I've brought this topic up before with little response so I'm happy to see it again. I am bipolar and have been on meds for several years, I've been on T for about 3 years now. I also happen to be rapid cycling bipolar, sometimes even going from one end of the emotional spectrum to the opposite end in a single day.
I've had varying degrees of difficulty with being both bipolar and on T. For the first few months everything was fine, I began in September and I developed very quickly. Even my endo was surprised when within two months I was no longer menstruating, my build and weight had completely changed (due to fat redistributing) and I had started growing facial hair. I was up to date on my blood tests, had not been taking larger doses or extra ones and everything was in normal order. My endo was amazed at how well my body took to T and said over and over again that she had never had results like mine so quickly. So that whole part was going beautifully. THEN around January I began having severe panic attacks and suffering extreme periods of depression. By the end of February I was pretty much a shut in and could not leave my home without having anxiety attacks. The attacks were bad enough and frequent enough that I ended up in the ER several times just over the thought of having to leave my home for something like work or an appointment. Before March came around I was on medical leave from work.
This lasted all through the summer and only got worse. At one point I began self harming which had never been an issue for me in the past. I also was never someone who contemplated suicide but it began feeling like an option. I sat at home by myself and just basically went insane. Had anyone been completely aware of what I was like when no one else was around I probably would have ended up in a hospital. I burned myself with cigarettes all over my arms and shoulders, I eventually even got dropped by my therapist due to an inability to attend sessions (apparently crippling anxiety that keeps you home bound is not a good enough reason to miss therapy with her).
My doctors tried several things over this time period, different anxiety meds, attempts at different kinds of therapy, etc. Somehow no one realized that the two things (T and bipolar) were linked and creating the problem. I ended up loosing my job because I couldn't return to work once I ran out of leave time. Altogether I was on medical leave for over half a year and then didn't return to working until just the beginning of this year (originally my medical leave began in 2008 so it took 2 years before I could work again).
Around September I had the realization on my own that these problems began around the same time I was put on my regular dose of T, which of course was higher than the injections I had been getting up until that point. I was taking biweekly through injection. I called the pharmacist on site with my endo and discussed the theory with her. She agreed that it could be the key to my problem and had me switch to weekly shots of Xmg at a time. Since then it has pretty much been smooth sailing. For whatever reason my bipolar disorder was basically increased and speed up (as far as cycling goes) by the rise and fall of the hormones in my body.
Recently I was going through a lot of hard financial times and actually wasn't able to afford my T. I spent about two months taking lower doses than prescribed and going longer time periods between shots so I'd at least be able to go back on it regularly without having to start from scratch basically. I've now been back on my regular doses for about a month or a month and a half. Once again I'm having problems with my bipolar disorder getting worse and a moderate amount of anxiety. At this point my doctors have decided to change the medication I am on for my bipolar disorder. I'm supposed to see a new psychiatrist about it in the next month hopefully, depending on the date my insurance kicks in and how long I have to wait for an appointment with the specialist I've chosen.
SO... in my experience the two things combined have been hell. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm much happier with my body and physical appearance I would honestly just stop and live pre-T forever. At this point though I doubt I could ever go back the way my body was without T and still manage to be happy that way, so this is just how it is. Hopefully I can manage to find a new medicine that works for my bipolar disorder because at this point the doctors are thinking I may have become resistant to my current med Lamicital (I can never spell it properly). And hopefully the process of finding that medicine won't <not allowed> me up too much. I'm actually really worried about that, I finally got settled into a new job that I love and have began making friends there (as well as making GOOD money). I guess no matter what happens I'm just going to have to push through. Plus I made sure to sign up for short term leave insurance and things like that this time so if it doesn't go well I have something to fall back on without concern of loosing my job or my entire income.
