[hereandnow9]

Hi to anyone listening; this is my first time posting and pardon the length. Thanks for having me.

I'm wondering about a new diagnosis put on me: Bi Polar 2. Wondering how that differs from GAD, and the "wound up" part of PTSD. Wondering if there are any resources online to help sort it out? Or any insights y'all might have?

Background: I started seeing a new pdoc, and she started me on Prozac. By the 2nd week I was in the hospital shaking and wanting to kill myself. Thank god for a temporary script of Ativan. I have told about a dozen people about this, and 3 of them have told me they had the same reaction to Prozac and other SSRIs. In retrospect, my first experience with Celexa two years ago was really negative too, but attributed to other causes, probably incorrectly.

When I followed up with my pdoc about the experience, she figured I have BP2, i.e. bi-polar, but less extreme. She'll be doing more assessment, but she started me on Lamictal. And I'm back on the Seroquel - not just for sleep but for during the day too.

As I reflect on my life, I've had plenty of good times. And there was a period where I working some really long hours, which may have been dangerious. This is because in recent years, when I was off work...I would crash into depression instead of getting to enjoy my weekend plans. Unfortunately, the ratio of good productive times to fatigued depression times has tilted towards the latter dramatically in the past two years. The explanation from my therapist is that my nervous system is finally worn out from the years of anxiety - shallow breathing, tension all around, etc.

As I reflect on those good times, I've always been extremely "wound up". I was kind of "manic" in the colloquial sense, if not necessarily the clinical sense (but maybe I was). I didn't know how to calm down until I started Somatic Experience Therapy a few years ago. Unfortunately, "calming down" is something my nervous system resists and freaks out at, and apparently that's true for a lot of people with PTSD. So my success at calming down is slow and strife-ridden.

I've been attributing my wound up productive times as part of PTSD - apparently many of us are "adrenaline junkies". But I've done a little reading about BP2, and apparently hypomania isn't the full-blown mania of risky behavior, and more just getting over-committed, which is something I definitely do. It's a horrible cycle with the crash.

My next assessment with my pdoc is in almost a month, and I'm just really curious NOW. Are there resources online to help figure out if my wound up nature and "productive" times are really "mania" or just a function of PTSD? I'm curious as that might impact my treatment. My scare with SSRIs has naturally made me more cautious and vigilant around an accurate diagnosis...which is hard to get in the few minutes you get with a pdoc. :-)

Thanks much,
David

[Creative ToFu]

Hi David,
I can only speak for myself. I have PTSD, but not not Bi Polar 1 or 2. I have never experienced what you call a wound up nature or "productive" times with PTSD. There are many symptoms of both that are on a spectrum and most people don't have every symptom of the disorders either. While I may have increased arousal sometimes, it never is something that allows me to be productive in a mania way. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
There are many sources if you do a search. You can have both, many do, but it sounds like your mania symptoms are more BiPolar related.

Originally Posted by hereandnow9

Hi to anyone listening; this is my first time posting and pardon the length. Thanks for having me.

I'm wondering about a new diagnosis put on me: Bi Polar 2. Wondering how that differs from GAD, and the "wound up" part of PTSD. Wondering if there are any resources online to help sort it out? Or any insights y'all might have?

Background: I started seeing a new pdoc, and she started me on Prozac. By the 2nd week I was in the hospital shaking and wanting to kill myself. Thank god for a temporary script of Ativan. I have told about a dozen people about this, and 3 of them have told me they had the same reaction to Prozac and other SSRIs. In retrospect, my first experience with Celexa two years ago was really negative too, but attributed to other causes, probably incorrectly.

When I followed up with my pdoc about the experience, she figured I have BP2, i.e. bi-polar, but less extreme. She'll be doing more assessment, but she started me on Lamictal. And I'm back on the Seroquel - not just for sleep but for during the day too.

As I reflect on my life, I've had plenty of good times. And there was a period where I working some really long hours, which may have been dangerious. This is because in recent years, when I was off work...I would crash into depression instead of getting to enjoy my weekend plans. Unfortunately, the ratio of good productive times to fatigued depression times has tilted towards the latter dramatically in the past two years. The explanation from my therapist is that my nervous system is finally worn out from the years of anxiety - shallow breathing, tension all around, etc.

As I reflect on those good times, I've always been extremely "wound up". I was kind of "manic" in the colloquial sense, if not necessarily the clinical sense (but maybe I was). I didn't know how to calm down until I started Somatic Experience Therapy a few years ago. Unfortunately, "calming down" is something my nervous system resists and freaks out at, and apparently that's true for a lot of people with PTSD. So my success at calming down is slow and strife-ridden.

I've been attributing my wound up productive times as part of PTSD - apparently many of us are "adrenaline junkies". But I've done a little reading about BP2, and apparently hypomania isn't the full-blown mania of risky behavior, and more just getting over-committed, which is something I definitely do. It's a horrible cycle with the crash.

My next assessment with my pdoc is in almost a month, and I'm just really curious NOW. Are there resources online to help figure out if my wound up nature and "productive" times are really "mania" or just a function of PTSD? I'm curious as that might impact my treatment. My scare with SSRIs has naturally made me more cautious and vigilant around an accurate diagnosis...which is hard to get in the few minutes you get with a pdoc. :-)

Thanks much,
David

[hereandnow9]

Hi Creative Tofu, thank you so much for the insights. I'm then thinking about how to describe my symptoms more clearly for my pdoc. Appreciate the help!

[Creative ToFu]

Originally Posted by hereandnow9

Hi Creative Tofu, thank you so much for the insights. I'm then thinking about how to describe my symptoms more clearly for my pdoc. Appreciate the help!

Haha! Let the Pdoc earn his income and let him figure it out! lol

[seesaw]

Here and now, I am in the exact same situation. A new pdoc has diagnosed me as BP2, but I know this is incorrect. I have asked numerous pdocs and psychologists to assess me for BP 1 and 2, and they have all agreed that my Dx (PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder, Panic Disorder) is correct. I'm finally getting a follow up with this newer pdoc on Friday and I'm am going to seriously discuss with him why he would make that assessment without having done a full assessment on me. He's never done a full assessment, just adjusted my meds as I have requested, meds that were originally prescribed by other doctors. Frankly, I think he just assumed I was BP because I was in a partial hospitalization program where almost everyone was.

Good luck.

Seesaw