Bipolar2Happiness

New Relationship and Bipolar…

Depression, Grateful, Heart Felt, Hope/Inspiration, Relationships 6 Responses »

Nov 112011

Do you wonder how a new relationship survives the mood issues I have had lately? Me too!!

Today I’m sharing more on my relationship with Carl. When I met Carl I was a mess he was my neighbor at the first apartment I moved into after my husband and I separated. We said Hi to each other and general niceties but never really spent any time together. I thought he was a nice man the moment I saw him but I didn’t feel good about myself and wasnt looking for a relationship. We lived there 3 yrs as neighbors until he moved out to move in with his girl friend. I wished him the best and went on my way. A year after he moved, I ran into him at a local park and we chatted for a while. No big deal really. I was pretty stable at the time and was happy open to a relationship. Well as it turned out he had just moved out of his girlfriends house, I told him how sorry I was it didn’t work out etc.

Then a few weeks later two days before I went to court for my divorce, he tracked me down at a local store and asked me out. He proceeded to tell me that he always regretted not asking me out and he has looked for me to ask me out for a week or so. He said he was frequenting the areas my kids went to school in hoping to run into me. He assured me he wasn’t a stalker.. haha I was shocked had no idea he wanted to date, I accepted his invite to dinner without hesitation and we have dated more than a year now.

We see each other daily with a few exceptions. He has experienced some of my weird moods and he is still here. So I guess he hasn’t been scared off as of yet. I have never actually told him what my diagnosis is because he hasn’t asked. I have told him about my experience with moods and depression he knows I have had some bad years with it and this last 6 months he has experienced those moods, not the worst ones but some not so good ones. He gives me the space I need and is not offended by my moods.

I have told him that I have depression and mood issues and have talked about a lot of those and listened to him about some of my different moods that he has noticed. He knows the doctor took me out of work and that I take several medications daily for the depression. I really don’t know how he feels about all that as we haven’t discussed it yet, but he is still around and we still have a great time together, even doing nothing.

This man is amazing, he is easy to be with, easy to talk to about everything, he isn’t perfect mind you but he is funny, friendly, outgoing and loving. He respects me and all women, he is a bit opinionated on politics so that’s not a good topic. haha He is the kind of guy that opens doors for you and offers to help with anything and everything, although he doesn’t like me helping him with stuff. It’s a man thing I think.. I help anyway, sometimes. He worries about me being under too much stress but he doesn’t push his opinion on me, he respects my choices. He has supported me in helping my friend who was having marital issues even though he felt I was being taken advantage of, he voiced that but not disrespectfully. He then let me realize it all on my time. He never puts me down in any way! To me he is nearly the perfect man. He is good to my kids too and they both like him. He doesn’t overstep boundaries with them though, he respects them.

So as time goes on and we get to talk more about feelings etc I’m sure I will be posting more about this wonderful man. Wish us luck!!

Bipolar & Relationships…

Anxiety, Bipolar 2, Bipolar disorder, Depression, Fear, Loneliness, Mania, Rage, Relationships 1 Response »

Oct 062011

Have you had BAD relationships that you stuck with for an unknown reason? I have! My now ex-husband is one of them.

Let me explain a bit; When I met my now ex-husband, it was through my brother (older). They kept telling me how nice he was and how his wife walked out on him for her boss. They had a one year old son and I felt bad for them. Anyway, I met him and we had awesome chemistry and soon, very soon, decided we were in love. What I didn’t realize was that I needed to belong somewhere, needed someone to love and someone to love me, but he wasn’t the one.

Wanting to belong, and be loved was because I didn’t love me or even know me. All I knew was this bipolar mind but I didn’t know about my illness it was still untreated. Our relationship was rocky to say the least. We had this pull between us to each other but we didn’t agree on much and my moods got worse and worse. I would fly off the handle at every turn over stupid things, like leaving the toilet seat up or the lid off the tooth paste, you just never knew what was next. He didn’t and I didn’t know. His little boy was adorable but we fought about him a lot. I wanted more rules for him and he wanted none.

We began to live with each other almost immediately 3 months of dating and we were living together. Not the best idea! We were needy people and were in love, so we thought. Many times of moving out and moving back in after fights, always me moving out. We would fight and I would get into a rage and break down emotionally at the same time and I would pack my stuff and leave. I don’t know how many times that happened, it was many.

We decided to have our first child in 1994, we were not married but i had no desire for marriage. She was born 12/30/1995, it took us a bit to conceive her. He had just had back surgery (2nd one) November 29, 1995. At the time I worked full-time at an insurance agency and only had 6 weeks to stay home. My ex had to care for our baby till she was almost 1, even though he was in pain constantly. He began taking more pain pills than he should have, and got really nasty. We fought and fought but got through that time and decided in late 1997 to have another child. She was born 02/07/1999.

Backing up a bit.. When my first daughter was born my depression plummeted. I had such horrible depression and I didn’t understand why. My moods were up and down and I went into rages a lot, sometimes several times a day. After about 3 yrs I began to realize this was just getting worse. Nothing had improved and I found myself raging about her room being messed up and things that in the scheme of life meant nothing. I had no control, I had what I call out-of-body rages. It was like I was watching myself do these things from above. I never hurt her except with words and fear of me. I think that is just as bad though. I hated it and I set off to look for help…

Beginning to Date at 19…

Anxiety, Bipolar 2, Bipolar disorder, Depression, Fear, Hope/Inspiration, Loneliness, Mania, Mental Health, Rage, Relationships No Responses »

Oct 042011

I think I have established my level of depression and I didn’t know myself or like what I new about me! My friend was really bugging me about dating, I was 19 and never been out on a date… “What do I have to offer?” I said to her. I remember her laughing at me, She laughed a lot! She told me I had a lot to offer and we laughed together, how else would I respond?

She fixes me up with this guy, just come over and have dinner with us and him. Can you say Nervous Wreck?! After some coaxing I went, liked the man and dated him a few more times. I wasn’t ready to be intimate with anyone, emotionally anyway, and that what he wanted, so we dated for a short time. I remember I had not returned his call one night. It was late I was asleep, living alone, and I wake up to a banging on my windows and door. Scared me to death! It was him, and he was yelling that I was not being truthful and I had been out that night because my car hood was warm… I had been out to the store earlier and drove around the freeway a bit. At this time I had so much pent-up anger and frustration that I used to go drive around the freeways at 90+ miles an hour to release those feelings. I had been our driving our highways letting off steam! I always said if a man scared me I would never see him again. End of that!

Driving in my car was the only place I felt comfortable! I would drive around at a fast speed, cry and talk to myself in trying to work through my feelings and confusion. This was the only way I could get this rage out that swirled inside me, although it was a temporary fix. Adrenalin Junkie you could say! Today I am grateful that I never hurt anyone or myself in those tirades of driving! Thank you Lord!

I would lay in bed at night crying and hitting the pillow hating the way I felt and unable to control my emotions. This time was difficult for me, all those pent-up emotions from childhood were at the surface and I couldn’t always control it. I hated my mother, yet loved her too. I had night mares of someone holding me down but no one was there. I would wake up and be unable to move or make a sound, this happened many times a night. Yet I would wake up in the morning, go to work and pretend all was OK. Did you ever wonder why can I put on the face all day long and the second I enter my apartment I lose control of every emotion? I have wondered that many times!

Back to dating… I met another guy through my friend again, he was a nice man but I had no idea how to relate to a man. My father was distant emotionally with us kids and although we went with him most weekends he always took us to parties and we would sit in the corner and watch him drink and making a fool of himself. So here I am on a date with a nice man, he was successful and had his own condominium but I couldn’t even talk to him. Had a blank mind the entire time I was with him. I actually slept over at his house, without being intimate and that was really helpful for me but I still couldn’t talk to him. We drank a lot together and his friends were always there. I was VERY against drugs of any form and I was at his house, for a 4th of July party, and the guests were out front smoking pot. That was it for me I left drunk off my butt and barely made it home. Thankfully he lived close by. I never saw him again, he would call and I would tell him I was busy or not answer. It made me sad really, I desperately wanted someone to care about me!

I continued drinking on my own, alone at home. My brother, who was older, would buy me Rum and I would mix it with soda. My drinking was getting worse and I wasn’t eating at all. I had my 20th birthday party and my mother ordered a stripped, how embarrassing was that? I was so drunk that night tho and everyone had a great time, but my drinking was getting worse….