Being Bipolar

Panic disorder is characterized by recurring episodes of sudden, intense fear. Physical symptoms may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness or abdominal distress.

Symptoms may include:

• Chest Pain
• Heart palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness
• Abdominal distress
• Sweating
• Weakness
• Tingling or numbness of hands
• Feeling flushed or chilled
• Fear of impending doom or loss of control

It is common for a person to develop a fear of these symptoms, and this fear is considered a symptom of panic disorder. A person may think they are having a heart attack, dying or losing their mind. The attacks cannot be predictable so someone affected by the disorder may develop intense fear of having an attack.

The tendency to develop panic attacks is inherited. Repeated panic attacks are defined as panic disorder. Approximately 6 million American adults have panic disorder. Women are twice as likely to develop this disorder as men are.

In some cases, the attacks may become so severe that a person avoids normal activities such as shopping or driving. Almost one third become unable to leave their home. They are often unable to leave the home unless accompanied by a trusted person. This is called agoraphobia. Early treatment can usually prevent agoraphobia but it often goes undiagnosed.

I was diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia. It’s very unusual for me to leave my house. My husband does all the shopping and my typical outings involve going to the doctor. I don’t go anywhere alone unless I absolutely have to. When I know I will be going out in public (like the AC/DC concert ), I will have flu-like symptoms. It causes a great deal of problems for not only me, but my family as well.

More on agoraphobia tomorrow. Have a great day!

As we reach the last two days of Bipolar Awareness Month, I would like to thank all of the participants for their help in making it a great success. Please visit the Bipolar Awareness page and stop by our participants’ blogs and say thanks.

Many of you have decided to keep the banner. For those of you who aren’t hosting a banner, please consider it as a way to show your support year round. I will be updating the button every month to reflect the seasons. The March buttons have green borders and lettering and cute shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. You will notice that your banners will change to this sometime today as I swap them out. I have decided to do it a few days early to go ahead and take care of it before I forget.

I would like to say a special thank you to Lola at http://lolasdiner.blogspot.com for all of her efforts to help spread the word. Thanks to Bubbles from http://ourbipolar.com for all of her help during this month. Thanks to everyone who has completed questionnaires, hosted a banner, posted about bipolar disorder or simply stopped by to learn more. Bipolar Awareness Month has been a great success and I look forward to our second annual awareness month in February of 2010.

On to other things….

I will be adding pages to my blog over the next few days to provide more information about bipolar disorder. I have posted about it in the past but I feel this will make it easier to find and therefor more helpful to those seeking information. As I am making these changes, please excuse any glitches.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Oh, and if you’re feeling generous today, please Stumble me or vote for me on Spicy Page or any of the other sites listed on the left hand sidebar.

I love camping! My husband and I are counting down the days until we can take our fifth wheel camper out for the first time this year. We have had a few days in the 70’s lately but we still have nights in the 30’s. Hopefully, it will warm up soon and we can enjoy a weekend of camping. I can’t wait!

Did I mention that my mother and father-in-law just bought a new RV? It’s really pretty but it is a lot smaller than the monstrous fifth wheel they did have. They have had to scale back on what they have inside because there is so much less storage. Anyone who camps knows that storage is a huge deal. I don’t have nearly enough storage room for the five of us. I can’t imagine cutting back.

My sister and brother-in-law are still in the market for a popup camper. They’ve been looking for some time now. They usually camp with us several times in the summer in a tent. Hopefully they will find something soon.

Enough about camping. I have developed an addiction to Pep-O-Mint LifeSavers. As if I weren’t having enough issues with weight gain because of meds, I am now constantly eating these sweet little treats.  Maybe I can use it to help me quit smoking in a few weeks. I am still planning on quitting but I am going to wait a little longer so I can get used to the Lamictal and see if it is going to work or not. That way I won’t be setting myself up for an episode.

Well, have a great day! I’m going to get busy.

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I also wanted to point out that I have made some changes. I added some games to the site. Sometimes it helps me to perform a mundane task that requires a little concentration. Maybe you could use a break as well. I also cleaned up the widgets and moved my awards to their own page. I will be moving other things around and adding a few more pages. I should have everything complete before the weekend. Things will remain pretty much the same but I am trying to make things a little neater.

The banner for Bipolar Awareness Month will be changing to the Bipolar Disorder ribbon in just a few days. I appreciate all of your support and help during Bipolar Awareness Month and look forward to our second annual Bipolar Awareness Month in February 2010.

I also wanted to update you on my med roller coaster. My husband called the doctor and told him we couldn’t afford to have the Abilify filled so he is going to prescribe something else—Lamictal. Hopefully it will work as well as the Symbyax without making me feel like a zombie. I’ll keep you posted.

Have a great day!

For two weeks now, my husband and his best friend have been playing this game, Left 4 Dead, almost every day for hours on end. I get several hours of hearing screaming zombies and machine guns. Lucky me. Thankfully, it was just a rental and was due back again. Yes, they have rented it twice so far. I’ve considered buying it for them but then I would be stuck with the noise or they would beat it before it arrived in the mail and they would have lost interest. Actually, I hope they do lose interest. One person can only endure so many hours of listening to automatic weapons. I am about at my limit.

Speaking of zombies, I am still bordering on being one myself. The Symbyax really zonks me out and it is hard to stay awake during the daytime. I reported this to my therapist who encouraged me to ask my doctor to change my medication. I did. He changed it to Abilify, which is well over $500. If I had an extra $500 laying around I’d be in St. Louis for the weekend. There is no way I can afford it. He will have to change it to something else. As I said before, I am in the bridge of my insurance plan which means I have to pay 100% out of pocket. I cannot get help with my prescriptions because I have insurance, even though it won’t pay a dime until I reach our bridge amount. I don’t know what I am going to do. I only have one week of medicine left so even if I don’t have it changed I am still in the same boat because the Symbyax costs over $400. It is absolutely ridiculous that I have to struggle to get mental health care.

Anyway, I am determined not to let it get me down. I will figure something out.

Have a great day!