I am going to be very brief I have a busy day still to go. Usually I do not like to expose my dirty secrets but how would I educate others if I didn't speak the truth about this disorder. Several years ago when my Bipolar was in the process of diagnosis I was only being treated for depression so I was taking at the time only Effexor. Well anyone who has been following my posts about Bipolar know that antidepressants are the DEVIL'S candy to Bipolar when taken without a mood stabilizer. It triggers mania in the worst way then a severe depression as a result! I almost left my husband because some dirt bag who had been hounding me for years to meet with him finally got his wish while I was deluded enough to think that it was a good idea.
I had my sordid affair with him and really felt like he was someone I wanted to spend my life with and leave my husband for. Luckily for me my husband didn't take that as a slap in his face but rather tied it into my mental illness. If it hadn't been for my oldest son at the time telling me that I was acting like a retard and that I was leaving his father for a dirt bag, I might not have stepped back and really looked at my choice. I know that it was probably psychologically damaging to my oldest son at the time but we have always been really close and I only want to make him happy. It has always been my children above my own personal wishes. Which is why I stayed married even though I felt miserable for so many years. When your brain chemicals are not working right what you would normally do goes by the way side and you act very impulsive and take risks you never would have thought of doing.
Well I have meet a very special mother who is currently going through a divorce and her husband is Bipolar. She has exposed her journey on her blog called Our Island Family Life
and she tells the hard cold facts about what happens when you have children involved in a divorce and one where a mental illness is involved. She is very brave and an inspiration to anyone who is a single parent. If you have some money to donate to help her with buying diapers, food, and paying her fuel bills please stop in and click on her donate icon. And if you don't have money please stop in and offer encouragement or your own personal experiences with a similar situation. THANKS!!
Bipolar disorder has destroyed many families because the person is not on the proper medications or receiving the proper medical care. In my case I had not seen a psychiatrist only my regular MD. It wasn't until I was over the edge with rapid cycling that I was finally advised to see one. If you want more information about Bipolar Disorder please visit the NIMH site.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Bipolar Ruins Families If Untreated
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6 comments:
You made me cry. Thank you. The fact that you see your pdoc and take your meds and try hard every day gives me hope. I learn new things every day about this illness. It was though you I began to understand how important the a mood stablizer is when taking an antidepressant. It explained SO much of what happened to Sean. Even if he doesn't understand it now I do and it makes be a better suppporter to him. If not as my husband than as the father of my children. Thank you.
Hi my name is Jackie and I just wanted to say thank you for posting your story. I was in the same boat. I am bipolar, I am 26, married, and a mother to a 6 year old little girl. I recently decided to start hanging out with a guy that was hounding me and knew that I was sick and completely took advantage of it. I do not take my meds regularly because I have no health insurance. The state will not give me health insurance and my husband's boss won't get group insurance. Its a crazy thing. I try and deal with my mania (because that is all I seem to have lately) in unique ways. I try and smoke to curb myself from cutting, I walk my dog a million times a day to deal with the restlessness. I talk to people about it. It will get better one day. But I want to thank you so much for telling your story.
Jackie
Jackie,
I don't understand why you are not getting any help from the state?? I am not sure what your situation is but surely there is a program out there to assist you. Have you tried to qualify for SSI or SSDI?
It is a long drawn out process to go through but you should qualify for it. I know this is no consolation at the moment but when you qualify for SSDI you will then have Medicare insurance after two years. In the mean time there must be a program to assist you with the medication costs.
Without knowing your situation and explaining the SSDI process that I went through it is hard for me to give you advice or a similar experience with what to do if you don't have insurance.
My brother is single with Bipolar and Schizophrenia and he qualified for SSI to pay for medications but he didn't have a tax bracket impeding his chances to qualify. It seems you have an income and that is your down fall. In the same boat I 15 years prior tax bracket and also had to wait from August 2005 to April 2006 for the income checks to start and until February 2008 for medical insurance. The system is very screwed up for those needing medications without funds or assistance to do so.
I applied for SSI two times and got turned down both times. I do not have any income myself. My husband has the income. He makes about 50,000 a year and here in Michigan you can only make like 30,000 to get state assistance. Having no health insurance at all and making too much money I cannot get help with meds or even the prescriptions without it costing around 1200 a month for the meds. I would be taking abilify and lamictal and klonopin and the abilify is 730 a month and the lamictal around 400. Its frustrating. I am trying really hard to stay normal. I have kept out of the hospital for about 3 years now. Another reason that I cannot get normal health insurance is that my husband's boss did have insurance for us for awhile and they cancelled our insurance because I am bipolar. They said that they could not cover someone that is bipolar, it would cost them too much money. If you get your insurance terminated by one carrier for that reason, its basically impossible to get any other insurance.
The reason I did not qualify for SSI is because they said that I did not work enough in my life. I am 26 years old and have only worked like 3 years of my life. I got married when I was 19 and had a baby and stayed at home with her. The only good news is that my husband's pay is going to be drastically decreased and I will hopefully now qualify for the assistance, but I am not sure still. I try and stick to being normal. Right now I am extremely restless and my moods rapidly cycle a lot. I think that under the circumstances of not taking many meds I am doing ok, but I could be doing better. thanks for writing me back.
Jackie,
How is your support system?? If you are not able to get what is really essential (medical treatment), what are you able to do as an alternative?
send an email if you want to chat off the blog:
bpserenity@yahoo.com
Jackie,
My mother is an RN and she said that sometimes the drug companies have programs for people without medical insurance. I found this site on Lamictal's website:
http://www.gskforyou.com/
This one I found on the Abilify site:
https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php
I was also told that your whole family still may qualify for Health Care Plus for medical insurance. At least it is an insurance available to families in NY State.
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