Live, thrive, survive

I got a couple of irate emails this week, demanding to know why I’m not approving certain comments on the blog.

While I read (and usually respond with links and other support where appropriate) everyone’s comments on the blogs, for your protection, and the tone of the site, I rarely approve ‘negative’ comments.

There is a woman that has been commenting, endlessly on our posts that hasn’t been approved is basically saying everything about bipolar disorder that we’re vehemently against – I don’t believe for one minute that we should consider bipolar disorder a burden, though I’m all for wallowing occasionally.  I don’t believe we should ‘battle’ the disease, because we’re anthromposizing something that isn’t human.  We can show our spirit instead by being the best we can be.

Living with bipolar disorder is somewhat like changing your life to help conservation, and lower carbon footprints.  You can do it to your heart’s content, and make a difference internally, by accepting, changing, and adapting, but it’s shouting into the wind until you can get others to understand.  Living with bipolar disorder is more than possible – it’s as big a fact of life as suffering from it.  It really IS all about mindset.  And once you get your head around that – or teach the people you, yourself are living with about it, you can ‘win’, if that’s how you want to see it.

I have a mantra.  Live, thrive, survive.  I live when I’m manic, purely and to the safest, sanest and fullest I can manage (though, being fair, the only reason I manage that is because I have a great partner and several amazing friends), I thrive when I’m ‘normal’ – putting down roots, and growing the important things, and I survive when I’m depressed – I conserve energy, I breathe, and I remember the important stuff.  LTS is my mantra, because it’s how I live.

My book, Pictures In The Dark, talked about it in depth, and we’re about to go into a second reprint, so if you’re interested in no BS, no nonsense discussion on how to adapt to living, thriving and surviving, then please, join us!

Yep, we made it to five at last!

I missed it too.  I was so wrapped up in University that I commented on my personal blog and completely forgot to say something here.
Being five means we’ve managed, roughly, one post every two months.  Its not a great record, but its one to beat .  In all honesty and fairness, I had to remove a lot of posts, because they talked about things that later ended up in my first book Pictures In the Dark.  And then I removed some more because the staff that wrote them dropped out of touch and we were updating our pages, and I didn’t feel it right to leave them there.

Speaking of which – its under final revision at the moment, so should be available very soon.  And my best freind and adopted sister and I have started another book  – called the You Ledger.  I’m hoping it’ll be a great companion for those people who enjoy time management books and more.

So happy birthday us!

Recent studies suggest that there may be a stronger link between migranes and mental health disorders than was currently accepted.  Up to 40% of bipolars questioned (out of 108 patients) reported migranes – and its slightly higher in women than men.  There is now suggestion that bipolars should also be screened for migranes, and more.

Ironically, the one time I’ve been placed on meds for bipolar disorder, it was a drug they’d use to treat migraines in the first place, something I haven’t seen any of the studies address – is it possible that the medication I was put on triggered my migranes?  We already know that it made me severely photosenstive for several years, something I’m only just getting control of now.

Bipolar disorder, with migranes might even be a subtype of bipolar disorder itself, the results were that high.  It’s both good and bad news for bipolars, in part because of the medication ‘connection’ that I’ve suggested above (both ways – if Sodium Valporate is used to treat both bipolar disorder and migraines then this is a very good thing – it should lower the overall amount of medication a bipolar needs to take).
I have migranes – I have done for close to three years, but was only effectively diagnosed with migranes proper in May 2006, just before we moved house.  I’ve been placed on a ‘one off’ medication called ‘Sumatriptan’ that I can take up to twice a day whenever I’ve got a serious migrane – I only ever take them when I’m in serious pain.

Migraines are caused, they believe, because the brain isn’t producing seratonin correctly (another reason that I’m surprised it took so long to make the link between migranes and mental health) and Sumatriptan  stops that.  But as it’s close to seratonin in makeup, I have to wonder if its doing my mental state any good, and if that’s why it appears to work.

I’m curious about those of us out there that read regularly – do you get migranes?  Are you on any medication to help you with them?

This ’sticky’ post will appear at the top of the blog at all times, and list our current staff, where to find our manifesto, and above all, welcome you to our blog.

So welcome (more…)