[kelsh]

Hi Q3,

I read that same book by Patty Duke. A very good example of BiPolar out of control. I believe some of her extreme Manic episodes were when she was off her medication and she was drinking. I will share my own experience with BiPolar I and of course this can't be taken as a cure all because these illnesses can be treated but not cured.

I was diagnosed with BiPolar I back in the 1990's and started on Lithium. At first the dose was too high and I became toxic on the Lithium and had to enter the hospital to go off all meds for three days and start over again with a smaller dose of Lithium.

I have had about five or six serious Manic episodes since then. It was finally discovered that medications....usually new ones being tried for my depression..set me off into a Manic State.

After about ten years of taking Lithium I asked if I could try going off Lithium to just see what did happen. I went to my PsycDoc who monitored my meds for me, and we went over a plan to go off Lithium very slowly, to reduce my Xanax very slowly, and also a medication for muscle spasms related to my arthritis. Now, I asked to do this and was promised no miracles.

All went well, and I have been off Lithium two years now and no Manic Episodes. My Xanax is reduced from 1.0 mg. three times daily to 0.5 mg. PRN up to two times daily. I take one muscle relaxer at bedtime from four times daily. I am not sedated feeling anymore.

I went back to my PsycDoc after one year and she was so pleased with the progress I had made. I also lost some weight. Then she asked me to try a new medication to augment my Effexor XR for depression, which I have taken over ten years at 300 mg. daily as a maintenance dose. It was Lexapro 10 mg. every day.

I tried the Lexapro and miracles did happen. I was motivated, had energy, and my depression, anxiety, and sleep were much improved. I have taken the Lexapro a year now and continue to feel very stable and maybe a little bit depressed once in a while due to outside stress.

My PsycDoc explained it this way...I must have a need for the chemical Serotonin in my brain and get it from both the antidepressant and the SSRI. My medical doc felt the same way and told me he thought Effexor was the first antidepressant that addressed two or more chemicals where others affected one or another.

I feel so lucky to feel so well these days. I am 67 years old and was first diagnosed with depression when a teen. I took medication on and off for a long time until I discovered alcohol in my 20's. I then proceeded to self-medicate my depression with alcohol until I had two problems to deal with.

In 1988 I asked for help. I was detoxed in a hospital situation for six days and when released I started AA...going every day for a solid year. I recieved counseling for my alcoholism with one counselor and depression from another counselor for about one year. I am still sober and continue follow-ups for my depression and continue to have blood work done to monitor the level of my meds.

I hope this will help you some. This illness of BiPolar is unpredictable. Many have recurring episodes of Manic behavior, some go off their meds and fall into a deep depression and/or a manic episode. Each of us is different in how mental illness and medications work for us.