SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post - Hypomania turning into full-blown mania?

QU31 · 10-31-2007, 11:00 AM

Kelsh,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I am thinking that Patty Duke's experiences might be extreme...When discussing Bipolar Disorder, eveyone tells me that the solution is finding the best combination of meds, which it seems you have. I am very happy for you! I think it's amazing how some drugs work so well for some and others work for others.

My boyfriend is taking 300 mg of Lamictal and 60 mg of Cymbalta. If he forgets to take the Lamictal for even one day he gets very hyper and can sometimes be innapropriate and mean. It is SOOOO obvious to everyone that he has not taken it. The drug has helped a lot, but it is not the miracle cure-all I was hoping for. He has also been sober for almost a year now, which is definitely great. I do get scared though that he will get worse (even though this is not the case right now and nothing points to this happening). I also get scared that if we have a child it will suffer from mental illness and/or alcoholism, or probably both. He is bipolar and an alcoholic, I have anxiety problems and my father is an alcoholic. Plus, all of our siblings seem to have something, ranging from depression to borderline personality disorder! On one hand, some of the greatest people I know are mentally ill and/or recovering alcoholics, but on the other hand I don't know if it's responsible to bring someone else into the world with these odds stacked against them. I struggle with that.

10-31-2007, 11:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
QU31 Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Midwest Posts: 112	Kelsh, Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I am thinking that Patty Duke's experiences might be extreme...When discussing Bipolar Disorder, eveyone tells me that the solution is finding the best combination of meds, which it seems you have. I am very happy for you! I think it's amazing how some drugs work so well for some and others work for others. My boyfriend is taking 300 mg of Lamictal and 60 mg of Cymbalta. If he forgets to take the Lamictal for even one day he gets very hyper and can sometimes be innapropriate and mean. It is SOOOO obvious to everyone that he has not taken it. The drug has helped a lot, but it is not the miracle cure-all I was hoping for. He has also been sober for almost a year now, which is definitely great. I do get scared though that he will get worse (even though this is not the case right now and nothing points to this happening). I also get scared that if we have a child it will suffer from mental illness and/or alcoholism, or probably both. He is bipolar and an alcoholic, I have anxiety problems and my father is an alcoholic. Plus, all of our siblings seem to have something, ranging from depression to borderline personality disorder! On one hand, some of the greatest people I know are mentally ill and/or recovering alcoholics, but on the other hand I don't know if it's responsible to bring someone else into the world with these odds stacked against them. I struggle with that.