Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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FMLA????? Med Changes????

Tizzy
Tizzy
Ok so I finally went to the PDOC. Probably no body remembers but I was on here after I had this outrageous outbreak at work one week, the next I was so manic I was all over the place, and then this weekend again I was outrageous screaming throwing things hitting my husband... Totally freaking out. PDOC wants me to put off getting prego if I'm not already and he has put me on 2 new meds and doubled my dosage of the stuff I"m on. So 400mg Lamictal, 50 moving to 200mg of Seroquel, and then 25 moving to 50mg of Zoloft... OUCH! UGH! ARGH! I know I want to be fixed even if it means meds but that just seems like so much and I don't want to do it. I don't want to take that many meds at all... Please help me!

To add to that since I almost got fired with my last outburst he mentioned taking FMLA leave for 12 weeks which means getting 60% of 8.95 an hour. Which is ridiculous amounts of money... NOT! or taking 1 day a week FMLA for dr's appointments and stuff... What do y'all think...?
deleted_user
deleted_user
be prepared to be real sleepy... i know moving from 50 to 200mg of seroquel might knock you out.... did your doc mention to take those at night?
in regards to fmla... i'd do the one day a week - unless your husband brings in a substancial amount, you can't really survive on 60% of 8.95, in my opinion.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I just sent you a message asking about your meeting! How weird is that! Did you find anything out about SSDI? Or the Ticket to Work program?
dancingd
dancingd
Take the FMLA..also apply for unemployment benifits.Since you will be "under"empolyed,you should qualify for the unempolyment beni's...I did..and it came out almost the same..maybe even a little more
Tizzy
Tizzy
allison13 pdoc did say to take it at night and that it might knock me out... I am thinking seriously about the one day a week! I agree - not enough money.
Tizzy
Tizzy
dancingd - do you think I should do the one day a week or the 12 weeks and do you think the under employment would work with just the one day a week or only the 12? unemployment beni? is that just money or insurance too?
alicia29
alicia29
As you know, FMLA provides no $, but being on FMLA does NOT qualify u for state unemployment benefits. You must be unemployed or Under employed due to no fault or choice of your own. My advice would be to take the FMLA to protect your job, and to apply for SSDI immediately. I went thru this same thing. If you would like to talk about it more, please feel free to message me. Best of Luck---- xx
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hey there. Take your 12 weeks. I took 1 day here and 1 day there which didn't help me at all. I finally had a break down and decided to resign from my job because I was doing more of an injustice or what ever for them. I can not gey unemployment because you have to be able to go to interviews etc... Haven't tried ssdi. What i am saying is do you have to do for you!! I know after I quit, I felt a huge weight lifted. Now I get to travel to see my kids all over the US. We can't afford it either but it's better than burning bridges that you don't want to burn:O)
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hey there. Take your 12 weeks. I took 1 day here and 1 day there which didn't help me at all. I finally had a break down and decided to resign from my job because I was doing more of an injustice or what ever for them. I can not gey unemployment because you have to be able to go to interviews etc... Haven't tried ssdi. What i am saying is do you have to do for you!! I know after I quit, I felt a huge weight lifted. Now I get to travel to see my kids all over the US. We can't afford it either but it's better than burning bridges that you don't want to burn:O)
deleted_user
deleted_user
My son was once on 1000mg of serequel. He is in a care home due to his sever autism. I get him on the weekends, he's my teddy bear. When I found out the pdoc put him on that much serequel I went through the roof. 200 mg doesnt sound like that much to me but it is mixed w/ a coctail of other things, you may want to express to your pdoc this seems a bit extreme for you.Best of luck!
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've been on 200 mg of Seroquel and it does make me sleepy, but it is far from huge doses I've heard others have been on. I went of the Lamictal though, because both we mood stabilizers and combined they made me really zonked.

Sorry about your FMLA issues, I hope you can work something out. I don't know what you do, but I think trying to deal with this and go to work 4 days a week could prove to be way too hard.

Maybe you should try a local resource for free legal advice maybe? Good luck.
deleted_user
deleted_user
bump