Posted by CareBear04 on January 16, 2005, at 15:01:23
hi-- can anyone explain the theory of kindling and how/whether it relates to faster and faster cycling in bipolar?
i have never been a rapid cycler. a few years ago when i first became symptomatic, i would have weeks or months of hypomania and depression that would eventually resolve back to normal. when i first started lithium, it kept me from any cycling, and my dr said i was ideal for lithium because of mania before depression, few cycles a year; more "classic" bipolar. i hated lithium even though it worked, so i took myself off and then went back on handfuls of times. then this fall, i got really toxic off lithium a few times, restarting in between because i needed the drug. since november, i've been off completely and on some lamictal. all of a sudden, i go rapidly from depression to hypomania, each lasting no more than a few days, sometimes just short spurts of hyper energy. what explains the rapid cycling now? is it from going on and off lithium so many times? i could say it's the lamictal being ineffective, but before i started mood stabilizers at all, i didn't rapid cycle.
please let me know what you think! thanks much.
poster:CareBear04
thread:442817
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050113/msgs/442817.html