hi breanna,
my meds are not that forgiving... i cannot go till week's end, usually a couple of hours till my pipi break in the middle of the night is all i can tolerate. the effexor's half life is 24 to 28 hours only!!
the last time i took a glass of wine i was ... okay. I took the wine, waited 2.5 hours, then the meds, and it was the weekend. Calm. no stress. and ideal conditions. now, not so!
hi rose,
no i did not know i was bipo and i think i would have resisted ... my father was bipo and had many co-morbid problems. I would have have done anything to not be him!
so up to and including the crisis of nov 05 i was severely depressed but usually came out of these periods with minimal meds ... so doctors thought it was depression the thought provoked kind. (hint one) This crisis was enough and I fiannly asked the local resources to assign me a psycholgist to work through whatever deep enotional pains I had so that these reoccuring depressions would not keep taking me out of work and out of life. So DSM 4 and a few other tests, interviews, and a year later, my thought patterns, the way I manage stimulii and stress, the relationships i choose, and the way I think are typical of someone who is bipolar; someone who is unable to control or manage their moods properly on their own.
1-So for me it means that when things go bad it is the equivalvent of a catastrophie for another. As you saw in the earlier post , stupid, broken, buried are the deep pain that explode and take over a bad day - not depression. Depression is so much worse for me. And then I slowly come back to myself, the brain fires itself up and the week becomes "normal".
2-There are the OTHER times I have to watch out for ... when everything is
GREAT !! Work, I can get 12 hours straight done, no break, no water, two bathroom stops, and 2 energy drinks... that is it. and the productivity is enough for three!! I feel I could win a lottery and spend too much on non-sense. (i have 3 c-card maxed out). I am very attentive and very creative and why is evryone so S_L_O_W ?!? during this period ??? Usually it means i have zipped through an idea and only expressed one out of every three words necessary to complete a sentence. I do not do manic and lose control. I do drive fast (usually 3 or 4 km below the limit - i go +10km or +15km). I do not engage in risky sexual behavior but my husband is usually in for a little treat 
.
bipolar = we move between two poles; depressive and manic. unipolar = one pole; depressive.
Rapid cycling, out of control!!! It means that the shift from one state or mood to the next is quick and definitive. This morning total tears and suicidal, this evening getting ready to party. Not to be confused with a mixed-state.
Bipolar disorder like Major depressive disorder and other disorders on this spectrum - are complex and are not well understood. The medical community is trying to piece together the symptomes and the physical traits but it seems to be a long slow process. So here we are in the middle. We become the flavour of the month. We try something, hope, watch and listen. Usually we start the process over a few times.
!!
the sleep!!! So the seroquel is my non addictive one shot sleep aid. It does not mess up the rest of the meds like alcohol and a a few other things, and as a mood stabliser it helps the topiramate put me in a better spot the next few days - if I manage to wake up!
it made my anxiety over the top! Please don't skip meds! Not worth the brain catching up time. I have my meds in a daily dispenser and keep them by my bed with a glass of water. Before my feet hit the ground in the a.m. I have them. I have to have a consistent sleep schedule to maintain so I never sleep in. We have to make sacrafices in life and this is the hand we are dealt. You can handle it! 
