What's wrong with me?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2006
What's wrong with me?
3
Fri, 04-07-2006 - 3:13am

Hi- I'm new to this board, I'm actually really glad I found it because I need some input/advice. In the past 3 weeks or so I have completely not been myself. I stay up for extremely long periods of time (8am to 4 sometimes 6am) getting only 2-4 hours of sleep every "night". I find it almost impossible to sleep. No matter how much I yawn and feel tired- I can never fall asleep. I have moments when I am extremely loving and happy but they soon follow moments where I am stressed out, moody, and sad. This is really affecting my relationship with my boyfriend of 3 years (whom I live with). He noticed my mood changes and inability to sleep before I noticed it myself, and now that I have noticed it I am worried that I will not be able to reverse it. He tries to bring light to the situation and calls me his little "bipolar bear" but I am worried that it isn't so much a joke as it is a serious issue of my mental health. I don't understand why all of the sudden I am suffering these symptoms, and I don't know how to "get rid of them". I am worried it is ruining my relationship because I am happy and loving one minute to Mike (my boyfriend) and a half hour later I am a miserable bitch finding fault in everything he does. Help me figure something out please....!!!

-Jordan

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 04-07-2006 - 8:12am

Hi Jordan! And welcome...the biggest red flag I see in your post is that both you and your boyfriend BOTH realize that something is going on. Yes, periods of going without sleep and mood swings, irritability, ARE symptoms of Bipolar. HOWEVER, they could be symptoms of MANY other things as well. I would recommend that you first get a complete physical to rule out anything physical that could be going on with your body. Then get to a psychiatrist to see if you might be Bipolar.

There is nothing you can "do" to reverse it. Or "get rid of them" like you said. If you are Bipolar, it IS a serious mental health issue and needs to be treated as soon as possible. It will worsen with time. But, never fear. There are many many more treatments today than there were years ago, when you heard all the horror stories of the manic depressive crazies.

I'm glad you found the board. Feel free to post with us to learn as much as you can. Educating yourself is key in your treatment. You have to KNOW what you're going to be dealing with, before you can deal with it, ya know?

Hang in there. Everything will be fine.

Hugs,

Keli

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2005
Fri, 04-07-2006 - 8:23am

HI Jordan and Welcome !!!!


I can't add much more then what Keli already has said.


I'm sure some of your symptoms could very well be from not getting enough sleep.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Fri, 04-07-2006 - 3:44pm

Jordan,


Just wanted to say welcome and encourage you to go get a psych eval to determine whether your problem is BP or something else.