Question regarding Bipolar illness.
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Question regarding Bipolar illness.
| Mon, 12-04-2006 - 10:05pm |
I was dx with Bipolar ll and put on mood stabilizers. That was about 4yrs ago and just about any mood stabilizer that exists. Before the BPll dx, I was living in Colorado and seeing my family doc thinking PMDD and took zoloft and then wellbutrin. I thought it had to be hormonal since my pregnancies were a nightmare of up and downs. I would rage then hit rock bottom and want to die. This was on zoloft too. I also thought ADD since I had all of the ADD symptoms as far back as 1st grade. Flash forward a few years and I think there doesn't seem to be a med out there that can help. I cycle from sad to mad then i'm okay.The extreme of the rage and sadness are a nightmare. I'm tired of pdoc throwing med after med at me.Could I just be one of those people that meds don't do anything for? Also, I should add that I had a very traumatic childhood and experienced and witnessed things no child should. I sure I have ptsd on top of everything else. I wish there was a test someone could do to my brain and find out what is wrong with me once and for all. The saddest part of all is that I have 4 beautiful loving children that I just can't put through this anymore. When i'm fine i love animals and love children and just have such a passionate heart that it seems such a waste that God has given me this heart.

I have heard of med resistant bp, you might be one. It also sounds like you are rapid cycler, or have become one due to Zoloft. IMHO, Zoloft is the WORST for sending bp into rapid cycling. I have come to that conclusion from personal experience as well as reading here and on the child bp site. There is a thread on the child bp site I think you might want to go read, it lists the differences between ADD/ADHD and bp, as the symptoms mimic each other, but the causes are different. It is a very interesting read.
Unfortunately there is no "conclusive" test that can be run that nails down what is "mis-wired" in our brains/emotion centers. Have you tried any of the newer anti-seizure medicines that they have found work for an ms? I am on Lamictal and doing good....just a thought....you stated most of the ms's. Another question, were you taken off the a/d medicines before the ms's were added? This is kind of a pet peeve of mine that I am not sure is medically documented, but it seems to me that when trying to stabilize bp one needs to start from a baseline of no "mood" medications, then try the ms's. Once the moods get stabilized try and pin down the othere co-morbid conditions that are not controlled with an ms. Partly I base this off DS who had just about every ADD/ADHD med thrown at him before I convinced the docs he WAS NOT ADD/ADHD. Once we found an ms that worked, the ADD/ADHD symptoms abated. I kind of feel like "DUHHH"....anyway JMHO.
Good luck,
tk
Hi there...I am med resistant and a rapid cycler too. We keep trying the stabilizers, over and over again...in the hopes that they just might work...there are many many different combinations of meds to try. Don't give up. I just changed ALL my meds around again, and came off Lexapro.
Stick around, there are lots of great supportive people here.
Love and Hugs,
Keli
Sorry, I didn't mean to get into that story. It just came to mind and i just starting typing what i was thinking.
You're so right...there ARE good times...but we pay a price for them in the bad times...ugh.
I said that very thing to someone recently too...I have one good day out of about 20 bad ones...and by bad, I mean non-symptomatic...
Hang in there,
Keli