Your story is one that's familiar to me and I appreciate the courage it takes to face the realities you describe. In my experience you have really nailed the important elements of dealing with these seriously disabling conditions, and comments like yours are enormously helpful to informing people about the nature of the problems.
The comorbidities and family history are often similar to your situation. I often said "comorbidity is the rule not the exception", and ADHD and bipolar D/O are known to be highly heritable conditions.
Tolerability of stimulant medications is usually quite good. Can't say the same for agents available for bipolar D/O, it's especially devilish to manage when ADHD and mood D/O are both present.
I glean that you've responded pretty well to treatment and that's great. One thing I learned is that treatment can help patients improve tremendously, essentially functioning in the "normal" range. In the treatment field we consider "normalization" to be the "gold standard" of success. It takes time, years in most cases, but the benefit of persistent treatment is in my view extremely clear.
The key advice I always offered was "keep up the good work".
The comorbidities and family history are often similar to your situation. I often said "comorbidity is the rule not the exception", and ADHD and bipolar D/O are known to be highly heritable conditions.
Tolerability of stimulant medications is usually quite good. Can't say the same for agents available for bipolar D/O, it's especially devilish to manage when ADHD and mood D/O are both present.
I glean that you've responded pretty well to treatment and that's great. One thing I learned is that treatment can help patients improve tremendously, essentially functioning in the "normal" range. In the treatment field we consider "normalization" to be the "gold standard" of success. It takes time, years in most cases, but the benefit of persistent treatment is in my view extremely clear.
The key advice I always offered was "keep up the good work".