[GoingProSoon]

I believe I may have a mild to moderate case of bipolar disorder. Nothing severe but it does effect my motivation. I am self diagnosing from what I have read and learned in school so far. I just am here to see others opinions. I do have trouble sleeping, I clench my teeth at night. I cannot eat unless I smoke marijuana (I had trouble eating prior smoking marijuana ever). Marijuana seems to relax these anxiety symptoms I tend to roll with in daily life. I have tried putting myself through exposure and response therapy, to some avail. I cannot shake my anxiety symptoms away though, being in public. I am a bodybuilder and yes I take steroids and this is what I love to do and always have ever since growing up, watching Arnold, Zane, Dorian Yates, and my father. So I will say that I have had anxiety issues much before my steroid use and they actually have not gotten worse. My problem is my appetite and sleep. I tend to let conflicting situations mess with my emotions. For example: I get really mad and impatient if I'm stuck on a school assignment. My sex drive rolls up and down, I am using testosterone and I balance my estrogen out with an anti-aromatase. I know that my sex drive is effected by my brain. I have been able to keep some "downing" "depressive" thoughts at bay by telling myself that I'm great and keeping my ego up. My goal is to change bodybuilding, however I cannot do this without an appetite, and frankly, marijuana is too expensive to keep buying. A doctor a long time ago prescribed me klonopin, but never diagnosed me with mania, he just said I have anxiety bad, which I do. As you can see I also have some OCD, but my ocd is easy for me to keep under control. I just want an appetite without smoking, I have been against medication for years but I feel that my anxiety or bipolar disorder, is holding me back with too much fear. As stated before, I also have trouble sleeping and concentrating. I have fast bursts of energy sometimes where I feel awesome and wanna feel like that all the time, super periods of increased sex drive that lasts for like 1 week then it drops below baseline again. I have studied lithium and honestly I refuse to take that. Anything that messes with my thyroid is off the list. Would benzos be a good choice for mania? I ask because I saw this on the webmd website. Thanks! I have plenty more to discuss just ask!

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[kaliope]

hi goingprosoon
Benzos really do not treat mania. A mood stabilizer is necessary for that. there are far more many choices than lithium. i take topamax and geodon. it was difficult finding the right meds for me as i am very sensitive and get all the contact your dr immediately side effects but with much persistence we finally found the right med combo. i do not get side effects from either of these. i am actually weaning off the geodon and just going to be on the topamax. but there are so many meds out there for bipolar stabilization. if i didnt like the side effects i immediately stopped the med and asked for another. my docs didnt like me for that but if i wasnt showing signs of improvement i wasnt going to waste my time staying on it or upping the dose. you really have to be a strong advocate for yourself. welcome to psych central. you will find we have several forums where you can post about your concerns and receive feedback from other members. you will get a lot of support here. again, welcome

[raspberrytorte]

Benzos will help with your anxiety. Don't know about mania though. They don't help me with that. They didn't last time.

Hi going pro soon, welcome to PC! I or no one here can tell you if you are or aren't, and by looking at all the hormones your taking, nor would a pdoc be able to, too. One would have to let the body stabilize and be clean and clear for awhile before any kind of diagnosis can be assessed. Pdocs won't diagnose an actively drinking/drugging clients till their system clears because mood changes through drug use mimics bipolar symptoms. They must rule out all other possible causes to get a true diagnosis. If you feel that you are, please consult a pdoc to get the attention that you think you need.

[GoingProSoon]

My bipolar symptoms are very very small. Definitely not enough to where I need meds. My anxiety is where it makes it difficult for me to complete daily tasks. I wake up nauseous and anxious for no reason at all, smoking marijuana alleviates this asap. I always think people are staring and talking bad about me in public. I bite my nails and crack my hands and have a hard time being in public. I worry about money and stuff that hasn't happened but could happen etc.

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[GoingProSoon]

This describes me down to a T. My mood swings are rare and very very short lived and not dangerous. I struggle mostly with worry and self worth sometimes, but I connect that to not wanting to be in public. I also have strange sexual fantasies. Sometimes I'm super ready to have sex and other times I'm not. However I don't think this can be ONLY linked to bi polar depression, because steroid use fluctuates estrogen which has an essential effect on drive and libido. I know I need some sort of help. I've been to a psychologist and they are just so quick to refer to a psychiatrist and Effexor. I'm not depressed lol, I have anxiety that rules me.



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