I’m having a bipolar episode. An episode that started just as a schizophrenic episode ended. My brain hurts from being manic then depressed then manic then depressed then manic and back to depressed all in the span of 30 seconds. Sometimes the cycle takes a break and I’m manic for 5 minutes and then depressed for 5 more minutes and then jerked back to the polar opposite emotion. Sometimes I’m fine for half a day.
This rapid cycling of emotions has finally convinced me to try Lithium. My doctor’s been recommending this medication for years but Nirvana’s song gave me a lasting bad impression of it. However, my liver is starting to show the wear of twenty years on psych meds and I’m willing to try something that might help my moods stabilize and ease off my liver. (Lithium is filtered through your kidneys. My kidneys are fine.)
I just started Lithium last week and am on the lowest dose. My doctor said I need to ease into taking higher dosages of the drug and it will take some time. I’ll also have blood work done every three months to make sure my body is responding to the medication well. After awhile of being stable, we can focus on getting me off of Lamictal. I’m so tired of all of this. I’m tired of switching medications. I’m tired of episodes. I’m tired of my brain hurting. However, I’m not tired of being alive. I doubt I’ll ever tire of that. So I shall switch medications. I shall endure episodes and I’ll cope with my brain hurting from time to time. I’ll live.
Gently Dented 
Karl deals with some of the same issues as regards Multiple Myeloma meds. They are all tearing down his system in one way or another, as they also keep the cancer in check. They are all effective for a period of time, then they’re not. So far there has always been another option. There is no cure. Just this life. So – I can truly sympathize from Karl’s experience with this conundrum–though not from personal experience of my own – sympathy is not empathy. But when it’s your husband it comes close.
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