1 year after Manic Episode and NO Meds!!!

[vsantos]

I've been gone for a while, trying to get my life back together for me and my 3 year after a whole year of CHAOS!

  It has been a year now that my husband had his first Major Manic Episode (tried to commit suicde, was psychotic, paranoid).
  He is still in denial and taking no meds. He has left us 5 months ago for good and now lives with a woman woh happens to suffer from Boderline Pers+Bipolar.
  But here is my question. Anyone has experienced or had a family member who eventually even without Meds recovered 100%.
  My husband, 1 year later, seems to be a more calm, less 'suspicious' of me, less defensive and trying to be more engaging in our daughter's life. But then his life is still a mess, no job, no stable place to live, just the fact that he accepts his reality now living with a very Sick woman woh lives in a very dirty home tells me he is not the same Man I met 13 years ago.
   Will have ever be the same again, without meds.
   I just wanted to be more 'relaxed' about it, I wish I felt comfortabel/safe letting him out with our 3 year old, and sometimes I think it is not fair to 'See' him like this 'crazy' person. But at the same time my 3 year old's life is my responsibility.
   And the worst part is he doesn't allow me to talk to his doctor so I have no feedback.
   But even with good changes in his behavior , we're still gonig to court in 2 days to establish Supervised visitations w/ our daughter..
  Anyone??? Any input???

[Xila31]

The tricky thing with bipolar is that there is periods of what is called  "normal" in which episodes are less or seem to be not there at all. Function improves, moods seem regular, there is clarity. Bipolar and suicide are like shadows and demons. They can hide inside of you, trick you into thinking you are better, and then suddenly they are back with a vengance. It is hard to say what will happen since they get everyone differently.

Bipolar is mostly depression for most people. If he hasn't had depression yet he might. For diagnosis people only ever need one clear episode of mania in their life. Most have more than that, but that's the standard from what I understand. So, pray it doesn't come back but be ready if it does. Be ready for depression, too. That is just as devistating.

I'm glad you are taking care of your daughter and moving forward. That's all you can do sometimes.

[adel_ezz]

no rule. you can stay well for years and all of a sudden an eruption comes. based on my personal experience afdter the mania comes the depression but once this didn't happen and i stayed well for a whole year not needing an AD then all of a sudden depression arrived.

don't worry he will be back sooner than you think

perhaps he is not telling the truth abt taking meds to gain custody of your daughter, should the court knows perhaps he loses the case or at at least the visitations , you can never tell how a BP pt think

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I think one of my aunts has never took medication and has bipolar disorder and she seems to have held down a job for a long time and such.  She gets emotional at times but doesn't seem to be out of control without medication.  I don't know what type she has if she does have it but I was told nearly everyone on that side of the family has bipolar disorder and she's been described as "crazy" by someone else who knows her but this was before before I knew her.

John Forbes Nash Jr. also recovered from paranoid schizophrenia without medication allegedly which can be even more severe than severe bipolar disorder (although the opposite can also be true of course where bipolar disorder could be even more severe than severe schizophrenia) so I guess there's always hope.

I also functioned while suffering with symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia myself for the longest time (although with difficulty) before I finally had my first full psychotic break and then couldn't function without medication at all as another example.