Anywhere bipolar 2 folks gather online?

Newly diagnosed BP2 after 15 years on SSRIs for MDD. 2 weeks titrating on lamictal, up to 50 mg and feel like it might, just maybe, possibly be actually helping. Still taking wellbutrin and celexa til lamictal kicks in fully.

Anyways, looking for forums specific to BP2 ... grateful for any suggestions!!

I'm actually looking for the same thing. I will let you know if I come across anything!

Hi, psychcentral.com has a few forums. I think they may have what you might be seeking.

Hi Jennifer,

I just joined MT, and I would be interested in participating in a BP2 sub-topic forum, should you decide to start one:)

best,
Eileen

Hello Jennifer,
I was diagnosed with BP2 in May after 50 years of on-and-off depression since early childhood. I started Lamotrigine (generic Lamictal) in mid-June at 25mg for 2 weeks, then 50 mg and similar to you, did start to feel a slight improvement at 50 mg (cautiously optomistic). I am now on 200 mg/day and am definitely feeling better. If you are noticing a slight benefit at 50mg/day then you are probably going to do well with this drug.
I also have found through personal charting that SLEEP has also been a HUGE issue for me, especially in my moods the following night. I am finding that 200 mg of (Lamictal) and a MINIMUM of 6.5 hours of sleep in combination have made a huge change in my life. Good luck to you :)

why not participate here?

I'll participate here. I just looked for another forum. But, this one seems more display friendly and user easy. I like the size of the font. This is just the subject I wanted to ask someone help about. I am just starting lamotrigine at this time. 25 mg for first two weeks. Next two weeks 50 mg. But at 100 mg I noticed the depression losing its grip. Better concentration. My question is this. How do I know if perhaps 100 mg is enough. My prescriber has planned to go up in two weeks to 200 mg. I feel pretty good right where I am. Should I let her know? I'll answer that. Yes. Rather than just follow into the higher dosage. I was on Seroquel 450 mg. I haved weaned down off to 50 mg. I believe seroquel is a bit addictive. And definitely can turn your eating habits into the sugar. I believe it made me high. The reason it took me a long time to speak up about it was probably it has addictive qualities to it. I was functioning doing too much. The prescriber didn't listen when my son said, " Mom is doing a months worth of work in a day." I was running 7 miles at a time 3 or 4 days a week. I wasn't eating normal during the day. I looked like I was in a swimming pool with my clothes that wet from sweating. The weight just kept increasing. I am now in a rest period with my change of meds. And feel on earth with the rest of civilization. Sailors take warning. If on Seroquel and desiring to get off. It can give you a stroke and make you very sick. I read about this. Someone tried cold turkey. She could have died. As I came off I was definately coming down hard. I felt very strange. Like losing it, into a depression. Wasn't sure I would be okay. I always was honest with my plan with my doctors and kept them close. It's my body. They made room for an emergency appointment if I needed one. My husband steered me away from complete cold turkey and also my nurse practitioners. We are known for following our poor judgment calls sometimes. Their help and direction was useful to say the least. I did go a little faster than the doctors directions, but told her exactly what I was at and where I was at. Coming off of it quicker than her suggestions. When I couldn't tell where I was going too well. She kept a helpful watch on me. The 50 mg of Seroquel gives me a sleep edge. I get very sleepy. I am happy to be out of hypomania and have lost 10 pounds. The difference is like being high, and the light bulb constantly energizing your brain. You talk fast. You jump from one excited sentence to the next. It's not exactly your baseline personality. You kind of are out of touch with the longer depressive more frequent side of the illness. If bipolar 2 like I am. Coming back to feel these things actually feels like more of the reality I should be in touch with. Even though hypomania has it's plus's about high function. It's not healthy. You aren't who you really are. I've always cared about my figure. That weight just wasn't like me. And up all night. Getting up every night. Being awake for my husband. I really wasn't in touch with my feelings. Like being really tired. Which I have now connected to. And it feels good and normal. Thank God I am now off of it. For a purpose my life exists. I am surviving this illness. To anyone who thinks they may be in my shoes. I hope you find a different medication approach. I am no special snowflake. There are many out there with these same conclusions. Probably many not. But, the wisdom I have now. Tells me to stay high that long. Hell no.

Hi everyone again. I just experienced my first episode of hypomania where8 I knew that's what it was. Lasted 3 days, and I am pretty sure it was brought on by lack of sleep, though I could be wrong. I called my doc, which is new for me...calling doc actually during an urgent episode rather than just assuming that's nothing to be done. She increased lamictal from 100 to 150, started decreasing the celexa from 20 to 10, and gave me seroquel for sleep. It definitely helped.

I wanted to say to oliver, unless you have a good reason to not trust your doc, then I would follow his/her instructions. In my opinion, that's part of being med compliant.

Anyways, nice to meet you all

I am a part of my medical team. It's my body. It's up to me to speak up and interact. Not just go along with blind faith. If you sit back too much. Well, you will wonder later about how come you didn't trust yourself and speak. Our intelligence is useful and good. I've been very med compliant over quite a long time. Very hypomanic high for some years. Kind of wish I spoke up sooner. But, I will take what I learned. I know the definition of hypomania now very well. Psychiatry itself when practiced is not trying to make our lives much different from others from the perspective of dealing with life as it feels to the rest of the world's natural ways. In our body, sleeping, eating right some sort of structured functioning and safety. If something works at a lower dosage. a good psychiatrist would agree to keep it there. As to the course of illness, well- your biological makeup may overtime render that dosage not too helpful anymore. And rather than change it all. I would like to use my head a little and dosage room seems like a wise next step to help heal the problem if I got too low. I am manic depressive type 2. Crazymed.com is a helpful website in case anyone would like this information toss. It explained to me very well what to expect from the new medication I am taking. And grounded me. Knowing how it acts on the brain. Good educational information.

Jennifer/Becca—Let us know if you find a cool gathering of BP2 folks.

I'm personally looking for a forum that's just a bit more cheerful/vibrant than the typical psych message boards. I find that communities with a lot of neuroticism tend to exacerbate my issues.

I'm happy to poke my head in here from time to time though!

I'm such a big mouth. You are right. I'm wrong. I agree. She knows best and I will go on and comply. I guess I am too low and 200 mg is a way better judgment call. I want to pack up my bags and move to Thailand or Dominican Republic. I would feel much smarter and freer by paying those prices. Much younger like I am not a burden, but a blessing. Persistence, how bout going for a bike ride. Depression breaker and when it lifts than take your motorcycle out. Just a thought.

Hi All! I have only just signed up to this site and feel somewhat desperate in replying here I guess so here goes...
I am a 30 year old female - married with 2 smaller kids. I work full time and am a normal busy mum (between dance practice, footy games, ect). I have recently been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 2 after being wrongly diagnosed (that may not be the right term sorry!) for the last 3 years with OCD and severe anxiety. My question is - How do you all manage on a day to day basis as my life cannot just stop while I 'get better.' Dont get me wrong, I want to be 'better,' I want to be a happy, carefree, stable mum and wife to my family, I don't want to have these dark #@$%&*ty days followed by days where I feel on top of the world. What are some practical tips to get by other than taking my medication and seeing my dr on the regular? TIA

Hey all, just following up on this. For the last two weeks I've been hanging out on reddit at r/bipolar. There are 20,000 readers there and it's a much more active discussion.

I'll still be coming here for mood tracking, but I find that subreddit to be pretty helpful.

Cheers!

MDJunction.com has many support groups dealing with bipolar disorder and related issues, including one specific to Bipolar type II.