Hi, I just registered today. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year ago and had a couple questions. Im 22 and just graduated from college. For the past year iv been working on my final year of school and trying to accept that I have bipolar disorder. As a member of a fraternity, I am a pretty big drinker. Even in the last year I have been drinking, up to 15 drinks in a night with no side effects. I was wondering how risky this behavior is and also what to do about stopping. Im not an alcoholic but all my friends drink and thats what iv done for fun the last four years of my life. It also helps to have a couple drinks when meeting women. I was wondering if any of you guys had some suggestings about ways to meet people that dont drink. Im not religious so I probably wont be going to church to meet people. I just feel that to stop drinking, I need to make friends with people who also dont want to just go out downtown and get drunk. Any thoughts?

This is a good question and one I'd like to hear some answers on--my daughter inssists it's ok to drink while one her BP meds--2-3 drinks whenever the mood strikes, which can be on weekends or when ever she's hanging with friends. Evidently, she also smokes pot, on occasion, which she also says her pdoc say is just fine. Really? I've seen a few pics of her taken by friends where she looks totally wasted (not a pretty thing for a mother to see) and I can't believe a pdoc would endorse this kind of thing when somebody is already pretty darn unstable.
Liz

Iv only been diagnosed for a year and Iv been very stable, but the two times I smoked weed just flat out screwed my head up for a couple of days. Didnt make me go manic, but I just felt horrible and couldnt sleep and felt like going to the hospital. The second time it happened It was real bad and I was to embarrased to tell my doctor that I had smoked so he just told me to use different medication, which actually worked out well b/c I like the new medicine much better than the old stuff I was using.

Probably not a very good idea to mix alcohol with BP meds. My doctor told me not to drink a drop.

pizza, can you please tell us what medications you take? my son is 21 and drinks with his friends sometimes and is taking topamax..im curious to know what you take? and how your drinking affects them?

For the first six monts I was on 120mg of geodon, which made me tired at night, so I would get real exhausted when drinking. Now Im on 3mg of invega and 1500mg of depakote and I can drink till two in the morning having 10 to 15 beers and be fine the next day, with just a hangover. When drinking, I usually dont take my depakote and It doesnt seem to affect me the next day. I drink maybe twice a week.

Drinking is an subconcious way to try and self-medicate but it doesn't work. Drinking intensifies whatever mood you are in at the time. I know, I've been there. No doctor or therapist who is knowledgeable about bipolar disorder would say it's okay to drink. It's like throwing gasoline on a fire! When I stopped drinking, my bipolar disorder became manageable and the meds were given a chance to work. Good luck!

I know what your saying, that what iv read everywhere, but it just doesnt seem to affect me. Im just wondering if its going to come back and bite me in the *** one day.

Pizza, im not familiar with invega..i am familiar with depakote tho.. 10-15 beers is alot..dont you think? can it be possible that youa re not bipolar?

yes i do. As far as not being bipolar, I wish. But im just going by the doctors words. For months i didnt listen to them and tried to skip my meds and every time i would start to feel manic so Im pretty sure im bipolar, I just dont think or at least havent yet experience the depresive state.

Alcohol is also a depressant.

Well I'll jump in here and say what most are thinking. You are playing with fire and it is just a matter of time until things get worse. First of all, even if you didn't have BP, 10-15 beers is binge drinking and you are doing it on a regular basis. If nothing else you should be thinking of your liver, one organ that you absolutely cannot live without. The meds already put some stress on the liver. Are you having regular blood draws with the depakote?? You have to be careful with drugs like depakote and lithium as it is very easy to have a toxic level. Alcohol affects the way your body processes the meds --depending on the drug it can either make it stronger, which in the case of depakote and lithium can cause toxicity. This can cause you to go into shock or it can bring on a drug-induced psychosis that you may or in some cases, may not recover from. This is also a result of smoking pot and taking mood stabilizers, and other psychtropic drugs. It can be very dangerous!! I cannot imagine any pdoc telling you it was ok to smoke or drug and take BP medications. Some pdocs will not even treat a patient if he smokes or drinks, because the results of treatment become too unpredictable. It is hard enough to find the right drugs that can restore stability with the fewest side effects without throwing in a bunch of unknown factors like pot or alcohol.

I realize that drinking is a big part of college life and young adulthood, too. If you don't have the self-control to drink a non-alcoholic drink around your friends and still be able to go to the parties and the bars, then you need to change your group of friends and find a group that will support your sobriety and stability. If you are not alcoholic, you will be able to still hang out with the same people and not be bothered by the fact that they're drinking and you're not. If you have to have a drink to fit in and have fun, you have a problem.

I would imagine that since you have never had a depressive state, you do not take your diagnosis all that seriously yet. I would just caution you to be very careful. The medications that are used to treat BP and other mental disorders alter the chemistry of your brain. You really don't want to be fooling around with them.

Ah, T, the voice of reason--thanks, Sara has been insisting that it was "just fine" for her to drink with her meds. I was pretty darn sure her pdoc did not ok that---and I did not follow my inner-mom voice and call hm about it. Makes senses after the fact that the day after some late nights how irritable and tired she was--probably hungover & messed up b'cuz the alcolhol & her meds don't agree (and we do not drink coffee here so she's really up a creek!)
Liz

When my son was in college, his pdoc started him on lithium, but when son refused to stop smoking pot, the pdoc refused to treat him further. He would continue prescribing the lithium but wouldn't give him anything else which he needed. He said it was unethical to discontinue the lithium but it was also unethical to continue to treat him when he knew he was using drugs and/or alcohol which could have a negative reaction with the medications.

Then after he graduated and relocated, the new pdoc also would not treat him when he said he was using. I suspect most kids just don't level with their pdoc about their drinking and/or drugging.

Probably not a very good idea to mix alcohol with BP meds. My doctor told me not to drink a drop.


I 2nd this post. Booze and BP just do not mix. My wife (BP) just about killed herself with drinking.
Befor with booze (Very unstable, 4 hosp stays, poor med control ect....)
after or without (some what stable, no hosp stays, better med control, fam life improved, ect....)

It's also VERY easy for a Bipolar person to start with drinking and smoking pot to end up with either an addiction problem OR having it lead to experimenting with other drugs..... A LOT of Bipolar people love the self medicated route so I would watch what you are doing before you get into something your not able to get out of .... In some situations it only takes 1 time!

I have appreciated the candor and knowledge I've gleaned from the people on this particular post as my daughter has insisited that her pdoc has repeatedly told her it was FINE to have X many drinks a week. (The pot is just mom knowledge--she thinks I'm pretty innocent, but shoot, I grew up in the 70's and her dad can sniff out weed like a drug dog)....also she has been so stupid as to leave empties and paraphenalia in the rolling garbage scow she refers to as her "car"....she is by no means an addict, but still has no sense of mortality--or sense of beyond the "now". Pretty common in BP, I know. I will call her on the alcohol thing, tho. She can do it if she wants, I can't stop her, but I will let her know I know it's is not ok with her pdoc and not a healthy choice.

Just tell her to look on the warnings sheet when she gets her next prescription filled. I can almost guarantee it says do not drink alcohol with this medication. All of mine do.

If you do drink, try to limit it. I do casually drink and I am on meds. I have never had a problem, but I do feel bad the next day. I get tired and irritable which usually leads to depression. It also depends on kind of meds and doses. I am on a mild stabilizer which is a low dose. My pdoc said a small amount of alcohol will be okay...however, it is best to aviod alcohol or if you can't, limit it. There are certain benzo's such as xanax, that mixed with large amounts of alcohol can be fatal. So always check with your doctor.

Well, since she says the DOCTOR told her it was ok, seems kinda pointless to check with him, doens't it?? Probably only half of what he therapist or doc say to her really sinks in or sticks......well, I read the monographs that come with her meds and THEY say no alcohol, but if she wants to do something, she's just going to do it--no matter what ANYBODY or ANYTHING says.
Thanks anyhow--I know youmeant well!
<iz

As BP you have to decide if you want to 'get better' and by that I mean better manage your condition. My ex Fiance of 4 years self medicated with alcohol for years. She has now progressed to cocaine and steriods. Its a fact that most BP sufferers have addictive personalities and suffer the inability to do things in moderation. My fiance would go thru stages where she would eat packets of biscuits one after another, slabs of choclate, peanuts, you name it. Everything in excess.

When she started her meds it was her reasoning that the more she took the quicker she would see results. Well you can imagine how that worked out with her experiencing blackouts and repeated mixed episodes.

Remember, BP is about perception. You are happy but your perception because of BP is that you are extremely ecstatic. You are down but feel "its the end of the world" This is why it is so important to understand how serious this condition is and how you need to care for yourself. Alcohol does nothing but work against your meds. Why go thru all that hard work to booby trap your own efforts.

Sorry but I have seen my soul mate slowly destroyed... Wish you all the luck tho... Be strong and be well... :confused:

BP and drinking is a big no no. I too use to drink very heavy beofre dianoaged bp. I was first told I was depressed put on all types of SSRIS which made me worst. I would drink a 18 pack anight and get to the point were I wouldn't even eat. I used beer to kinda self med me snice about 16 and now 22. It just got worst and worst as time went on for me. I fond out i was bp by suidice and snice I went different dr which told me I was bp and it went on from there.I droped the beer which sucked but I knew what I had to do. also gettin stable help alot now I drink it's mybe3 or 4 at the most before dinner.Now about your friends I can't tell ya what to do but I was in the same boat. I had to change my life style alot ost some friend I thought were friends. I just told them hey I can't drink no more. Most didn't even come around and some still was there real friends. If I drink more then 4 or 6 I am F**** weird O i;ll do some weird things off the wall. So I know what I gotta do. Me being married with a son helps keep me busy and fouces on work. I think the main thing is to get away from the beer and stay busy get a hobby or something etc ..lol girls that don't drink.

best of luck justin