Posted by Ron Hill on November 22, 2003, at 16:20:23
In reply to BP Disorder Irritability, posted by RRCarlo on November 20, 2003, at 10:07:57
RRCarlos,
Welcome to the neighborhood. We're glad you're here.
I can totally relate to your problems with irritability. I am bipolar II and without medication/supplements I cycle between three main symptoms (with brief periods of normal): Hypomania, depression, and dysphoric mood states (i.e; extreme irritability). My dysphoric mood might be what is commonly referred to as a “mixed state”, but I’m not sure if it falls into that category or not.
The good news is that there are things out there that can help dramatically. As to your question regarding irritability, if you’re looking for a medication I’d recommend giving Neurontin (gabapentin) a trial as an add-on to your Lithobid. I tried 600 mg/day of Neurontin and it helped my irritability. Neurontin must be taken several times a day. One thing I did not like about it was the fact that when a dose was starting to wear-off I’d experience some “rebound irritability” which was worse than if I had not taken the Neurontin to begin with.
About a month ago I began to treat my irritability using l-theanine, a natural amino acid found almost exclusively in green tea. RRCarlos, it is incredible how well it works for me! Here is a link to a thread where I talk about it over on the PB-alternative board:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031104/msgs/281539.html
My recommendation for you: Read the entire thread on PB-alt and read the article I posted in that thread. Then go to your local nutritional store and buy some and try it. It may or may not help you but, in my opinion, it is certainly worth a trial.
-- Ron
---------------------------------------------> I'm new to this board and I'm amazed at the wealth of knowledge here.
>
> I have been diagnosed as having Type-2 Bipolar Disorder. My pdoc has been treating me with 20mg of Celexa once a day and 300mg of Lithobid twice daily. That made sense for a long time because the primary manifestation of my BPD was depression coupled with occasional irritabilty.
>
> Well, that's changed. I won't bore you with my life story but these past six months have been very hard. My mom, who was my best friend, died a month ago. But her death was only the latest in a series of rough passages.
>
> The result of all of this is that it's irritabilty and anxiety, not depression, that's eating me up. In a classic bit of displacment, I've deveoped a phobia around severe weather, which is just peachy since this is the worst year for severe weather in the DC area that anyone can recall. I know it's displacement! I know what I'm really afraid of. But, as i have been told, anxiety and irritability are "lagging indicators." Just knowing the real scoop doesn't make the symptoms go away -- at least not right away.
>
> My pdoc's only repsonse, besides discussions, has been to up my Celexa to 30mgs a day. I'm not sure that's enough since I'm a big man. And it does squat for my irritability.
>
> Any suggestions?
poster:Ron Hill
thread:281626
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031121/msgs/282566.html