My life is now virtually over. I have to hand my drivers license over to DVLA due to bipolar so no more car. No bike due to Bipolar. I have no interest in biking. Also if I get too dehydrated I get lithium poisoning which happened on Monday on a beach and the toxicity became life threatening. No sugar due to diabetes caused by tablets and no alcohol due to dehydration.
The Menai Bridge is looking more tempting by the minute

Seen your GP? You been going to therapy?

It’s chemical, there is a way through, but you have to find it. To find it, you have to look, and try different things.

Talk to someone, do it now – not random idiots on a bike forum, give the Samaritans a call. Whatever you feel now will pass, you just need help through it.

Yes. Going through my psychiatrist and GP.
Its’s so hard though

Do you think your psychiatrist is helping? Have you tried group sessions yet?

What’s happening in your life right now that’s good? What have you got to look forward to, tomorrow, next month, next year?

Whenever it got really hard for me I just thought that it can only get easier. When you’re at the bottom, you can only look up.

1 year ago, I had a stroke and as a result, I’ve not driven or drunk alcohol since. It’s hard to adjust but you will do it and you’ll come out of it stronger and more focused.

Talk to your doctor about changing your drugs. It’s in everyone’s interest that you stay active and healthy There is a new generation of medications such as Lamictal which may prove effective for you and have no side effects.

If you enjoyed biking in the past then try everything you can to get back into it. Life gets so much better when you have something to obsess and complain about. Exercise is so important to stay sane. I’m not sure why you say no more biking. If the risk is riding on the road then find a way to avoid the roads.

Good luck
Schweiz

I found that when I was experiencing the darker side of things it was the thoughts of my family that kept me going & stopped me from doing anything daft.

Speak to them, the sooner the better.

Are there any other sports you can play? Run? Swim?

I would challenge them regarding the severity of some those restrictions and certainly ask to explore ways of reducing them..

If dehydration is a major factor you need to be looking at ways to combat dehydration rather than avoiding it perhaps..?

It’s in everyone’s interest that you stay active and healthy

this more than anything, as after suffering some severely debilitating bouts of clinical depression in my youth, I have finally realised that the advice about regular exercise was some of the best advice of all..

Are there any other sports you can play? Run? Swim?

I know very little about being bipolar, sorry. But I’d suggest the above as well – getting out to do something, that makes you focus on just the physical effort, clears your mind, and gives you a bit of a buzz afterwards.

Chin up, it sounds awful, but you can pull through

Bipolar takes the want away for all physical things. I can’t even be bothered going for a shower let alone going for a run or swim. That’s why I stopped going on the bike. I put 4 stone on because of this.

It sounds like you’re currently very depressed, do you still experience the elevated moods (mania) associated with Bipolar Disorder? Please go back and talk to your GP, meds can have positive results for Bipolar Disorder. I know it’s difficult to even get to the GP a lot of the time, but please try. Biking has obviously made you happy in the past, you need to remember how great it can make you feel. Force yourself out on a little ride, or something else that was fun for you in the past, and use the elevation in mood to get to the GP.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) will help you to recognise your mood/thought/behaviour patterns and triggers, and give you more control.

If you’d like to talk privately, my email is in my profile

Chin up. There is a way forward, its just finding it. Once you get the correct meds you will feel a whole load better with it under control. Talk to your doc about different medication. Once you’ve found the key, all the problems will unlock.

Iolo hang in there it can and will get better with the right treatment and support.

I lost 5 or more years of my life living with my bipolar, partly due to both the stubbornness of my psych and me. I never tried lithium as that was my last resort, but now all I take is lamotrigine and at last I feel normal and no longer do I live one day at a time as before i never knew how I would feel from one day to the next.

2 years now without a major episode. My mood still certainly cycles but nothing like it used to. The long last winter was tough

Take care and good luck

It’s all about condition management, it may take time but you’ll get there…hang in, all the best. N.