I was born bi-polar and manic ... my mother is 80 and I always knew we were different, but I was called "moody" and "high-strung." After giving birth at 22 and having a sick child, the insomnia and migraines got worse so I went to my first psychiatrist. For the next 20 years I took lots of sleeping pills and tranquilizers, was hospitalized on and off, and had 13 ECT treatments that were very scary, barbaric and non-effective in the early 1970s. I have attempted suicide numerous times until July 2003, when I was admitted to the University of Utah Psychiatric Hospital and had many tests and blood tests run. I had a bad magnesium deficiency and I had built up an immunity to my current drugs.
I am now on Trileptal, Neurontin and Celexa, plus I take Ambien and melatonin to sleep. I still have manic episodes but farther between. And after seven years of being a widow, I am learning at the age of almost 60 that I am a valued member of the world and GOD LOVES ME.
NEVER GIVE UP!!!!! It is a mental illness that we cannot help, but it can be less severe with the right doctors and meds.
