Lurker with a few questions.

[whatiswiththeworld]

I have unofficially, been Dx with Bipolar 1 with psychotic features and ADHD. I am addicted also to weed and have decreased my use substantially in the last few months. Pdoc won't make DX official, until I am sober for a min of 6 months.

I see a GP, psychologist, and social worker very regularly, and can see my Psychiatrist when I am spiraling out of control or need a big medication change.

I am taking champix (which has helped curbed the pot cravings a lot), Lamotrigine, Zyprexa, and about to add Saphris into the mix tomorrow.

 

I have a few questions regarding Bipolar;

Are your manias, hallucinations, and delusions, similar each time you have a episode? Do you see/hear the same type of things? What about movement, playing with hands, tapping feet?

 

While hypo/manic, do you still sometimes, but rarely, have a semi-decent sleep? Or could this be more of a mixed episode?

 

Do you know of any websites that are good for family members to read, in order to understand the Bipolar side of my MI? I really don't want it to sound to scary, as I live a 4 hour flight away from them, and they have already tried to get me to move back home, and I don't want to make that topic more intense.

 

Do you find saphris as sedating as zyprexa? My doctor has said that ideally you should take it twice a day, but this is not always possible, due to the sedation, for people working. Can you split the wafers?

 

I have tried searching this site but can't find the answers. If there is a thread about any of my questions, a link would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any help!

[whatiswiththeworld]

One more question, relating to CB. Is there anywhere where you can see more than the last 5 most recent topics?

[melissaw72]

I have unofficially, been Dx with Bipolar 1 with psychotic features and ADHD. I am addicted also to weed and have decreased my use substantially in the last few months. Pdoc won't make DX official, until I am sober for a min of 6 months.

I see a GP, psychologist, and social worker very regularly, and can see my Psychiatrist when I am spiraling out of control or need a big medication change.

I am taking champix (which has helped curbed the pot cravings a lot), Lamotrigine, Zyprexa, and about to add Saphris into the mix tomorrow.

 

I have a few questions regarding Bipolar;

Are your manias, hallucinations, and delusions, similar each time you have a episode? Do you see/hear the same type of things? What about movement, playing with hands, tapping feet?

 

Sometimes the hallucinations and delusions are the same, sometimes not.  Kind of a toss-up.  I see and hear the same types of things.  No movement that I can think of.

 

While hypo/manic, do you still sometimes, but rarely, have a semi-decent sleep? Or could this be more of a mixed episode?

 

No.  I sleep crappy as it is, but it gets even worse when I am hypo/manic.

 

Do you know of any websites that are good for family members to read, in order to understand the Bipolar side of my MI? I really don't want it to sound to scary, as I live a 4 hour flight away from them, and they have already tried to get me to move back home, and I don't want to make that topic more intense.

 

NAMI (Idk their website but if you google "NAMI" it I'm sure it would come up).

 

Do you find saphris as sedating as zyprexa? My doctor has said that ideally you should take it twice a day, but this is not always possible, due to the sedation, for people working. Can you split the wafers?

 

I have tried searching this site but can't find the answers. If there is a thread about any of my questions, a link would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any help!

 

(Answers in BOLD).

[Always Unstable]

 

I have a few questions regarding Bipolar;

Are your manias, hallucinations, and delusions, similar each time you have a episode? Do you see/hear the same type of things? What about movement, playing with hands, tapping feet?

 

While hypo/manic, do you still sometimes, but rarely, have a semi-decent sleep? Or could this be more of a mixed episode?

 

I don't always get hallucinations and delusions when I am manic but when I do its all pretty similar stuff. I'm not totally sure but I think that my mania are different sometimes depending on what's going on in my life at the time. Just a theory of mine, lol. Movement is a HUGE issue for me though. I constantly move/ shake my legs it really adds to the not being able to sleep thing because I literally can't stop them moving and if I do I just feel soooooo uncomfortable. It's like restless legs times a million.

I don't sleep as much when I'm manic but I also don't feel as if I need it as much.

[Mim]

One more question, relating to CB. Is there anywhere where you can see more than the last 5 most recent topics?

 

At the top of the page, under the search bar, is the "View New Content" button. Click that, and it will show you posts. You can filter it by content since you posted last, content over the past 24 hours, etc. Edit: This works for the blogs, too. 

 

As to the other questions: 

 

To your first question, I have another condition that lends itself to quasipsychosis, so bear that in mind. However, where I have paranoias and ideas of reference and such, yes, they tend to be similar. 

 

To your second question, yes, when I am hypo sometimes I can still sleep. In fact, while hypo I usually just tend to get less sleep, or my sleep is of markedly poorer quality. 

 

To the third question, I will second Melissa's suggestion of NAMI. Their website is simply http://www.nami.org/ 

 

I'm a Zyprexa kid, but have never taken Saphris, so I can't comment on the last question, sorry. I did find that Zyprexa is less sedating for me after about the first two weeks or so, though. 

 

Welcome to CB. 

Edited October 8, 2014 by Mim

[whatiswiththeworld]

melis - Thank you very much for you responses. That website was is very helpful.

 

justalittleunstable - Thank you for your answers a well.

 

Mim - That new content button was a bit obvious  . Thanks. I thought I might of been the only one who manages to get some sleep.

[Motoko]

Do you find saphris as sedating as zyprexa? My doctor has said that ideally you should take it twice a day, but this is not always possible, due to the sedation, for people working. Can you split the wafers?

 

I don't find Saphris to be sedating at all, though it does have a mild relaxing effect on me.  I take 10mg twice a day.  You can split the pills, but you should get a pill cutter to do it since they're very fragile and will not split evenly if you try to do it by hand.  I speak from experience.  Make sure your hands are absolutely dry before handling  the pills: they dissolve instantly in water/saliva.

[crtclms]

If you have questions about Zyprexa and Saphris, in the medications forums there is an APs (anti-psychotics) forum. It's alright to ask questions that may have been answered in the past, we aren't the type of site that tries to force everything into one thread.

[rachael]

 

Are your manias, hallucinations, and delusions, similar each time you have a episode? Do you see/hear the same type of things? What about movement, playing with hands, tapping feet?

 

My manias can be very different, sometimes dysphoric, sometimes predominantly euphoric. There are some themes for the hallucinations that stay the same, but I am usually not psychotic for long periods of time (though I have been). Agitation and restlessness is something that is common for all manic and hypomanic episodes for me.

 

While hypo/manic, do you still sometimes, but rarely, have a semi-decent sleep? Or could this be more of a mixed episode?

 

I can get very good sleep while hypomanic, I just need much less (4-5h). When manic, it gets a bit more difficult, but I can often still get two good hours of decent sleep. The only thing that really affects my sleep are extremely realistic nightmares that can be very disturbing.

 

Do you know of any websites that are good for family members to read, in order to understand the Bipolar side of my MI? I really don't want it to sound to scary, as I live a 4 hour flight away from them, and they have already tried to get me to move back home, and I don't want to make that topic more intense.

 

There is a book called "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide" by David Miklowitz that I thought was great. It has great information for both people diagnosed with the illness and family.

 

Do you find saphris as sedating as zyprexa? My doctor has said that ideally you should take it twice a day, but this is not always possible, due to the sedation, for people working. Can you split the wafers?

 

Ask your doctor or pharmacist. Many tablets should not be split, so I would not do this without getting a go ahead from a professional.

 

I have tried searching this site but can't find the answers. If there is a thread about any of my questions, a link would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any help!

 

replies in the box above in bold.....

[SoaringRaven]

My hypomanias seem to follow a similar pattern. There is some habitual body movement, which manifests itself as me bouncing my knee/knees up and down when I'm sitting. I don't tend to have visual or auditory hallucinations, so I can't really comment on how that works out for people. When hypomanic I always -feel- like I've slept well; that is to say, that I'm not tired and have plenty of energy. But really, I'm probably not getting as much sleep as I actually need.

I'm sorry that I don't have any answers for your other questions, but the people on this board are really friendly and helpful and should be able to give you some input.

[Flash]

My (hypo)manias are somewhat different each time, but they share a lot of common elements. Usually one thing will stand out (a delusion, hypersexuality, an obsession with a ridiculous project, etc.) to define it. My delusions have almost always been different so far, but my auditory hallucinations are mostly the same kind of things. I can get those when depressed, too.

Here's a link to a thread about what people experience during their (hypo)manias:

http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php/topic/73000-what-are-your-hypomanias-like-poll/

Edited October 9, 2014 by Flash

[jt07]

Do you know of any websites that are good for family members to read, in order to understand the Bipolar side of my MI? I really don't want it to sound to scary, as I live a 4 hour flight away from them, and they have already tried to get me to move back home, and I don't want to make that topic more intense.

 

This thread has some sites for family members:

 

http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php/topic/70774-please-read-this-if-you-are-here-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-loved-one/

[whatiswiththeworld]

Thank you all!