Things CAN improve

I haven't red these pages for quite a while now..... it's weird perhaps but just wanted to give hope to those who are suffering a lot these days, because I know now that things can change for the better.

I'm 43, with wife and 3 kids and I've hard a rollercoaster of a life until I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 in 2012. We've tried a ton of different medications, I've been to hospital a few times and was with the clinic for 10 years because I seemed to be "treatment resistant" (usually here in Finland they keep you on close watch for 2 years until they find the correct medication).

To give you an idea of how bad it got, I was granted a permanent pension because it seemed that I would no longer be able to work/function normally.

Well, I am here now to say that following the longest depression so far lasting around 4-5 years (which itself followed a difficult alternating mood), during which I was on pension, things finally started to change for the better when I started taking a new medication called Latuda. I still take 3 other medications, but this is the one that seemed to change things for me. Within a few weeks I started to feel "better", not having suicidal thoughts nor the crazy ones in the opposite way, I started to feel again the willingness to live and at some point I even decided to try and go back to work. I have been at this job for a year now and I couldn't be happier with the progress. It's a huge milestone for me and for my family, considering that we had lost hope for a "normal" life for myself and obviously, for my family to some extent.

I have always been skeptical with medicines due to the many issues and side effects that I've experienced with basically all of them, but for the first time I am feeling more optimistic about them because of Latuda. It makes me throw up, so I also need to take Ondansetron to prevent that, but at least I can function well, way beyond we thought it could be possible.

My life is almost totally normal now. I say "almost" because I still have some social anxiety and other issues that I am working on with the therapy, but at least mood wise I am in a much better place and that affects my family too.

Of course, part of me is worried that it might just be a "good phase" of my life and that things might go bad again, but somehow things feel really different now. I want to believe that this change is here to stay and I am working on making it possible.

So yeah..... I just wanted to pass by and mention this hoping it could give someone in a difficult position some hope at least.

All the best

Welcome back to the forums and so glad to hear from you! That's a very welcome report, it's always nice to hear when someone's doing well!