Taking back control!

Hi forum I'm Kamy and I've known since I was around 24 or so that I'm bipolar. I never really knew what that meant exactly until this year. I'm now 33 years and have behind me a war zone. I'm bipolar 2 and was one of the many that learned to control my moods by using and or abusing drugs. I didnt realize it at the time though. In June 2008 I had a daughter and soon after a relapse on the drugs and she was taken from my home. I'm now sitting several months into this process and drug free today. The important change though is that not only do I know about my bipolar, but I treat it. For years I can look back and never knew why my life wasnt like everyone elses. I hated those people who had the "normal". I had no understanding why it wasnt a part of my life. Somehow this little 3 month old baby found a way to bring this incredible group of people together to help and save her mother from herself. I work closely with my psychiatrist, I've gone to bipolar education, and proactively learned as much as I could on my own about the disorder. Today I can look back and realize that it was me that brought in all that the mahem and chaos. It was me that made my world like a rollercoaster. Today I'm living with bipolar disorder and drug addiction and not suffering from them. The office I did the bipolar education with has allowed a support group for bipolar patients to meet there and I'm getting to be a pretty big part of that. Going into all this I didn't know anyone else bipolar and had no one to talk to, so its nice to find this place as well. A place where my team can even go online and check in on me. I'm coming off a recent relapse and know to watch for the escalation of my manic moods, because I'm more likely to slip then if I'm not very careful and make the appropriate calls to the psychiatrist, who has become my new best friend. With them its possible for my life to be for the most part "more normal" that its ever been. Well thats it for now.....its nice to have a place to bounce things off others....Kamy

Hi Kamy
It sure is nice to hear from someone that is on the right track. Sounds like you're doing everything right.
It's sometimes surprising what will conspire to show us the right path.
Good for you. Keep up the good work.
Mooky

Hi Kamy,
I'm new to this community too, and it might not mean much from a stranger, but I'm proud of you. It is so, so hard to get off of a train to destruction once you've gotten on it. Keep up the good work.

Hi Kamy: Yes, sometimes, usually when you are not looking for it, the Universe hands you something good to work with. Give yourself a lot of credit for grabbing onto it and running with it. And welcome to the group.