is an actual dx that important

I've been suffering from depression since my late teens. I basically discounted it as being a result of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Recently I had a bout of serious depression which made it impossible for me to function. My primary dr put me on Prozac which almost immediately made me feel odd. She lowered my dosage and while the odd feeling was less I still felt peculiar so she had me stop taking it and told me to come back in a month.

It was then that I began researching depression and learned about Bipolar II. The more I read the more I felt like I was reading my biography. Finally my mood swings, bursts of energy, unfinished projects, irritibility, insatiable sex drive, sprending sprees and inability to sleep seemed like more than poor judgement (as other's have described it for years).

I sought a psychiatrist to determine if I could be bipolar II. I did my homework and found someone with training in treating those that are bipolar. She had lengthy intake forms which I didn't fully complete prior to meeting with her (I was told to complete them at home). She asked me a few questions about how I have been feeling. I briefly discussed my current living situation. I then told her that I feel it is possible that I am bipolar. She said I am not manic, she then began writing prescriptions. The first for Lamictal giving me a sheet of directions on how to take, stating that it was for my mood disorder. A prescription for Paxil and Sonata, adding that she could give me something else if I still find myself waking at night and unable to fall back to sleep.

I had come prepared to offer her my latest lab work. Also, at no point did she ask me about any other medical conditions I have or others medications I am on. On top of her not offering me a diagnosis other than mood disorder and depression I found this to be very odd.

I am reluctant to fill the prescriptions although there is a part of me that feels that they may help me feel better. My dh is very upset with me for feeling this way. He feels he is at his breaking point and I need to do something to take some of the pressure off him. So I ask is the diagnosis of bipolar II that important or should simply begin the meds prescribed?

Sometimes getting a diagnosis no matter what the problem is be it medical or mental, helps because some medications are found to help more with bipolor vs schizophrenia vs depression, anxiety disorders and so on. and some disorders and deseases have some simular symptoms.

Sometimes a prescribing professional has access to therapy files and so on and read them before seeing the client for medication so sometimes they don't ask alot of questions becase they already know the answers. The professional most likely did not ask for your bloodwork paper because there is only a few medications that they use bloodwork to keep track of such as people on lithium have to have bloodwork done periodically to monitor the amounts in their body.

Since you are conserned you might want to seek a second opinion - talk to another psychiatrist or your family physician and they can let you know if the medication and dosage on the prescriptions you just got would interact wrong with each other or is too high or low or is the wrong medication for you.

hey. from what i know... dx isn't as important as an adequate view of your symptoms. medications tend to target symptoms rather than dx's, though some symptoms cluster and medications may target multiple symptoms while others might be more specific in their effects.

your doc said that you didn't have manics. i would say something to them about how you weren't thinking of manics you were thinking of hypomanics. re medications different people (with the same symptoms) find themself responding differently anyway, so i would say it is definately worth a try to take it and see if it helps. if your depression followed on the heels of a manic / hypomanic episode then it might be worth mentioning it...

sometimes mood stabilisers like tegrotol or epilim (sorry don't know whether those have different names where you are) can help with levelling out mood. i think that lithium (in particular) is a medication that tends to be reserved for true manic episodes as dosage needs to be very carefully monitered.

Look up the medicines. It may be necessary to get her to Discuss your medical history. She should have done that before writing a script. I was immediately put on Depakote and not asked about obesity in my family. No one told me about weight gain. I had a very difficult time and began to have water retention and breathing difficulties a few years later after taking it for a long time. The same thing happened with the Zyprexa. They did not bother telling me what the side effects would be. YES these meds really helped my Mental Health and I am glad about that but I just wish the Pdoc's would have honestly warned me and done a better background medical check on me.

IMO - a Dx maybe be of importance for then you can receive the correct medicine to deal with the symptoms of your particular mental (or) emotional problems.


LoVe,
Rhapsody -

Myself, I'm not able to get a second opinion due to finances but I do plan on talking to my primary doctor next week. I know that the Pdoc didn't have my therapy records as I sought the Pdoc on my own and never provided the name of the therapist until I met with the Pdoc. This is part of what bothered me. I also feel that having a dx will make it easier to talk/explain to my family.

Special_k, thank you for the suggestion of bringing up hypomania I am definitely going to do that when I go back.

RazelJenny, I have looked up all the meds and there aren't any interactions. However, I am concerned about weight gain when taking Paxil. I can ill afford to gain any more weight. When I am depressed I eat everything in site and during the past year I gained over 35 lbs.

Rhapsody, I totally agree with you. I keep thinking about filling out medical forms or responding to questions when seeing a new doctor. Certainly when learning of the meds I am taking I would be asked why they were prescribed.

It is important, and should be treated. I had a GP putting me on AD's when in atualality I needed mood stabilizers and AD's, then eventualy was put on just mood stabilizer, Lamictal, I have Bipolar-II(mild), that's my exact DX as written by pdoc and my former pdoc, too.
I also have ADD, and started Concerta, last fall.
You need to follow what your pdoc has suggested,procrastinating wastes valuable time that you can be using towards treatment. Just go with it,but as directed.
As you've been told, and as stated on the info for taking your Lamictal, it is titrated, till therapeutic dose has been achieved. Sometimes a pdoc starts with 25mg and then builds on that.
This med. has been great, you do not experience weight gain or fatigue,like other mood stabiliers can cause.
It helps a lot to stave off the intensity of the Bipolar depressive episodes. I can't say enough good there is about this med., but that is my opinion, everyone's system's may react different.
If you get mild side effects, you will still be able to get through this, most people experience mild to no side effects. Don't be afraid of the warnings of fatal rash, Stevens Johnson, it is very rare, majority of preple this is prescribed do well with it.
This same med is now being used by people who suffer migraines. It's becoming sort of a multi purpose med.,it's original use was for epilepsy, over time with research they have found it's benefits for those with other disorder.
Give the meds an honest try,it soundslike your pdoc is right on top with this.
Please take care,
DE

I do think that the actual dx's by a professional carry alot of weight, and are very important for proper management. I find it incredulous that in all those forms there wasn't an intake form requesting your history that you said you didn't share.

Please don't wait to begin the medications. Take them to your trusted pharmacist and have "side bar" discussion. Make sure you have your history of therapy and meds in writing while asking about the current scripts. The pharmacist can probably answer all your medication questions.

I feel that it is very important for everyone to advocate for themselves. While I was very anxious to begin taking the meds prescribed by the pdoc I felt it was important for her to know more about me before prescribingthem. I now feel that my reluctance to begin the meds was a smart decision. I just received the results of my latest labs which indicates my liver function is out of whack and for the first time. This is significant as my last labs were done in March at which time the results were normal. Taking into consideration that many pdrugs can mess with liver function I am very fortunate not to have started them before determining what is currently wrong.

For many reasons I am leary of most doctors. I am glad I trusted my gut feeling and will now seek a new pdoc.

Way to go! Hope you can get squared away shortly!

For many reasons I am leary of most doctors. I am glad I trusted my gut feeling and will now seek a new pdoc.

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Totally, I am impressed with your decisions.

I am wary of docs, esp the ones who read whatever they want into your symptoms ("You must have a boyfriend who is beating you u" "It must be your work life balance" "You must do x y or x")

NO I'm just freakin SAD

I have a lovely doctor who actually listens to me. It makes a change

good luck!

It is times like this that I feel for those who don't know enough to question what doctors tell them.

I was misdiagnosed with unipolar depression for about 30 years despite my mother having bipolar (& committing suicide). I only went to the doc when depressed & only had a few hypomanic periods caused by the anti-depressants. I just thought the drugs were working, but then I'd slip into another depression, get the dosage upped, or try a new drug. Finally, I saw a new internal med doc & she saw me in a mixed state, started me on Depakote & sent me to a psychiatrist. It took about a year to get onto the medications that worked consistently for me: Abilify, Lamictal, Concerta, Provigil & Xanax. I think the diagnosis of bipolar I was helpful for me to learn about the disorder. My ins. co. requires a diagnosis on each script since I get my meds through a mail-order service. I was relieved once I got the correct diagnosis. Finally, all those symptoms made sense & I could start recovery & get some quality to my life. I also saw two other psychiatrists until I decided on the one I currently see. She is responsive to my imput, will see me on short-notice if depression starts to appear (only happened once in the last 4 years & added Wellbutrin for the winter & went off it in the spring--some SAD in me, as well), & experimented with meds until I got a good quality of life. She also fought with the ins. co. to pay for the meds when they were balking.

This is such a wonderful success story! I always push that a good doctor or doctors will make all of the difference. Did you see a therapist or did you get to feeling better with just the meds? I"ve never been to therapy but once.

I agree with you, the diagnosis is somewhat of a sign of relief. You can all of a sudden say to yourself, "so this is why I do this and wow I really did need some help". For me, the diagnosis was the event that got the ball rolling and it was all thanks to a great counselor to saw that I needed to get some help.

I hope you continue to feel better and take care of youself. Thanks for sharing this story.

~Lia
crazymusiclvr@aol.com

this is a really good thread. lots of good stories. i'm grateful for my DX...finally gave me a definitive answer and then research and the proper meds. xoxoxo pat

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cinshope said:
Also, at no point did she ask me about any other medical conditions I have or others medications I am on.

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If a doctor treating me didn't ask (either verbally or through an intake questionnaire) my past medical history and current medication usage, I wouldn't trust that doctor. That doctor does NOT care about my well-being.

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cinshope said:
For many reasons I am leary of most doctors. I am glad I trusted my gut feeling and will now seek a new pdoc.

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BRAVO!

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cinshope said:
It is times like this that I feel for those who don't know enough to question what doctors tell them.

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About seeing a therapist: I had been in therapy on & off since I was 15 (after my 1st suicide attempt). It helped a little, but I really didn't get relief until I got on the right meds. Once I started on the right combo for me, I discontinued therapy. I was no longer ruminating on past traumas, my self-esteem lifted (I used to really feel awful about myself), motivation to do things appeared...just basically an incredibly GOOD quality of life compared to the hell I had been living in before. I knew it was time to stop therapy when I didn't have anything to talk about & would ask the therapist how her week was!