And so the ride begins

In November 2011 I saw my family doctor to get blood test results. After everything came back normal we talked a little bit and she decided to put me on antidepressants, Paxil to be exact, thinking I was depressed. I had always had a history of depression since I was a teenager, but this was the first time I had ever taken anything. The month of November was a horrible one. I became so irrational, I stopped eating, my friends and Jonathan had to remind me (or force me) to eat, I lost weight, I didn't want to do anything but lay in bed, being the most depressed I had ever been in my life. In December I saw my doctor to see how the Paxil was going. When I told her what was going on she stopped it right then and there. Then she said something that shocked me. She thought I had Bipolar Disorder. She put me on Seroquel to see if that would help. I refused to see a psychiatrist, because partly I didn't want that definitive diagnosis. But finally I broke and said I would go see one and my referral was put through. I didn't get a call until February of this year. By this point I was over 32 weeks pregnant and not on any medication because of 2 miscarriages the previous spring and they refused to see me. I was highly disappointed but figured maybe it was a sign I didn't need to see anyone special.

After Cédric, my second son, was born in April I became sick with a bad kidney infection. Afterwards I became depressed again, not wanting to go out, or do anything really. I saw my dr and she said I most likely had postpartum depression, but she wanted to put in another referral for the psychiatrist to see me so that we could get this worked out sooner rather than later. 

Yesterday I finally had that appointment, two months after my referral. I saw Dr. Séguin, a very nice older man, and he confirmed my dr's diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. So as of August 8, 2013, I have joined the ranks of Catherine Zeta Jones, Russel Brand, Demi Lovato, Beethoven and Isaac Newton. 

Today I started the road to being medicated. I am being put on 300mg of Lithium, but first I had to go through a battery of blood tests to make sure I was healthy and so that specific things, like my thyroid, could be monitored. For the next few weeks, until we get my dose right, I have to go for blood tests each week, and have my medication adjusted accordingly. Once my levels are right, I only need to go once every 6 months. This may not be the start of my story, that happened years ago when the signs started showing as a teenager, but this is where my true story will start, accepting the fact that I may have to take medication for the rest of my life, so that I have a happy and stable life.