Should I ask for Bipolar meds or Antidepressants?

Looks like I have to go to a regular family practice doctor for meds, at least for about a month. I can't get into any Psychiatrists or mental health nurse practitioners for at least that long.

So....I'm not totally sure if I'm Bipolar II or not. The doc I will be seeing doesn't have a ton of experience in mental health. I do have a therapist (LCSW) that I will be seeing at least weekly.

Should I just ask for antidepressants now? Not even really mention Bipolar yet? And then if the meds start making me crazy...just tell them what's going on?

Or should I mention some of my previous bad behaviors, and get on the Bipolar meds now?

A quick history - I have never really had a "manic" episode, at least I don't think so. But I do have drastic mood swings. I never get happy or elated or high....but I do get angry and irritable sometimes. And around those same times...I binge eat, spend money like it's growing on trees....and sometimes even cheat on my husband. Not good.

I have never needed less sleep - in fact, I usually sleep TOO MUCH, not too little. I never get racing thoughts. I've never been really fast or talking really fast or anything like that.

And I definitely have the depression side. That part has been rather severe in the past...and starting to get really bad now. Right now I'm maybe moderately-depressed.

So....my best guess is that I could maybe be Bipolar II??

I did have a big "episode" of doing crazy things (binging, sex, spending, and other stupid stuff) that just coincidentally happened right after I had just started on antidepressants, 2 years ago. So it could have maybe been triggered by the meds. Or....maybe just a timing coincidence. Who knows.

My moods change really fast. Like within the day. One minute I want to rip someone's head off for the smallest mistake...the next minute I'm shopping for life insurance that covers suicide...

So...I know this is just the internet and you're not professionals, but just curious what you think I should ask for.

Be honest with the doctor, that is the only way they can diagnose you, tell them you think you are bipolar tell them about the mood swings, maybe they can give you something for the depression and the mood swings to get you by until you see a Pdoc.
Let us know how things go.
(((Razzle)))

Oh, one thing to add. I know this is not scientific....but the little "sanity score" quiz here on PC gave me a 33 for Mania but a 88 for Borderline and 75 for Depression. I got a higher score on Phobias than I did on Mania. And all I'm really afraid of is heights. So....does that mean anything? Or is it just a stupid online quiz?

Razz... what ever became of that? a lot of what you wrote is familiar to me too - the constant mood changes that can be anywhere between an hour to a day to a week or two. "But I do have drastic mood swings. I never get happy or elated or high....but I do get angry and irritable sometimes. And around those same times...I binge eat, spend money like it's growing on trees....I have never needed less sleep - in fact, I usually sleep TOO MUCH, not too little. I never get racing thoughts. I've never been really fast or talking really fast or anything like that. And I definitely have the depression side. That part has been rather severe in the past...and starting to get really bad now. Right now I'm maybe moderately-depressed."

All that is also true for me. i wonder what to do about it. i seem to have a hard time conveying any of this to any of my dr's. kiya

You should definitely tell your Doctor you have Bipolar II Disorder. I think you have already experienced Mania brought on my anti-depressants. The next one could end up being worse. You don't need to put yourself through that.

If you can try to get your medication from a Psychiatrist. Most educated Psychiatrists can prescribe medication that will work for your Depression, Bipolar and the personality disorder you mentioned in previous posts. I'm not up to date on clinical practice in Psychiatry but anticonvulsants have shown to work well in studies for BPD and Bipolar II.

Actually, you should not ask for anything.

You should talk with your doctor and describe your symptoms and let the doctor decide what type of medication would help you.

You seem to flucuate between believing you are Bipolar or BPD. These require very different treatments. I think you should ignore labels and discuss with your doctor what has occured and what you feel.

Your previous hypomanic episode might not have really qualified as an episode under the guidelines and in most cases, mania from antidepressants occurs in VERY distinct Bipolar cases, such as Bipolar 1. It is not a common occurrence.

You talk to your doctor~BUT you need to some soul searching .
Meds. may change who you are for the good or bad .Most meds. for bipolar are mood staberlizes which can level off or make it so you have no feelings at all. My self I hated it I would hurt myself just to feel the pain hich was all that i could feel .

I take Antideressants and any meds I have for manic all as need
To me being manic is like breathing air I cant live with out it .

Well I take 2 mood stabilizers and an antipsychotic medications. They have never made me feel numb and I still feel pain. I wish I could find a medication that took it all away too, but unfortunately that's not reality.

I love the hypomania and have thought about just taking leftover anti-depressant (though I think I gave them to my mom) and sleeping 4 or 5 hours, rather than 8 or 10, but it would probably be a bad idea.

I don't believe that mood stabilizers make depression worse (they are sometimes used to augment AD's for treatment resistant depressions), but AD's will make bipolar worse.

Tell your doctor you thing you may be bipolar and join us in the less than lovely trial and error of finding the right med/meds.

Well the reason I asked is that I just went to a regular, family-practice doctor. While yes, every doctor goes to medical school and studies enough to be allowed to prescribe psych meds...he just doesn't have a ton of experience in this area. I can't get in to a psych nurse or psychiatrist until the end of the month.

Think of it like going to a Pediatrician for help with your funny-looking mole. Yeah, they're a doctor, they can help, but they work with kids...not skin cancer. Does that make sense?

Anyhoo...I did tell him about the mood swings, the impulsiveness, binging, etc., but that I never get the racing thoughts or less sleep or really speeded-up stuff.

He put me on Zoloft, and we're just going to watch really close and make sure I don't do anything crazy. Kind of a "well if this makes you manic then we know" type of thing.

So far so good. Maybe a little insomnia from the Zoloft but it could also be from my daughter waking up with a nasty cough all night long, and I just couldn't get back to sleep.

Razzle, please keep us up to date how you make out. I know someone in the same boat as you with pretty much the same symptoms