Hello everyone,

This is my first time starting a new thread, so bear with me.

I have anxiety and schizoaffective disorder. I had a big weekend - as some of you know, my partner sat down to his first meal with my parents on Saturday. He was nervous and overwhelmed, and I was feeling it vicariously, too. He handled it really well, and found the trust and courage to tell me quietly how he was feeling as we were leaving.

I haven't been sleeping well for four nights. I slept 4 to 5 hours continuously for three nights, and then only 3 hours continuously last night. However, last night I managed to stay in bed from 9:30pm until 6am, with the help of some PRN medication for sleep. My IBS woke me up for the first 3 nights, and then kept me awake last night, until I took some traditional Chinese medicine for it. That was very effective. The sleep medication took 2 hours to kick in, but once it did, was very effective, too.

I am taking today and tomorrow off from work. My psychiatrist is on sick leave today, and my GP is fully booked for the week, and there are 5 people already on the waitlist. I have had to improvise. I reached out to my support group facilitator, who was very helpful to guide me onto the right track.

Last time I was hospitalised for mania was in 2021. Last night, I felt like mania was about to start, so I immediately put my Wellness Plan into action. This is a document I have compiled over the years, with help from my previous case manager, that lists early warning signs, strategies for staying well, distractions for overwhelm, my medication regime, key contacts and what my carers can do to help.

I think I am back on the right path, now. My carer and I worked together last night and this morning to draw up a medication regime that I think will do the job. I had hoped to get some input from my doctors, however, I couldn't. So we did our best.

Can anyone in our wonderful SANE community offer me any further advice, affirmations or suggestions? I feel euthymic (normal, stable and level mood) now. Just throwing this out to the brains trust, in case anyone can offer some pearls of wisdom to support me on my journey.

Thank you, everyone!

@tyme @Shaz51 @MJG017 @Glisten @Oaktree @Healandlove @Ru-bee @Jynx @rav3n @PeppyPatti and everyone else who stumbles across this