How well do bipolar medications help at regulating moods?

Asked by ItalianPrincess1217 (11979) November 15th, 2011 from iPhone

I was diagnosed with bipolar about a year ago by my psychologist but I stopped going to therapy and never followed up on his referral to a psychiatrist. He thought I would greatly benefit from being on medicine (but he couldn’t prescribe any). I was going through a tough time and stopped going to the sessions. I thought maybe I could handle it on my own without medicine. I’ve never been a big fan of taking pills to be “normal”. But I am realizing more and more each day that medication may be my only means to a halfway normal life. I can’t remember the last time I had a calm, normal day. I have meltdowns all the time. I have anger outbursts. My mood swings and ups and downs greatly impact my relationship. Plus I just had a baby and I would never want this illness to come between our bonding. So far it hasn’t. But one day, who knows. My partner has been very patient with me. I’m so thankful for having him in my life. But he doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. The problem is, no matter how hard I try to control my moods, I can’t. When I’m having one of my episodes, the slightest thing sets me off. I can’t live like this anymore. So my question is, will medications improve my moods? Regulate them? I don’t want to be a zombie. But I do want to be happy.