Hello again and thanks for the replies! I've been in a mixed state that I don't know when started, but it ended yesterday with a depressed state. The last three days of that episode I was very hypomanic. I barely ate and I got a lot more paranoid. So I went to a friend and she said I should think about the people around me, and I think she's right. I need to make it easier for my boyfriend. So I am now on Zyprexa 2.5 mg and I'm going to see if that helps me much.
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Originally Posted by Miguel'smom
If you do choose drugs let trusted pdoc know this it effects which meds you can take safely.
Are you sure some of this has nothing to do with your medication?
If you do choose no meds. Would you be able/willing to do therapy more then 1x a week?
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Yes, I will do that! As soon as I get a new pdoc! I have no idea why I'm like this, actually. I was fine with being intimate during the first 6 months with my boyfriend. I would definitely be willing, but my T says I should just go to rehab and he doesn't want to refer me to any therapy other than that. I know I can stop my addiction if I get the right help, but that would be help with my moods and mainly depression, not rehab. I've been to rehab, it made me want to try injecting stuff and it made me smoke almost twice as much weed. So I'm going to do what I know is good for me, not what my silly T says. If I can find a good place for therapy and make it work then I'd prefer that over meds.
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Originally Posted by ultramar
Are you considering trying a different medication for depression?
On a different note, you wrote:
I told them "I have bipolar", and lately they told me "at first we didn't believe you had bipolar". So basically they didn't believe me and I see no reason why I should trust them.
And you seem to be considering switching providers because of this. But I'd point out that they said "they didn't believe you had bipolar," not that they didn't believe you. I think it's an important distinction. It doesn't mean they thought you were lying, just that they had a different opinion about your diagnosis. I think many clinicians prefer not to diagnose someone based on their self-diagnoses and prefer to put the pieces together themselves to come to a conclusion. For example, although I came to my current psychiatrist with a diagnosis of Bipolar I, he would not officially diagnose me until he himself had witnessed a manic episode. This makes sense to me. I think he was being careful, and keeping an open mind, on my behalf, and I respect him for that. So I personally don't think they're untrustworthy just based on what they said there.
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Thank you for the summary! I read it a few days ago and it was helpful.
Yes, I'm considering a new AD, but not until I get a pdoc that I can trust.
I get that they don't want to trust my self-diagnosis, but yes I am also angry that they would trust their own intuition about me over my years of knowledge about dealing with this and all the people I said they could call to confirm what I told them. I do not see how they could take me off my meds and not believe I had bp2, when I said it so very clearly, if they did not also believe I was lying.
Thank you for taking the time to write back and for the concern!
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Originally Posted by cool09
Your psychiatrist diagnosed you with this? And the anti-depressant induced a manic episode? Studies show that 20% of BP patients experience mania when an anti-depressant is added. That's why some Doctors avoid prescribing ADs for BP patients. If this happened then your Dr. should take you off the AD and try something else.
You won't suffer any permanent brain damage or permanent side effects from newer psychotropic medications. There are only a few meds that have long-term permanent side effects like Topomax (tardive dyskinesia) which your Dr. should warn you of. And lithium should be monitored (for kidney function) if you take that.
Do you experience severe agitation? Because that's what zyprexa is used for. Zyprexa is not used to stabilize mania, it's an anti-psychotic.
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Yes, but I don't know how manic I was. It probably couldn't have been classified as hypomania because there were psychotic symptoms, but I'm not sure. I stopped the AD myself and the doctor agreed with my decision. That's very good to hear! Phew! I hope I can find some good meds with few side-effects and few risks.
Yes I have a lot of agitation when I'm hypo or mixed. I googled this and found a research paper indicating that Zyprexa is just as and possibly even more effective than Lithium for stabilizing acute mania, so are you sure you are right about this? Several APs are used for mania.
My brain is fudge now so if this sounds cold and unappreciative I'm sorry. I'm really thankful for the help!