What age did you become aware that you had Bipolar?

LiveThroughThis · Aug 26, 2012, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eliza Jane

I'm BP II and like a lot of other BP II folks I spend a lot more time depressed than hypomanic. And I often (but not always) am pretty functional during hypomania. So for many years my pdoc's and t's and I thought it was "just" major depression. My first episode was probably around age 8 and they came and went through the years and became very severe mid-20's.

I wasn't diagnosed BP II until this year (age 33). The amazing thing is that somehow I didn't occur to me sooner and my pdoc's never bothered to fully explore it. The pdoc's always just commented on the fact that the only things which seemed to help me were mood stabilizers and AAP's (hmm.....) and the hypomanic reaction I had to Wellbutrin was quickly forgotten. I also think a lot of my hypomanic behavior was mislabeled as anxiety by me and the folks around me. (I do also have anxiety issues, so that clouded the picture.). I think when we came to the BP II dx, it felt like finding that missing puzzle piece that fit perfectly.

In summary, it has been a long journey, but my answer is 33.

Best,
EJ

This is practically my background, word for word. I've had anxiety since childhood, and I wonder to this day if it was actually hypomania (as now when I get more anxious, often my hypomania/irritation will simultaneously accelerate).

Even having been diagnosed with depression at a young age, it seemed appropriate at the time. But as I grew older I think in the back of my mind I wondered, "is that all there is? Do depressed people cut to get the rush of emotions that can't be contained, out?" Maybe so, but more times than I can count as a teen I would feel completely overwhelmed by hard, awful emotions that flooded my body/brain, and cutting alleviated that some. I finally stopped that, but I guess looking back it was anxiety? Anxiety as a common term was not really used--that I can remember--until the last 10 years or so....

Anyway, I wanted to thank you for your post---it is so similar to me.

Mollie May · Aug 26, 2012, 05:07 PM

Age 30 at diagnosis. Symptoms since at least age 14 or 15 but childhood abuse made doctors focus more on that than BP.

bluemountains · Aug 26, 2012, 08:11 PM

For me, I can look back to my childhood and realize that something was wrong. I understand now that some of my behaviors were a result of csa, but others were signs of bpII. I would lay in a locked room in the dark room for hours in high school and college. I also was a big risk taker, not giving any thought to consequences. In my early years I SI'ed. I saw a t in college, but stopped that after a few visits. My behaviors then were thought to be the results of college freedom.
Finally, after I had my children I sought treatment. I only saw my gp and she treated me for depression, but I had to keep changing meds. When I ran out of options and went through a major depression, my gp insisted that I see a pdoc and suggested I see a t. This is when my dx changed, after all of the testing. It was just a year ago. Now my early life makes sense.

sugahorse1 · Aug 27, 2012, 02:02 AM

Been depressed from probably the age of 16. Diagnosed when I was about 23 with Major Depressive Disorder, and a few weeks later, with a new pdoc, changed to BP

polar_bear1 · Aug 27, 2012, 04:47 AM

got diagnosed bipolar1 in 2004(26yrs old)- full blown mania, overthetop and hospitalized... 9 months earlier I was diagnosed with depression and put on Zoloft- which shot me up in mania.
I remember being hypomanic, sleeping very little and then getting depressed in my teens, around 16,17 yrs old. Depression was during wintertime and I worked like crazy during the summers... Should have gotten help earlier, but didn´t feel it was that "bad".

Aug 27, 2012, 03:16 PM

Diagnosed BP I at 17, just two weeks shy of 18. Though I believe I'm more representative of schizoaffective based on the upcropping of psychotic episodes outside of mood swings... And I think I showed signs of SOMETHING even as young as 4, but that might have been trauma induced acting-out or whatever. Regardless. 17 was when the DX happened, 16 is when I personally noticed that there was something "not right".

Faraway tree · Aug 28, 2012, 06:57 AM

Knew at 19, helped myself until 26 but it jst got worse and worse, got help/diagnosed/crazy pills at 26. I love crazy pills. I can't believe what happened up until now even happened, feels like waking from a bad dream/trip.

Aug 28, 2012, 07:01 AM

I was treated for depression for years and years. It wasn't until I finally got in with my pdoc on a long enough basis that he could really track my symptoms over time that he reached the bipolar diagnosis. I think even he treated me well over a year, maybe two, before he decided what he was seeing was bipolar because I spend the vast majority of my time depressed. But he finally saw me go into awful suicidal mixed episodes several times and changed the diagnosis to bipolar.

missbelle · Aug 28, 2012, 07:48 AM

Not me but my youngest daughter......She was dx. at 13

Aug 28, 2012, 08:56 AM

My onset was at age nine. Only this year I was dx'd and we traced back my history to my onset.

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What age did you become aware that you had Bipolar?

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