Hey guys, first poster here.
I'm 31, have led a rather severe course of Bipolar 1 disorder from roughly age 11 -- did not experience first severe, unprovoked (no psych meds) mania until age 19.
Took me until about the age of 25 to finally discover that Lithium worked near miracles for both sides of my spectrum. It can be an absolute hell. The mixed manias are the worst, when I go 7+ days no sleep and every effort goes towards NOT becoming unglued completely in public and screaming at everybody.
Anyhow, having read every post on this thread I must lament for those of you who "think" you might probably "have" bipolar disorder -- it's usually obvious enough that you need to do SOMETHING about it.
So as of about 12 months, I have TLE. I have had about 9 grand mals in 12 months, even with carbamazepine on board.
Tegretol absolutely ANNIHILATES all antipsychotic/neuroleptic medication, meaning causes it to metabolize in less than 2 hours rather than 12+... any advice, guys? In order to get one night's sleep I usually have to go off my seizure medication.
A little advice I may add for the bipolars, or would be bipolars:
Don't get TOO excited for what a psychiatrist may have to offer you as far as medication goes. I've been around the block with some of the TOP-top doctors -- and while my case has been particularly difficult to treat, sure, MOST of the psychiatrists are not effectively treating their bipolar patients. Those who actually MAKE it all the way to diagnosis? Of those, how many are JUST SIMPLY satisfied with Lithium or whatever medication? I'd wager that fewer than 5% bipolar folk are truly happy with their treatments.
As far as TLE:
Please don't go getting your brain hacked up by a surgeon -- never worth it. You can't expect to have a perfect life with TLE, but slicing into gray matter is SUCH a different story -- it's almost like getting a really really ugly tattoo! Most surgery recipients probably end up worse over time happiness-wise, and this is really something to consider.