I am scared for my family

[a frightened mother]

I am a 23 year old mother and I have 2 children, I have been married for a little over a year and he has a daughter as well. I love my family to death and I dont want to loose them. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, insomnia and I have a touch of agoriphobia..that only hits me once in awhile in certain places. I have been trying to get on medications but I usually turn out to be allergic to it of I get worse than I was before I started taking it. It has made me afraid to try anything else after the last time..I was ok for a few months with out medication, but I am getting bad again. I have no patience with my children, I am always yelling at them and my husband for no reason, I always feel sick and I never have the energy to get out of bed or off the couch..I dont sleep at night so then I am tired in the day time. My kids have spent most of there summer in the house because I have a hard time sitting outside for to long. My story goes on and gets worse, but the point is I dont know what to do. I need to do something fast before I loose my husband, my children or even my life..please any advice may help. I am so scared and lost!

[paula]

Hi

The first thing I would suggest you do is to seek Medical Help. You need to get that sorted first before you can even think of your husband and children's needs.

As soon as you sought help and get your Medication sorted out, then you can start to think of everyone else.

You should explain these feelings to your Doctor and tell him that something needs to be sorted out regarding your Medication. You need Medication to stabilize your Illness. Without this then you are surely heading for a breakdown.

Has your Doctor not referred you to a Psychiatrist/Psychologist for your Mental Health issues. It's just that there is no mention of this and he would be the one to explain these feelings to.

You want to demand that they sort your illness issues out because if you don't, things will only get worst not better. You need help and quick! Before these symptoms get out of hand.

Have you not got any family, Friends, anyone you can talk to and try and sort these problems out once and for all.

If you have been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder, Anxiety, Insomnia and Agoraphobia, then who diagnosed you? Whoever diagnosed you would make sure you was on medication. The illnesses you are suffering with, needs Medication to stabilize. You have a Chemical Imbalance and you need medication to sort this out.

Are you being up front with your Doctor and telling him about your related mood swings. I can't understand why you are not under a Psychiatrist/Psychologist? I suffer myself with Manic Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Insomnia.

I am on Diazapam 3x times a day or when required (10Mg each tablet) and Mertazapine every night (45:(Mg). I only sleep at the best of times, maybe 3/4hrs sleep at the most, that is why they have me on Mertazapine of a night because it has a sedative included and supposed to help you sleep. Also, I am on the strongest dosage of that too.

My Psychiatrist suggested I take Sleeping Tablets also, but I don't take them as I'm quite happy getting the small amount of sleep that I get and it doesn't affect me to badly. I don't like the idea of sleeping tablets because they're so easily addictive.

I'm sorry I can't give you more advice but it's down to you to help yourself. If you won't help yourself then how can you expect other's to help you?

I don't mean to sound rude! But I've given all the advice that I can, It's up to you now! Good luck!

Keep us informed if you don't mind of your progression.

Take care

Paula x

[Mark]

frightenedmom,

That's a whole lot of diagnoses you've got! With all of that tendency towards anxiety and depression and maybe mania too, you'll want to take special care to work with a psychiatrist, and probably a psychotherapist too if you can manage that to develop and then stick to a treatment program that helps you stay stable.

If you are truly bipolar, then the only really good way to keep that condition stable is psychiatric medication. Lithium and Depakote are two popular medicines used for this condition, but psychiatrists will often prescribe others. They are pretty good at figuring out what medications people can tolerate and helping to develop a custom regime that will work out. Not perfect - and obviously it can take time and continuous adjustment, but doing this work with a psychiatrist will definitely give you a better shot at having a normal-ish life than if you don't do this work.

Panic attacks (that's what agoraphobia is generally about) can be dealt with using psychotherapy, which has no side-effects. Cognitive behavioral therapy is more or less what is indicated. In this therapy you work on identifying distorted beliefs that you may have which cause you to exagerate the danger you are in, and you also work on developing a "body" knowledge that even if you do have a panic attack, it really isn't dangerous and won't kill you. If you have the luxury of doing so, I'd look for a cognitive behavioral psychotherapist (generally a clinical psychologist but possibly a social worker too), and if you can find someone who has training in the Mastery of Anxiety and Panic (MAP) approach that is even better. MAP is a special manual for helping people to overcome panic attack problems.

[a frightened mother]

to Paula X,

I have seen a phsyciatrist, but they werent very good. They werent helping me with anything and I think they were pill pushing instead of listening to what I was telling them. I was getting worse on my medication and they just kept uping my doses instead of trying something else. I need to find someone else to go see but my insurance wont cover to many places. My biggest problem is last christmas I was on something that made me crazy..I was hurting myself and I was always freaking out..I even through my christmas tree across the room. I explained this to the doctors and they just uped my dose..I tryed again to tell them it wasnt getting asny better and they still wouldnt listen. It made me afraid to be put on anything since then and I was fine for awhile, but I seem to be getting bad again. I will be finding a new doctor because I do want to get better..thank you!

[paula]

Hi, To A Frightened Mum,

Cheers for getting back! You say that your previous Psychiatrist Is doing nothing to help you but repeatedly kept upping your dose.

What I'd like to know is how the hell that's going to help you apart from Monging you out. Obviously, the Meds don't agree with you, so you'd think that he'd try you on something else till they found right meds that was doing you good and agreeing with you.

I think your doing the right thing by finding another Psychiatrist. The problem is, is that these Psychiatrist, think that they can put you on anything, and that will be the end of it! It makes it worst because you have to pay for your treatment, so there's money issues and what you can afford.

I know you mentioned the Insurance, but at the end of the day you still have to pay your Insurance. Also, it will affect your Premiums wont it? What I'm saying is 'if you put a claim in to pay for your Health Care, then obviously, your Insurance Premiums are going to go up in the weekly/monthly/annually payments ain't they'?

So in the long run, you are paying for it. I'm sure if I was paying for something as important as your health, then I want the best that I could afford.

For the prices that you can imagine that there going to charge, I want gold dust, never mind upping your dose. Can you see where I'm coming from?

You get what you pay for and I'm afraid you didn't pay for that! You paid for a service, a service that your not getting. So go for it and seek a Psychiatrist elsewhere. One that's going to listen & understand where your coming from. Also, one that's going to help you.

I'm just glad that I don't have that trouble with living in the U.K. Can you imagine if all the world had to pay for their Medical Care? Put it this way, There wouldn't be so many on benefits, I can tell you.

Keep me posted on how you get on & take care.

Paula x:rolleyes:

[Natalie]

Dear Frightened Mother-

Mark suggested that you seek out a Psychologist, if possible, in addition to a Psychiatrist. Do you have access to a therapist of this sort? In other words, do you also have access to a therapist that you can talk through your issues with?

[a frightened mother]

to Natalie,

I dont have anyone but my husband to talk to and he doesnt understand how I am feeling even though he tries..I did have a case worker that I was suppose to talk to but she wasnt helping me any..so I have been in search for someone that can help me and arent just there to push pills on me or just sit there and pretend to listen to me..it is hard to find someone in my area.

[Natalie]

Hi-

A few suggestions:

We have a "find therapists" section on our website (in the upper right hand corner of the screen)- you may be able to locate someone that way.

You could also ask your primary care doctor for a referral to a psychotherapist, or you could go back to that case worker that you mentioned and ask for a recommendation.

You could also call your local community mental health center and ask them.

Make sure to stress that you are looking for a psychotherapist (someone who will do therapy (i.e., talk with you) rather than a psychiatrist (most don't do therapy any more, but focus on prescribing meds).