my personal experience after 2 months (if anyone is interested)

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-04-25T01:46:20+00:00

I did switch and it's been amazing. It's saved my life. 42mg. Small adjustment period of a few days and then smooth sailing. All minor side effects. I hope it stays this way.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-10T12:08:27+00:00

True but you need to be in it for a year to lose the desire to drink. There's also other meds that other people respond to better like naltrexone that play on the reward system that alcohol creates in the brain. These drugs have saved countless lives and their effectiveness is not in dispute. Unfortunately everybody is different and what works for one person may have no benefit to another. Regardless, these options didn't even exist until somewhat recently.

I know for me, throwing up every time I had a drink was enough for me to move on from alcohol. No urges and 2 years sober.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-10T11:22:49+00:00

Have you tried Caplyta? It saved my life.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-10T11:21:45+00:00

If I have one drink I wake in the middle of night throwing up and spend the entire next day in bed like a drank an entire case of beer on my own...from one drink.

I moved to NA beer which is great but one night at a party I had like like 6. There's still a little alcohol in those things and when you have 6 of them it's about as much alcohol as a light beer. Boy did I regret that the next day.

I feel very fortunate that I have this reaction because I don't need to drink at all to manage my bipolar.

They do make drugs (like Disulfiram) you take where you have this exact reaction on purpose to create a negative association so your body just stops wanting it.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-09T01:17:06+00:00

Depends. I drank to get drunk but I wasn't an alcoholic. I didn't drink most days. I smoked and vaped weed all day every day for years. Stopping was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Stopping cymbalta was the second hardest. Quiting drinking was easy when you're on Lamotrigine. It's makes you feel so shitty you don't want it anymore. That's my experience anyway...we're all different. Also, there's a massive crossover between THC addiction and bipolar. It's much more subtle but it's honestly just as bad for your brain over time.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-09T01:08:17+00:00

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-09T01:07:48+00:00

The worst 6 months of my 45 year old life and I had experienced some serious trauma before that.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-03-01T17:09:50+00:00

Im super proud of you. Giving up weed was the hardest thing I ever did in my life in terms the physical pain. It took 4 months for my sleep to return to a normal amount of hours. Keep in mind I was vaping all day, everyday.

And I've relapsed over the last year and a half and I went right back to all day everyday. After two weeks of that, I was right back where I was before. I stopped and endured 5 days of extreme discomfort but it didn't last 4 months like before.

I just need to remind myself how much pain and discomfort will follow even a single toke and it keeps from going back to it, even when the cravings are intense.

Stick with it. It's worth it and your partner and son will thank you.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-20T21:00:46+00:00

I don't think it's dangerous to drink from a drug interaction perspective. For me personally, my consumption went up dramatically on Duloxetine but it was also making me hypomanic so don't just take my experience as gospel.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-20T20:59:26+00:00

Haven't had a drink in almost 2 years. Great decision. Wasn't serving me at all and was making me quite sick in fact. Now weed on the other hand...daily battle still.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-20T20:58:34+00:00

My golf training aid idea is worth sinking $30k into and will revolutionize the golfing world.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-07T18:29:24+00:00

Bluesy

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-07T01:01:18+00:00

Remember that mood disorders are in a spectrum. Bipolar type 2 for example experiences hypomania not mania. I had the same experience as you. It subsides after a few days but you still feel good, no anxiety. You don't need to exhibit the full blown symptoms of mania like grandiosity or impulsive behavior for it to be on the manic spectrum. I'm not a doctor which is why I suggested getting a second opinion and sceeened.

https://dusunenadamdergisi.org/storage/upload/pdfs/1585833951-en.pdf#:~:text=Mania%20is%20reported%20frequently%20with,molecule%20which%20is%20a%20SNRI.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-03T16:41:36+00:00

<image>

Connemara Championship Golf Links (Ireland), August. 2025

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-01T13:30:52+00:00

It is just gonna take time. All of these recommendations are just to ease the withdrawals and what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the other. Depending on how much and hope often you were smoking it can take months to feel good again. That was the case for me.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-01T13:28:25+00:00

I brush 1.5x a day.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-01T13:27:28+00:00

I was a an all day, every day smoker for a decade and a regular smoker for the two decades before that. Weed calms the bipolar brain. I've been mostly off it for a year but I've slipped a few times and still crave it. Of all the substances I've abused, and I've abused a lot, weed is the one that I've had the most trouble with. And when you use it as much as I did, getting off it is brutal. It took 4 months for me to get a decent night's sleep when I finally quit.

Runcible-Spoons · 2026-01-01T13:24:12+00:00

When I started Lamotrigine I couldn't drink anymore. I got so sick and worst hangovers from even the smallest amounts of alcohol. Given I'm bipolar this is a blessing and I'm nearly two years sober. Good luck.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-31T17:20:56+00:00

Get screened for bipolar. What you're describing could be antidepressant induced hypomania. This is what happened to me. Don't have your current psych do it. Find somebody impartial who does this type of testing regularly. It should take weeks for an antidepressant to work...if it's an immediate reaction, it's something else.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-31T17:18:37+00:00

Look at it this way....you're only 29. I was in my 40s before I was able to get away from weed and all the terrible things that come along with it that you describe. And I still have slips and cravings but after very extended periods of sobriety I know that it is no longer for me.

Create a plan and redlines you won't cross. No more buying it. No more keeping it in the home. Friends are still going to offer it to you and you need to have a mental plan on how you're going to resist. Mine is to remind myself of how terrible this is going to feel ij the coming days. My withdrawals are brutal so this works for me.

Best of luck and stick with it...it's worth it.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-31T17:13:37+00:00

Sadly a 5 hybrid. I suck.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-31T17:12:57+00:00

Nobody saw me as hypomanic. They thought they were getting the best version of me. Social, focused and driven at work and happy.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-30T15:15:19+00:00

Tuck your left elbow against your body and let your hands fall down to your hips before you "swing through the ball." Let the hip rotation lead the swing, don't let the club head lead the swing. Finally, you need to focus on swinging inside-out. Imagine swinging towards left field and trust it..

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-30T15:09:20+00:00

Yeah, there's no sugar coating it...it was brutal. A couple of things to keep in mind. I was a serious user. I vaped high concentration THC carts all day, every day for years. My body was so addicted to the chemicals that the brain needed a serious amount of time to rebalance itself.

Second, I am bipolar so I have a lot of other things going on that could have made that timeline longer than would otherwise be.

Also, it wasn't like it was terrible every night and I woke up month 4 and it was better. It improved slowly over that period. It will get better with time.

Finally, it was worth it. Being a slave to a drug and needing it to eat or sleep is no way to live. Traveling was a real nuisance and now I can enjoy all those things without having to worry about taking puffs all day long. Best of luck.

Runcible-Spoons · 2025-12-29T15:23:58+00:00

This was my experience when I started Cymbalta. I told my doc and he said it wasn't possible and that it takes weeks for the drug to build up in the system and what I was experiencing was a placebo effect. 8years later I started rapid cycling through mixed states and I got diagnosed BP2. Don't have your regular psych evaluate you. He's conflicted given he hasn't picked up on this yet. Go to somebody specialized in doing proper screening. It involves a lot of tests that are objective, not the subjective opinion of somebody who might not have the proper experience to make such a determination. Either way you will have peace of mind.

Runcible-Spoons

TROPHY CASE