BiPolar unusualy pattern(s) even Dr. bewildered.

I have a friend who has had severe Bipolar for decades, when she was a teen it came on and it seemed as it was uncontrollable until one Dr suggested putting her on MAOi medication(s) Parnate to be precise. She did well for many years but then Parnate "pooped out" for some time and other medications were tried but none of them achieved the desired effects. Eventually Parnate was re introduced and she began to feel better, this has been going on for the course of 15 years now.

She has been off of Parnate since September and her depression has gotten worse, Parnate may be introduced but we are not certain when. Right now the base of her treatment is Cymbalta and Seroquel, she was given Zoloft and Zyprexa which caused very unusual symptoms so they were removed.

What is happening now is that all she does is whisper when she is communicating even though she can speak normally she will not do anything more than whisper. We are not certain why she is doing this.

The other very unusual thing we have seen and her doctors and nurses have verified this is that whenever she is left alone she will sit quietly and she appears to be at ease, however when medical staff or visitors show up her anxiety intensifies to a point where she is practically shaking and trying to do things she should not do such as get up abruptly since she is a fall risk, she will also listen to the Dr's and take medications accordingly, she is very cooperative with taking her medications but she does not want to eat her meals, she will only eat very small amounts of the meals. I can understand somewhat about the meals but what is confusing to all of us including her doctors and medical staff is that when she is left alone she is pretty much at peace but once she has visitors she has a much higher anxiety level. Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

She also has a pattern of listening to commands and immediately responding to them. For example if you ask her to sit down she will do so without thinking or even go against it, it just automatically happens. When she was trying to get up i asked her to lay down and her back just went back like clockwork. It seems as if she cannot override external commands.

I have a friend who has had severe Bipolar for decades, when she was a teen it came on and it seemed as it was uncontrollable until one Dr suggested putting her on MAOi medication(s) Parnate to be precise. She did well for many years but then Parnate "pooped out" for some time and other medications were tried but none of them achieved the desired effects. Eventually Parnate was re-introduced and she began to feel better, this has been going on for the course of 15 years now.

She has been off of Parnate since September and her depression has gotten worse, Parnate may be introduced but we are not certain when. Right now the base of her treatment is Cymbalta and Seroquel, she was given Zoloft and Zyprexa which caused very unusual symptoms so they were removed.

What is happening now is that all she does is whisper when she is communicating even though she can speak normally she will not do anything more than whisper. We are not certain why she is doing this.

The other very unusual thing we have seen and her doctors and nurses have verified this is that whenever she is left alone she will sit quietly and she appears to be at ease, however when medical staff or visitors show up her anxiety intensifies to a point where she is practically shaking and trying to do things she should not do such as get up abruptly since she is a fall risk, she will also listen to the Dr's and take medications accordingly, she is very cooperative with taking her medications but she does not want to eat her meals, she will only eat very small amounts of the meals. I can understand somewhat about the meals but what is confusing to all of us including her doctors and medical staff is that when she is left alone she is pretty much at peace but once she has visitors she has a much higher anxiety level. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Another thing I have seen is that she is very responsive to external commands quite similar to a dog. If you ask her to sit down her body will do it, there will be no question no awareness of surroundings (meaning she will sit down even if there is no chair to sit on) This also happened when we were in the Emergency room, she was trying to get up and I told her to lie back down and her back immediately plopped right back down to the top of the bed there was no time between my command and her minds responsiveness to it, as soon as I said it she just did it.

When she goes to stand and walk it seems as if her mind is not communicating with her body, what happens is that the starts to go forward but her head arches forward resulting in potential falls.

She has been ill in the past but these patterns are very unusual. I desperately want to help her to get better and I know it is going to be a long road to recovery, but I cannot see someone go through this for possibly the next 30 to 40 years.


Thank you in advance.

I obviously can't say what is going on with her but she is lucky to have a friend who cares. Last year I was hospitalized to go off a med I'd been on at high doses for a long time that was no longer working and get onto another med to replace it. I chose to do this rapidly which meant I knew going in I'd feel horrible but not for as long as I'd feel bad going through it slower.

While I was going through the change I felt like someone had pulled my skin off and I was just open nerves. I could lay in my bed with the door closed and only a little light on and read (A children's book) but I couldn't go to a group or stay in the common room for more than 5 minutes to eat. I could talk 1:1 sometimes but it was just too much most of the time. I'm sure that I seemed better when a nurse walked in and I had been in my safe bubble of a room for a while compared to when I had to interact with others.

So maybe it has to do with how she is feeling somehow? I don't know, but that's my guess.

BeyondtheRainbo,
I like the "Safe Bubble" theory because she felt more comfortable near the nurses station than when she was mixed in with the other patients. Some of the medical staff was suggesting that she wants a life of dependency. I disagree, I believe her illness is driving this. What is strange to me is we are family and friends and that is when her anxiety rises, I would think we would be a part of the safe bubble.

She knows the basics, president, date, day, where she is but her body just does not synch up in other aspects. Once we leave she is relaxed (I think) and sits and waits for whatever is next.

BeyondtheRainbow
I am definitely on board with the safe bubble theory but her anxiety goes haywire among friends and family, I would imagine we would BE her safe bubble.

I also think part of this is due to the meds that she was previously on, Zyprexa and Zoloft made her have very bizarre side effects such as feeling uncoordinated and feeling trapped in the clothing she was wearing.

I think confinement is part of what is going on but I am not certain. We transferred her to another hospital and she kept trying to remove her seat belt and get out of the car while it was in motion.

I'm sorry I didn't respond; I didn't get a notification that there was a new post of this thread.

Maybe she feels more anxious with the people she cares about because it is hard for her to let you see her this way? I have refused visitors in the hospital because I know I wouldn't be able to act as bad as I feel when they are there.

Trying to escape a moving car is another story and I don't know why she might have done that. Fear of a new situation maybe? It can be hard to get used to the hospital doing things one way and then have that change at another.

It also takes time for meds to leave the body and new ones build up and sometimes side effects are weird. This sounds like more than side effects but they are always a possibility.

I hope that she finds help soon. This sounds miserable for her and for you.

I am hoping she recovers fully and I know it takes some time, she has never been an open and shut case.
Thanks you for your kind replies!

I have something interesting to share, there is a medication called Buspirone, when she was given this medication her anxiety levels shot up and she had very unusual symptoms, once she came off of it, the anxiety lessened and the unusual symptoms stopped. In the last couple of days, it was restarted and the exact same pattern of behavior occurred. He anxiety was through the roof and she seemed a bit disassociated from reality.
Any thoughts?
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Thx