mood disorder or bipolar ?

Have you experienced at the same time high energy and low mood, feeling agitation, irritability, insomnia, appetite changes, loss of contact with reality, and suicidal thoughts?

Bipolar disorder is a spectrum disorder, meaning that it goes from one extreme to the other - from mild to severe. Some people have symptoms that don't fit neatly into the categories of BPI and BPII so it is given the designation of BP NOS. The NOS means "not otherwise specified". This is a diagnosis. All it is saying is that you present with symptoms that overlap BPI and BPII and may have some unique features to your presentation with the condition.

Have you discussed the above episodes with your doctor? Both incidents sound like manic episodes. These would not fall in the category of hypomania. They are more severe than that. Sometimes when someone is being treated for BP the medications can cause some symptoms. This is true when the depressive end of BP is treated with antidepressants and the manic end is not properly addressed or the medication to treat mania is not effective. The antidepressant can cause some pretty severe manic episodes. Your doctor needs to know about your episodes so your medication can be reviewed. You may need a dose adjustment or another medication. There is no way to know until you see your doctor.

I hope you will go back to your doctor and report the above episodes. You can be treated and it will help you feel better. Living with BP is challenging enough with medication. Give yourself every advantage you can and get the necessary treatment. If you are unsure of your doctor, get a second opinion. I encourage you to find some help so you can lead a productive life.

I told my therapist, but not the woman that prescribes me stuff. I thought they would range in the hypomania...I am not really delusional...except really paranoid that people are talking about me and laughing and staring, oh and i have this weird thing where i believe my b/f is cheating on me (he's given me no reason to suspect it) and it's not even a low-self-esteem thing...like sometimes I get this weird thought that he's not going to work...he's going to meet some girl to have sex with. I don't have insomnia. When I'm depressed I sleep 10 hours a day. Normally it's almost perfectly 8. But lately I've been staying up later, getting up at the same time and randomly waking up in the middle of the night...like every hour. but I'm not that abnormally tired. Oh and I was really figidety today...and I got a job on the spur of the moment...I don't know I saw my therapist today and she didn't say anything about it.

I hope you mention these incidents to your psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is an MD and can write your prescriptions.

Mania does not always present with delusional material. That is only one way some people present with mania.

One of the features of mania is impulsive behavior - like spontaneously getting a job. Paranoia is, also, a symptom of mania.

If you are not getting feedback from your therapist, find a new one. You need support, advice, and a professional to listen to you and offer some suggestions.

I hope you talk to your psychiatrist. He/she needs to know about the episodes you have had and about the paranoia and impulsive behavior.

I don't know. i mentioned my sleep and the other times too. About the sleep...she said "oh yeah I know isn't that horrible when that happens?" and then about the other incidents she just kinda nodded and said she would keep an "eye" on things as far as diagnosis. Is it possible I just don't recognize if I'm having delusions? lol They ARE delusions. Oh and it's funny cuz when I sat down today in therapy...she said I looked really tired. In fact I feel great and I was figdeting the whole time. I don't know...


By the way along with all of this I have anxiety issues. I have a phobia of cops and I usually get panic attacks around them as well as panic attacks when I drive on the interstate. And one time I was so paranoid...while embarrassingly being extremely jealous and net-stalking my boyfriend and had the worst one I've ever had. Oh and when I was younger, I had an entire summer where I would throw up because I would make myself so nervous.

Youth with bipolar disorder are prone to having mixed episodes (symptoms of both depression and mania, very fast mood swings between depression and mania many times within a day)
This combination of high energy and low mood makes for a particularly high risk of suicide.
Bipolar disorder also shares many of the signs and symptoms associated with other psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety disorders.

What kind of meds you are taking?

Lamictal 100 mg once daily and
Prozac 40 mg once daily. but I have recently just sorta stopped
I should prolly get back on...

Have you spoken to your psychiatrist yet? Your psychiatrist will pick up on your symptoms and may adjust you medications.

Why did you quit taking your prozac? Are you having difficulty with the med? Let your psychiatrist know if you are having problems on this med. There are many other options and your doctor could give you another med. It is not a good idea to just stop taking medications. It can cause you to go into a wild swing with your moods and you may become very unstable. I encourage you to talk to your psychiatrist and get back on your meds. You may find that you feel better.

Not all psychologists are well informed about the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Her response to your sleep pattern makes me question how much she knows about the disorder. You need to have someone who is very familiar with bipolar disorder to help you. The therapist needs to be able to pick up on subtle signs of instability and direct you when this occurs. It may require that she call your psychiatrist and let her know you are unstable. Both the psychologist and psychiatrist should talk to each other and to you to keep you on track and stable.

I hope you will talk to your psychiatrist. You may need to have a med review and adjustment. You should mention your anxiety as well. This is a common comorbid diagnosis with bipolar disorder.

Let us know how you are doing. We are here if you need us!

Why does it matter what flavor of the illness fits you or that you fit into too? Sounds more like you are working yourself up into a fit, which in turn is adding more stress and anxiety to your life, which is causing more issues to arise.

Settle your butt down. Stop analyzing everything in your life and be totally honest with your therapist and the gal/psychiatrist that is writing the scripts. Next…take the medications as prescribed and not stop or adjust the meds based on what you think or feel. Most medications can take up to 6 weeks to reach therapeutic levels and really start working.

What most fail to realize is the treatment is pretty much the same across the board; it’s the amounts and concoctions that very. Also understand that there is not a pill for everything. Sometimes we have to deal with what are real life stressors that actually make us stronger and smarter after going through them.

If the relationship with the boyfriend is too much, you may want to take a breather for awhile. Your sleep patterns are well within normal ranges as most with the illness usually function on 4 to 5 hours a day sleep. Personally the best thing I can suggest is to calm down and just enjoy life instead of what you’re doing now which is self-diagnoses.

I'm not working myself up. I'm worried if I don't know what I have now I won't be able to treat it before it screws up my life. My mom is currently thought to be bipolar, but she only sees her general doc. She's had high anxiety, can't sleep without tranqualizers, has had many addictions, unstable relationships, is going bankrupt, has had a heart attack and at age 47 she's now getting a difibulator. So...and unfortunately my mother and I have very similar personalities, etc.

I have no problem with my boyfriend. We never fight. We've been together a year and a half and have only ARGUED maybe 3 or 4 times. We're both usually pretty level-headed and laid back people. My moods just explode sometimes uncontrollably. And we usually only argue or fight when I'm in one of my moods.
I stopped taking my meds because : I felt better(bad reason I know but I just had no motivation to keep taking them, don't ask), busy and forget, can't afford them. Esp. the Lamictal. I have no clue how much that is going to cost but I was just down 500 in my b an k. So it's either get meds or pay the rent.

I agree with all of the above. all Bipolar disorders are defferently carried out by differnt people. Especially the manic state. I also would advice you to tell you doctor every thing you have to us and let he/she diagnose you with the proper evaluation that you will need. Since BPD in all of us can sometimes come off very diifferntly then other sometimes it is hard to determine and take sometime to consider what medicataion you should be on. I am bipolar and thank goodness I am on the right meds, just playing around with the dosage right noe. I see my doctor next week and will explain how I am feeling on the low does vs. the doese she put me on in the bigging. I am having some reactions to the larger does which she need to know about. It is very important not to hold anything back. The part you hold back could be very importan part to ge a proper picture.