Lithium is the go-to drug for manic episodes-- particularly acute mania in patients with bipolar I. But it doesn't work for everyone. And it did not work for me. Of course, I was not in an acute stage of mania. I was just in a persistent state of spiraling anxiety.
Since I am super late with this post and it is not even remotely as daily as I'd like my posts to be... I can say that I feel better now, off lithium, than I have felt in some time. With the 20/20 hindsight, I think it would have been prudent to try more non-pharmaceutical ways of handling the mania before jumping on the lithium bandwagon. That said, it's possible, I suppose, that the small, brief lithium in my system did a fine job of curbing the oncoming mania and now I am on a more even keel. Let's go for that. Here is what to remember: bipolar meds have a stabilizing effect. They do not eliminate issues with depression and manic behavior. I am reminding myself of this. Also, very very tired of trying to tease out which things are related to the illness, which are related to medication, and which are related to my temperament. Which is intense and emotional and perfectionistic and goal-oriented. And pharmaceuticals cannot treat temperament. Which is why the cognitive therapy is an important piece, I suppose. Comments are closed.
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K. BuchananQuaker, teacher, parent, |