![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zefdie on April 22, 2004, at 13:24:52
Hey all-
Yesterday my therapist told me that the results of a checklist she had me fill out indicated that I have many symptoms of bipolar disorder. I've been depressed and moody my whole life, but I've always ruled out bipolar disorder because the highs I experience are very infrequent and last very short periods. I guess I've always been under the impression that "mania" is a much more severe and serious thing than the brief periods of self-assuredness and energy that I feel. I've never felt out-of-conrol or grandiose at all. I just feel happy and tend to go on unreasonable shopping sprees. The rest of the time I'm just extremely tired, extremely depressed, and extremely hopeless, which is why I've always seen myself as a chronic depressive. I'm almost ALWAYS sad.
Does anyone care to share bipolar experiences with me or direct me to detailed information and checklists? I've been reading about bipolar on the online support groups and societies' websites but all of this just confuses me more--I don't know if I fit this definition or not and it seems like it's been increasingly overdiagnosed in the last decade, so I want to be careful.
By the way, I'm going to be seeing a meds-only psychiatrist soon in addition to my therapist, but I couldn't get an appointment until May. Right now I'm taking Effexor XR 75 mg and suffering debilitating fatigue from it.
Posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 13:58:43
In reply to Bipolar versus depression, posted by zefdie on April 22, 2004, at 13:24:52
My dx is "Mood disorders - Not Otherwise Specified", which I think is much more suitable for me than bipolar, as I have up periods, but never full blown mania.
I think the thing to keep in mind is that a diagnosis is just a label - a way for the professionals to categorize you. What you want to make sure of is that you are being treated for your symptoms and not based on a diagnosis. Even if you are "bipolar", there's no standard textbook treatment (medication or therapy-wise) that would necessarily fit you. Every brain is so unique.
I would also suggest that when you meet with the psychiatrist, that you have him or her diagnose you without regard to the therapist diagnosis.
There's nothing wrong with being bipolar (despite what the media might have you believe!!!), so if you are, then you are, and that's okay. It sounds as though you have a mood disorder based on what you say, so whether that's bipolar or unipolar depression or dysthymia or mood disorders NOS doesn't really matter ultimately, as long as your treatment plan is unique to your symptoms and not to whatever some book says someone with your dx should be getting...
Does that make sense?
Good luck and keep us posted.
P
Posted by zefdie on April 22, 2004, at 14:07:25
In reply to Re: Bipolar versus depression » zefdie, posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 13:58:43
Thanks Penny! I understand everything that you're saying and I'm definitely not more concerned about a mood disorder that about depression--I don't care about the stigmas and all that. I hope it didn't come across that way! Today I'm just feeling very fatigued by the Effexor and depressed in general and this, combined with my therapist's comment, makes me fear that I'm on the wrong medication. I want to be well-informed when I see this psychiatrist.
I think I probably fall into the same dx as you. We'll see!
Thanks!
> My dx is "Mood disorders - Not Otherwise Specified", which I think is much more suitable for me than bipolar, as I have up periods, but never full blown mania.
>
> I think the thing to keep in mind is that a diagnosis is just a label - a way for the professionals to categorize you. What you want to make sure of is that you are being treated for your symptoms and not based on a diagnosis. Even if you are "bipolar", there's no standard textbook treatment (medication or therapy-wise) that would necessarily fit you. Every brain is so unique.
>
> I would also suggest that when you meet with the psychiatrist, that you have him or her diagnose you without regard to the therapist diagnosis.
>
> There's nothing wrong with being bipolar (despite what the media might have you believe!!!), so if you are, then you are, and that's okay. It sounds as though you have a mood disorder based on what you say, so whether that's bipolar or unipolar depression or dysthymia or mood disorders NOS doesn't really matter ultimately, as long as your treatment plan is unique to your symptoms and not to whatever some book says someone with your dx should be getting...
>
> Does that make sense?
>
> Good luck and keep us posted.
>
> P
Posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 14:19:34
In reply to Re: Bipolar versus depression, posted by zefdie on April 22, 2004, at 14:07:25
Oh, I totally understand. I've been on so many different meds, combos of meds, and I have finally found something that works for me (after several years of trying). I actually take an antidepressant and a low dose of a mood stabilizer, as an augmentor. And I suspect this post will be redirected to the medication board, but I don't have the patience to do it myself at the moment!
Anyway - you might try posting on the medication board and ask for other opinions (forgive me if you have already, as I rarely make it over there). Again - good luck with this!
P
Posted by holymama on April 22, 2004, at 17:36:25
In reply to Re: Bipolar versus depression » zefdie, posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 14:19:34
I too also initially went to see a therapist for depression. I am 30, and have for the last 5 years been suffering from longer and longer depressions, with short happy breaks in between. I initially discussed with my therapist the possibility of bipolar; the short breaks of happiness seemed extreme to me (no 'manic', but extreme as in very low depression to very very happy, and back again, over and over, in a cyclical way), but the other bipolar symptoms didn't really fit. I'm not prone to huge spending sprees, for example, or getting very little sleep. Anyway, my psychiatrist decided to try me on an antidepressant, and a few months later I went manic, very religious, very little sleeping or eating...SO, I was rediagnosed as bipolar because of the fact that antidepressants make me manic.
How does that make me feel? Well, very unsure of the diagnosis of bipolar, very unsettled with the idea of classifying myself with other bipolars who may need to be on medication constantly and for the rest of their lives, and whose diagnosis is that the condition worsens with age. I have spent a long time frightened and confused and in denial over it.
But the truth is, a mood stabilizer added to my antidepressant helps me and works the best for me. So who cares and who knows what the 'diagnosis' means? If you are needing and willing to go the antidepressant route, why not try the mood stabilizer if that is what your doctor recommends? THe point is that you feel the best that you can and function in your life as bsat as possible. Who cares what diagnosis a doctor gives you and which classification of medicine you fit into...as long as you are feeling better? That is what I have decided anyway. Best of luck to you. :)
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Psychology | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.