m345
03-02-2009, 04:46 AM
Hi. I was just wondering: does anyone have a lot of trouble with irritability and what medications do you take that have helped you with that?
I've taken lamictal before but had too many side effects (every one of them but the rash, it seemed). I did feel very calm though, which was nice. I am usually very irritable and hot-tempered. I don't like being this way, and I've gotten a lot better by changing my perspective on some things, but there are still some things on some days that just set. me. off. I feel like such a jerk sometimes. The irritability thing is almost worst than the mood thing because whatever depression or excitedness I feel doesn't really affect anyone else, but when I am all irritable with it, I am honestly not so fun. I am tired of being a jerk. Getting frustrated at stupid things like I do is, well, frustrating. :(
I've taken lamictal before but had too many side effects (every one of them but the rash, it seemed). I did feel very calm though, which was nice. I am usually very irritable and hot-tempered. I don't like being this way, and I've gotten a lot better by changing my perspective on some things, but there are still some things on some days that just set. me. off. I feel like such a jerk sometimes. The irritability thing is almost worst than the mood thing because whatever depression or excitedness I feel doesn't really affect anyone else, but when I am all irritable with it, I am honestly not so fun. I am tired of being a jerk. Getting frustrated at stupid things like I do is, well, frustrating. :(
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katlin09
03-02-2009, 05:08 AM
m345,
If I may ask, what meds are you on now? When I'm overly irritable, which I will be tomorrow, since it't 4:00 freakin clock and i've not managed to fall asleep yet, I take a clonazapem (klonopin) to calm myself down and usually try to catch a nap just to chill for a bit, a hot bath helps too. Or I remove myself from the situation completely. For instance it's just me and my 10 yr. old son, and he can be very emotional and is very sensitive, and sometimes if I get on to him for something normal like not emptying the diswasher after I've told him twice, just the raise in my voice will make him cry....and it irritates the crap out of me, so before I get totally agitated and ticked off, I walk away, so I don't take it out on him....he's sensitive it's not his fault ya know. If you're just on an Anti-depressant and not a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic, then that could also be the culprit, which is why I asked about your meds.
Oh yeah and you look new around here so welcome, sorry didn't mean to be rude.
kat
If I may ask, what meds are you on now? When I'm overly irritable, which I will be tomorrow, since it't 4:00 freakin clock and i've not managed to fall asleep yet, I take a clonazapem (klonopin) to calm myself down and usually try to catch a nap just to chill for a bit, a hot bath helps too. Or I remove myself from the situation completely. For instance it's just me and my 10 yr. old son, and he can be very emotional and is very sensitive, and sometimes if I get on to him for something normal like not emptying the diswasher after I've told him twice, just the raise in my voice will make him cry....and it irritates the crap out of me, so before I get totally agitated and ticked off, I walk away, so I don't take it out on him....he's sensitive it's not his fault ya know. If you're just on an Anti-depressant and not a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic, then that could also be the culprit, which is why I asked about your meds.
Oh yeah and you look new around here so welcome, sorry didn't mean to be rude.
kat
dreams in neon
03-02-2009, 05:14 AM
Just like Kat, I take Clonazepam 2-3x/day whenever I rapid cycle into irritability. It works like a charm.
m345
03-03-2009, 01:22 AM
Hi all and thanks for the replies.
To katlin09, no offense was taken and I am not currently on medication for bipolar. I am new to this whole patient thing and at first I really didn't know know where to start as far as getting help for myself goes. I just started going to see a LPN and a therapist back in the beginning of November of last year.
So here is my story, I guess. I am still young, 17, but I've been depressed on and off a handful of times in my young life. The first time being when I was 12. The depression would come and go so I'd just kind of weather out the storm, but this last time when I was depressed I just felt so horribly bad. The only reason I didn't jump ship, so to speak, at that point, was just there wasn't an easier way to do it. Something that unnatural really shouldn't be easy to do. But anyway, I realized then that everytime the depression came back, it just kept getting worse. And so I decided to tell my parents about this and hopefully maybe life might be a little easier if I got some kind of help.
Unfortunately, things are really yet to get better. I am believing less and less in the supposed benefits of psychiatry. I probably would have stopped going long ago if it weren't for the fact that my parents make me. I mentioned earlier that I see two diff. doctors. This is b/c of the way our insurance works, that was just the easiest way to get treatment at the time. Well, I have the feeling my therapist doesn't do as much listening as one who is a therapist should. I feel honestly like a case in a textbook, like just broken down into an amalgam of symptoms that just so happens to be sitting across from her in her office. The LPN that I see is actually far more understanding. I am thinking of trying to switch doctors or something soon. I've brought it up w/ my parents but this whole therapy thing isn't convenient for any of us and I have to remind them to fill my prescriptions and for this and that....
This would be a lot easier if my parents did not have to be involved. They are as clueless as me as to how this whole therapy thing is supposed to work. Seeing as my ma is not very stable herself (trust me on this one), it is not v. beneficial to have her as half of the unit that is in charge of -my- head. Ever since this started, me going to the doctor, she's only told me things like "oh you're exaggerating," "just snap out of it" and "oh the whole world just has to revolve around you" That last ones her favorite. It applies to everything. One of these days, I swear I'll breathe and she'll say, "you just always have to take up all the air don't you?" Over the summer I finally realized just how severly conflicted my mother is and I have finally been able to let her criticisms stop bothering me. They fall on deaf ears now. But it does irk me a little when I wonder if maybe I would be happier now if I didn't have to deal with so much of her psychological bullcrap when I was kid. Again, I understand why she is how she is now, but I look at my younger sister and she didn't get treated half as bad as I did. It brings a pang of jealousy sometimes but the past is the past, moving on...
And so my mother, being the way she is, she now threatens to call the police on me whenever I am upset or whatever. We had a huge argument last week. I haven't been that angry, honestly, since I was like a little kid. But I hadn't/haven't been sleeping and my sister wouldn't stop pestering though I asked her to please stop b/c I knew how I was feeling and I knew how angry I could still probably get. But of course she didn't and it was a big yelling fest and stuff. It doesn't help at all that they are both highly reactive people also. I will say I felt pretty like out of control, you know, and my ma's like, "if you don't calm down I'm going to call the police and they're going to take you away, sirens and everything"... That's not the most comforting thing to hear, so I tried to act normal for a while. She actually stayed awake w/ one eye on my bedroom door making sure my light stayed off before she went to sleep. I only know this, of course, b/c I did not fall into any kind of slumber. Ugh. I've tried to explain to my parents before that I don't -like- being awake almost three days in a row. And I am not doing it to piss my ma off. Because everything I do is of course, to do just that. :rolleyes: It was a bad situation and it was what prompted my original question.
Idk. Sometimes I wish I never brought this up to them in the first place. I feel like nothing has really changed. My moods still change of their own accord and the only one who still has the slightest clue what is wrong with me, is, well, me. Which doesn't help much - realizing that therapy has only made you realize you are probably worse off than you originally thought.
And so basically, the therapist decided to like treat whatever I have, this Illness X of sorts, in accordance to whatever is easier to treat first. It was kind of like guess and check with my psyche. Yeah, thanks, doc. This has turned into a nice long bitter stew it seems.. But to recount medically, they first gave me zoloft and I took it one day and I already felt too impulsive and didn't want to take it again and risk doing something stupid. (I have a v. high sensitivity to any medication that I take for anything for some reason). Then I tried lamictal which maybe could have worked for my mind but just not compatible with my body. And now, they've given me tests and all and both docs agree I have ADD. The LPN thinks I may have ADD and Bipolar both, but she said we would try and work on the ADD symptoms and see if I still have any mood symptoms that are bothering me. I have an appointment with her 2 wks from now and an appt. w/ the therapist tomorrow. I am sick of doctors and illnesses...
I am sorry about all this ranting and rambling. I haven't really been able to be honest with anyone about this though so it feels kind of good to just get it out there, somewhere, anywhere. Thanks for taking the time and answering my question, even if you didn't make it this far :yawn:. I feel really alone w/ this for the most part and I do appreciate it, so I have something to run by the LPN this coming appt.
To katlin09, no offense was taken and I am not currently on medication for bipolar. I am new to this whole patient thing and at first I really didn't know know where to start as far as getting help for myself goes. I just started going to see a LPN and a therapist back in the beginning of November of last year.
So here is my story, I guess. I am still young, 17, but I've been depressed on and off a handful of times in my young life. The first time being when I was 12. The depression would come and go so I'd just kind of weather out the storm, but this last time when I was depressed I just felt so horribly bad. The only reason I didn't jump ship, so to speak, at that point, was just there wasn't an easier way to do it. Something that unnatural really shouldn't be easy to do. But anyway, I realized then that everytime the depression came back, it just kept getting worse. And so I decided to tell my parents about this and hopefully maybe life might be a little easier if I got some kind of help.
Unfortunately, things are really yet to get better. I am believing less and less in the supposed benefits of psychiatry. I probably would have stopped going long ago if it weren't for the fact that my parents make me. I mentioned earlier that I see two diff. doctors. This is b/c of the way our insurance works, that was just the easiest way to get treatment at the time. Well, I have the feeling my therapist doesn't do as much listening as one who is a therapist should. I feel honestly like a case in a textbook, like just broken down into an amalgam of symptoms that just so happens to be sitting across from her in her office. The LPN that I see is actually far more understanding. I am thinking of trying to switch doctors or something soon. I've brought it up w/ my parents but this whole therapy thing isn't convenient for any of us and I have to remind them to fill my prescriptions and for this and that....
This would be a lot easier if my parents did not have to be involved. They are as clueless as me as to how this whole therapy thing is supposed to work. Seeing as my ma is not very stable herself (trust me on this one), it is not v. beneficial to have her as half of the unit that is in charge of -my- head. Ever since this started, me going to the doctor, she's only told me things like "oh you're exaggerating," "just snap out of it" and "oh the whole world just has to revolve around you" That last ones her favorite. It applies to everything. One of these days, I swear I'll breathe and she'll say, "you just always have to take up all the air don't you?" Over the summer I finally realized just how severly conflicted my mother is and I have finally been able to let her criticisms stop bothering me. They fall on deaf ears now. But it does irk me a little when I wonder if maybe I would be happier now if I didn't have to deal with so much of her psychological bullcrap when I was kid. Again, I understand why she is how she is now, but I look at my younger sister and she didn't get treated half as bad as I did. It brings a pang of jealousy sometimes but the past is the past, moving on...
And so my mother, being the way she is, she now threatens to call the police on me whenever I am upset or whatever. We had a huge argument last week. I haven't been that angry, honestly, since I was like a little kid. But I hadn't/haven't been sleeping and my sister wouldn't stop pestering though I asked her to please stop b/c I knew how I was feeling and I knew how angry I could still probably get. But of course she didn't and it was a big yelling fest and stuff. It doesn't help at all that they are both highly reactive people also. I will say I felt pretty like out of control, you know, and my ma's like, "if you don't calm down I'm going to call the police and they're going to take you away, sirens and everything"... That's not the most comforting thing to hear, so I tried to act normal for a while. She actually stayed awake w/ one eye on my bedroom door making sure my light stayed off before she went to sleep. I only know this, of course, b/c I did not fall into any kind of slumber. Ugh. I've tried to explain to my parents before that I don't -like- being awake almost three days in a row. And I am not doing it to piss my ma off. Because everything I do is of course, to do just that. :rolleyes: It was a bad situation and it was what prompted my original question.
Idk. Sometimes I wish I never brought this up to them in the first place. I feel like nothing has really changed. My moods still change of their own accord and the only one who still has the slightest clue what is wrong with me, is, well, me. Which doesn't help much - realizing that therapy has only made you realize you are probably worse off than you originally thought.
And so basically, the therapist decided to like treat whatever I have, this Illness X of sorts, in accordance to whatever is easier to treat first. It was kind of like guess and check with my psyche. Yeah, thanks, doc. This has turned into a nice long bitter stew it seems.. But to recount medically, they first gave me zoloft and I took it one day and I already felt too impulsive and didn't want to take it again and risk doing something stupid. (I have a v. high sensitivity to any medication that I take for anything for some reason). Then I tried lamictal which maybe could have worked for my mind but just not compatible with my body. And now, they've given me tests and all and both docs agree I have ADD. The LPN thinks I may have ADD and Bipolar both, but she said we would try and work on the ADD symptoms and see if I still have any mood symptoms that are bothering me. I have an appointment with her 2 wks from now and an appt. w/ the therapist tomorrow. I am sick of doctors and illnesses...
I am sorry about all this ranting and rambling. I haven't really been able to be honest with anyone about this though so it feels kind of good to just get it out there, somewhere, anywhere. Thanks for taking the time and answering my question, even if you didn't make it this far :yawn:. I feel really alone w/ this for the most part and I do appreciate it, so I have something to run by the LPN this coming appt.
court91
03-03-2009, 09:28 AM
m345..
I'm also 17 so i can kind of relate to what you are saying. I'm also seeing 2 doctors, a therapist and a psychiatrist. When i first found out i was bipolar i was going through this depression state, everytime id go manic and back to depression it seemed like it was getting worse so i begged my mom to take me to a doctor before i went totally crazy. I had the worst anger ever, i would freak out for no reason and try to hurt everyone around me. I'm also schitzophrenic and i have add so i know what you mean when you just want someone to listen.
I try to talk about all of this stuff with friends but you know how people are, they dont want to talk about other peoples problems for a long time thats why theres therapists. I just want to understand these disorders more.
I'm also 17 so i can kind of relate to what you are saying. I'm also seeing 2 doctors, a therapist and a psychiatrist. When i first found out i was bipolar i was going through this depression state, everytime id go manic and back to depression it seemed like it was getting worse so i begged my mom to take me to a doctor before i went totally crazy. I had the worst anger ever, i would freak out for no reason and try to hurt everyone around me. I'm also schitzophrenic and i have add so i know what you mean when you just want someone to listen.
I try to talk about all of this stuff with friends but you know how people are, they dont want to talk about other peoples problems for a long time thats why theres therapists. I just want to understand these disorders more.
Bunnylover
03-03-2009, 12:08 PM
I take seroquel which really helps with the anxiety and sleep problems (both of which can make me irritable). I also take cymbalta (for anxiety, although I'd really like to stop taking it) and lamictal--for depression.
cheerus
03-03-2009, 12:30 PM
Hi all and thanks for the replies.
To katlin09, no offense was taken and I am not currently on medication for bipolar. I am new to this whole patient thing and at first I really didn't know know where to start as far as getting help for myself goes. I just started going to see a LPN and a therapist back in the beginning of November of last year.
So here is my story, I guess. I am still young, 17, but I've been depressed on and off a handful of times in my young life. The first time being when I was 12. The depression would come and go so I'd just kind of weather out the storm, but this last time when I was depressed I just felt so horribly bad. The only reason I didn't jump ship, so to speak, at that point, was just there wasn't an easier way to do it. Something that unnatural really shouldn't be easy to do. But anyway, I realized then that everytime the depression came back, it just kept getting worse. And so I decided to tell my parents about this and hopefully maybe life might be a little easier if I got some kind of help.
Unfortunately, things are really yet to get better. I am believing less and less in the supposed benefits of psychiatry. I probably would have stopped going long ago if it weren't for the fact that my parents make me. I mentioned earlier that I see two diff. doctors. This is b/c of the way our insurance works, that was just the easiest way to get treatment at the time. Well, I have the feeling my therapist doesn't do as much listening as one who is a therapist should. I feel honestly like a case in a textbook, like just broken down into an amalgam of symptoms that just so happens to be sitting across from her in her office. The LPN that I see is actually far more understanding. I am thinking of trying to switch doctors or something soon. I've brought it up w/ my parents but this whole therapy thing isn't convenient for any of us and I have to remind them to fill my prescriptions and for this and that....
This would be a lot easier if my parents did not have to be involved. They are as clueless as me as to how this whole therapy thing is supposed to work. Seeing as my ma is not very stable herself (trust me on this one), it is not v. beneficial to have her as half of the unit that is in charge of -my- head. Ever since this started, me going to the doctor, she's only told me things like "oh you're exaggerating," "just snap out of it" and "oh the whole world just has to revolve around you" That last ones her favorite. It applies to everything. One of these days, I swear I'll breathe and she'll say, "you just always have to take up all the air don't you?" Over the summer I finally realized just how severly conflicted my mother is and I have finally been able to let her criticisms stop bothering me. They fall on deaf ears now. But it does irk me a little when I wonder if maybe I would be happier now if I didn't have to deal with so much of her psychological bullcrap when I was kid. Again, I understand why she is how she is now, but I look at my younger sister and she didn't get treated half as bad as I did. It brings a pang of jealousy sometimes but the past is the past, moving on...
And so my mother, being the way she is, she now threatens to call the police on me whenever I am upset or whatever. We had a huge argument last week. I haven't been that angry, honestly, since I was like a little kid. But I hadn't/haven't been sleeping and my sister wouldn't stop pestering though I asked her to please stop b/c I knew how I was feeling and I knew how angry I could still probably get. But of course she didn't and it was a big yelling fest and stuff. It doesn't help at all that they are both highly reactive people also. I will say I felt pretty like out of control, you know, and my ma's like, "if you don't calm down I'm going to call the police and they're going to take you away, sirens and everything"... That's not the most comforting thing to hear, so I tried to act normal for a while. She actually stayed awake w/ one eye on my bedroom door making sure my light stayed off before she went to sleep. I only know this, of course, b/c I did not fall into any kind of slumber. Ugh. I've tried to explain to my parents before that I don't -like- being awake almost three days in a row. And I am not doing it to piss my ma off. Because everything I do is of course, to do just that. :rolleyes: It was a bad situation and it was what prompted my original question.
Idk. Sometimes I wish I never brought this up to them in the first place. I feel like nothing has really changed. My moods still change of their own accord and the only one who still has the slightest clue what is wrong with me, is, well, me. Which doesn't help much - realizing that therapy has only made you realize you are probably worse off than you originally thought.
And so basically, the therapist decided to like treat whatever I have, this Illness X of sorts, in accordance to whatever is easier to treat first. It was kind of like guess and check with my psyche. Yeah, thanks, doc. This has turned into a nice long bitter stew it seems.. But to recount medically, they first gave me zoloft and I took it one day and I already felt too impulsive and didn't want to take it again and risk doing something stupid. (I have a v. high sensitivity to any medication that I take for anything for some reason). Then I tried lamictal which maybe could have worked for my mind but just not compatible with my body. And now, they've given me tests and all and both docs agree I have ADD. The LPN thinks I may have ADD and Bipolar both, but she said we would try and work on the ADD symptoms and see if I still have any mood symptoms that are bothering me. I have an appointment with her 2 wks from now and an appt. w/ the therapist tomorrow. I am sick of doctors and illnesses...
I am sorry about all this ranting and rambling. I haven't really been able to be honest with anyone about this though so it feels kind of good to just get it out there, somewhere, anywhere. Thanks for taking the time and answering my question, even if you didn't make it this far :yawn:. I feel really alone w/ this for the most part and I do appreciate it, so I have something to run by the LPN this coming appt. M345, Let me first say I Have Anxiety & Bi-polar disorder I Like to call it a mood disorder. I was lucky when I Was diagnosed The first medicine they decided to put me on was Lithium . I Also take prozac with that as well. It works for me. For years I've been on it. Also If your Doctor is not working for you & you feel like you can't get enough answers or talk to him then switch doctors. My doctor actually suffered from Bi-polar and so he could relate to me and being able to talk to someone that knows actually gets it How your feeling is so very important. As for your mother saying snap out of it Well with severe depression you just can't snap out of it. It requires medicine which over time usually takes two weeks to see how you feel if its working for you but once on the right medicine you can live a normal life and be happy. Sure you'll get ups & downs like everyone else but it will be normal ups and downs & the meds will keep you stabilized. I'll tell you what my doctor told me If you had a heart condition you would take medicine to help the heart so with a mood disorder you take medicine to help the brain. If you have any other questions just ask. Goodluck with your appointment. Once you get the right meds you will feel like you again but the only way for a doctor to know whats right for you is to try an antidepressant and see how you react you can usually tell how your feeling within a couple weeks and on what dosage works for you and if you feel happy pretty content then you know its working. But Lithium works for me along with prozac. Goodluck you can live a normal happy life! Bren
To katlin09, no offense was taken and I am not currently on medication for bipolar. I am new to this whole patient thing and at first I really didn't know know where to start as far as getting help for myself goes. I just started going to see a LPN and a therapist back in the beginning of November of last year.
So here is my story, I guess. I am still young, 17, but I've been depressed on and off a handful of times in my young life. The first time being when I was 12. The depression would come and go so I'd just kind of weather out the storm, but this last time when I was depressed I just felt so horribly bad. The only reason I didn't jump ship, so to speak, at that point, was just there wasn't an easier way to do it. Something that unnatural really shouldn't be easy to do. But anyway, I realized then that everytime the depression came back, it just kept getting worse. And so I decided to tell my parents about this and hopefully maybe life might be a little easier if I got some kind of help.
Unfortunately, things are really yet to get better. I am believing less and less in the supposed benefits of psychiatry. I probably would have stopped going long ago if it weren't for the fact that my parents make me. I mentioned earlier that I see two diff. doctors. This is b/c of the way our insurance works, that was just the easiest way to get treatment at the time. Well, I have the feeling my therapist doesn't do as much listening as one who is a therapist should. I feel honestly like a case in a textbook, like just broken down into an amalgam of symptoms that just so happens to be sitting across from her in her office. The LPN that I see is actually far more understanding. I am thinking of trying to switch doctors or something soon. I've brought it up w/ my parents but this whole therapy thing isn't convenient for any of us and I have to remind them to fill my prescriptions and for this and that....
This would be a lot easier if my parents did not have to be involved. They are as clueless as me as to how this whole therapy thing is supposed to work. Seeing as my ma is not very stable herself (trust me on this one), it is not v. beneficial to have her as half of the unit that is in charge of -my- head. Ever since this started, me going to the doctor, she's only told me things like "oh you're exaggerating," "just snap out of it" and "oh the whole world just has to revolve around you" That last ones her favorite. It applies to everything. One of these days, I swear I'll breathe and she'll say, "you just always have to take up all the air don't you?" Over the summer I finally realized just how severly conflicted my mother is and I have finally been able to let her criticisms stop bothering me. They fall on deaf ears now. But it does irk me a little when I wonder if maybe I would be happier now if I didn't have to deal with so much of her psychological bullcrap when I was kid. Again, I understand why she is how she is now, but I look at my younger sister and she didn't get treated half as bad as I did. It brings a pang of jealousy sometimes but the past is the past, moving on...
And so my mother, being the way she is, she now threatens to call the police on me whenever I am upset or whatever. We had a huge argument last week. I haven't been that angry, honestly, since I was like a little kid. But I hadn't/haven't been sleeping and my sister wouldn't stop pestering though I asked her to please stop b/c I knew how I was feeling and I knew how angry I could still probably get. But of course she didn't and it was a big yelling fest and stuff. It doesn't help at all that they are both highly reactive people also. I will say I felt pretty like out of control, you know, and my ma's like, "if you don't calm down I'm going to call the police and they're going to take you away, sirens and everything"... That's not the most comforting thing to hear, so I tried to act normal for a while. She actually stayed awake w/ one eye on my bedroom door making sure my light stayed off before she went to sleep. I only know this, of course, b/c I did not fall into any kind of slumber. Ugh. I've tried to explain to my parents before that I don't -like- being awake almost three days in a row. And I am not doing it to piss my ma off. Because everything I do is of course, to do just that. :rolleyes: It was a bad situation and it was what prompted my original question.
Idk. Sometimes I wish I never brought this up to them in the first place. I feel like nothing has really changed. My moods still change of their own accord and the only one who still has the slightest clue what is wrong with me, is, well, me. Which doesn't help much - realizing that therapy has only made you realize you are probably worse off than you originally thought.
And so basically, the therapist decided to like treat whatever I have, this Illness X of sorts, in accordance to whatever is easier to treat first. It was kind of like guess and check with my psyche. Yeah, thanks, doc. This has turned into a nice long bitter stew it seems.. But to recount medically, they first gave me zoloft and I took it one day and I already felt too impulsive and didn't want to take it again and risk doing something stupid. (I have a v. high sensitivity to any medication that I take for anything for some reason). Then I tried lamictal which maybe could have worked for my mind but just not compatible with my body. And now, they've given me tests and all and both docs agree I have ADD. The LPN thinks I may have ADD and Bipolar both, but she said we would try and work on the ADD symptoms and see if I still have any mood symptoms that are bothering me. I have an appointment with her 2 wks from now and an appt. w/ the therapist tomorrow. I am sick of doctors and illnesses...
I am sorry about all this ranting and rambling. I haven't really been able to be honest with anyone about this though so it feels kind of good to just get it out there, somewhere, anywhere. Thanks for taking the time and answering my question, even if you didn't make it this far :yawn:. I feel really alone w/ this for the most part and I do appreciate it, so I have something to run by the LPN this coming appt. M345, Let me first say I Have Anxiety & Bi-polar disorder I Like to call it a mood disorder. I was lucky when I Was diagnosed The first medicine they decided to put me on was Lithium . I Also take prozac with that as well. It works for me. For years I've been on it. Also If your Doctor is not working for you & you feel like you can't get enough answers or talk to him then switch doctors. My doctor actually suffered from Bi-polar and so he could relate to me and being able to talk to someone that knows actually gets it How your feeling is so very important. As for your mother saying snap out of it Well with severe depression you just can't snap out of it. It requires medicine which over time usually takes two weeks to see how you feel if its working for you but once on the right medicine you can live a normal life and be happy. Sure you'll get ups & downs like everyone else but it will be normal ups and downs & the meds will keep you stabilized. I'll tell you what my doctor told me If you had a heart condition you would take medicine to help the heart so with a mood disorder you take medicine to help the brain. If you have any other questions just ask. Goodluck with your appointment. Once you get the right meds you will feel like you again but the only way for a doctor to know whats right for you is to try an antidepressant and see how you react you can usually tell how your feeling within a couple weeks and on what dosage works for you and if you feel happy pretty content then you know its working. But Lithium works for me along with prozac. Goodluck you can live a normal happy life! Bren