Unipolar vs bipolar

Never had mania but could quality for BPII diagnosis.

I haven't tried a mood stabilizer, but have been depressed for a long time. My psychiatrist doesn't seem to have any ideas but I could bring this up to him.

Interested in hearing from others about taking a mood stabilizer like Lamictal or Lithium and having success after trying various ADs. I really don't want to go on the psych drug merry-go-round again, and am afraid to even try the BP medications, but I have been really depressed.

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. I use Geodon for a mood stabilizer because it helps me sleep otherwise I wouldn't be taking it. I've been diagnosed with Bipolar II but question if it's not really MDD. I've tried many different ad but have had luck with Wellbutrin and Prozac with Ritalin thrown in. Good luck and best wishes.

This is something to discuss more in-depth with you pdoc. No one here is in a position to diagnose you. I can tell you that a BP diagnosis of any kind requires the experience of some form of mania.

If antidepressants cause mania, a mood stabiliser might be a solution. But it doesn't mean you have BP. It is, however, more likely.

Do you ever have trouble sleeping (not just due to depression or anxiety)? That's an important indicator of BP.

Had insomnia most of my life and don't feel like I ever get a good sleep. I've probably had anxiety( but not depression) from a young age, but I don't think my sleep problems are just from anxiety.

Can you tell me more about sleep being an indicator of BP?

Now I take ambien and klonopin at night and still can't sleep for hours after taking both. Switched sleep medicine a good deal, but they all stop working good.

A close friend of mine was going through deep depression and AD meds weren't helpful. His pdoc switched him to Lamictal and he got much better.
It's been a wonder drug for his depression. Just an FYI.

I hope you find answers soon.

WC

For me the addition of wellbutrin to my cocktail wiped out my depression. It's a small dose of wellbutrin but it's what I needed. I also take two mood stabailizers.

Sleep-wake cycles tend to be longer or shorter than 24 hours and the cycle length changes over time. The first BP prodrome, a symptom that develops or has always been present before the onset of an actual disorder/illness, seems (research shows) to be problems sleeping "on time" and, hence, causes insomnia. So it's an early indicator.

There aren't many other disorders that may cause such problems with one's circadian clock. Similar problems seem to be part of autism spectrum disorders, where more sleep than normal seems to be required.

In my experience and based on my theory explaining disorders like BP, our sleep-wake cycles tend to be longer and we need relatively little sleep. But this would just be a baseline: it's worse during mania and depression can mean we need extra sleep.

Do you generally feel tired during the day? If it were just anxiety, I suppose you would always feel rather tired during the day.

I really need (typical or atypical) antipsychotics to feel as tired as a "should" feel after a long day together with a mood stabiliser to prevent the sleep-wake imbalance from becoming too extreme.

BP is not just about sleep, but it clearly is a big part of it.

Just wondering, you had indicated your psychiatrist doesn't have any ideas, is it possible you could see someone new for a second opinion?

I was misdiagnosed with MDD for years. My pdoc was looking into the tricyclics (because we went through almost all of the SSRIs/SNRIs) when she decided to try Lamictal instead. That worked for a while. Still took three more years until I had a good mix.