ryker66 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 (edited) I love the concept of this site and after being on some really dry and sad boards, this looks like the one for me. The category names alone made me want to join. My kind of thinking! I'm 47 and was diagnosed BP1 in 2000. It's been a very long journey, but I've been very fortunate to have a partner in life for the past 23 years who has stuck by my side every step of the way. I realize just how fortunate I am to have found him. I've had quack psychiatrists and therapists that stunted my growth (after seeing her for almost 2 years, one actually suggested that I have an excorcism - no joke). I have found the most amazing psychiatrist and therapist who "get me" and my med combo is helping a great deal. I've been extremely fortunate to have retained friends and family after my diagnosis, erratic behavior and subsequent... adventures in the pursuit of the proper medication(s) to help me. I'm "good", speaking relatively. I had this huge "hello" thing with my history that ended up being blog-y, so I threw it on my "About Me" section. Ha! I'm looking forward to my time here. Edited February 4, 2014 by ryker66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Welcome. I'm glad to hear you're doing better these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olga Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Welcome to Crazyboards! It's very gratifying to hear about someone who has finally found an effective treatment team. Please be sure to read the rules if you didn't do it when you signed up. You can find the rules at the bottom of the page on the right-hand side. I also have along-term marriage with a guy who has been a rock for me in many ways. It's a gift beyond measure. We do have a blog section, so feel free to start one and talk about your life. Several of us are active bloggers. You can make your blog a private club if you don't want it to be read by the general public. olga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Welcome to CB. An exorcism! That's kind of funny, if it weren't so grossly horrible of a suggestion. Sucks you've been struggling so long. I was diagnosed in 1999, so I've been at it for a while. Nobody's suggested I get my demons exorcised, though. Damn. Starting a blog is always fun. I love my blog on here. I'm a big journaller. You can set it up privately, or publicly. I'm glad you have a good treatment team now. Just keep those crosses away! Sorry, I can't get over the exorcism. We have a strange sense of humour here. Hope you enjoy it! Feel free to pop into chat, post on the boards, blog, do whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryker66 Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the welcoming, haggar running, olga and thesystemisdown! @olga - "It's a gift beyond measure".Truer words... Thanks, I read the rules and for the first time ever, the forum rules sealed my decision to join. I truly appreciate the sense of humor. Myself and my family have always used humor as a mechanism for coping/healing. When possible cracks jokes as we come out of anesthesia, visiting others in the hospital, etc. Staff look at us funny. We heal faster than with a bunch of hand-wringers gathered around our beds. However, we recognize the absolute severity of a situation and proceed appropriately when needed. To that end, as patients, we can register the severity of our own situation by the lack of jokes! @thesystemisdown - I laugh at the whole thing myself now and appreciate the absurdity of it (as well as that 18-month memory loss - some funny sh*t there). The exorcism suggestion did come out of left field and was particularly fragile back then, but whatever. It took me MONTHS, before I would consider trusting another therapist, but I knew I had to find another one. When I did, he was awesome and saw him for 5 years until he moved to Miami - the sun whore. lol I found my current one shortly after and I'm quite pleased. Cause and effect - through her own craziness, I found what I really needed. It's all good and another thing I can pull out of my seemingly bottomless bag of anecdotes. I laugh and I kid around, but I still have so much more to learn about myself, my diagnosis and life path. I have issues that I am dealing with that scare and confuse me; some developing that I haven't discussed yet - which is why I was searching and stumbled across this the other day. I hope to be comfortable enough shortly to talk about it/them amongst my peers. I've convinced that I'm not alone in this, so it's good. Right out of the gate - my fear of falling backward and/or my cocktail losing efficacy. I may start a blog just to document the insanity and absurdity I've come up against in this long, difficult and exhausting experience. But first thing I would do is copy over the list of meds that my partner has kept over the years and what happened on each. I recognize that people react differently to meds; just in case someone else sees it and doesn't feel so alone. :-) Edited February 6, 2014 by ryker66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olga Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 ryker, I agree with you about humor. My husband had to have cranial surgery at age 76, and two days later they had to go back in to stop some bleeding and put in another drain. While we were in the OR holding area, the OR nurse was asking my husband some questions--you know, date of birth and all that. She asked him his name and he said "Groucho Marx." I told him that maybe this wasn't a time to joke around, but of course I was giggling like mad. olga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryker66 Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) olga - bahaha, that sounds like something my dad would say! He's got a joke, pun, funny story or bit of sarcasm for everything and is FAST with one for any situation. He's not quite Henny Youngman, but... He would do it just for the nurse's reaction. Deadpan. Love it! Although my sister and I can't pull a joke out of a joke book, we are rapid-fire sarcasm machines... I'm the storyteller, I can milk a dropped cereal box at the grocery store and turn into a knee-slapper given the right audience! lol I was so glad when that ability came back to me after the ECTs - I couldn't speak properly for weeks. I was stripped of so many things for so long, it was like getting the golden-ticket for Willy Wonka! Edited February 6, 2014 by ryker66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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