Posted by 49er on May 5, 2011, at 5:18:50
In reply to Is this a bipolar myth or not?, posted by sk85 on May 3, 2011, at 15:14:19
>Now my doctor thinks only people who have underlying bipolar illness get these "symptoms" on antidepressants and I tend to disagree. First, I don't operate like this when I'm off meds: most of the time I tend to be bit slow and sluggish and generally low on energy. I have no relatives with bipolar. And third, the effect seems to fade out usually, only to reappear perhaps when life circumstances provoke anxious thoughts or I've accomplished something great.And foruth during "these" episodes my sleep isn't usually disrupted.
> My theory is that I don't have bipolar but just weak "brakes" that would normally function just enough, only to stop temporarily working when on meds which then manifests in hypomania-like state. If my doctor is right and I'm wrong then I should perhaps consider a different diagnosis for myself (which currently is depression with OCD)? Or is this BS and it's normal for meds to do this? And I probably don't have bipolar? I do have to say that I've had relatively little success with antidepressants alone, they work great for depression, but poorly for anxiety and compulsiveness. I'm confused.
>According to Joseph Glenmullen, a psychiatrist who is not antimeds, bipolar disorder can't be diagnosed on a med reaction. It should be based on the patient's history that occurred independently of being placed on any med.
Astonishingly, in Anatomy of an Epidemic, I forgot the exact ratio, but only aproximately 2 people out of 16, were diagnosed in this manner. Everyone else was diagnosed on a med reaction.
Fortunately, my former psychiatrist, seemed to be one of few doctors who refused to diagnose me with BP based on my bad reactions to ADs. He felt there was no reason to diagnose me with it and I totally agreed.
49er
poster:49er
thread:984450
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110502/msgs/984592.html