Posted by Erik on November 3, 1998, at 22:08:29
Hello! My name is Erik, and I'm having quite a bit of trouble recently. I am definitely suffering from some kind of depression, as I have no appetite, feel down all the time, and so on. This waxes and wanes in intensity. Also I have these periods of intense anxiety, like a low-grade panic attack, but it lasts for hours every night, for about a week, and I can't sleep very well! One doctor told me I was bi-polar and another thought depression (with anxiety). Since totally differnet medicines are used for mania versus depression with anxiety, I need to be sure which I have! How would I know? I have some suspicions about the bi-polar diagnosis, since I'm never happy. But during the high-anxiety times I can't rest at all. Also, well, I react horribly to most medicines. A .5 dose of Klonopin left me in the emergency room (150bpm heart rate for TWO days! I was MISERABLE -- my normal heart rate is 60). Other benzodiazapams left me not much better. (at least the effects went away quicker!) Well, I recovered, but still haven't found the medicine for me. I'm either highly depressed or VERY VERY anxious, or both, at any given time. Is there a medicine that might help me even before the doctors are 100% sure about what I have? I'm miserable all the time and need help, quickly! What would I look for if I wanted to be sure about what I have? I checked all the classic symptoms of mania, but I don't have any of them, except for sleeplessness. The doctor who thought I was bi-polar said it was some weird rapid-cycling anxiety-based bi-polar, but I have found NO information on this particular disorder, despite thoughrally searching the web and libraries. Although they say in the description that "irratability" can be there instead of a "euphoric or expansive mood" simple "irratability" just doesn't seem to describe what I'm going through!!! And classic anxiety disorder doesn't quite fit either since I only rarely have panic attacks, instead I'm highly anxious for hours and hours, having some of the symptoms of panic attacks, but not all. Help! Also, there are no phobias, social or otherwise, and no OCD.
Erik
poster:Erik
thread:1050
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/1050.html