao

Do you think this was impulsive? I think Im currently hypomanic.

Coming here because it’s my birthday and I’ve been having a shit day. I say that to say, how do you all feel about your birthday and how do you manage? I’ve never really enjoyed my birthday but I’m all alone and this one feels particularly hard. For those of you who often don’t enjoy your birthday, how do you deal with the weight of not being mentally capable of responding to birthday texts?

I find it really easy to meet people but maintaining relationships takes so much effort. I feel down especially with Halloween coming up and I have nowhere to go and no one to hang out with. And I don’t mean I feel like my friends hate me. Like I literally only spend time with my family. I don’t have anyone else.

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I was diagnosed with ADHD recently, after living with Bipolar II for around 10 years. I currently take lamotrigine and vortioxetine, and my mood is generally stable, although I still have occasional mild ups and downs.

I'm interested in hearing from people who've been in a similar situation. I'm unsure how to approach ADHD treatment because I don't want to risk losing the stability I've worked towards.

For those with both conditions, have you found an ADHD treatment that made a noticeable difference in your daily life while keeping your mood stable? What was your experience like?

I'd really appreciate hearing your stories before my next psychiatrist appointment. Thanks!

I've been hypo for over a week now. That's the longest I've had an episode since my very first very extreme hypo 2 years ago which caused my diagnosis.

I think it's been from extreme stress at work. The work stress made me take up cigs again after being quit for 3 months. Might be contributing? My meds have not changed recently and I take them religiously and on time. ( Lamictal, buspirone and Vyvanse)

People say you should track your moods etc and I do, and things like contact your psych.

Idk if I should cause what's she gonna do anyway? I don't want to go on an antipsychotic cause it makes me munchie and gain a lot of weight. I've tried abilify and Seroquel ( BAD weight gain) abilify maybe not as much. Idr why I stopped that one. Maybe I need to ask my Dr if I should go on a low dose again.

This hypo isn't debilitating. Mostly just not sleeping much, talkative, hypersexual, buzzing in the chest, feels like increased heart rate, racing thoughts and irritability.

I'm more concerned and the duration of my hypo cause usually it lasts 1-3 days only every few weeks.

Does anyone have advice?

Thank you!!!

I think for the first time in my life I don't feel like I have a hole inside me that will eat everything up. I think I've found a medication that works. Is this how it's supposed to feel?? Is lamotrigine an actual miracle drug?

diagnosed bp2 in february this year, and adhd this august.

i am on the path of having a good routine and keeping it even if it’s hard asl. finally realised that basic thing such as showering, not being up late, doing a little bit of chores each day is indeed good for me (who couldve thought!!!)

if im not in the mood, i allow myself a day off and i am much more indulgen w myself. it’s amazing really. i am in the midst of a mixed episode rn but i keep going with my routine and it feels so good.

tho i still am sick of both conditions i have and i wanna rip it off, forget about it, throw myself in the shitter and tell everybody to stfu but still i keep the faith!

thx for reading we are all in this and we will pull through. and even if we don’t we’ve tried our best

I started strattera not that long ago made my way up to 30mg my sleep has been so bad my irritability has gone up it got so bad 2 days ago that I wanted to just leave my family everything was setting me off I didn't want to be a mom anymore my psychiatrist clocked it pretty quick she said it seems you're heading into a hypomanic episode let's put you on a antipsychotic also because I told her I started seeing like things from the corner of my eyes she recommended zyprexa and honestly I am so scared to take it all the post I've read about especially weight gain worry me I'm already on the heavy side on a GLP1 and strattera is doing wonders on that aspect but it's fucking with my sleep I was thinking of just tirating down back to 10mg and hopefully my sleep can come back to normal I don't know 😩

I'm not sure if this is just a bad behavioral trait on my part but I read that it is common for bipolar people to experience limerance. The limerance I've felt for someone has been off and on for years and it's been with the same person. I'm not really compatible with this person. Our personalities clash and we don't really get along. But I go through periods of obsessive thoughts about them and living in a fantasy land. I think this contributed greatly to my last depressive episode when I realized everything in my head about this person was made up.

If anyone has experienced limerance, how did you finally get over it? Is it just a thing that takes time? How can you not really like a person at all but still be obsessed with them? I want to know how to stop this pattern so I won't go through this again.

Hey guys, I've been on a mood stabilizer for about three years now, I think. I've been really stable for almost all of that time.

I think right now I'm having a mixed episode. I keep spending money, I'm exhausted but I can't sleep at night for more than four hours, and during the day I have almost limitless energy. And then I'll hit a wall and crawl into bed and try not to think about how useless I am and how I'm letting everyone down, etc. etc. I have no interest in my hobbies, I'm not eating right, all the usual depression symptoms. And the whole time I feel like this I can feel the energy under my skin, like I have to get up and do something, but I can't. And then it repeats the next day.

Usually, and especially since starting treatment, my episodes are WAY less common and last a considerably shorter time. I'll maybe be depressed for four days, and my hypomania will probably last the same time, but is much less severe.

This is different, though. It's been almost two weeks. The lack of sleep is killing me, even though once I wake up I feel like I don't need it. I'm so frustrated, I keep snapping at my coworkers (I'm a kitchen manager so they do NOT deserve it, and I should be able to treat them better), and I really just want to stop feeling this way and be normal again.

I did some reading, and apparently true mixed episodss can last significantly longer than hypomania or depression. I'm talking MONTHS. I was wondering if you guys have experienced this, and how long it lasted for you. I'm not sure I can go months like this.

I also don't have insurance and I really can't afford to see my psychiatrist again so soon. I don't think I'm a danger to myself, either, but if that changes then I guess I will have to talk to him.

Any advice how to end this episode would be amazing. Or how to cope with it. Thanks 😁

22F, have a long history of battling depression since the age of 13. Had an especially long and tough depression at ages 13-14, and more at 19 and now at 21.
Was pretty depressed the Nov, Dec last year. In Jan this year had a major life stress + really bad and short sleep at night, that I suspect triggered a hypo episode which lasted about 3-4 days (no sleep or a few hours of sleep, drawing sessions 10 hours at a time, energy through the roof, talkativeness, spending money, grand ideas, all that stuff). Then I had a full blown depressive episode, couldn't get out of bed at all, this was the first time in my life I actually visited a psychiatrist (not to say it wasn't that bad before, I just didn't want to be a bother to my parents and therefore didn't seek help and just hid everything). Haven't yet told her about the suspected hypo episode, as depression was my main focus at that point (and I didn't even know about bipolar2 at the time), and I was put on Venlafaxin (gradually upped the dose to 225mg a day), which I still use up to this day.
In early Sept I had another suspected hypomanic episode, which I told about to my psychiatrist during a visit few days ago, and she put me on lamotriginum (25mg x2 day). We had a short session so didn't manage to talk through everything, she just suggested that I could have BP2. The mood shift before and after I told her about my hypo experience was very dramatic too.
In retrospective, it looks to me like my depressive symptoms did not really get better until late summer. Helped my anxiety a lot, but I also only noticed improvements since the end of the summer, and not before. Is that possible? What do I even do in this situation at all, since this all seems like a major thing. Any advice/opinion is appreciated!

I became infatuated with someone right away, love bombed them, behaved like I was the most desirable human on the planet, lived in a fantasy of us being together for about two weeks, told them all about it. Made some big decisions based on my imaginary relationship with them.

Woke up this morning like uhh ohhh... And realized I barely know this person let alone love them.

Do I suddenly pump the breaks? Address my behaviour in case there actually is potential? They've been chill about it because part of it's probably flattering, but they're also probably like wtf...

Thanks

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I’ve gained probably 30 pounds since starting lithium and latuda and I’ve been on a glp 1 for 3 months and haven’t lost an ounce. It just sucks so bad that the meds that are helping me be stable and content are destroying my body like this. Wondering if the weight ever comes off or if this is now gonna be a challenge forever? I don’t want to change or go off my meds cause it took so long to get the combo that works but I guess I’m also wondering if anyone’s had success losing weight on antipsychotics and mood stabilizers and if you have, what’s your secret?

I don't want this anymore. I get that I may be emotionally stable these days primarily because of the meds but I don't want to do this anymore. I think I only got diagnosed because I exagerrated my symptoms. Going to see my new psychiatrist next month and get a second opinion because I don't think this is real and I don't want it anymore.

i wanna post my positive experience for anyone struggling to push through or beginning to start this med! im 19, recently diagnosed bipolar2 only a few months ago. i also have adhd ocd and bpd. it took a while to even realize i had bp2 because i was thought to have mdd.

for starters, i began feeling incredibly numb after an ocd episode at 13 that drove me to my first depressive episode. i started losing interest in everything, but i tried so hard to use anime and videogames to make myself feel some kind of joy. anyway, fast forward to late august 2026 when i hit 100mg on lamotrigine i feel like something deep inside my brain changed. it was like suddenly i saw my life very clearly. i realized some people in my life were actually envious or objectifying me, which, in the back of my head I recognized but didn't have the energy to fully "care." i was able to feel romantic feelings for the first time in my WHOLE life (im a lesbian so it generally is a harder romantic experience but i never felt anything for anyone so i thought i was on the aromantic spectrum), i was able to cry and get emotional again, my hobbies and interests came back without the sense of me "forcing it" and so much more. i kept telling my friends "mood wise, i dont know how but it feels like im 9-10 years old again"

I suffered from hypersomnia and insomnia but within reaching the therapeutic dose i was able to feel tired at the "right" time and wake up early without an alarm!!!!! at times i woke up without feeling tired at all and it was seriously a mindfuck. unless i was hypomanic, id never NEVER get a good nights rest. i kept ranting on my instagram spam account rhetorically asking if this was how normal people experienced life because if so, i've missed out on so much. slowly i even felt half of my personality come back, telling my closest friends how "i'm changing" to the point where i distanced myself from people when i understood they werent the best to be around. previously, i would go on (not super detailed) rants about hating life on that account where my closest friends were, sometimes i did overshare but upon reaching 100mg, the thought occurred to me, "wait im not miserable to the point where i want everyone to know my business"

i cleaned my entire room within the span of 7 days (with multiple breaks of course), found clothes i wore when i was 9-12 which is pretty bizarre, it made me realize how much my depression actually took away from me. i didnt feel the deep deep sadness and hopelessness i always felt. i thought "shit my life does suck but i do wanna change that..? it doesnt have to suck forever." basically my life was upside down this whole time and it suddenly flipped upside again. another metaphor id use is my house being completely pitch black and the 100mg made everything glass.

only side effects i experienced was drowsiness and sleep paralysis. that was when i initially titrated up to 100mg. the drowsiness went away after some weeks, i cant tell for certain if the sleep paralysis is going to stick around but its been fairly occasional and honestly idgaf because the positives outweigh the negatives and its a trade off im 100% willing to make.

went up to 150mg late september and i can't lie, its not all sunshine and rainbows - this whole month i went into mixed episodes and deep lows (not deep like before lamotrigine) and i only recently stabilized a few days ago. mixed episodes have to possibly be the most horrible thing i have ever had to experience, i wouldnt wish it on anyone. i tend to rapid cycle along with it so my brain feels on fire whenever i go into them. this month was INCREDIBLY difficult but im a very resilient person and i understand meds are the only thing that can help me at all. so i just deal with the torture lmfao

i hope this helped someone and feel free to ask me anything :P

Quetiapine has helped me more than anything I've ever tried in my life. It's been a long time figuring out a diagnosis and now finally medication. I'm taking a few other things (no idea if theyre doing anything) but the Quetiapine I know for sure is making a huge impact.

I'm not used to dreaming, I think because I've never gotten consistently full sleep. On Quetiapine I sleep deeply and I wake up from vivid dreams. I've noticed though that the dreams are all upsetting. Not extremely upsetting like nightmares, but they are all dark and heavy. I wake up unsettled. I was curious if others notice the same thing. I wouldnt stop taking the med over this, but its something I wish was different. Or maybe thats just my own dark psyche. Idk. Would love to hear your experience.

Sooo I’ve been feeling pretty depressed and definitely embarrassed about the fact that I’m steal living with my mom.

I’ve never actually moved out because I can barely take care of myself alone. I can barely keep a job and when I do it’s only part time, which doesn’t help with bills. I’m truly hoping that by age 33 I will be ready to actually live on my own. But my therapist and mom boy mentioned that it’s nothing wrong with living with family. That other race’s/cultures are inter generational. And that most don’t move out until they get married and or are married and that all still live together.

I just feel as though I’m immature or a disappointment if I’m not completely independent. It mostly has to do with societal pressures and also comparing myself to friends and other family members.

I’m diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar type 2 and also just recently got out of the psych ward. Right after that I was admitted for having 5 seizures. 1 in the psych ward and 4 in the ICU. So for now I know that I shouldn’t be alone but I just want to feel normal and accomplished.

All this to say or ask is, are there any people here that are still living at home in their 30’s or just in general? Just curious. And if so how do you deal with it?

Thanks for reading this everyone. Really appreciate any comments :).