[nivaniva]

i stopped my meds 3 weeks ago. for the first two weeks i still felt fine. at the start of this week i started to feel very tired and exhausted. then on wednesday i kept feeling depressed for a little while(anywhere between just a couple of minutes to 30 minutes) then would go back to normal, then depressed again. is this normal about stopping medications?
is depression always sever depression for a bipolar person? sometimes i go through very severe depression that lasts for days, very rarely longer then a few days. other times its just a simple sad type of feeling that may last only a short period of time or a few days. so does bipolar depression always have to be at a 10 on a scale 1-10(10 the worst), or can it be like a 4?

can someone be hypomanic but not crazy seeming? like, can someone be productive, talkitive more then usual etc but seem perfectly normal(to others).. like just more energy then usual.

sorry if this didnt make sense..

i keep writing (by hand and on the computer) letters to my psychologist to describe me and my life but after going at it for an hour or two, i always rip it up or close out MS WORD.. but then i just start it all over again lol. i have no clue whats wrong with me lately but its not good.....

[~Christina]

It all depends on numerous things..

Did you stop your meds cold turkey? taper off them? is your Doctor aware of this?

Since Bipolar is unique it's almost useless to compare someones Bipolar to another. It really boils down to how your Bipolar is effecting your life.

The best advice I could give is call your Doctor and Psychologist.

Welcome to PC

[faerie_moon_x]

Well, it depends on the person. Everyone is different.

But, depression isn't always a 10. It can be anywhere on the scale of severity.

Hypomania is a lower level of mania, so a person could be speeding up but not fully manic with their racing thoughts, pressured speach, and so on. Not everyone exhibits what appears to be "crazy behavior" in mania. My mother-in-law, for example, I know when she's manic because she can't stop cleaning. But, she doesn't appear frantic or anything. For me, I just can't shut up or concentrate because my mind is going so fast, and I take on a ton of big creative projects that I never finish.

The writing over and over but closing the document, that could be what I call an "obsessive thougth loop." I don't know the technical term, but I have it all the time. I just have to keep at something even if I feel it's futile. It's very annoying and time consuming.

Why don't you print a copy of the message you sent us and give it to your therapist? That's a very good way to get her to understand what you're going through.

What you describe doesn't sound like bipolar II to me, but we can't diagnose, as folks
have said, because we aren't psychiatrists or MDs.

There is a milder form of bipolar illness called cyclothymia; that's a possibility, as is
depression without major mood shifts.

Your psychologist needs to know the information you gave to us. That's the best and
most helpful thing you can do right now to get some answers from her about what
is really going on in your life for you.

Take care of yourself and keep in touch as you wish.

[Banexatreyu]

My dad used to go starke crazy off the deep end manic. Lol running in the front yard naked because it seemed like a good thing to do at the time lol. But then it would be the aggression side later on. My friend she just has racing thoughts needs and wants to do everything and gets irritated. Those are when they went/go off of their meds. So I think with everyone it's really different. But I'm very very new to learning about bipolar. I'm still trying to understand the thins I do lol.

[ultramar]

I'm not sure I understand -did you just go off of bipolar meds? If you had episodes before going off the meds, you could compare how you've been feeling now compared to episodes you've had in the past to have an idea as to if what you're experiencing now is typical for you/of the episodes that you used to have. Have you talked to your psychiatrist about this?

[intergalactictraveler]

There's a form of bipolar called mixed state, where you have agitated depression, lethargic mania or hypomania, obsessive thinking and a general feeling of disconnectedness. I have treatment resistant ultradian cycling(several mood shifts a day)/mixed state. As everyone else has said, if what you're experiencing is problematic, you'd best bring up your symptoms or manifestations with your doctor. The worst thing you can do is think nothing is wrong or think you can handle whatever's happening, then end up going off the rails. Take it from someone who goes seriously crazy every few weeks.

[redbandit]

Agree with the others, it depends on the person and varying circumstances. My former pdoc told me that when bipolar ppl have depression, it is much more severe. I kinda doubt this is always the case, though. My depression varies a lot, as does my hypomania. Welcome to PC!