BP and Arguments Sneak Preview!

Hey, y'all--

Sorry I haven't written for awhile, but I've been dealing with a serious health issue (will probably tell you about it in next post, but have an abdominal CT scan today and don't know much yet).

So how about if I make it up to you by giving you a sneak preview of my next article for the bipolarcentral.com website?! Here's a little bit of it, just to whet your appetite:

BP and Arguments (between BP survivor and supporter)
...Instead of having to resolve an argument, you can prevent one from ever starting by reminding yourself that this "bad mood," or emotional low, is just a bi-product of your BP. At its worst, it may even be stemming from a BP depressive episode; eiter way, it is not a mirror of your true emotions. If you can just let go for now and wait until you're on the upswing again, you will realize that the issue you had wanted to fight about was: a) never there to begin with; b) exaggerated by your emotional state of mind; c) not worth fighting about; or d) resolved on its own.
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Just for a ha-ha--saw a T-shirt advertisement on the internet the other day that said, "Hey, I have a brain disorder--what's your excuse?" LOL

Remember that God loves you, and so do I.
Love,
Michele

Scripture for Depression

Hey, y'all--

I was reading my Bible this morning, and found the following in Psalm 18 (NIV version), and feel like it perfectly describes a bipolar depression, so thought I would share it with you:

"The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction
overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled
around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice;
my cry came before Him,
into His ears. (Psa.18:4-6)
"He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
He drew me out of deep waters." (v.16)
"He brought me out into a
spacious place;
He rescued me because He
delighted in me." (v.19)
"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness
into light." (v.28)

Remember, God loves you, and so do I.
Love,
Michele

Bipolar Disorder Bumper Sticker

Hey, y'all--

My boyfriend (who also has bipolar) told me he saw a bumper sticker about BP on a car the other day, but has not seen one since. It's like one of those ribbon ones, like the pink one for cancer, the camoflage one for our troops, the rainbow one for homosexuality, etc. This one was purplish and said bipolar on it.

Have any of you seen this sticker on a car, or have one on your car, or know where I can get one?

I think this would be great--calling attention to bipolar, making people aware of the disorder, especially that it is as prevalent as some of these other physical disorders. I know that more people than not who have bipolar want to remain anonymous, and I respect that, because for alot of years I was the same.

But I am at the place now where I will discuss it openly and unashamedly with anyone, because I know I help so many people by being open about my having BP, and thus I have been able to help others who are struggling with it, especially the newly diagnosed. I would love to have one of those bumper stickers, if I just knew how to get one.

If anyone knows how I can get one, please let me know?

Remember that God loves you, and so do I!
Love,
Michele
brokenroseministries@gmail.com

Medication Merry-Go-Round

Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!

Hey, y'all--

Well, another change in meds for me (surprise). Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever get this thing right, or even if we do, if it'll ever last longer than a few months. But then, what's the alternative? The good news is that I have a good treatment team, and we all work together to keep my BP under control. My goal is to take the least amount of medication to achieve the greatest degree of stability.

Well, after my last episode, we had to up one of my meds at night, but this caused me to be too groggy in the morning, so they put me on another med to help counteract that. But the new drug made me too racy, almost put me into a manic phase, so I went off that real quick! So then we had to figure out what to do about that. Kinda the old "between a rock and a hard place" thing. Today I talked to my psych's nurse, and we decided before chucking the new drug, to try a half-dose, so I started on that today, and we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll only go half-manic! :) Hey, if you don't keep your sense of humor through all this, it will get the best of you, believe me--it took me a long time to get that. Years, in fact-- and, looking back, if I had had a better sense of humor about it all, I would not have spent so many years drowning in self-pity and depression, and I would've gotten better that much quicker. Now, I may have a somewhat twisted sense of humor, but, hey--at least it's a sense of humor! If you don't believe me, read my article about what's funny about bipolar, and you'll see what I mean. It's published on the website, or I believe you can click to it from this blog.

My feeling is that sometimes if I don't laugh about it, I'll cry about it. So it's sort of a self-protection kind of thing. Like remembering yesterday that my sister will be dead a year next month, and I know that's coming up, and I'm kinda dreading it, cuz I know I'll be pretty emotional then. But for now, I try to dwell on the stupid stuff we used to do that made me laugh. There's time enough for crying later on. That's how I relate it to BP. We have enough serious stuff to deal with just trying to live day to day with the disorder. Anywhere we can find humor in it--hey, I'll take it!

Hoping you can find some humor in your day today as well--
Remember that God loves you and so do I.
Love, Michele