Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
I chatted with you a few nights ago. I am so sorry that the discussion was interrupted. It was just that people who discontinue their steroids cold turkey can put themselves in an andrenal crisis and can be life threatening.
One thing that I was going to maybe suggest, is if your son gets really bad and needs to be hospiatlized, maybe you can try a depot (slow release through the muscle) injection, antipsychotic (I think Risperdal comes like that) I'm not sure how long it's lasts. But at least a month if not more. Just a suggestion.
To explain bipolar I vs II. bipolar I you get the extremes of both mania and depression. Where as bipolar II you get the extreme of depression and mania (but not to the extrememe). And antidepressants by themselves usually cause mood swings in people with bipolar II.
Hope this helps and very nice to meet you a few days ago.
~ With Love ~ Dana, Pharm. D.
Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
I know it gets tricky, and bipolar II may just be a begining of what is to come. (yet being that I was diagnosed with bipolar II I'm hoping that is not the case).
My "mania" consisted of mostly having a good feeling. Having a bunch of ideas for school. Doing very well on exams. I usually would either get A's or I would fail tests and managing to pass all of my classes.
There is definite instability, yet not enough mania to diagnose full blown bipolar I. (it' s really hard to explain - if you knew my brother vs. me, it would be as clear as day). And yet my mother seems to be in a class of her own. I would consider her's more as schizoaffective (cycling between psychosis, stable, and depression - mania is present yet lasts a very short time and followed by psychosis).
But Dr. Phelps goes into bipolar II at www.psycheducation.org
And there are actually 4 subsets on the bipolar continum.
Bipolar I - extremes of mania and depression
Bipoalr II - hypomania and extreme of depression
Cyclothymia - cycling between hypomania and depression (yet not so severe as bipolar I and II)
Dysthymia - depression (yet not so severe as bipolar I and II)
Just to make things more confusiong. Everyone is different and I think it's just a way to classify severities of the disease.
And treatment changes a little as well.
I'm sure I probably confused you more, but they are all a part of the same illness. Some just not so severe. I think they are starting to recognize and treat people with milder forms of the disease.
~ With Love ~ Dana, Pharm. D.
psychnurse,
Thanx for your explanation.
My son definately has bipolar 1.
His mania is out of control - losing touch with reality - mind constantly racing - keeps rambling and won't shut up - mood swings - aggresive behavior - always angry - lots of crazy ideas (dreamer) - spending money on stupid little gadgets just for the sake of spending money - he doesn't take his meds on a consistant basis (he's 19 yrs old now and we can't legally make him) he has a p/t job but only goes in when he feels like it (it's just a matter of time before he gets fired)
He also shows signs of ADHD. Although he was never dianosed with that, he can't focus on anything for more than about 2 mins.
As I mentioned to you in my last post, it spikes around Easter.
Then aroud October he goes into depression due to the lack of sunlight.
Randy
Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
I am so sorry to hear of your husband's problems. It is a *****. I especially feel for him in that he has lost a good career. I did, too and I miss it very much. Even on meds, some of us get to a point where stability is very fragile and too much stress will put us in the hospital again.
Please feel free to ask/tell anything you wish here - I am glad to be of any help I can. But definitely keep him seeing his doc regularly! 
I am glad to hear of the program to help. BTW, what are his current meds?
Shannon
Hi Mary! It's good to hear from you. IMO, he is on a very good med combination, however if he is still having racing thoughts, his depakote probably isn't strong enough. Ask his doc about that.
As far as Seroquel being bad for diabetes, Zyprex is equally, if not worse! 
Seroquel doesn't cause the massive weight gain and craving for sweets that Zyprexa does which as you know is the worst thing for diabetes. How long as he been on it? The usual weight gain is 30-60 pounds in the first 6-8 months or so. If he hasn't had any more cravings or gained any weight so far, it will probably be OK, although I have never seen that. How often are you checking his sugars? What is the average per day? Has he had a glycohemoglobin (average blood sugar for the last 3 monts) lately?
He is sleeping well? (at least 8 hours). This is key for stability.
I am glad to hear he's getting out to do things, that's a very good sign! You couldn't be more right about the excercise - it has helped me immensely - I started running (not marathons!!!) and Pilates every day last year - helps with self image and overall well being!). 
But when I get depressed, I can't. But my mood swings aren't nearly as severe as they were before meds. (I still have pretty good ones, at times, tho!!) We all do, even on meds. 
Is he having any signs of depression?
As far as quitting meds, yeah that is DEFINITELY part of BP, 
I have been no different until the last year or so. We usually learn after a few times of that that we really need them! Monitor him and make sure he's taking them EVERY day. Every time he has a manic episode, it can get harder and longer to get back to stable.
Let me know, I care! How are you holding up? It can be really tough at times, but he does sound like he's doing reasonably well!
Shannon
I need some help and as much info as i can get. Im so confused right now!!
I have been married 1 1/2 years now and my husbends family told me they thought he had bipolar. This came after i called them wanting to know what was going on. 3 weeks ago he filed for divorce. that came two weeks after he brought me home flowers. 4 months ago he told friends of ours, (married couple having proplems) that we are in love more now than ever and counsling was the best thing we ever did and that they should give it a chance. Now he said that he only said that to make them feel better. He told me he fell out of love and can't get it back. last winter he did nothing but sleep. His friends all worned me that something was wrong. I just don't understand. He can be very cold and mean and then be so sweet and caring and supportive. Our marrege counsler said he has Bipolar just not as bad as his mother. I was served by the sherif 2 days ago. My husbend told me if i fought i would not have a leg to stand on and i would lose misserably. But i come home finding him crying telling me that it herts him to see what this is doing to me and he pays all the bills and does all these things for me but tells me its over. and that he hopes i don't hate him after this is all over with. can anyone explain what this Bipolor is?
I have talked to my husbends family and they say one thing to me and another to him. He gets very angry and lashes out. He thinks becouse he has a stable job and is one of the top people in his company and that he owns a home that he does not have this. His mother and grandfather had it. The mother was realy bad. he says his mother was up one day and low the next and that is not him. The attorney i spoke with said i can file a motion in court that he has to be court ordeared into counsling but he can still say he does not want the marrege. I made a commitment to him before we married. It came from a big fight. His sister talked him into counsling and when i got home that night he said would you still love me if i was like my mother i said yes. I am going to counsling still he has not he refuses to go now! Thanks for the shoulder I realy need one and everyone seems like they are brushing me off. They all say one thing and then don't get the gumption to act. Thanks for talking with me!
Thanks J.D.
I found out a couple of days ago that he had not been getting his meds refilled and I went off! Life is too short to live with someone who doesn't want to be helped. He is back on his meds now and it will take some time to get his levels back up. I get exhausted and feel like I have another child to take care of. Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it. But, this is a very serious disease and he doesn't know when He's "off". I have a list of people to call if I need help getting him to a hospital. Take care of yourself! Stay with the counseling so YOUR insides will feel better. Boo
Ericka Jean,
The attached links may give you a better undestanding of Bipolar
Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
Thanks for your replies
I have read the 500 pg book i took out from the library. I have tried talking to my husbend but he won't listen. His sister and i have talked for the last 2 1/2 years and when I thought my husbend was going to get help his sister denied everything. I have given up. He says he still wan'ts the divorce. I can remember awile ago i told him he needed to come down a few pegs and realize he is no better or diffrent from me, and he said O yes I am. He told me the other day that he knows I'm angry and that i have a right to be but he is waiting for me to get over that. What is this supposed to mean? I can think of alot of things but his behavior still confuses me. This morning he is doing dishes and cleaning the house before he goes to work. He has been doing stuff like this and I haven't seen him do this since we first dated. So i asked him why he was all of a sudden doing this stuff. Is it becouse of what we are going through. He said it has to be done. ok This is so unlike him. This Bipolar confuses me. After all the reading I have done somethings still don't make any sense.
cheers,
Just Keep Swimming.
Hi
Ranman, Danarx and others. I just joined after reading some of what was said in the forum. I find conflicting information according to what I know. Ranman, was your child at 12 dx as Pediatric Onset of Bipolar Disorder? This is important as with antipsychotic meds the child will get worse. A good information source for this is 'The Bipolar Child' by Dr. Demetri Papolos. And this is why. My child was dx as Pediatric Onset of Bipolar Disorder after several other dx that the medical establisment thought was ADHD, ODD, OCD, and a lot of other dx that were not applicable to my boy. He was put on antipsychotics and decked a teacher at his school shortly after. We kept plugging away to find out what he had as the dx above are external symptons of a deeper problem. The school district wanted to keep punishing my boy for the problems rather than work with us. We took him to a well known pdoc and she dx him as being Aspergers. We then found the only person in the state who specialized in Aspergers and the first session she told us that he was not Aspergers but Bipolar. He was then put on a antiseizure (sp) med [depoke] which has worked well so far. I too am Bipolar (it is inherited) but I am on an antipsychotic and an antiseisure med. My pdoc feels this is a theraputic combination dispite warnings to the contray. In the case of the school system, when we were trying to get my child in special ed as this condition interfers with his education we met a tremendous amount of resistance. In the end the Special Ed told us that if we did not like the decisions then we could make a complaint to the Dept of Education for the state. We did, and in a landmark case we won because the DOE ruled that the district was in violation of Federal and State laws. The district lost their Spec Ed funding until they renumerated us and our child for the education they lost out on due to the disabilitys they had. all of our presentation was without a lawyer or advocate (we are trained advocates for Disability Rights and Childrens Rights) and based on the book 'The Bipolar Child'. I wish There were one for adults too. I have much more to read of the forum but I wanted to add a couple of my cents worth here.