Posted by Krysti on December 7, 2002, at 15:59:57
In reply to Misdiagnosis of depression? question re: bp med , posted by shar30906 on December 4, 2002, at 22:28:34
Hi Shar,
Good question. I don't really know the answer though. I've wondered that myself - what these meds would do to a person who feels normal. I have heard people who have been prescribed Depakote for things other than Bipolar though (well, epilepsy obviously, but also anxiety).
Before I had a manic episode, I was in your position also - wondering if I was Bipolar, but not quite sure. After I had the manic episode, it was MUCH easier to see. Some things that had started to convince me even before that though were responses I got from other people (who I considered "normal") when I asked them questions. I started asking around about how they feel from day to day. Like, do you get down for no reason or happy for no reason? They would tell me no, there was always a reason. At the time, I actually thought they were lying, lol. I would ask if they ever felt like they couldn't shut their minds off - were constantly thinking (I'm not sure if this is a part of Bipolar or just the anxiety that I also have) and they would tell me no. Also, if they ever felt euphoric - they definitely did not. So, I would do searches for euphoria on the internet and the only disorder that would come up is Bipolar. One of my friend's who I talked to pretty much every day had also asked me if I thought maybe I could be Bipolar. I was always in a different mood whenever I talked to her. Some days I was really really happy, then the very next day I'd be really really down for no apparent reason.
When you are Bipolar, AD's alone definitely make it worse. That's actually what sent me into a manic episode (not that they do that to everyone), but they can definitely make the cycling worse. Some mood stabilizers are better than others for the depression side. I have heard Lamictal has an anti-depressant property. I got depressed when taking Depakote and Gabitril. When you find a mood stabilizer that seems to work to make you stop cycling though, you can also try to add an AD on top of it for the depression.
If you recognize you have been hypomanic, then it sounds like a form of Bipolar. Your best bet is to find a good pdoc who really listens to you and is proactive in finding the right med or combo of meds to help you. There are a lot of them out there and it may take a while to find which ones are best for you, but a good pdoc will keep trying.
Good luck to you : )
Krysti
poster:Krysti
thread:130467
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021203/msgs/130944.html