Julia S

We hear so much about the societal impact & psychiatric symptoms of manic depression (bipolar.) I hope to hear from fellow bipolars & other interested parties about a physical problem I've been experiencing that I believe is connected to the illness. Some background: I am 36, female, diagnosed about 6 years ago, first episode was a depression at age 12 or so. My M/D as an adult is very seasonal. If I'm going to go manic, it always happens in spring or summer. I'll call the problem I'm experiencing a "fluid balance" issue. I have virtually no sense of thirst. If I force myself to drink more than the three cups or so I have with meals, I simply pee it out. If I exert myself (playing tennis, for example) & I get past a certain point (my face will feel hot) I'll know I'll have a bad dehydration headache later. Drinking water doesn't help; sports drink might. I can also overheat after going up & down stairs & in the sun, not as bad, more like a flush. I'm not menopausal. Thoughts? Thanks!

I'm 35 and I think I'm perimenopausal. Over the past six months or so my periods have changed to a stop and go pattern. I've also started getting bad headaches on the first day, particularly in the spring and summer. So anyway, I'm about to have a bunch of blood tests and wondered if there was an optimum time in my cycle for the progesterone, estrogen, FSH, etc. levels to be tested.

I am trying to cut down on wheat flour by replacing some of it with rice flour in recipes for things like pizza dough, cookies and cakes. Can anyone provide guidance as to how much you can replace, whether this alters the finished product and how to compensate for any changes?