Eog... in college i majored in the violin...then music buisness...then international business.......and finally decided to take a break for a semester to try and figure things out.
i ended up taking a photo class just for fun while working back home. from the first roll i shot...i was hooked. i went back to college the next semester and changed my major to journalism. my university only offered 2 freacking photo classes so i had to pick public relations journalism.
so....i joined the student newspaper staff and was very lucky to learn from 2 of the best photojournalists i've ever known.
after college...i had to work as a reporter/photographer for nearly 3 years, but i discovered i was nearly as good at writing news stories too. Finally tho....i landed a job as a chief photographer.
it's been a long haul and my major depressive episodes cost me both jobs. (i've had 3 episodes during my life...the first one in college right before i took the semester off).
so now...i'm trying to work the freelance/small biz owner angle right now.
it's a super tough industry....commercial or photojournalism.
i don't know if i'll be able to stay in in much longer, but it's been my career for 10 years now....even got an assignment from the Associated Press to photography Obama during his campaign. It was pretty cool to get paid to photograph a presidential candidate! lol
Anyway, i just applied for a 13-month tour overseas as an embedded reporter/photographer with the army troops .... where i'd be working for European Stars and Strips. I'm totally keeping my fingers crossed because that would just be the ultimate job experience for me!
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(((((Nandm))))))
FOUR freaking mood stabalizers!!! WTF????
Remind me what your full diagnosis is again?
If you are bipolar II then that just sounds insane to me. Even if bipolar I with psychotic tendencies....FOUR seems a little extreme!
What are the names and doses of everything you are on?
Yeah....I've been super surprised at how much the intense workouts 6-7 days a week have helped my anxiety, energy and mood! It's pretty incredible actually.
Yesterday was a stressful day b/c my sister was assaulted and that was following be woken by a call from my cousin that she was ill and fearful of being alone with my god-child and thru tears asked if i could come over.
my sister has never been hurt this bad in her life and while it all was stressful....i felt solid and strong in response.
the only thing i know to attribute that to is 28 days of the tough workout program.
It took me a long time to find a pdoc i like and trust. I've been going to him for about 2 years now and he use to be an ECT doctor so that has also been beneficial with my treatment situations. I've only really questioned him once when he had me totally stop my effexor and start on prosac...without tapering.
but even then, he pretty much knew what he was doing. i still felt some withdraws from the effexor, but it was VERY easy to add back a small dose and taper off it.
Anyway....my point is that it is a difficult, but important task, to keep searching for a pdoc you feel is right for you and really listens. I truely believe it can make or break us!
I think i found him by asking around....i asked other psychiatric professionals and clients also for references.
In my experience, when 1-2 meds aren't working as desired....med switching occures...not always adding pills ontop of more pills. Granted....sometimes we do need different times of anti-d's and things to try and keep us out of hell and perhaps 2 different types of mood stabalizers may be tried, but i don't think i've ever even heard of a bipolar even being on 3 stabalizers....and especially not four.
But....you know i'm not a doc or anything close to it. My suggestion would be to make a list of your concerns and take it in with you at your next appointment. Then either hand it to the pdoc or just go down the list verbally.
I personally don't have much trouble telling a pdoc that i am concerned about what they are prescribing me, etc. I just simply tell them i don't understand why x, y, z is needed for my situation or whatever...and ask them to explain why they have chose that course of action for my treatment.
If they are a good doc...they won't mind informing you. I've also found that good pdocs do not mind explaining their decisions. They want us to be as informed as possible so that we can also help them do their jobs well.
Anyway....i'm interested to hear your full diagnosis and see what list of meds/doses you are on.
When is your next appointment scheduled for?
Jenna