[bpdruins]

Started seeing a new pdoc (actually a nurse practitioner), and he has decided after two visits and with consultation with the hospital (I was briefly hospitalized last month) that I possibly have bipolar type 2. Now, I don't really see it because I thought that my mood swings were all explainable, and not random. But now that I think about it, I do feel low quite a bit. Does anyone with bipolar type 2 feel low constantly and have trouble with energy especially getting motivated to go out and do social things? There are times though where I do feel speeded up but not that much. Anyway, he decided to put me on Depakote, at 1000mg per night. I decided just to take 500mg for a week to try it out, and it doesn't seem to do much when I get a bunch of ideas and thoughts at night. I'm having a hard time sleeping because of that, at least getting to sleep. I'm going to try the recommended dose now, to see if it makes a difference.

[AniManiac]

I used to think my mood swings could be explained, too. I had all kinds of reasons for them: work-related stress, the weather (a common one), interactions with other people, travel, not sleeping enough, etc. Turns out a few of them were correct, and in fact all of them were accurate some of the time, but the reality was that a lot of the time my explanations weren't explaining anything.

Being bipolar doesn't mean your mood only changes randomly. It means that certain things will trigger mood swings, but sometimes it's also completely out of your control and something you can't predict at all.

So the best strategy is typically to take your meds against the random/unpredictable stuff, and know and avoid or work on your triggers to make sure the predictable stuff doesn't undermine you. For example, I have an 11 PM bedtime to avoid problems with sleep cycle getting off track and not enough sleep, because that's a sure-fire way to trigger hypomania for me. A bipolar girlfriend eats a highly restricted diet because blood sugar fluctuations set off mood swings for her, while I only get headaches and feelings of apocalypse when my blood sugar gets low (that's quite bad enough for me, thanks - and oddly, I'm the one diagnosed as hypoglycemic!)

Bunch of ideas and thoughts at night = "flight of ideas"/"racing thoughts" which is a typical hypomanic symptom, by the way!

[faerie_moon_x]

Well, yes. Bipolar II is primarily depressive. Actually, I think both are primarily depressive. A lot of times bipolar is misdiagnosed as depression. It is harder to catch someone manic, I think, because in mania most people are feeling really great. No one goes to the doctor for feeling too good.

Even bipolar people have mood swings because of reasons. They are called triggers. The difference is that a bipolar swing vs. a normal swing tends to be a lot more intense from what I understand. Harder to recover from, too.

Also racing thoughts and ideas are a big part of bipolar for a lot of people. They keep you awake, that's for sure.

[AniManiac]

Originally Posted by dark_heart_x

It is harder to catch someone manic, I think, because in mania most people are feeling really great. No one goes to the doctor for feeling too good.

I seem to remember seeing something to the opposite effect - not that it's hard to catch them (unless they run! ) but that it's easier to diagnose mania because the behavior tends to be so far out of the normal range that there are few other explanations. People who are manic are much more likely to do things that will lead to trouble and/or intervention - acting out gets attention, and a lot of typical manic symptoms are hard not to notice. It's a pretty easy diagnosis under those conditions.

I suspect hypomania is the one that's actually harder to catch, because it's hard to draw the lines between a normal good mood and an "elevated" mood when you're not doing really obviously crazy stuff like a manic episode can lead to. And who goes to the doctor just because they're feeling great? You're right - no one! So BP II can be hard to identify for that reason.

And yeah, going back to bpdruins' original post - I do spend most of my time at the depressed end of the scale, with all the associated miseries. There's a whole spectrum of what bipolar can look like, and some people rarely experience anything other than depression - and there's also the "mild" form of bipolar, cyclothymia. From what I've seen on others' posts, it seems like Depakote usually helps them sleep, so maybe the full dose would make a difference.

[bpdruins]

I read that 'flight of ideas' is rapid speech or switching from topic to topic. It doesnt seem like that. Well it does sometimes, but for the most part I have this intense concentration on subjects that I am interested in, and I feel like extra energy to read all night about them. I notice that I'm not consistent, for instance the past week I was intensely interested in learning about software development. The week before that I was engrossed with piano playing. However, this week I am maniacally searching about subjects related to cosmology and quantum physics and the origins of the universe. I all enjoy this stuff very much, but I'm overall not getting better at any of these skills as much because I keep switching interests. Tomorrow I might be back into learning more about hiking/camping. If I try to force myself back into a previous interest it is nearly impossible my mind just gives me a big 'f you im not doing it' and I can no longer process the information like I had when I was 'in the zone' like I was before. I just wish this whole switching would stop, but it seems to control me more than I can control it. Also, because of the intense interest I lose track of time, before I know it it's 5am and then I sleep all day (i'm unemployed by the way). Is this my bipolar disorder at work or this ADD?

[Trippin2.0]

I go through that exact same thing, altho my subjects of interest are not nearly as intellectual as yours. Mine, are urban legends, like Dracula ( where I try to accertain when, where and by whom these tales were started) uhm, the salem witch hunt, correlations between ancient paganism and modern day Christianty, ancient Egypt, The occult, famous serial killers ( I NEED to know WHY they committed their crimes) nephilum (sp) Well I'm sure you get the idea I research for as long as my interest holds, which is the length of my hypomania. After my mood shifts, I retain most of the info I devoured, but don't have any interest to persue the subject any further... Btw I'm not ADD altho I am BPII ... Just wanted you to know you're not alone

[bpdruins]

Trippin,

Those sound like intellectual pursuits as well. It's weird because I love feeling like that, like I can concentrate intensely and learn so much quickly. However, the switching between them is driving me nuts I just wish I could stick with one of them until I become an expert and then feel competent enough to get a job and have the same drive. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that, it feels like the interests just control me and then they change, making it impossible to stick with a job because the boredom and disinterest take over and make me unproductive to the point of not bothering to come into work or carry on. Then I'm stuck in a situation where I'm unemployed and need to find something else. This pattern just keeps repeating itself in my life, and lead to me becoming severely depressed because I realized I had a nice job and screwed it up. It also has destroyed my resume and work history because I have gaps now, because I couldn't find a job for the longest time. This lead to a severe depression because I lost confidence in myself and now I've been out of work for almost 2 years. I just wish there was an answer.

[bpdruins]

Just an update but Depakote at 1000mg is not really doing a damn thing. It makes me feel groggy and notice some stomach aches, but I still feel like my mood is volatile.