I decided to try and do the things that had always been recommended to me. Go to bed at the same time each night. Exercise. Get on some kind of schedule.

It's overwhelming if you try to do all those things at once! (I have failed multiple times) so pick just one thing you want to change and build it from there. I started by going to bed no later than 10 each night, no matter what was going on. Imagine that, I felt better! Then I started watching my eating. After 5 months I lost 30 lbs and felt ready to tackle the exercise question. That led to creating a schedule. One thing leads to another. Start small and recognize it does not happen overnight. It has taken me about 4 years to get where I want to get, but I wouldn't change my habits back for anything now!

i have just accepted the fact that a 'normal' schedule or set routine just upsets and depresses me so i live life to my own schedule most of the time. if i have to be somewhere at a particular time i try to be there but other than that my time is my own. i spent long enough stuck to timetables, no more. it is a wonderful freedom and i relish it. it has taken me a long time to realise i do not have to feel bad about it just because it is not the way the world works! it works for me. i get everything done that i need to get done, my house is tidy, i work mostly during the night and that suits me fine. i'm lucky to be able to live this way.

I also follows what works for me Cecil not necessarily everyone else... I do follow a basic schedule for myself....However I stay up late usually and sleep in and that works for me..

I need to change my eating as well... I'm going to start working on that really soon... Kudos to you Halter!!!...
I stopped smoking a few weeks ago and next want to start to work on eating right but I'm giving myself a couple of months on no smoking first...

I agree with starting one thing at a time and baby steps... Small steps that can be managed without overwhelming you.... Perhaps decide on a weekend day you'll make yourself an egg and piece of toast in advance.... or have fruit and cereal...
You don't have to decide you'll do this for everyday ... You can make a choice for one day..

If you're playing a game you can decide you'll give yourself a certain amount of time...say 90 minutes and then you'll stop and have a shower... Even if you go back to it after you've accomplished your shower..
Give yourself credit for accomplishments... Every step forward is a step in the right direction...
Big hug for you...x

I try to keep a routine. I do take my meds religiously at the same time every night and I generally do not stay up late and get up early.

I run and exercise on most days but I never know when. I don't have a job or much of anything at all to do. So I do it whenever. I wish I had a job and a life and a "busy schedule" but frankly my life is DULL. VERY DULL.

I think it's cool you play video games until you win, stay up and watch netflix and eat a pan of brownies. That's what I call living. I wish I could do that. I feel so flat I can't focus on a video game and I'm so boring I don't stay up late watching tv.

So rock it! Just keep on and if you need something in a routine then make it happen, otherwise spontaneous living is enviable.

I can say, for me, the first big thing to 'stability' was sleep. Before medicine, I was up for days at a time. Then, I would sleep for days at a time. The first time I took my meds, I was in bed at 7pm. I have stuck to it ever since (with the expectation of missing meds over Christmas break). I'm usually in bed by 8:30 ( which my not sound appealing), but it's something I enjoy.

Exercising is another story. I used to love to exercise before meds. I could go for hours at a time. I was in the military and did very well in the PT aspect of it, but since meds, I hate it. I have to force myself to go. Even then, it's only a couple times a year.


Taking away the things that make you feel safe and comforted is the hardest part. The things that I used to love (like exercising and music) don't bring me joy any more, but the trade off is actually can wonderful. I may not enjoy music the way I used to or be as fit, but I can finally hold down a job and be a decedent wife, mother, student . All the selfishness that I used to feel is gone. It's not about what makes me feel good solely for myself, but what makes me feel good being good for to the people I care about. That's what has helped me.

Oh my, for give all my typos. lol

Yeah, I even messed up 'forgive' in my apology post. It's past 8:30... I can't think straight.

I can almost 99.9% positively guarantee you that those of us who have our lives under control and do the things we should be doing to live a successive life with BiPolar Disorder have all at one 1 point or another had a very, very messy life.

There are no quick answers, and we don't all do the sames things. I know for most of us, myself included we don't tackle everything at once. Tackling a Stable BiPolar life is full of baby steps. You focus on one things at a time.

The beginning to any type of Stable BiPolar life is a good Psychiatrist to work with you on medications, and a good Psychologist/Therapist to talk to and help you learn healthy coping tools/skills to navigate your life.

You can have a successful life, it takes time to get all your ducks in a row, but it can be done, many of us have full time jobs, we have kids, homes to care for, etc. and it hasn't been easy to do, but it can be done.

Hang in there,

Kat

I think it makes life, living with this illness, a little easier if its lived healthier. That's what I find. I make sure I get a lot of sleep, I try and eat healthy, take my meds and vitamins, and exercise. I've lived a very unhealthy lifestyle before, and notice a huge change in my mood and energy level now. Hope ur able to find a balance that works for you. Good luck :-)

Oh, I know! I'm just teasing myself too.

Thank you all for your input. I get a little over zealous sometimes and think I am going to completely makeover my life and myself. needless to say I burn out and fail miserably.

I am lucky that I am able to work full time though I have had more than a couple of days lately that I have wanted to just run away.

I think one of the first things I should work on is going to bed at a reasonable hour so I don't go to work on 3 hours of sleep. I have always needed my sleep. When I don't get enough my moods are all over the place.

Then maybe I should work on getting some exercise. I used to work out 6 days a week. It did take the edge off the climbing the walls feeling.

I think I do better with some sort of structure.