MusicalTourettes

Not a physician but I do have a PhD. My secret weapon is lithium. Without lithium I'd never have made it.

I'm bipolar and had my second kid this year. Throughout the pregnancy and newborn months my husband kept enthusiastically saying how much better I'm doing, how many tools I've learned, etc. He was amazed. I could have chosen to be insulted but I was grateful because it's hard to see my own progress. Evidentially there had been a lot.

This never occurred to me but I used to be a magnet for mosquitoes and can't remember getting more than a couple bites per year the last decade... Fascinating!!!

I tried every med my doctor's suggested for 5 years but resisted trying lithium. I was young and stubborn and thought taking lithium meant I was "really" crazy. Then after my third hospitalization I tried it and it changed my life. The daily suicidal ideation just evaporated. The constant anxiety over trivial things went away. I could focus on learning skills to deal with my distorted thinking and actually improve my life. It was pure magic.

The next year I applied to grad school. It was very very hard but I used a lot of self care, stayed in therapy, and now have a PhD and my dream career (running interdisciplinary R&D projects building medical devices).

Former Pacific Sound member here, they are multi year Sweet Adeline International champions. I got to sing with them at Regionals but never Internationals. Barbershop is awesome! My favorite musical style to perform with a group.