[noneedtoknow]

Hey ya'll
Well had a diagnosis of Bipolar a year ago. Have an excellent therapist. Last week he said he wasn't sure I had Bipolar but I do have a mood disorder. WTF? I am starting to think the only "problem" with me is I am a bit neurotic, need to grow up and quit acting like such a ditz. I know what can ya say huh? I am a bit moody at times, thats for sure, but so the **** what. At this point, I am so tired of saying or wondering if all my emotions are bipolar or not then now I find out maybe I am not (bipolar). I am sick of this. I have had a hard time staying on my meds, and once more I am considering just stopping them and then not seeing my psychiatrist for a three month period and "sink or swim" Maybe if I didn't have someome to rescue me if I hit a bottom and just dealt with it I would find out I truly am alright. I hate "mental health" and everything that goes with it. Im burning out, I think I am burning out my shrink (god bless him he has really gone out of his way to get me on the right track he hates the fact I haven't been real complient with meds these last months) and I just want to be done. Well, that's it. Thanks for reading.

[Lexi232]

A big question here is, does the meds you take for bipolar actually help you? Without them how do you and others around you perceive your life?

I know stopping cold turkey can be a bad thing, especially for bipolar meds.
I know that kind of shuffle tho, you're told you have one diagnosis and your dealing with it for so long, then either the same person who gave you the diagnosis or someone else comes along and states that you might not have it, or that you dont anymore, or that it was a misdiagnosis. It can turn your life upside down, especially if you're someone like me who stresses out when the structure is shot to hell.

I wish you well on your journey, either way you go with this sounds like it will be a ride.

[Yoda]

I think bipolar is a spectrum disorder just like autism/aspergers. Looking back on my life I can see that for two decades I was bipolar but high functioning. My symptoms of bipolar did not become truly life altering until I became perimenopausal. (Though I was affected by ADHD and PTSD earlier in life).

You need to evaluate how your life is affected by your disorder, bipolar or whatever it may be. Then trial different meds or perhaps no meds if you want and find what works for you. Once I was diagnosed bipolar it took nearly seven years before I found meds that helped me be more functional.

[Leed]

Like Lexi said, DO NOT cold-turkey your meds !! You'll be in real trouble if you do. Some of those drugs are dangerous to stop abruptly - you could have seizures and Lord knows what else. So make sure you wean off them with your doctors knowledge.

I've never liked "labels" ~ I know they have to give you a diagnosis, but it seems once they do, you're stuck with this "stigma" ~ at least it seems so in the mental health dept. It shouldn't be that way, but it many instances it is.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the very best. God bless. Hugs, Lee

[madisgram]

NNTK, there were times i felt this way. my pdoc suggested i consult him first before taking this action. you mentioned he's helped you so much so i think you would be comfortable with this. so many of us have overlapping disorders i sometimes think it's a crap shoot for many to get a defined dx. why not discuss this with your T too re dx and see what he says re this? can't hurt.
i 'experimented' for the first time early this year/i'd been stabalyzed for 21 yearts from bipolar and severe depression. after about 3 weeks i took an incredible nose dive. lasted 4 months. made a believer out of me that my anti-depressant had a real purpose.