[trucking_on]

Hello everyone, I have been diagnosed with bipolar, about 6 years ago, I'm 22 now.Couldn't sleep, but never felt energetic about it, regardless my pdoc at the tyme put me on Risperdal, and Depakote.Switched to Zyprexa 4 years ago 10 mg, and because of the weight gain, cut back to 2.5 and got on Trazodone 100 mg, planning on quiting zyprexa.I get decent sleep, and feel great, no more mental fog, I feel emotions like I should, BUT I am manic or euphoric, I feel no shame, I feel I could talk to anyone, every time I meet my friends, it lasts for 30 minutes after I leave them, and then I'm normal again.If I don't see them for about 1 week for variuous reasons, like college papers etc, I feel very very depresed, I see them and I'm high again.For the record, I never ever felt mania or hypomania for longer than I'm with people, and thus I never really considered myself bipolar.I mean, I never felt alive after a night of not sleeping, I just felt really tired, but unable to sleep, but the doctors told me it was bipolar.So what is your opinion?It's really odd, because I heard tales of bipolar episodes and never really clicked with what I felt.Sorry for ranting, but do you think this could be a bipolar symptom, or is just maybe normal??

[spondiferous]

Welcome to PC, trucking. I'm sorry that no one saw this sooner.
I'm not qualified to make or support a diagnosis. But what I do know is that while a lot of cases of one particular disorder may look one certain way, that does not mean that someone with differing symptoms does not have the same thing. I would suggest taking what your doctor has to say in stride, doing some more research, and seeing what you can come up with. Usually the list of possible symptoms is a lot longer than the ones that actually present. Did your doctor tell you why they thought it was bipolar?

[kaliope]

Hi trucking
Welcome to PC...if you dont agree with your pdoc, get a second opinion..they have been known to misdiagnose bipolar... im bipolar and dont always fit the traditional symptoms either but i agree with the diagnosis... you will find lots of support here...again, welcome

[ultramar]

Hypomania (which sounds like what you're describing) does generally last more than half and hour. Maybe when you saw that pdoc you had other symptoms that you didn't realize at the time pointed toward the illness, it's hard sometimes to know what's going on.

If I were you, especially with all of these heavy-duty meds, I'd get a second opinion, share what you're experiencing, your concerns. Insurance usually pays for these.