Yesterday Rob asked me, "Why does Zeke keep acting afraid of me?" Zeke is the dog in the pic with Rob. I said, "I'm glad you asked me that. I was just reading about service dogs for bipolar patients. Apparently dogs are very sensitive to people's moods, and service dogs are trained to help out a patient when they need it. Like bringing them a special toy... and I don't really know what else they do. I just heard about them recently." Rob said, "I noticed he runs to you when I'm in a really bad mood and yelling and stuff, but like right now - I'm fine and he still won't come to me when I call him." I said, "Zeke is probably recognizing a mood that you're not aware of."
Later we went to the pdoc appointment. The doc said he looked like he had lost weight. He was wearing shorts and I don't think she's ever seen his chicken legs before. Rob told her he didn't think he's lost any weight, in fact he probably gained some weight because every night when he takes the Seroquel he is just starving and eats a bunch of crap until he falls asleep. I told him he better not cook anything on the stove after he takes that Seroquel, and he said once he made noodles and almost forgot that it was cooking on the stove.
I gave her Rob's mood chart and she immediately agreed that the Adderall meant "mission mode". She convinced us to try a Focalin transdermal patch. She said many bipolar patients with ADHD were having success with that, so we agreed to give it a try. Rob told her he liked mission mode, he felt good and like he was getting alot accomplished. I rolled my eyes, and said "You may be having a good time Rob, but no one else around you is having a good time." The doc asked him why that was. Rob told her that he won't stop until he gets what he wants, and he drives people crazy with that. I also pointed out that if anything interferes with his "mission", he gets very irritable, agitated and argumentative. He agreed that is what usually happens. I told the doc about Rob calling into work saying he was too sick to work, both physically and mentally, that he was congested and bipolar. The doc raised her eyebrows a little at that statement. She agreed that it was probably a good sign that Rob was aware that he was headed for trouble if he went into work, but pointed out to him that work was interfering with his mission mode - another reason to work on regulating his mood by adjusting his meds or sleep pattern when he feels that mode coming on. She asked him what are some indicators that he was headed into hypomania and he told her about Zeke's reactions to him. She told him that when Zeke avoids him, it's not because he doesn't like Rob anymore - he's just sensing something that Rob is not aware of. Rob said he has started to question his own mood when he sees that the dog has a problem with him.
On the way home another thought occurred to me about "mission mode". I told Rob, "You know, if you had had enough money in your hands, you would have spent every cent of it already on one of those cars that you had to have." He fought that idea for a bit, but then realized it was absolutely true. I told him that's another problem with hypomania, spending money like water.
Rob and GF broke up again yesterday. She was supposed to spend the day with Rob, but someone from her job called and asked if she could fill in for someone and she said she would. Rob flipped out over that, told her they don't to get to see each other enough, everything else takes priority over him, and if she went into work he was done with her. She went into work. So far he seems to be handling it pretty well, but he did go pickup our old permanent houseguest and brought him back home to spend the night. They were up until the wee hours this morning, apparently cleaning Rob's room because all the trash from his bedroom is now all over the kitchen. They are now sleeping in the same bed, with the dog curled up around Rob.
Yesterday Rob asked me, "Why does Zeke keep acting afraid of me?" Zeke is the dog in the pic with Rob. I said, "I'm glad you asked me that. I was just reading about service dogs for bipolar patients. Apparently dogs are very sensitive to people's moods, and service dogs are trained to help out a patient when they need it. Like bringing them a special toy... and I don't really know what else they do. I just heard about them recently." Rob said, "I noticed he runs to you when I'm in a really bad mood and yelling and stuff, but like right now - I'm fine and he still won't come to me when I call him." I said, "Zeke is probably recognizing a mood that you're not aware of."
Later we went to the pdoc appointment. The doc said he looked like he had lost weight. He was wearing shorts and I don't think she's ever seen his chicken legs before. Rob told her he didn't think he's lost any weight, in fact he probably gained some weight because every night when he takes the Seroquel he is just starving and eats a bunch of crap until he falls asleep. I told him he better not cook anything on the stove after he takes that Seroquel, and he said once he made noodles and almost forgot that it was cooking on the stove.
I gave her Rob's mood chart and she immediately agreed that the Adderall meant "mission mode". She convinced us to try a Focalin transdermal patch. She said many bipolar patients with ADHD were having success with that, so we agreed to give it a try. Rob told her he liked mission mode, he felt good and like he was getting alot accomplished. I rolled my eyes, and said "You may be having a good time Rob, but no one else around you is having a good time." The doc asked him why that was. Rob told her that he won't stop until he gets what he wants, and he drives people crazy with that. I also pointed out that if anything interferes with his "mission", he gets very irritable, agitated and argumentative. He agreed that is what usually happens. I told the doc about Rob calling into work saying he was too sick to work, both physically and mentally, that he was congested and bipolar. The doc raised her eyebrows a little at that statement. She agreed that it was probably a good sign that Rob was aware that he was headed for trouble if he went into work, but pointed out to him that work was interfering with his mission mode - another reason to work on regulating his mood by adjusting his meds or sleep pattern when he feels that mode coming on. She asked him what are some indicators that he was headed into hypomania and he told her about Zeke's reactions to him. She told him that when Zeke avoids him, it's not because he doesn't like Rob anymore - he's just sensing something that Rob is not aware of. Rob said he has started to question his own mood when he sees that the dog has a problem with him.
On the way home another thought occurred to me about "mission mode". I told Rob, "You know, if you had had enough money in your hands, you would have spent every cent of it already on one of those cars that you had to have." He fought that idea for a bit, but then realized it was absolutely true. I told him that's another problem with hypomania, spending money like water.
Rob and GF broke up again yesterday. She was supposed to spend the day with Rob, but someone from her job called and asked if she could fill in for someone and she said she would. Rob flipped out over that, told her they don't to get to see each other enough, everything else takes priority over him, and if she went into work he was done with her. She went into work. So far he seems to be handling it pretty well, but he did go pickup our old permanent houseguest and brought him back home to spend the night. They were up until the wee hours this morning, apparently cleaning Rob's room because all the trash from his bedroom is now all over the kitchen. They are now sleeping in the same bed, with the dog curled up around Rob.