Anyone have this? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

meljo · 01-30-2005, 01:24 PM

My husband was diagnosed 5 weeks ago that he is bp. he was diagnosed at the same time he was in rehabe for a pain killer addiction. I was thrilled that he is bp. I have thought that for years but every dr. he went to just said he was depressed. anyway. His main symptoms are when he is Manic is when he is buying something very big..{ trucks... dozers,,,,trackters..}you get the picture . and so becouse of his manic we went bankrupt 3 years ago and have been in dept ever since.. when he is down is when the reality sets in of what he has done.. such as the payment comes and he has spent all of the truck payment money and we are strapped for a month or two untill we can scrap enough money together to get back on our feet. But while this is going on He Shuts Down.. he will not speak to me for 3 to 7 days. He will answer questions if I ask him .. he will talk to the kids but he will not look or speak to me... and now that he has been on zyprexan then Risperdal he had another episode last week .. it lasted about 2 days and finallly he came out of it. but he doesnt appologize or reconize what he is doing to me.. this has almost caused us a divorce many time in the past becous I just cant take the silence... Does anyone else have it like this. please let me know .. thank you meljo

princesspea · 01-30-2005, 02:43 PM

Meljo,

Your husbands not alone in both his ups and downs. While I'm too cheep to shop anywhere but Wal-mart and thrift store when I'm manic. A couple of years ago I decided to clean out and had over $6000 in donations to the local Mission. To let you know the volume you have to know they were 25 cent to $1 items. Can you see how bad it was?

Now for the other way! As you can tell if you've read any of my posts I'm a yacker. I could talk you ear off. That's why I like the board because it forces you to slow down and listen. I yack even when I'm stable. One of the big signs I am going into a bad depression is silence. When this happens my husband panic because he knows it's bad.

Has your husband had his meds tweeked lately? He shouldn't be swinging that bad if they are right. He may need to change something. If you could encourage him to go outside and take a walk. Exercise and fresh air, while not a cure, it does help some when you're depressed. You said he talks to the kids (good for him - not easy to do if the depressions bad)maybe he'll walk with them. If he's been stable on his meds for a while before you might want to have his thyroid checked too. Try and make sure he's on a good balanced diet to - also not a cure but it helps. There are also suppliments to take. NOT INSTEAD OF MEDS or without a docs okay. But there are some listed under the "I've decided..." thread posted by me.

I know it's hard to remember when you're so lonely but, when we are depressed we are allone in a crowd. It's not something he's doing on purpose though it might feel like that. I can tell you from experience he feels guilty about it but, just can't change it. He really needs help if he's swinging that bad.

Most of us had a depression dx before our bp dx. I love your reaction to the bp dx. That's cute! As my husband always says, Knowing someones bp and knowing about the disease does not equate with living with the a bp. It takes special people. It sounds like you're on of those.

Anyway...I've Yacked at you long enough. Keep posting! There are other spouses here too.

Love,

Jamie

meljo · 01-30-2005, 04:52 PM

Jamie, thank you for your post.. I love the yacking... good luck. meljo