Thanks for the responses and help!
With regard to your questions, JM--I've been sober for about 5 months. I do consider myself an addict/alcoholic in the sense that I have a tendency to misuse when I'm having mood issues. When stable, I never really got drunk, didn't use drugs, etc. But now I just avoid it altogether because it's just best right now.
I'm currently on Lamictal (200mg), Wellbutrin (300mg), and Seroquel (12.5mg as needed for insomnia...which is currently pretty frequent).
My last "manic" episode, where I felt truly out of control, was right before my doctor started thinking we may have "uncovered" something cyclic...(this is my general internist doctor, not the psychiatrist)...I was put on Zoloft for anxiety and realized I was out of control when I was getting 2 hours of sleep, couldn't stop my brain, and was so angry and irritable that I almost broke my hand when I punched a tree because a friend had to cancel dinner plans because of some unexpected business meeting. I went to my doctor the next day, she took me off the Zoloft and sent me to a psychiatrist.
HT--thanks for the references...will check them out as soon as I finish the mounds of grading and homework I have for the weekend!
I do try to eat as healthy as possible and get in at least 30 mins of exercise a day...definitely no caffeine for this girl! It makes me jittery under the best of circumstances!
Thanks so much for the help!!
Oh, and by the way, I noticed you frequently say "take what you need and leave the rest"...are you quoting The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down?? Every time I read that that song gets stuck in my head