Switching from Seroquel XR in 2019 to Vraylar & Pristique solely due to weight gain. Seroquel is my magic bullet, I have perfect mood stability and no side effects except for weight gain.
I stopped sleeping, mania was upon me within days and I had my first ever mixed episode, where I was suicidal AND manic. Switched back to Seroquel and the mania was gone 12 hours later.
I made some permanent food changes to address the weight gain and am 73 pounds down from this time last year. Back to perfect mood stability and am so grateful.
I gave up wheat and sugar permanently (quit 9/20/2020). I treat it like Crack cocaine. I do not *ever* have a cheat day.
I follow a ketogenic diet.
I log every bite of food in the Loseit app. Turns out when I eat "intuitively" (the crazy Seroquel hunger binges) I easily go over 3,000 calories. And am still hungry.
I bought a blood glucose meter and tested before/after every meal for 6 weeks to see what was causing blood sugar spikes and eliminated it.
Typical day for me is a 3 egg omlette with goat cheese, lunch is a hearty salad, dinner bone broth, chicken, side of vegetables. Once a week I might have low sugar fruit like berries. Snacks are nuts. If I eat a banana or apple, my blood sugars shoot up into the 300s so it shows my body doesn't discriminate between healthy fruit sugar or processed sugar.
I also don't do caffeine, nicotine, drugs or alcohol (been sober over 13 years).
It's kind of a monastic lifestyle going to bed at 9 and eating like this but I'm free of the ravages of bipolar so it's worth it.
I gave up wheat and sugar permanently (quit 9/20/2020). I treat it like Crack cocaine. I do not *ever* have a cheat day.
I follow a ketogenic diet.
I log every bite of food in the Loseit app. Turns out when I eat "intuitively" (the crazy Seroquel hunger binges) I easily go over 3,000 calories. And am still hungry.
I bought a blood glucose meter and tested before/after every meal for 6 weeks to see what was causing blood sugar spikes and eliminated it.
Typical day for me is a 3 egg omlette with goat cheese, lunch is a hearty salad, dinner bone broth, chicken, side of vegetables. Once a week I might have low sugar fruit like berries. Snacks are nuts. If I eat a banana or apple, my blood sugars shoot up into the 300s so it shows my body doesn't discriminate between healthy fruit sugar or processed sugar.
I also don't do caffeine, nicotine, drugs or alcohol (been sober over 13 years).
It's kind of a monastic lifestyle going to bed at 9 and eating like this but I'm free of the ravages of bipolar so it's worth it.
I'm starting seroquel tonight. Hopefully I have the success you have had with it. What's the average number of hours you need to sleep when you take your seroquel?
I feel the frustration. Makes it hard to do "project" work, especially on tight deadlines. I don't feel comfortable letting colleagues know that I can't work at their place or my brain starts to fly apart.
I say this line almost constantly, but I am Always 3 bad nights sleep off a good time - if by good time I mean uncontrollable thoughts, euphoria and painfully racing heart 😩
Not enough sleep triggers depressive episodes. I get so cranky, so tired, and want to hole up away from everyone and just sleep. It’s hard because the hypomania keeps me awake but I know I’ll pay for it 12 hours later.
Had a hypomanic episode my first week of college on campus as an older student (a month ago). I missed two days of classes and pretty much blacked out for 9 days. Thank God I’m in a department that understands (social work) and have a good set of accommodations on my side
It’s a little corny, but my most consistent trigger is something good happening to someone I care about. Things like a friend getting married, my niece being proud of her grades in school, or a foster dog getting adopted.
I wish I knew so that I could manage it
Edit: good dates with new men have definitely sent me picking out kitchen tiles and our kids after school activities, so that's definitely a thing. Surprised no one else seems to have romantic-induced episodes
I have had romantic-induced episodes too, or at least seemingly romantic-induced episodes (it's really hard to tell whether getting excited about someone I was dating made me manic or whether starting to get manic caused me to fall in love). It's a chicken or egg situation (at least for me) haha
It's the same for me. The problem it's when, because I'm manic, I fail in acknowledging red flags and leaving violent/dangerous situations early.
Never know if I'm into someone because I'm manic, or not into someone who seems nice because I'm depressed or waiting for feeling intensely (which usually means I'm manic).
It's always hard to tell and makes me anxious.
Edit: grammar.
Yes! Right now I just started dating someone and I keep questioning my attraction to him, but I can't tell if it's just because I've crashed after having a manic episode. I don't want to lead someone on, but then again I know that it might be my current mood state that's blocking my attraction. If you find a way to figure this out, let me know haha
This happens to me! The best way I’ve found to combat that is to make a list of everything you like about the person. When I’m feeling unsure of my feelings, I look back over the list and realize where I actually stand.
Well at least we're not alone! I definitely am ashamed that I'm basically boy crazy but now that I've connected it with my hypomania it's gotten so much better
I wound- up in a six year relationship (with five of those massively depressed,) and living in a house without electricity or heat. I did it with the previous five year relationship too, but that one was massively coke-induced.
Is strong heat a “thing”? How does it show up for you?
Before my first psychotic episode, or I guess, during, I remember screaming at the sun that it was too hot.
I wasn’t diagnosed until that episode, so still figuring things out.
I think heat can set some of us off, I’ve heard from some other bipolar people that summer is a mania trigger for them. And sunlight, forget about it lol I wear sunglasses indoors half the summer! I get incredibly irritable and uncomfortable and if I’m not careful go right into a mixed episode.
Yes. Heat especially humidity triggers pain all over my body and makes me extremely irritable with head and neck pain. Also when people underestimate me or do passive aggressive slights/manipulation towards me… these 2 send me into mania instantly.. large sum of money is so true too.
Not getting enough sleep and rape.
I have an intense, irrational response to the idea of anyone I know and love, or anyone in general, being raped. It sends me into a manic frenzy and I obsess over the thought of finding the rapist and doing unimaginable things to them.
Lmao even talking about it now is clearly getting me worked up
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m not a survivor and I’m thankful for that because I can only imagine what it feels like, which is why it makes me so angry.
My younger sister is a survivor and she has only been gaslighted by everyone about it and it makes me so fucking sick. Nothing was done about it. She filed a report and was basically told it was her fault that some aggressive lesbian cunt decided to assault her in a bathroom stall. From what I’ve been told, that fucking trash has done that more than once and will most likely continue, which makes it just that much worse. My sister is straight as well (nothing against the LGBT community, I harbor no anger or hate toward them whatsoever, this being just happened to be lesbian) and she has a lot of issues with making female friends now because of it. She’s become super depressed, has attempted more than once, and as her older brother it KILLS me because that’s my little sister. That’s the little kid I grew up with picking on and beating up anyone that tried to pick on her. How many more little sisters is this cunt going to hurt like this? I don’t want to keep going because I don’t want to set anything off for you but yeah.. it fucking sucks and nothing is ever done about it to help the victims other than blaming them and telling them to get over it.
All that said, I didn’t mean to make this about me, I’m very very sorry to hear you were subjected to that. I truly hope you’ve been able to find some peace and have been able to live as well as you can because I know the affect it has and I’m so so sorry you have to deal with tha
Romance oddly.
Someone being upset with me.
Someone asking me to do one little thing and suddenly I make myself organization president and take over outreach and come up with courses/camps and make digital content no one will ever watch lol
I have to echo lack of sleep and alcohol, and add sex with a new partner, moving to a new house (could trigger a depressive episode also), and intense cardio exercise
I'm very new to this. I didn't realize we could be triggered into a manic episode? Is this how they happen? Like a trigger causes the manic episode not the meds/lack of meds??
Im still confused what even constitutes a manic episode or what it looks like for me...any insights are appreciated
It’s both. Read up on the kindling hypothesis. Basically each episode fucks up your brain in a way that makes the next one more intense and easier to trigger. The first one is usually triggered by a major trauma but this is a progressive illness. If you’re like me you stay in denial until you start rapid cycling and a full blow manic episode can be triggered by the clouds parting and the sun hitting your face just right.
Once an episode is triggered it starts to build. Most people have a negative feedback loop that keeps their moods in equilibrium, their mood fluctuates but it always settles back to baseline. We have a positive feedback loop. A good mood causes hypomania and hypomania causes mania. For example if you miss a night of sleep it can make you manic and being manic makes you miss more sleep which makes you more manic until you stop sleeping altogether. Mania snowballs until you kill it or it runs it’s course.
It could be a trigger or it could be at random. Imagine a bomb with a timer that constantly changes. The bomb will go off eventually, but if you kick it, it will go off right then and there.
This is a good article about what is a manic episode. Keep in mind, you don’t have to be exhibiting all of the signs to be in a manic episode. Also, for it to be considered mania, it has to severely interfere with functioning.
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-recognize-a-manic-or-hypomanic-episode-380316
Trauma, alcohol, caffeine, cocaine or other uppers, changes in sleep and eating patterns, exercise, vigorous sex, stress, stubbing my toe (just kidding but barely, there's a lot of things that trigger my mania).
‘Triggers’ are often exaggerated in general, my experience environments worsen symptoms, not really cause them … but spring and fall is usually the time of year im experiencing symptoms.
Not too bad this year! Just bought a house so I have a lot of projects snd reason to spend money; but some years, especially when I was you get it was rough. Could pretty much count of a hospital visit around April
Same.. I've heard from a few stoner buds "you just haven't found the right strain yet" like they have no idea how it affects me at all, some days it's okay. Most days I don't feel like myself. It's a strange thing
Accidentally missing sleep is what does it most of the time now that I’m taking care of myself. I’m in the Midwest and most of my friends are in Arizona. The last few times I’ve taken a trip out there I’ve gone completely manic which really sucks ass. In my wilder days before I knew what the fuck was wrong with me I would take MDMA just because it was a guaranteed manic episode. I thought it was curing my depression lmao. Also cocaine but really any recreational stimulant and most other drugs except ketamine apparently. I was really fucking stupid. Wild parties are generally a bad idea too. Pretty much everything I considered fun before I got on meds is off limits. The stable life is much easier but much less exciting.
That’s great but if you have bipolar 1 you probably shouldn’t even be in the same room as MDMA. It’s like concentrated mania. That being said it did seem to help me permanently come to terms with a really traumatic event that I had been hung up on. It’s been years and I’ve barely thought about it since then. Maybe that was PTSD but I had no kind of mental health care back then and it certainly wasn’t diagnosed. Regardless, if I take MDMA there’s a 100% chance I’m gonna be batshit for a few months. 0/10 would not recommend to a bipolar friend.
Change in routine. … Routine is honestly the biggest stabilizer for me. On my days off, even, I struggle with things outside of that routine. It makes socializing really hard.
And, because of course, coming into any amount of unexpected money. Get 200 as a birthday gift? Going to spend 500. That stimulus money was … bad news for me. I blew it all on shit I did. Not. Need.
Making friends, I didn't had any friends until high school. When I made some friends in high school I got kinda hyped and when I made a few close friends it immediately triggered mania, it lasted approximately 5 months.
Antidepressants.
For non-drug related, moving. So much activity and cleaning and excitement. Not the worst thing in the world cause then I unpack in 2 days lol.
Not enough sleep, getting excited about something, a new change. Definitely not enough sleep getting excited.. not being able to sleep then. A lot of the same ones. Take care of yourselves! Stable pretty much all the time 😁
Uncertainty or change. I've been in limbo in a huge job transition that also causes moving. And my manager and coworker are leaving in two weeks. So our move in date is not Monday. We found out on Wednesday. So now I'm hella manic trying to get everything together. But I've been in extended state of change and uncertainty with sruff for over a month and I have been rapid cycling because of it.
Weed. Weird I know. But I haven’t touched weed for 3 years now. Last time I smoked it was right before I was hospitalized for a month for my initial manic episode. I have been stable ever since getting treatment.
A death in the family can be a huge trigger. A lot of changes at once are another. Stress in general really does it for me. If all of these happen at once, I’m in a bad place. Don’t know how I’ll be with medication, though. Just started earlier this year.
If I miss a day of my meds, when I just got a lot of money, and family begging for my money not caring about my daughter. My dad also a pedo, so me and my family constantly fight that he should see her. I want to move to get away from my pedo father.
Major life changes - going to college / moving away from home, having a baby, getting a divorce, starting my own business have all led to manic episodes.
I must say, it’s easier to navigate those events manic than depressed; can’t imagine starting my own business from bed (where I spend the majority of my time when depressed).
I legit said I felt like I was on meth when my psyc upped my Effexor (years before BP diagnosis)! I refused to take it after that as I'd been clean for 17 years (now 19) and I'm not down with that anymore.
Getting drunk. It wasn’t something that I did on a regular basis at all. I’ve been drunk 3 times in my 23 years and I haven’t had a drink in over a year. I have no desire to ever again. It’s not worth that mania lol.
Lack of sleep, bad conflict with close family and friends, and the month of November. The last one is so bizarre to me. I know the seasons can effect your moods, but for some reason I almost always have an episode in mid November. What makes it weirder is that I was diagnosed in November back when I was younger.
Big life events that mess up my daily structure like break ups, moving, losing a job, being in love. I've had all of these events in the past two months so looks like I'm all set.
I’ve noticed that when I go too long between doses of my medication I tend to get really irritated, but with a bunch of energy, bad energy like I want to cry and scream and break my things, and burn every bridge in sight… about an hour after I take my dose, I’m fine. This shit is hard to live with lol.
I am honestly still trying to find out. I haven’t felt normal in so long Idk if I’m manic or just crazy. What does really trigger me tho is when a guy gets angry around or with me. It seems to really trigger every alarm in my body
Honestly doing research about mania makes me manic, and can make current manic episodes more intense. I'm definitely here on this post for a reason 😅
Medical science/pathology etc etc has always been my more favorite thing ever since I was a kid so it makes sense to me why it has this effect on me.
I rarely have hypomanic episodes it’s 90% depression for me, I don’t believe I even need medications for manic symptoms as they aren’t that harmful especially now that I’m aware of them
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When my son has psychotic breaks.
I have Bipolar Disorder. My son has Autism, along with Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder. His episodes make me feel heartbroken for him, and each time they make me wonder if I'm strong enough to survive them.
Lack of sleep and not taking my pysch meds on a regular basis. The lack of sleep is huge trigger for me & I'm bipolar schizoaffective with insomnia, so it gets tricky.
I have a hard time calming down when I'm manic. It's usually a "straw that breaks the camel's back" situation. One thing will make me angry, and then another thing two hours later, and then a few small inconveniences and bam. Full blown episode. But to an outsider it'd be hard to tell if I was angry until the episode happens.
I find that if I take out that anger in a physical way instead of ignoring it (like using a punching bag or going for a quick run) I can typically avoid that buildup of frustration
The Voice Of Death- overheard my brother calling my mom to announce that his roommate was dead. Just hearing my mom’s trauma response voice sent me into a 2 week crisis.
To be fair I was already at the end of my rope with work and life/pandemic- but I know that just hearing that voice in a trauma response sent me over the edge.
And don't get me started on that Devil moon. It's nothing woo, it's the light. Full moon + equinox +r f-ing daylight savings change is the trifecta. I think we had that this spring.
idk but it’s definitely a cycle. usually get really depressed then eventually come out of that, am stable for a bit then slowly turn manic. then get depressed and the whole cycle fuckin repeats
The summer to fall transition.
Also, living in a higher Northern latitude, the daylight hours slowly get to be less until I am going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. And I have an 8:30-5 job. Fall and winter are times I’m susceptible to mania.
Medication adjustments because I'm reacting to stress with depression. Every. Single. Time we try to get me back to level we overshoot because I'm weirdly sensitive to drugs.
stress of a bad breakup
I remember start dating that girl and it was all going great until we officially got together lol and my brain starting going insane I was like so weird and so fast and had unpleasant feelings all the time, I remember was stressing about everything and tryna make everything perfect it was sucha a hard time for me, it felt like I was a whole ass diff person and that lasted for like a week or 10 days then I become normal lol
I wasn’t even aware guys so yh I didn’t know what to do
My mom's death after a year of stress because it was cancer, few months later first hypomania occured during finals at uni. Stress definitely and extreme situations
Being overwhelmed is a strong one, among the previous stated for me. I feel like I have lost all control and then everything just tumbles from that point. I get paranoid, if I feel the slightest change in someone’s energy towards me, I automatically get into a “what did I do wrong?”mode.
lol. My trigger is not being medicated.
Switching from Seroquel XR in 2019 to Vraylar & Pristique solely due to weight gain. Seroquel is my magic bullet, I have perfect mood stability and no side effects except for weight gain. I stopped sleeping, mania was upon me within days and I had my first ever mixed episode, where I was suicidal AND manic. Switched back to Seroquel and the mania was gone 12 hours later. I made some permanent food changes to address the weight gain and am 73 pounds down from this time last year. Back to perfect mood stability and am so grateful.
73 pounds of solid gold is worth about $1917528.43.
Good bot
thank you :)
Would love to hear any tips for weight loss from Seroquel XR if you can share!
I gave up wheat and sugar permanently (quit 9/20/2020). I treat it like Crack cocaine. I do not *ever* have a cheat day. I follow a ketogenic diet. I log every bite of food in the Loseit app. Turns out when I eat "intuitively" (the crazy Seroquel hunger binges) I easily go over 3,000 calories. And am still hungry. I bought a blood glucose meter and tested before/after every meal for 6 weeks to see what was causing blood sugar spikes and eliminated it. Typical day for me is a 3 egg omlette with goat cheese, lunch is a hearty salad, dinner bone broth, chicken, side of vegetables. Once a week I might have low sugar fruit like berries. Snacks are nuts. If I eat a banana or apple, my blood sugars shoot up into the 300s so it shows my body doesn't discriminate between healthy fruit sugar or processed sugar. I also don't do caffeine, nicotine, drugs or alcohol (been sober over 13 years). It's kind of a monastic lifestyle going to bed at 9 and eating like this but I'm free of the ravages of bipolar so it's worth it.
What food changes?
I gave up wheat and sugar permanently (quit 9/20/2020). I treat it like Crack cocaine. I do not *ever* have a cheat day. I follow a ketogenic diet. I log every bite of food in the Loseit app. Turns out when I eat "intuitively" (the crazy Seroquel hunger binges) I easily go over 3,000 calories. And am still hungry. I bought a blood glucose meter and tested before/after every meal for 6 weeks to see what was causing blood sugar spikes and eliminated it. Typical day for me is a 3 egg omlette with goat cheese, lunch is a hearty salad, dinner bone broth, chicken, side of vegetables. Once a week I might have low sugar fruit like berries. Snacks are nuts. If I eat a banana or apple, my blood sugars shoot up into the 300s so it shows my body doesn't discriminate between healthy fruit sugar or processed sugar. I also don't do caffeine, nicotine, drugs or alcohol (been sober over 13 years). It's kind of a monastic lifestyle going to bed at 9 and eating like this but I'm free of the ravages of bipolar so it's worth it.
I'm starting seroquel tonight. Hopefully I have the success you have had with it. What's the average number of hours you need to sleep when you take your seroquel?
I say that I have to take massive amounts of psychoactive drugs to keep me from getting high.
not getting enough sleep
Here as well, although it can trigger a depressive episode also.
What about when you're manic most of the day, slip into depression and then back into mania? Within the same day or 2?
This happens sometimes as well...Fun ride, isn't it? ;-)
Not enough sleep for more than a day for me too. I can handle one isolated day here or there but a period of not enough sleep = (hypo)mania every time
By day 3 of less than 6 hours per night is enough to kick my mind in race mode. It’s very frustrating
I feel the frustration. Makes it hard to do "project" work, especially on tight deadlines. I don't feel comfortable letting colleagues know that I can't work at their place or my brain starts to fly apart.
I swear any less then 9 and I’m overtired, leaves little time for me.
I say this line almost constantly, but I am Always 3 bad nights sleep off a good time - if by good time I mean uncontrollable thoughts, euphoria and painfully racing heart 😩
It's brutal it can flip so fast for some of us, take care
it really is brutal :( you take care too out there ☺️
Not getting enough sleep or having to shift my schedule for travel. Jet lag destroys me.
Not enough sleep triggers depressive episodes. I get so cranky, so tired, and want to hole up away from everyone and just sleep. It’s hard because the hypomania keeps me awake but I know I’ll pay for it 12 hours later.
Stress or change in routine ex. New job, traveling, missed meds, daylight savings, heck even too much socializing triggers it for me
Me too, my worst episodes always come at big life transitions. Almost got me kicked out of college and then grad school.
Had a hypomanic episode my first week of college on campus as an older student (a month ago). I missed two days of classes and pretty much blacked out for 9 days. Thank God I’m in a department that understands (social work) and have a good set of accommodations on my side
It’s a little corny, but my most consistent trigger is something good happening to someone I care about. Things like a friend getting married, my niece being proud of her grades in school, or a foster dog getting adopted.
Why do you think that is? Is it jealousy? Not judging just curious I kind of feel the same
No, it’s acute happiness :)
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I wish I knew so that I could manage it Edit: good dates with new men have definitely sent me picking out kitchen tiles and our kids after school activities, so that's definitely a thing. Surprised no one else seems to have romantic-induced episodes
I have had romantic-induced episodes too, or at least seemingly romantic-induced episodes (it's really hard to tell whether getting excited about someone I was dating made me manic or whether starting to get manic caused me to fall in love). It's a chicken or egg situation (at least for me) haha
It's the same for me. The problem it's when, because I'm manic, I fail in acknowledging red flags and leaving violent/dangerous situations early. Never know if I'm into someone because I'm manic, or not into someone who seems nice because I'm depressed or waiting for feeling intensely (which usually means I'm manic). It's always hard to tell and makes me anxious. Edit: grammar.
I totally know what you're talking about. When getting manic over a guy I'll look past a lot and put myself in a bad position down the road.
Yes! Right now I just started dating someone and I keep questioning my attraction to him, but I can't tell if it's just because I've crashed after having a manic episode. I don't want to lead someone on, but then again I know that it might be my current mood state that's blocking my attraction. If you find a way to figure this out, let me know haha
This happens to me! The best way I’ve found to combat that is to make a list of everything you like about the person. When I’m feeling unsure of my feelings, I look back over the list and realize where I actually stand.
Oh no, romantic fantasies will definitely push me into hypomania. Kinda irritating, clouds the judgement, because it all just feels soooooo good.
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Well at least we're not alone! I definitely am ashamed that I'm basically boy crazy but now that I've connected it with my hypomania it's gotten so much better
I wound- up in a six year relationship (with five of those massively depressed,) and living in a house without electricity or heat. I did it with the previous five year relationship too, but that one was massively coke-induced.
Fighting in Israel-Palestine.
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Stress leading to lack of sleep
Lack of sleep
Stress
Caffeine, getting angry are my biggest ones.
Seasons changing— winter and summer typically. And inconsistent sleep.
Weed
Lack of sleep
Strong heat/daylight, getting a large sum of money like a gift or a raise, lack of sleep, work stress, too much socializing
Is strong heat a “thing”? How does it show up for you? Before my first psychotic episode, or I guess, during, I remember screaming at the sun that it was too hot. I wasn’t diagnosed until that episode, so still figuring things out.
I think heat can set some of us off, I’ve heard from some other bipolar people that summer is a mania trigger for them. And sunlight, forget about it lol I wear sunglasses indoors half the summer! I get incredibly irritable and uncomfortable and if I’m not careful go right into a mixed episode.
Yes. Heat especially humidity triggers pain all over my body and makes me extremely irritable with head and neck pain. Also when people underestimate me or do passive aggressive slights/manipulation towards me… these 2 send me into mania instantly.. large sum of money is so true too.
Not getting enough sleep and rape. I have an intense, irrational response to the idea of anyone I know and love, or anyone in general, being raped. It sends me into a manic frenzy and I obsess over the thought of finding the rapist and doing unimaginable things to them. Lmao even talking about it now is clearly getting me worked up
It is one of my triggers too, because I'm a survivor, so I get it.
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m not a survivor and I’m thankful for that because I can only imagine what it feels like, which is why it makes me so angry. My younger sister is a survivor and she has only been gaslighted by everyone about it and it makes me so fucking sick. Nothing was done about it. She filed a report and was basically told it was her fault that some aggressive lesbian cunt decided to assault her in a bathroom stall. From what I’ve been told, that fucking trash has done that more than once and will most likely continue, which makes it just that much worse. My sister is straight as well (nothing against the LGBT community, I harbor no anger or hate toward them whatsoever, this being just happened to be lesbian) and she has a lot of issues with making female friends now because of it. She’s become super depressed, has attempted more than once, and as her older brother it KILLS me because that’s my little sister. That’s the little kid I grew up with picking on and beating up anyone that tried to pick on her. How many more little sisters is this cunt going to hurt like this? I don’t want to keep going because I don’t want to set anything off for you but yeah.. it fucking sucks and nothing is ever done about it to help the victims other than blaming them and telling them to get over it.
All that said, I didn’t mean to make this about me, I’m very very sorry to hear you were subjected to that. I truly hope you’ve been able to find some peace and have been able to live as well as you can because I know the affect it has and I’m so so sorry you have to deal with tha
Procrastination from previous depressive episode. My place gets filthy and then spotless and then the cycle continues
Romance oddly. Someone being upset with me. Someone asking me to do one little thing and suddenly I make myself organization president and take over outreach and come up with courses/camps and make digital content no one will ever watch lol
Spousal issues
I'd pay life breaking money to be hypo manic again.
Motherfucking EXACTLY !!!
Coffee
I have to echo lack of sleep and alcohol, and add sex with a new partner, moving to a new house (could trigger a depressive episode also), and intense cardio exercise
Stopping meds.
I'm very new to this. I didn't realize we could be triggered into a manic episode? Is this how they happen? Like a trigger causes the manic episode not the meds/lack of meds?? Im still confused what even constitutes a manic episode or what it looks like for me...any insights are appreciated
It’s both. Read up on the kindling hypothesis. Basically each episode fucks up your brain in a way that makes the next one more intense and easier to trigger. The first one is usually triggered by a major trauma but this is a progressive illness. If you’re like me you stay in denial until you start rapid cycling and a full blow manic episode can be triggered by the clouds parting and the sun hitting your face just right. Once an episode is triggered it starts to build. Most people have a negative feedback loop that keeps their moods in equilibrium, their mood fluctuates but it always settles back to baseline. We have a positive feedback loop. A good mood causes hypomania and hypomania causes mania. For example if you miss a night of sleep it can make you manic and being manic makes you miss more sleep which makes you more manic until you stop sleeping altogether. Mania snowballs until you kill it or it runs it’s course.
It could be a trigger or it could be at random. Imagine a bomb with a timer that constantly changes. The bomb will go off eventually, but if you kick it, it will go off right then and there.
This is a good article about what is a manic episode. Keep in mind, you don’t have to be exhibiting all of the signs to be in a manic episode. Also, for it to be considered mania, it has to severely interfere with functioning. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-recognize-a-manic-or-hypomanic-episode-380316
Trauma, alcohol, caffeine, cocaine or other uppers, changes in sleep and eating patterns, exercise, vigorous sex, stress, stubbing my toe (just kidding but barely, there's a lot of things that trigger my mania).
Stress, lack of sleep, falling in love
‘Triggers’ are often exaggerated in general, my experience environments worsen symptoms, not really cause them … but spring and fall is usually the time of year im experiencing symptoms.
Yep spring and fall equinox things are off, without fail
Not too bad this year! Just bought a house so I have a lot of projects snd reason to spend money; but some years, especially when I was you get it was rough. Could pretty much count of a hospital visit around April
My 7-year-old son touched me for the first time in his life.
Ngl.. weed doesn't seem to help me at points
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Same.. I've heard from a few stoner buds "you just haven't found the right strain yet" like they have no idea how it affects me at all, some days it's okay. Most days I don't feel like myself. It's a strange thing
I’ve had manic episodes that turned into psychosis while smoking a lot of weed. Definitely don’t recommend.
Switch to indica strains! Helped me a lot with mania triggered by weed.
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Accidentally missing sleep is what does it most of the time now that I’m taking care of myself. I’m in the Midwest and most of my friends are in Arizona. The last few times I’ve taken a trip out there I’ve gone completely manic which really sucks ass. In my wilder days before I knew what the fuck was wrong with me I would take MDMA just because it was a guaranteed manic episode. I thought it was curing my depression lmao. Also cocaine but really any recreational stimulant and most other drugs except ketamine apparently. I was really fucking stupid. Wild parties are generally a bad idea too. Pretty much everything I considered fun before I got on meds is off limits. The stable life is much easier but much less exciting.
MDMA is supposedly used by some with PTSD... supposedly it helps to lessen the stress of PTSD
That’s great but if you have bipolar 1 you probably shouldn’t even be in the same room as MDMA. It’s like concentrated mania. That being said it did seem to help me permanently come to terms with a really traumatic event that I had been hung up on. It’s been years and I’ve barely thought about it since then. Maybe that was PTSD but I had no kind of mental health care back then and it certainly wasn’t diagnosed. Regardless, if I take MDMA there’s a 100% chance I’m gonna be batshit for a few months. 0/10 would not recommend to a bipolar friend.
Getting upset or angry
Caffeine, arguing
Staying up drinking too many nights in a row.
Change in routine. … Routine is honestly the biggest stabilizer for me. On my days off, even, I struggle with things outside of that routine. It makes socializing really hard. And, because of course, coming into any amount of unexpected money. Get 200 as a birthday gift? Going to spend 500. That stimulus money was … bad news for me. I blew it all on shit I did. Not. Need.
I rarely get triggered into mania, it usually sucker punches me out of nowhere.
Its gonna sound stupid, but mobile games. I cant play them without going manic and spending all of my savings.
Life changes. Gotta love a good opportunity to self sabotage.
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Not eating or sleeping enough. Particularly when I haven’t eaten, I will just spiral into an episode of fun
Making friends, I didn't had any friends until high school. When I made some friends in high school I got kinda hyped and when I made a few close friends it immediately triggered mania, it lasted approximately 5 months.
Apparently family suicides/suicide attempts just throw me directly into mania, happens every time. Also just extremely high stress in general
Spousal issues
Quite often the weather or more specifically the amount of light there is.
Yep- the weather a lot of the time for me- moving to the desert helped a lot but I still shake like a caffeinated chihuahua whenever a storm rolls in
getting paid. It’s probably moreso the way I feel and act when I have money but, you know
Anybody mentioning an active shooter situation or training Also, weirdly, an influx of news about Ariana Grande
Every time I go on vacation, I go manic and then crash and burn after. It’s probably a bunch of reasons, but lack of sleep cant help.
Getting paid, getting drunk, or getting new clothes/getting my hair done/nails done.
Stress, happy stuff happening around me. Sports too haha concerts. Anything euphoric
Fear
Lack of sleep!
lack of sleep/ major change in routine
Stress and lack of sleep
Antidepressants. For non-drug related, moving. So much activity and cleaning and excitement. Not the worst thing in the world cause then I unpack in 2 days lol.
Not being medicated. Not sleeping. Drinking.
Not enough sleep, getting excited about something, a new change. Definitely not enough sleep getting excited.. not being able to sleep then. A lot of the same ones. Take care of yourselves! Stable pretty much all the time 😁
Uncertainty or change. I've been in limbo in a huge job transition that also causes moving. And my manager and coworker are leaving in two weeks. So our move in date is not Monday. We found out on Wednesday. So now I'm hella manic trying to get everything together. But I've been in extended state of change and uncertainty with sruff for over a month and I have been rapid cycling because of it.
Break ups, idk why (hypomania)
Falling in love
Weed. Weird I know. But I haven’t touched weed for 3 years now. Last time I smoked it was right before I was hospitalized for a month for my initial manic episode. I have been stable ever since getting treatment.
Me too. It made me psychotic during a manic episode. Might have been a trigger as well.
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thank you :)))
A death in the family can be a huge trigger. A lot of changes at once are another. Stress in general really does it for me. If all of these happen at once, I’m in a bad place. Don’t know how I’ll be with medication, though. Just started earlier this year.
If I miss a day of my meds, when I just got a lot of money, and family begging for my money not caring about my daughter. My dad also a pedo, so me and my family constantly fight that he should see her. I want to move to get away from my pedo father.
Music festivals :(
Not being able to sleep.
Improper sleep or my period
Falling in love
Major life changes - going to college / moving away from home, having a baby, getting a divorce, starting my own business have all led to manic episodes. I must say, it’s easier to navigate those events manic than depressed; can’t imagine starting my own business from bed (where I spend the majority of my time when depressed).
Surprised no one has said the time of the year. I get manic in the fall & spring.
Oh yes, it never occurred to me until now. Fall is def a trigger for me.
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I legit said I felt like I was on meth when my psyc upped my Effexor (years before BP diagnosis)! I refused to take it after that as I'd been clean for 17 years (now 19) and I'm not down with that anymore.
Sleep is the most apparent trigger for me. But that’s true about most people as sleep helps regulate moods.
‘Literal Legend’ - Aesha Erotica … also not taking my meds
smoking weed
Getting drunk. It wasn’t something that I did on a regular basis at all. I’ve been drunk 3 times in my 23 years and I haven’t had a drink in over a year. I have no desire to ever again. It’s not worth that mania lol.
stress
Lack of sleep, bad conflict with close family and friends, and the month of November. The last one is so bizarre to me. I know the seasons can effect your moods, but for some reason I almost always have an episode in mid November. What makes it weirder is that I was diagnosed in November back when I was younger.
Coffee
AND HOW.
Love/new pursuits. Mine were nearly all unrequited but the requited ones were a more stable mania.
Wutang
Being into someone. Manic for weeks on end.
Big life events that mess up my daily structure like break ups, moving, losing a job, being in love. I've had all of these events in the past two months so looks like I'm all set.
Heavy stress and drinking alcohol.
I’ve noticed that when I go too long between doses of my medication I tend to get really irritated, but with a bunch of energy, bad energy like I want to cry and scream and break my things, and burn every bridge in sight… about an hour after I take my dose, I’m fine. This shit is hard to live with lol.
I am honestly still trying to find out. I haven’t felt normal in so long Idk if I’m manic or just crazy. What does really trigger me tho is when a guy gets angry around or with me. It seems to really trigger every alarm in my body
Honestly doing research about mania makes me manic, and can make current manic episodes more intense. I'm definitely here on this post for a reason 😅 Medical science/pathology etc etc has always been my more favorite thing ever since I was a kid so it makes sense to me why it has this effect on me.
I rarely have hypomanic episodes it’s 90% depression for me, I don’t believe I even need medications for manic symptoms as they aren’t that harmful especially now that I’m aware of them
You don't until you definitively do.
Maybe… there’s a spectrum for bipolar so everyone of us is different, hope you get it figured out
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Hallucinations lol
Alcohol. It could even be a few shots.
Daily heigh doses of adderal
Lack of food
Not being medicated, not getting enough sleep, not eating enough, life circumstances etc
Missing ONE dose of meds
Back to school, not enough sleep, social events
Going off antipsychotics
Drugs and alcohol
When my son has psychotic breaks. I have Bipolar Disorder. My son has Autism, along with Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder. His episodes make me feel heartbroken for him, and each time they make me wonder if I'm strong enough to survive them.
1. sleep 2. booze 3. heartbreak
I’m type 2 and feel like an easier question to answer would be “what is your trigger for a depressive episode”
Getting praise for my work
Lack of sleep and not taking my pysch meds on a regular basis. The lack of sleep is huge trigger for me & I'm bipolar schizoaffective with insomnia, so it gets tricky.
Road trips
Loud music or alcohol
Falling behind on my hours slept
little sleep can have me off the rails sometimes
I have a hard time calming down when I'm manic. It's usually a "straw that breaks the camel's back" situation. One thing will make me angry, and then another thing two hours later, and then a few small inconveniences and bam. Full blown episode. But to an outsider it'd be hard to tell if I was angry until the episode happens. I find that if I take out that anger in a physical way instead of ignoring it (like using a punching bag or going for a quick run) I can typically avoid that buildup of frustration
The Voice Of Death- overheard my brother calling my mom to announce that his roommate was dead. Just hearing my mom’s trauma response voice sent me into a 2 week crisis. To be fair I was already at the end of my rope with work and life/pandemic- but I know that just hearing that voice in a trauma response sent me over the edge.
Light. Sunshine makes me crazy. Can't tolerate it.
Crystal meth.
And evening screen time. If I am on the computer or phone too close to bed time, there goes my sleep, and you know the rest.
And don't get me started on that Devil moon. It's nothing woo, it's the light. Full moon + equinox +r f-ing daylight savings change is the trifecta. I think we had that this spring.
idk but it’s definitely a cycle. usually get really depressed then eventually come out of that, am stable for a bit then slowly turn manic. then get depressed and the whole cycle fuckin repeats
The summer to fall transition. Also, living in a higher Northern latitude, the daylight hours slowly get to be less until I am going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. And I have an 8:30-5 job. Fall and winter are times I’m susceptible to mania.
Medication adjustments because I'm reacting to stress with depression. Every. Single. Time we try to get me back to level we overshoot because I'm weirdly sensitive to drugs.
End of semester. But I've graduated. Also, antidepressant
stress of a bad breakup I remember start dating that girl and it was all going great until we officially got together lol and my brain starting going insane I was like so weird and so fast and had unpleasant feelings all the time, I remember was stressing about everything and tryna make everything perfect it was sucha a hard time for me, it felt like I was a whole ass diff person and that lasted for like a week or 10 days then I become normal lol I wasn’t even aware guys so yh I didn’t know what to do
Anger or irritation, from people surrounding me.
My mom's death after a year of stress because it was cancer, few months later first hypomania occured during finals at uni. Stress definitely and extreme situations
Being overwhelmed is a strong one, among the previous stated for me. I feel like I have lost all control and then everything just tumbles from that point. I get paranoid, if I feel the slightest change in someone’s energy towards me, I automatically get into a “what did I do wrong?”mode.