#steroids make it worse every other treatment can cause cancer and one i've learned is chemo light which explains the side effect?

[karathraces]

skin condition psas including psoriasis is always amusing bc i don’t care if people judge my scabs they’re bleeding and itchy and sore and also growing on my joints and causing inflammation in my eyes and gut. other people’s validation isn’t even in the top 20 concerns with this condition 

[lskyln]

My Bipolar Disorder............Let's Take A Ride On The Merry-Go-Round

Bipolar Disorder.......even the words send shivers down many people's spines and bring to mind long term mental institutions, hospitals gowns, people doing crazy things like eating checkers, screaming, getting shots or hand fulls of pills that turn them into zombies.  Well let me assure you this is not what is going  on, at least not in my world and I have a pretty severe case of Bipolar.  In fact Iu am Bipolar 1, rapid cycling, with scizoeffective  disorder, in other words it's up there on the scale.  There are a few things right off the bat, that you need to know and understand.  These are common misconceptions about this disease. What are these common misconceptions? First of all this is a disease, just like have arthritis, cancer, kidney disease.  I was born with this and for me at 15 during puberty it became active even though I had signs all though childhood something mental was bound

to pop up. But Nothing I Did Caused This Disorder, it is hereditary.  And that is the same with anybody who has it.  Another misconception is that Bipolar is easy to diagnose, this is not true in the slightest.  Everyone has different symptoms, some may be the same as another but most of the time you are one your own scale with your own symptoms, and psychiatrist only have guidelines by which to go.  And some Bipolar symptoms mimic other disorders.   You'll never be normal.  Well 1, what even is normal, and 2 it sounds pretty boring.  You can get a stable point, minimize symptoms and not be on such a merry-go-round though.  Another misconception is that medical treatment is worse then the disease.  I felt this way for a long time, as a teenager I refused my medications.  I have a tendency to be very sensitive to the side effects, and the medications they had then are nothing like the ones now, they have come a long way.  But what did I do?  I still unknowingly tried to treat my symptoms, by drugs and drinking.  And for a time, I was in the cycle of being done with that, started taking my medications, would feel better, and then stop taking my medications when I felt better, became manic (of which I'll give the definition to you soon), or depressed, or both, which I know sound impossible but believe me its possible, and then start self treating again with drugs and alcohol, till I went back on medication.  It was a completely vicious cycle.  Another very important point people should know, in fact write down, is I can not stop or will myself out of my mood swings in fact it causes these, I can however learn things that trigger them and avoid those as much as possible. I can also try to learn when I'm in a mood swing, and as a family or a partner have them learn to talk in a way that doesn't make it worse.  It can even help if used correctly.  There is a book for families and loved one of someone who is Bipolar that I highly recommend.  It's called "loving someone with bipolar disorder, understanding and helping your partner" by Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston, PSY.D.  Unfortunately Bipolar has a high suicide rate, close to 15%.  It can take up to a year or more to recover from a severe episode.  Treating this illness without medication is like treating diabetes without insulin, and it should be monitored everyday, to see where youare at, and where your headed.     So what is Bipolar Disorder?                                                                                                                             Well Bipolar Disorder comes in different types.  I'll tell you each of the major types with a description, along with some of the other major characteristics of this disease.  This disease has been around since the time of Hippocrates.  He was one of the first to write about the signs of mania and depression.  Bipolar is an episodic disorder with ebbs and flows instead of a continuous mood swing.  About 5% of the population has this disorder, from every walk of life.  The main feature of Bipolar Disorder involves difficulty in controlling emotions and periods of extreme mood episodes.  Now I really want you to understand that these mood swings are certainly affect by stress, this is a biological/medical illness that makes it impossible to stabilize certain aspects of brain chemistry.

So lets get to the types of bipolar and some mental problems that go with it......... Bipolar 1-This is when you have two very extreme types of mood swings, severe depression, and mania which includes high energy, agitation, restlessness, euphoria(its a felling like falling in love at the beginning of a relationship but its with life, with everything), racing thoughts, and very impulsive behavior, like drinking to much, sex with strangers,spending or gambling more money then you  have.  These episodes could last months or weeks, and then they seem to go away  They go back to their baseline and family wonders if they imagined it all.  Months, even years can pass before another episode.   Bipolar 2-Now this one has depression and something called hypomania which is a mood thats elevated, or irritable and usually lasts 4 days. This version doesn't have full blown mania.  This disorder spend most of its time in varying degrees of depression. Bipolar 2 patients spend 3 times as much time in depression then those who are Bipolar 1.  Bipolar 2 can go on for years before being diagnosed and treated.  And the longer it goes without treatment the more likely their disease will worsen to Bipolar 1. Bipolar 3- This is a very little know disorder that I believe is quite new.  This disease is basically all depression

with brief period of stability.  They have no manias of hypomanias.  They though can erupt into severe manias when prescribed antidepressants, stimulants, steroid or if on their own abuse methanphetamine or cocaine. What is rapid cycling? Rapid cycling is a form of bipolar disorder, but its complicated by frequent mood changes.  If you have 4 or more severe episodes a year your considered a rapid cycler.  There's one even known as ultra rapid cycling, which can be a dozen or more episodes a year.  They can be slight of severe depending on what type of bipolar they have.  It is most common in bipolar 2, drug and alcohol users, people on stimulants or steroids, antidepressants, or even thyroid medication. Where I'm at with my Bipolar disorder. I thought we'd take a break from all the learning, and I'll tell you how my disorder is showing up right now.  Remember there's a lot of information I haven't blogged about, and i can't separate from all my pain, my other diseases, nor my medications. They all mix together but I can give you an idea.  I'm more in a depressed

state, a stay away from me because I'm going to screw up and we are going to fight mood.  but at the same time I want them to somehow break through and make me feel better.  Even though I know it's me who has to do this but I just can't seem to do it.  I feel like I'm not really part of the family, like I am on the outside of a window looking in.  I'm very sensitive and feel as if every thing they say is directed at me.  I don't want to get dressed, go anywhere, feel extremely fat and ugly.  I feel like I will not ever find or be loved.  I have a horrible time sleeping, and wake up very really. I have thoughts of all the things I've done , and they play over ans over in my head, along with the fat, ugly, and not worth anything,  I do a lot of affirmations and meditations, and they somewhat help, and I always take my meds.  I basically feel weak and vulnerable which sucks.  It will take time but will come out of it.                 If I could sum . Click to Post