Posted by PB and J.C. (my dog) on June 18, 2000, at 20:28:37
In reply to To all bipolar sufferers, posted by tina on June 11, 2000, at 7:53:43
Tina et. al
My first pdoc of 5 years diagnosed me as having
major depression. It was not until I hooked up
with my current pdoc in 1991 that I was diagnosed
as Bipolar II -- it certainly explained a lot of
the "up" times that my prior pdoc pooh-poohed.With that as an introduction, I agree with the
others in this thread that you can experience
rapid cycling - and even ultra-rapid cycling as I
have recently experienced. I didn't realize that
this could happen, until I met with my pdoc during my
first ultra-rapid cycling period and
we reviewed my daily charting diary and I told
her I was unable to chart specific days because I was
so up and down uneven. On my +5 (most hypo manic) to
-5 (most depressed) scale that I use, I was able to
identify days when I was anywhere from +4 to -4,
switching several times during any given day. As
some of the others in this thread have mentioned, my
pdoc told me to chart every 2-3 hours instead of
trying to chart for a whole day when I was feeling
so up and down uneven.An increase in my Lithium and other mood stabilizer
Lamictal broke the ultra-rapid cycling phase. Unfortunately,
we added Effexor XR for my depression and it set off
another round of ultra-rapid cycling. Currently
working on phasing out that med. The Lamictal, while
effective for me, is also being phased out of my daily
med regimen because once I got to a therapeutic dose,
I began experiencing major amnesia (see my thread
posted on this topic).Hope you find a med cocktail that works for you.
Best,
Philip & J.C.
poster:PB and J.C. (my dog)
thread:36911
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37741.html