Is rapid cycling on a/d's a given in bp?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2006
Is rapid cycling on a/d's a given in bp?
4
Tue, 01-23-2007 - 3:41pm

Hey ya'll....DW is having problems with depression again, but as we are both more aware of what to look for we caught it pretty soon...BUT, this time she has started paying attention more to her emotions etc. and has started describing allot of the emotions and feelings I experience through a day. She mentioned being "agitated" at a store today and feeling really bored....talked about wanting to do SOMETHING, but not wanting to leave the house.

Anyway, bp keeps being mentioned to her, but we are leery of dx'ing EVERYONE with bp as well as some things that don't seem to fit...the big one being DW doesn't rapid cycle when on her a/d's alone. Is the rapid cycling with a/d's alone a given with bp or just in most cases? Also, the last time around it took two a/d's over 2 to 3 yrs to pull her out of the depression she was in....admittedly that was so far down she had quit "feeling" ANY emotions. She has done some surveys and doesn't seem to fit the bp dx, BUT, when I look at the last 17 yrs of marriage, I see a pattern of her doing stuff and trying to get things back in order and making an effort at doing more than just functioning and then back in the dumper, she is just barely functioning again.

Anyway, to wrap up, advice on my question or any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
tk

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Tue, 01-23-2007 - 9:08pm

TK,


I think a lot will depend on the AD, how deep her depression is, the time of year, what's going on in her life

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2006
Wed, 01-24-2007 - 1:35pm

DW just found a GREAT web site that discusses this very problem....he clarifies that "mania" may just be agitation or inability to sleep....both things DW gets. Hard to really tell if it is a/d induced as she has been on a/d's off and on for some time and has trouble sleeping at odd times. The more I read that website, the more I am STRONGLY leaning towards bp for DW also. I try not to dx bp in EVERYONE because the disorder is supposedly pretty rare, but the old saying of "birds of a feather flock together" has a strong kernel of truth to it....I probably attract the strange, just a little odd people because I am strange and a little odd to most people LOL.

Thanks for your response,
tk

P.S. I am not sure how or if I can post the link to that website and not cross the TOS. I think it would be a GREAT site for ALL of us to read.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Wed, 01-24-2007 - 2:31pm

TK,


Usually all you need to do is copy the site address, then paste into a message and it becomes a link.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2006
Wed, 01-24-2007 - 2:53pm

Cool, here goes....
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/frameset.html

Hope this comes through because this guy has a TOTALLY different view on bp than the majority of the pdoc community, but he backs everything up with footnotes and other studies he is not associated with so there are others out there that do not buy into the "establishments" viewpoint.

tk

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