Stupid Bipolar

I was diagnosed in 2005 and it took and January 2011to find the right meds. Now the lack of meds (slowly building back up on them seeing my shrink on the 6th) and horror-mones being out of whack from VSG, I feel like I'm about to cry with every little thing. I'm not a cryer. I hate pity party people and here I am weak and vulnerable. This has been the worst part of having surgery and I know it will pass. Thank you all for giving me a safe place to vent about this.

im not bi polar.. But since the surgery i swear i am... I have been up and down... I have been moody and just not myself...
I hope yours passes soon for ya... (((hugs))

I'm not bipolar or even have depression - but the 1st month after surgery I would get weepy and miserable at the drop of a hat!  It does get better - sorry you are suffering with it right now! 

I'm bipolar, too. Severely so. It took me 3 years to talk my psychiatrist into signing off on surgery. We had a comprehensive plan for my meds following surgery (surgery was on Monday) and the hospital put the kibosh on it because they felt my doses weren't safe. I'm now 5 days out without meds and fortunate enough not to have any symptoms yet, but I've not been cleared to start tapering my meds back up for another week, so I know it's coming. Honestly, had I known they were going to keep me off my meds for 2 weeks, I probably wouldn't have had surgery. But, no turning back now. I definitely feel for you and if you feel the need to vent to someone who understands, feel free to PM me.

I'm bipolar II (as opposed to I) and the emotions for the first month were nothing compared to what was to come. I damn near had a breakdown somewhere between month 2 and 4 and I'm barely coming out of it. My depression got pretty extreme. I still experience a lot of down moods even at almost 7 months out.

I never asked the type I was just told it was severe. That's why the meds were so hard to get right. I think I might volunteer to add counseling to my treatment. I didn't fight to get my life on track this long to just throw it away now.  

There's an easy way to tell the difference between 1 and 2. 1 has full blown mania as well as depression, 2 has depression but only hypomania. 2's traditionally head more to depression than hypomania, but that is not always the case. And I'll second you on severe. I was diagnosed at 12 and was in and out of the hospital for 10 years until we finally got meds right. I'm glad to here you're thinking about adding counseling now. While it may not help your symptoms stay under control, it will definitely better prepare you for handling symptom flares. I have an appointment scheduled with my therapist next week. As far as the other poster said about 2 to 4 months out, I don't know if they prepared you for that, but that was the biggest reason my doctor didn't want me to have surgery. Number 1, the whole process can throw your life out of order, which depending on your triggers can make things worse, and even with a sleeve it can possibly change the way your body absorbs your meds and mean you have to restart finding effective medications. I talked to several people before I made my decision who had dealt with both issues to better prepare myself. My psychiatrist even asked a couple of his patients who had gone through the process with the illness (one very successful and one who failed miserably) if they would mind talking to me about it and put us in touch. I guess that would be my other suggestion. Ask your doctor if he might have any patients who have been through a similar journey that he wouldn't mind asking if they would share their experiences with you. Can't hurt to talk to people who have fought the same fight.

If you look them up you can probably tell which you are. Usually if they just say "bipolar" they are talking about type I.

Here is a bit of an explanation. I don't think I would have fully understood the differences unless my doctor explained them to me first.

http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/depression_anxiety/bipolar-disorder-types_6030-1.html

http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/guide/bipolar-disorder-forms

With  bipolar II youe manic episodes are less destructive and you can even be quite productive during them as opposed to becoming violent, wild, shopping sprees or whatever. Also the manic thing can be just an overly happy feeling in both but then that makes you do things you wouldn't normally do. With bipolar II the depression is more severe than with type I and bipolar II patients are at much higher risk of suicide. This is my 2 second explanation...

Yeah I'd say type 1. I ran on mania for months before I'd crash. There's times I miss the high so to speak, but its just like any addiction not worth the costs. I have a family to take care of that love me and need me. I'm a much better mom and wife now.